The Sculptor's Cave: Virtual Acoustics, Field Recording and Composing the Sounds of Place

A sense of ‘presence’ in a place often results from a convergence of unique acoustic and environmental characteristics that render it ‘special’—a found-and-then-cultivated sonic landscape. The Sculptor’s Cave in Moray, NE Scotland is such a place, as evidenced by its recurrence and longevity as a locus for ritual activity. The Covesea Caves Project (Armit, Büster) and the using Virtual Reality and Archaeoacoustic Analysis to Study and exhibit Presence project (VRAASP; Wolfe) have collaborated on a retextured and sonified 3D model of the Sculptor’s Cave, based on an archaeologically-informed field walk and creative realization derived from the acoustics inherent to this enigmatic site. The resulting work will use place as material, with the field work as programme note, in order to exhibit the unique features of the cave (both archaeological and modern) as interactive and present heritage.

Kristina Wolfe (University of Huddersfield), Ian Armit (University of Leicester) and Lindsey Büster (University of Bradford)

TAG Deva 2018
Session: ‘In the Mix’: Recalibrating Music, Heritage and Place