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| Image: visualisation of Fingal’s Cave created by SimVis at The Glasgow School of Art |
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The Glasgow School of Art and National Trust for Scotland’s work on Staffa will be the subject of a BBC Radio 3 documentary in the Between the Ears strand this weekend. The Virtually Melodic Cave will be broadcast at 6.45pm on Sunday 16 June.
The half hour programme will focus on the ground-breaking Virtual Reality work being undertaken by experts from the School of Simulation and Visualisation (SimVis) at The Glasgow School of Art, working in partnership with the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow as well as the National Trust for Scotland, which owns the island.
Staffa is well known for its striking basalt formations and Fingal’s Cave. Its most prominent feature has been an inspiration for intense artistic and literary activity for nearly 250 years as well as being a focus for early tourism. It remains one of Scotland’s major tourist destinations to this day.
A team led by Dr Stuart Jeffrey from SimVis has created a VR experience which aims to offer a powerful insight into this amazing cave’s ability to inspire artists and composers. Created over the last 3-years the VR response to the cave combines visual imagery, soundscape and acoustic modelling to create a virtual space where new creative work can be made.
For full details of the broadcast see the BBC Radio 3 press release (below)
For further information on SimVis contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474
press@gsa.ac.uk
BBC Radio 3 press release
CAVE THAT INSPIRED MENDELSSOHN AND KEATS BROUGHT TO LIFE BY BBC RADIO 3 AND THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
Between The Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds 16thJune 6:45pm
For the first time, Fingal’s Cave – the awesome natural structure on the uninhabited island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland – will be brought to homes and mobile devices across the UK through BBC Radio 3 documentary strand Between the Ears, in collaboration with The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation.
Using cutting-edge technology, which captures not only the acoustics of the melodic cave, but its awe-inspiring visual scale and beauty, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds audiences will be transported to a site of natural beauty that has inspired Felix Mendelssohn, Jules Verne, John Keats, August Strindberg and countless others. t is reported that Felix Mendelssohn was so moved by the unearthly sounds that fill the cave when he visited in 1829, that he created the remarkabl Hebrides Overturein response.
Listeners to Between the Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on the 16thJune at 6:45pm will encounter a rich cinematic sound experience with new composition. They will also be able to access a virtual reality version of the experience using their smart phones via a link from the BBC Radio 3 website.
The Radio 3 programme follows the work of Dr Stuart Jeffrey from The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation and sound designer and composer, Aaron May, to see if a virtual reality experience can capture a place’s very essence. It will see whether Aaron can be moved to create art in the same way that other artists have been, from visiting the virtual reality incarnation of the cave, only.
Alan Davey, Controller, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Classical Music said: “At Radio 3 we’re always looking at ways to offer audiences an escape from everyday life and a chance to view the world through a different and more reflective lens. It’s also important to find new ways to make heritage sites more accessible and tangible to people – we hope listeners will enjoy losing themselves in this awesome and evocative cave from the safety of their own mobile phones and radios. My thanks to BBC Scotland production, Glasgow School of Art and Dr Jeffrey in particular for working with us on this amazing piece of radio.”
Dr Stuart Jeffrey added: “The resonant sounds of blowing and popping in Fingal’s cave, together with booming waves; create a natural soundscape that does not match the movement of the waves – this is one of the things that makes it sound magical and musical. I’m delighted we can work with BBC Radio 3 and BBC Arts to bring that experience to audiences who might not be able to visit for themselves.”
ENDS
Contact: Alexandra Heybourne – 07973 189 364
Head of Communications BBC Arts, Radio 3, Classical Music
Notes to Editors
On the island
A few years ago Stuart and a team of archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland discovered Bronze Age remains close to the cave and near a 19th century folly that was used by early tourists as shelter from the elements. In Between the Ears, we join Stuart on location as he continues the dig and unearths further evidence of a Bronze Age site, and we accompany him into the heart of the cave during different sea states.
The location’s rich mythology, including that of mermaids and giants, highlights the sublime aspect of the place. Stuart’s wider research, together with Sian Jones at the University of Stirling and the NTS, is trying to understand the gap between how the Romantics viewed it – a site of awe – and how we see it today. “We have become dull souls, seeing it only as a nature reserve,” he says.
A place of inspiration
Jules Verne said, “the vast cavern with its mysterious, dark, weed-covered chambers and marvellous basaltic pillars produced upon me a most striking impression and was the origin of my book, Le Rayon Vert”.
During the 19th-century era of romanticism and the sublime, the Germans were particularly enthralled by Fingal’s Cave. Not only did they visit, but quirky plays and stories were even set there (including Bride of the Isles about vampires living inside Fingal’s Cave).
The location’s rich mythology, including that of mermaids and giants, highlights the sublime aspect of the place. Stuart’s research is trying to fill in the gap between how the Romantics viewed it – a site of awe – and how we see it today. “We have become dull souls, seeing it only as a nature reserve,” he says.
In the Lab
Whereas Stuart has spent many hours within the magnificent natural structure, Aaron has never set foot in Fingal’s Cave. But for this documentary he has created a new musical composition based upon his experience of entering a phenomenally exact virtual reality reconstruction, made by Stuart and his team at The Glasgow School of Art. It’s all part of the experiment to see if you can recreate the awe of a natural heritage site using technology.
The VR version, features laser scans, photogrammetry and acoustic sound maps. You are able to tour the entire length of the cave and even hear how a piece of music would sound if played within it. A version of this virtual reality experience, complete with Aaron’s composition, will be made available for listeners to explore on their smart phones. And of course, Aaron’s remarkable and evocative soundtrack will feature in the radio documentary.
BBC Radio 3’s Between The Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on 16 June 18:45pm and is also available on BBC Sounds