Sounds will be set in stone
(From The Orcadian dated May 16, 2002)

Maeshowe, Stenness - the venue for the acoustic workshop.

Those interested in what their voice sounds like amplified by a chambered tomb might be interested in an event taking place at the end of the month.

Human Voices - Ancient Stones is a master class voice workshop with Professor Kristin Linklater and David Burbidge to be held at the St Magnus Centre and inside Maeshowe on the evening of Wednesday, May 29.

It kick-starts Site Sounds, a series of workshops for Minehowe Know How - an event which infuses Orkney’s archaeology with the arts and other cultural traditions, highlighting complementary ways of exploring both archaeology and the arts.

Kristin and David will enable workshop participants to explore connections between their inner human landscapes and the outer environment shaped by our ancestors using vocal resonance and chant. No special skills are required because, say organisers, everyone possesses the tools they will be using: voice and imagination.

Kristin is one of the world’s leading voice practitioners, having pioneered a unique method of voice training and discovery. She teaches voice and Shakespeare at Columbia University, New York and is the author of ‘Freeing the Natural Voice’ a leading text book for actors. David Burbidge teachers voice and song in Cumbria and he has led many voice workshops in the unique landscape and caves of the Lake District.

The workshops will complement the new work that archaeologists are discovering in relation to sound. Dr Aaron Watson has measured sound at Orkney’s Neolithic monuments: “While there is little evidence of any musical instruments in the archaeological record, it seems that the architecture of many monuments permitted the creation of sound effects using the voice, hand claps or simple percussion instruments.”

Descent - the steps leading down into Minehowe

He discovered that the stone environments amplify noise creating a range of audio effects including sounds with “strange, otherwordly aspects.”

Archaeological researcher, Paul Devereux states: “If we think of sound only in a modern way, as an inconsequential effect, we risk missing the significance on the new acoustical findings that are being made in archaeology today.”

Dr Anna Ritchie who has worked at many sites in Orkney has suggested that the ‘well’ at the Broch of Gurness and Minehowe’s underground chamber may have acted as oracles. So did Minehowe’s chamber make use of sound?

At Minehowe, singer Aimee Leonard, who has played the bodhran for more than 15 years, will lead her Beat-Roots workshop using drum, song and chant. Aimee has taken time out of her London tour with her partner Rory McLeod to join the project. She has taught many bodhran and singing workshops at festivals all over the world.

The event is organised by Art Discovery in partnership with Orkney Heritage Society, Friends of Orkney Archaeological Trust and their parent body OAT.

Event programmes are available from Orkney Tourist Board and can be viewed at www.artdiscovery.org.uk . For workshop bookings please contact Art Discovery on 01856 771 252 or at info@artdiscovery.org.uk