Reimagining the Sound of Sleat
For the fourth chapter in our Legacy Series, we turned to a different kind of storytelling.
We revisited a tune long woven into Scotland’s musical tradition - The Sound of Sleat, a four-part reel written by Donald MacKinnon in the 1950s. A piece inspired by the same stretch of sea that runs behind our distillery - the same inspiration for our latest release.
To bring it to life, we asked Highland-born musicians Mairearad Green and Mike Vass to take the tune and shape something new - something that captures the spirit of the Sound of Sleat, just beyond the distillery, where our home meets the sea.
Here’s what they had to say - recorded on the shoreline of the Sound itself, within sight of the waters that inspired the tune all those years ago.
(Before you read on, why not press play above and let the new rendition set the tone?)
Can you introduce yourselves?
Mairearad : My name is Mairearad Green. I'm an accordionist and bagpiper.
Mike: My name is Mike Vass. I'm a musician and composer, originally from the East Coast but now based in Portuairk.
Mairearad: And we’ve written a new piece of music for the latest chapter in the Torabhaig Legacy Series - Sound of Sleat - a modern take of Donald MacKinnon’s tune of the same name.
Tell us a little about your connection to traditional Scottish music.
Mike: We both grew up in the Highlands playing traditional music. We started playing together around 20 years ago now. I was very lucky to get fiddle lessons in school when I was about eight, then started playing guitar in my twenties.
There was an amazing hub in Inverness at that time called Balnain House - known as the home of Highland music. It was an amazing space to meet musicians who were touring and coming to the Highlands for concerts. They had an exhibition space and a café. That was really my first foray into life in traditional music. There I learned that it was truly community music. It's quite democratic and accessible to everybody - anybody that wants to join in is very welcome.
I suppose originally it was mostly dance music, but now it’s more concert-focused. There’s loads of young bands doing amazing things, using traditional music as a foundation and bringing in all sorts of genres - electronic, classical, jazz. It's a melting pot. The Highlands is a fantastic place for that to be happening just now.
Mairearad: I grew up in a place called Achiltibuie and had regular piping tuition from Pipe Major Norman Gillies. He was quite a scary character, but made you want to practise! And similar to Mike, just growing up and playing in local village halls - I played for a lot of ceilidh dances.
So many of my lifelong friendships are connected to music. That's part of the reason Mike and I created this duo called A Day a Month (A.D.A.M) - the idea is we meet up once a month to write new music. Sometimes we manage it!
What role does community play in your music?
Mairearad: We're very lucky that people across the world love Scottish music - especially the bagpipes. We’ve been fortunate enough to tour around the world, but we’ve both ended up moving back to the Highlands because the draw of home and community is very strong. And it’s the link to the landscape and to the people and the culture and the language - it all feeds so much into what it is we’re doing now.
Mike: Mairearad is also a landscape painter, and a lot of her projects combine the two things - music and art.
Mairearad: Yeah, absolutely. All of my albums are related to the visual and to the land that we’re standing on right now.
At the Fank, Achnahaird II by Mairearad Green (see more here).
Mike: I’m currently working at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music (Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd) - it’s a specialist music school, the only one of its kind in Scotland for young aspiring traditional musicians. They come to us from as young as 12 up to 18. It’s an amazing thing for them because it’s truly intergenerational. We've got tradition bearers that come to the school for music weekends, run masterclasses and share their connection to the music. It kind of gives the students access to the wider culture and musical world of Scotland.
Hamish Henderson called it the "carrying stream", and I think being at the school really makes them feel part of that stream. They’re the future of our music and it’s amazing to share it with them.
What does the Sound of Sleat mean to you?
Mairearad: I think I first learned the tune The Sound of Sleat by Donald MacKinnon when I was probably 14 or 15, in high school. It’s a wonderful reel that’s very popular in Scotland today. A beautiful tune, a great melody - and there’s a reason it’s still going strong.
You can see the inspiration for the tune right behind us here. It’s nice to think that back then, people were inspired by these landscapes — and we’re lucky enough to still be doing that now.
Donald MacKinnon piping in the Patron of the Queensland Pipers’ Society in 1970. (Source :Piping Press).
Mike: It’s a four-part pipe reel written by Donald MacKinnon, as Mairearad says. And it’s very commonly played - a well-known tune. It’s almost become part of the traditional repertoire. Many people who play it maybe don’t know that it’s actually a relatively modern composition - probably from the 1950s. You can imagine Donald sitting here, taking inspiration from the scenes behind us, composing the tune.
I’m a seafarer, so I’ve sailed up and down the Sound of Sleat countless times. I’ve anchored in Loch Scavaig, been up to Dun Telve, and spent many summers sailing here. It’s a special place - so many little nooks and crannies - and it really encourages exploration. That’s where I find inspiration: being at sea, absorbing those influences, and taking it all back to the desk to compose.
Mairearad: It sounds like a cliché to say you’re inspired by the landscape - but really, how could you not be?
You’ve mixed traditional and electronic sounds. How did that come about?
Mike: The pioneer of that kind of fusion - electronic and trad - was Martin Bennett. He sadly died young, but left five fantastic albums. He was a master piper, fiddle player and composer, and spent the ’90s in the clubs of Edinburgh absorbing all the techno that was happening then. He’s revered now - and loads of bands since, including ourselves, have been massively inspired by him.
We’re just trying to make our sounds as current as possible. We’re now a quarter of the way into this century! We’re inspired by current electronic producers.
Mairearad: A large part of our process is eating nice food and listening to current music. We love Jon Hopkins, Ólafur Arnalds, Kiasmos, Max Cooper - and all those people are hopefully feeding into what we’re doing. We’re aiming for the perfect blend - a four-part bagpipe reel and a four-on-the-floor kick drum. Techno meets tradition.
What do you hope people feel when they hear your version?
Mairearad: I really hope they feel something. A strong connection to the place - that’s always a nice thing.
Mike: I hope they feel uplifted. It’s a really emotive melody - and even as a solo bagpipe piece, it’s uplifting. We hope we’ve paid homage to the tune and been respectful to the melody, and just supported it with the electronic elements. Hopefully it feels uplifting - a feel-good track.
Favourite spots near the distillery?
Mike: I’m very fond of Ashaig Beach, just before the turn-off to the distillery. I lived there for a few months. It’s got an incredible natural seawater lagoon - you can walk all around for hours. You usually don’t meet anyone else. Well worth it.
Mairearad: My sister lives in Braes and we’ve climbed Ben Tianavaig quite a lot. The perspective from that small hill is incredible - really inspiring to me.
And finally - music and whisky. A natural pairing?
Mairearad: I mean, bagpipes and whisky couldn’t be more Scottish, really. And I enjoy doing both!
Mike: I suppose as humans, we’re all looking for a transcendental experience. You can get it from music. And you can certainly get it from whisky. The combination of the two can be a very special thing.
Feeling inspired?
Explore the sounds that shaped the song. Mike and Mairearad have pulled together a playlist of tracks that inspired their rendition of The Sound of Sleat.
Have a listen and let the music take you there. Only on Spotify.
