Hebridean Soundwalks

Commissioned by [Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre](https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/), this soundwalk explores the traditions and ecology of Uist’s machair. A Gaelic word meaning fertile, low-lying grassy plain, machair is one of Europe's rarest yet most species-rich habitats; only occurring on the exposed west-facing shores of Scotland and Ireland, 70% of which is found on Uist. Generations of low-intensity farming have shaped this unique landscape and encouraged wildlife over millennia. Developed in partnership with the local community, this work combines spoken narratives, field recordings, and compositions with archival sound recordings from Edinburgh University’s [School of Scottish Studies](https://www.ed.ac.uk/local/projects/school-of-scottish-studies-archives), that chart over 70-years of oral history. __Contributors:__ Freddie MacDonald, Seoras MacDonald, Alisdair MacEachen, Anne MacLellan, and Matthew Topsfield. __Production team:__ [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/) (composer), [Kirsty MacDonald](https://www.comascreative.co.uk/) & [Mairi McFadyen](http://www.mairimcfadyen.scot/) (creative ethnologists), and Sorcha Monk (creative producer). __Cover photo:__ Liniclate machair, Tara Drummie, 2022. If you have any questions or feedback about this soundwalk, please email <contact@uistsoundwalks.org> V.24.1 __© 2024 [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/). Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this soundwalk is strictly prohibited.__

Orasaigh is a geolocative acousmatic soundwalk composition that was developed in 2023 as part of the exhibition 'Orasaigh', a collaboration between poet Steve Ely, photographer Michael Faint, and composer Duncan MacLeod. Commissioned by Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre, the project draws upon the landscape around the tidal island of Orasaigh, located on the coast of South Uist at Boisdale. Ely’s visionary poem, whilst always remaining anchored in the island, roams widely, exploring a range of themes related to Uist and the wider world – sea level rise, the crisis of the ‘sixth extinction’, history, culture, politics, conflict and class. Faint and MacLeod vividly capture the spirit of the place through their respective mediums, creating an independent yet complementary subjectivity. As with Ely’s poem, the soundwalk is rooted in the landscape through the presence of soundscape compositions, utilising immersive field recordings captured on location. Elsewhere, material for bass clarinet and highland bagpipes, along with creative reimagining of archival sound recordings from Uist, draws upon the Isles' rich musical heritage through Gaelic song and pibroch (an art music genre associated with the great Highland Bagpipe). The work of the three artists combines and interacts to produce a uniquely evocative response to a rich and resonant landscape that affirms the vitality and resilience of the human spirit. The island itself becomes a dual symbol of precarity and hope in the crisis of the Anthropocene. Poem: [Steve Ely](https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/stephen-ely) Narration: Steve Ely Music & Soundscape compositions: [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org) Bass Clarinet: Charlotte Jolly Environmental field recordings: Juraj Fajnor & Duncan MacLeod Commissioned by [Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre](https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org), with funds from the [Arts and Humanities Research Council](https://www.ukri.org/councils/ahrc)

Written by Steve Ely, Orasaigh (2023) is a book-length 'apocalyptic landscape' poem anchored in the eponymous tidal island off the coast of South Uist, near the settlement of Boisdale. Although the poem never loses sight of its setting and context, it nevertheless roams widely and associatively through space and time, exploring history, culture, nature and conflict in an extended meditation on the precarity of life in the context of the Anthropocene. This soundwalk, commissioned by [Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre](https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/), features Ely narrating excerpts of his poem with soundscape and music composed by Duncan MacLeod. An extended mix, as mapped on the island of Orasaigh and Boisdale (South Uist), can be streamed on [SoundCloud](https://on.soundcloud.com/635QpUiaE5oJHXkL7). __CREDITS__ Poem: [Steve Ely](https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/stephen-ely) Music and Soundscape compositions: [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/) Photographs: [Michael Faint](https://www.ansolasoir.com/) __PRODUCTION__ Narration: [Steve Ely](https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/stephen-ely) Bass Clarinet: [Charlotte Jolly](https://charlottejolly.co.uk/) Studio recordings: Juraj Fajnor Environmental field recordings: Juraj Fajnor & [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/) © 2023 [Steve Ely](https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/stephen-ely) & [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/). Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this soundwalk is strictly prohibited.

This 40-minute soundwalk starts in St Mungo Square, outside the [University of Glasgow Advanced Research Centre Building](https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/arc/) ([11 Chapel Ln, Glasgow G11 6EW](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zba8xSSo9zZwdwop9)). The walking route is a 2-mile loop mapped to established paths around Kelvingrove Park, returning to St Mungo Square. __About the soundwalk:__ Commissioned by [Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre](https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/), this soundwalk explores the traditions and ecology of Uist’s machair. A Gaelic word meaning fertile, low-lying grassy plain, machair is one of Europe's rarest yet most species-rich habitats; only occurring on the exposed west-facing shores of Scotland and Ireland, 70% of which is found on Uist. Generations of low-intensity farming have shaped this unique landscape and encouraged wildlife over millennia. Developed in partnership with the local community, this work combines spoken narratives, field recordings, and compositions with archival sound recordings from Edinburgh University’s [School of Scottish Studies](https://www.ed.ac.uk/local/projects/school-of-scottish-studies-archives), that chart over 70-years of oral history. __Contributors:__ Freddie MacDonald, Seoras MacDonald, Alisdair MacEachen, Anne MacLellan, and Matthew Topsfield. __Production team:__ [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/) (composer), [Kirsty MacDonald](https://www.comascreative.co.uk/) & [Mairi McFadyen](http://www.mairimcfadyen.scot/) (creative ethnologists), and Sorcha Monk (creative producer). __Cover photo:__ Liniclate machair, Tara Drummie, 2022. If you have any questions or feedback about this soundwalk, please email <contact@uistsoundwalks.org> __© 2024 [Duncan MacLeod](http://duncanmacleod.org/). Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this soundwalk is strictly prohibited.__ Version: RMA V1.0 (290624)

Mapped to East Beach on the Isle of Berneray, Tidelines draws upon the coastal landscape of the Western Isles, featuring poems written and narrated by writers on Uist, with music and soundscapes composed by Taigh Chersabhagh Museum & Arts Centre Musician in Residence, Duncan MacLeod. Credits Poets: Liz French, Barbara Hunter, Thelma Marl, Kirsty O'Connor, Loriana Pauli, and Pauline Prior-Pitt. Narration: Calum Ferguson, Liz French, Barbara Hunter, Ciorstaidh Monk, Kirsty O'Connor, Loriana Pauli, and Pauline Prior-Pitt. Music and soundscape compositions: Duncan MacLeod