Alex Mackay - Suilven Artist in Residence 2019/20 by Alex Mackay

This collection of sound pieces was created by Alex Mackay as a result of the Suilven Artist Residency in 2019. In the summer of 2019, I spent time in the area around Suilven aiming to capture naturally occurring sonic phenomena; such as the movement of air, water, plant and animal life and create pieces that not just represented but responded to the unique geography of Suilven and the land around it.

Each day, I set out from the Artist Studio at Glencanisp to explore the terrain of Suilven on foot, using a range of field recording techniques - using conventional microphones as well as contact microphones and hydrophones that capture sound moving through organic materials on land as well as underwater - to capture sound, ranging from the very top of Suilven to the very bottom of the lochs surrounding it. Back at the studio, I used digital sound processing methods to refine and reshape the material, using geographical data from the land (for example, the contour shapes of Suilven) to shape the material into new forms that are sonically abstract while simultaneously retaining a relationship with the place those sounds originated from.

There was however one additional source of sound, not originating out in the landscape of Suilven - an Korg Poly-61 synthesizer. This synthesizer, made in the mid-1980s was sitting in the Artist Studio when I arrived, covered in dust. I plugged it in to see if it was working; many of the buttons didn’t work, a lot of the keys played pitches unrelated to where they lay on the keyboard but nonetheless, it made a sound. I spent a few hours getting as many different sounds out of it as possible and recording them, capturing as much of it’s unique flaws as possible. When putting the pieces together, I mixed in many of these sounds to create contrasting textures between the natural sounds of the outdoors and the decaying digital sounds of this peculiar instrument that resided where the pieces were constructed.

The end result is these 5 pieces, each on focussing on a particular element of Suilven’s sonic ecology which as whole document both the unique geography of the mountain and its surroundings, and the creative energy that it inspires.

Contains tracks

• Airigh Fraoich by Alex Mackay
• Alltain Dubh by Alex Mackay
• Druim Suardalain by Alex Mackay
• Suileag by Alex Mackay
• Caisteal Liath by Alex Mackay