Fiddles, Funk, and Forest Magic
Recently, we announced that local creative legend Alan Cumming would be joining us for our special anniversary year as the voice of our show.
But Alan’s voice is just one part of the extraordinary soundscape that brings The Enchanted Forest to life. From original music to the sounds woven through each installation, audio plays a huge role in creating the atmosphere, emotion and magic of the experience.
This year, The Enchanted Forest is sounding a little different… Our Creative Director, Karen Falconer, tells us more…
“For Stop The Clock – The 25th Hour, I wanted the music to feel every bit as fresh, playful and unexpected as the story itself – and that meant challenging composers Jon Beales and RJ McConnell to step outside the traditional Enchanted Forest sound and explore something new.
While every installation along this year’s route features its own specially composed original audio, it is within the three main showcases – The 25th Hour Clock, Clocked Off on the loch and the Once There Was Never Enough Time finale – that visitors will really hear that change of direction.
I really wanted to push the sound somewhere we haven’t taken it before. I’ve challenged Jon and RJ with lots of notes, references and probably a few slightly unusual suggestions along the way! The 25th Hour is playful, mischievous and celebratory, and the music needed to have that same personality.”
The result brings together distinctly Scottish ceilidh influences with upbeat funk, groove and contemporary rhythms, punctuated by those big orchestral swells that give The Enchanted Forest its sense of scale and spectacle.
It’s a soundtrack designed not just to accompany the lighting, animation and storytelling, but to drive it – moving from quirky and playful to uplifting, nostalgic and, ultimately, celebratory.
Jon and RJ have been working incredibly hard to interpret the creative direction and bring each moment to life, creating a soundtrack that still has the heart and magic audiences associate with The Enchanted Forest, but with a completely new energy.
Expect fiddles. Expect funk. Expect big orchestral moments. And expect The Enchanted Forest to sound quite unlike it has before.
After all, when the clock stops and you discover an extra hour… why shouldn’t it have its own soundtrack?”
The Enchanted Forest runs from 8 October to 8 November in Faskally Wood, Pitlochry.
