Deep calls out

"I chose Baikal at first because of the location, inspired by a magical realist novel set there, called The Year of Miracle and Grief by Leonid Borodin. I was curious to hear the actual sound of this ancient deep body of water. Listening, I was drawn into the scene, hearing the water lapping, like a giant breathing. And the crunching movement of feet circling it. 

"The presence of visitors at the lakeside creates a cultural meeting point, but is it respectful, or is it consuming? There is an ominous feeling as human presence circles and crunches without ceasing, almost predatory. But also thirsty. The lake has a mystical gravity, drawing people to its invisible depths, that speaks of eternity. 

"I edited the original file, removing voices, and added some fx to emphasise the slow breath, lapping of the water, and crunching of the feet. I then created a multiparts sample, assigning different sounds to keys. I added a bass synth gonging, like a march. Then played the sampler, record different layers of the field recording instrument over the track. I imagine this could be played live, in different combinations, emulating the sameness and difference to all the feet that tread the lake shore."

Lake Baikal reimagined by Marg Laing.

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This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.

Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage