Iorram (Boat Song) | The Sound Archive | Across the islands of the Outer Hebrides, voices from the past tell stories of the sea.

The Sound Archive

The audio material of the film is drawn from a vast repository of content held primarily by the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. The content of the final film includes material from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The audio was recorded by pioneering researchers using the first generation of portable sound equipment, ranging from wire and shellac recordings, to magnetic tape. The vast archive, with over 30,000 clips, has been impressively restored, catalogued and digitalised over the last decade by the archive. You can see more about the archive at the School of Scottish Studies website here.

The audio content selected for the film encompasses oral histories of events and people, stories retold by contributors covering real events, cultural beliefs, practices, myths and legends. There are also several archive songs, which in combination with the spoken material cover a vast array of themes highlighting the interrelationship between the sea and the islands’ inhabitants.

From the Director:

"Iorram began as an experiment to make a cinematic film entirely composed from archive sound recordings and contemporary moving images. The sound archive at the heart of this project contains over 30,000 pieces of previously untranslated and largely unheard Scottish Gaelic recordings, representing a treasure trove of cultural history and memories which deserve to be heard. Making documentaries from archive film footage is a long established practice, but there are also vast riches in sound archives around the world, which are gradually being digitized and restored, and potentially represent a valuable resource for filmmakers interested to explore the relationship between past and present, and between the ears and the eyes. If cinema has historically prioritized vision over sound, this is a chance to redress the balance, and provide audiences with a new and deeply satisfying kind of cinematic experience."

The film features the voices of:

Màiri Chaimbeul, Allan Currie, Donald Alasdair Johnson, Mary Johnston, Andrew Laing, Mìcheal Mac an t-Saoir, Calum MacAmhlaigh, Iain MacAoidh, Dòmhnall MacAonghais, James MacArthur, Neil MacAskill, Donald MacAulay, Flora MacCuish Peggy MacCuish, Ailig MacDhòmhnaill, Iain MacDhòmhnaill, Neil MacDonald, Donald Alex MacDonald, Donald MacDonald, Rev. Norman MacDonald, John MacGillivray, Donald MacIntyre, Angus MacKay, Roderick MacKillop, Jock MacKinnon, Nan MacKinnon, Roderick MacKinnon, Calum Iain Maclean, Sorley MacLean, Angus MacLellan, Donald Alasdair MacLellan, Penny MacLellan, Kenneth MacLeod, Murdo MacLeod, Neil MacLeod, Angus MacMillan, Lizzy MacMillan, Annie MacNeil, Catherine MacNeil, Mary Flora MacNeill, Ruairidh MacNeil, Dòmhnall MacPhàrlain, Micheal MacPhee, Calum MacPherson, Mary Morrison, Peter Morrison, Morag NicFhionghain, C. M. Ross, Donald Sinclair, Ealasaid Sinclair, John Smith, Peter Stewart.

Recorded between 1947–1975 by

Alan Bruford, Dr Iain Latharna Caimbeul, Leo Corduff, Eric Cregeen, Aonghas Iain Dòmhnallach, Dòmhnall Eairdsidh Dòmhnallach, Ian Fraser, Anelise Knudsen, Thorkild Knudsen, Dr Emily Lyle, Dr Iain MacAonghuis, Mary MacDonald, Calum Iain Maclean , Hugh MacNeil, Mòrag NicLeòid, Anne Ross, James Ross, Ian Paterson, Elizabeth Sinclair

An Tasglann Fuaim

Tha na guthan a chluinnear air an fhilm air an toirt bho stòras aibheiseach, a mhòr-chuid bho Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba aig Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann. Tha e a’ gabhail a-steach stuth bho na 1940an, ‘50an agus ‘60an. Bha iad air an clàradh le luchd-rannsachaidh adhartach a’ cleachdadh a’ chiad ghinealach de dh’uidheamachd fuaim so-ghiùlain, a’ gabhail a-steach clàraidhean uèir agus shellac, gu teip magnaiteach. Tha an tasglann aibheiseach, le còrr is 30,000 clip air a bhith air ath-stèidheachadh, catalogadh agus didseatachadh thairis air an deichead mu dheireadh leis an tasglann. Gheibhear barrachd fiosrachaidh mun tasglainn air làrach-lin Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba an seo.

Tha na clàran a chaidh an taghadh airson an fhilm a’ gabhail a-steach beul-aithris mu thachartasan agus dhaoine, sgeulachdan air an ath-innse le com-pàirtichean mu thachartasan fìor, creideamhan cultarach, cleachdaidhean, uirsgeulan agus eachdraidh. Tha grunn òrain tasglainn ann cuideachd a tha, còmhla ris am fiosrachadh aithriseach, a’ gabhail a-steach raon farsaing de chuspairean, a’ soilleireachadh an dàimh eadar a’ mhuir agus luchd-còmhnaidh nan eilean

Bhon Stiùiriche:

“Thòisich Iorram mar deuchainn gus film a dhèanamh le clàraidhean-fhuaim tasglainn agus ìomhaighean gluasadach co-aimsireil a-mhàin. Anns an tasglann fuaim aig cridhe a’ phròiseict seo tha còrr is 30,000 clàran Gàidhlig nach deach eadar-theangachadh agus gu ìre mhòr nach robh air an cluinntinn roimhe, a’ riochdachadh ulaidh de dh’eachdraidh chultarail agus cuimhneachain a tha airidh air an cluinntinn. Tha pròiseactan aithriseach air a bhith an dèanamh, a’ cleachdadh filmichean tasglainn o chionn fhada, ach tha beairteas mòr ann an tasglannan-fuaim air feadh an t-saoghail cuideachd, agus beag air bheag, thathas gan didseatachadh agus gan ath-stèidheachadh, rud a dh’fhaodadh a bhith na ghoireas luachmhor dha filmeadairean aig a bheil ùidh ann an bhith a’ rannsachadh na ceangalan eadar an là an-dè is an là an-diugh, agus eadar na cluasan is na sùilean. Ma tha film gu h-eachdraidheil air prìomhachas a thoirt dha deilbh, thairis air fuaim, seo cothrom sin a cheartachadh, agus seòrsa de film ùr agus sàsachail a thoirt do luchd-amharc.”

Cluinnear guthan:

Air an clàradh eadar 1947 - 1975 le: