Music map captures the changing sound and stories of the Cromarty Firth
More than 40 songs inspired by the Cromarty Firth have been brought together on an innovative musical map showing the places behind the songs.
Peter Noble, Head of Creative and Leisure Economies at UHI North, West and Hebrides, has spent the past five years writing songs about the Cromarty Firth and the people, places, history and natural environment around it.
The project also involved UHI students, who contributed footsteps, voices and musical parts to several of the recordings.
The resulting map is being hosted by the Cromarty Firth Watershed Environmental Trust (CromShed), allowing people to explore the songs alongside the places that inspired them.
Many of the songs include recordings made in the places that inspired them, with sounds of trees, wind, water, footsteps and everyday life woven into the music to capture the stories of a landscape in constant change.
They include reflections on the former Invergordon smelter, a castle destroyed by fire more than 150 years ago, the former outdoor swimming pool at Invergordon and the oil rig known locally as the ‘Orange Juice Legs’.
For one song about the former oil tank farm, recordings made at the site before it was demolished have been incorporated into the track. For another, about the Orange Juice Legs, Peter recorded rain falling on the water at the location where the rig once stood.
Peter said the map gives people a new way to explore the Firth and the stories held within its landscape: “I’m really pleased that the map is going to be publicly available and that people will be able to explore the songs alongside the places that inspired them. The Cromarty Firth has such a diverse history and character, and songs give me a way of exploring some of those stories that isn’t always possible through words alone.
“I’ve recorded sounds from these places and used them within the songs, so they become part of the music. Some of the places I’ve written about have now disappeared or changed completely, but the recordings and songs give us a way of remembering them.
“I’d love to see the map grow beyond my own work. I hope other musicians and artists will eventually add their own songs and recordings, creating a much bigger musical map of the Cromarty Firth and capturing what this place means to local people.”
The map is part of Peter’s wider PhD research into the relationship between music and place, with continuing work exploring the region through immersive live and online performances.
Dr Euan Bowditch, Director of CromShed, added: “As part of our work we aim to understand the complex history, heritage and stories of the Cromarty Firth Watershed connecting with the communities and improving positive connections with nature, education and livelihoods. Peter’s deep dive into the culture around the Firth and its stories can be a crucial foundation of understanding the area and its people. It’s our pleasure to host the songs and hopefully add more historical and original songs linked to the watershed”