What a residency at Positive Ambisonics actually feels like

People sometimes ask what it’s really like to come here. Not the equipment list or the itinerary — but the feeling of it. So here’s an attempt at an honest answer.

You arrive in Tayvallich and the first thing you notice is the quiet. Not silence — there’s always something: wind off the loch, birds in the oak wood, the distant sound of the sea. But the particular kind of noise that follows most of us around has gone. That takes a day or so to settle into.

The accommodation is separate from the studio, and separate from us. That matters. You have your own space, your own rhythm. There’s no pressure to be sociable or productive at any particular time. Some residents work long hours in the studio. Others spend whole mornings just walking and listening before they record a single thing. Both are completely fine.

The studio is small and serious. The ambisonic tools take a little getting used to if you haven’t worked with spatial audio before — but that’s part of what the mentoring is for. Most people find that within a day or two something shifts in how they’re listening. The landscape starts to sound different when you know you can capture it in three dimensions.

What we hear most from residents afterwards is that they didn’t expect to feel so unhurried. That the pace of the place got into the work. That they left with something they couldn’t quite have made anywhere else.

That’s what we’re here for.

If you’re curious about whether a residency here might suit your practice, feel free to get in touch. There’s no obligation — just a conversation.