Nick Turner has worked in the music industry for over twenty-five years as sound artist, producer, engineer, performer and writer. Nick founded Watercolour Music in Lochaber in 1994, building the business up from a single-room recording studio in a disused hotel function suite to its current position as one of the country’s most sought-after recording locations in purpose-built premises in Ardgour, Lochaber, overlooking Loch Linnhe and Ben Nevis. 

Nick divides his time between production and recording commissions at Watercolour Music’s studios, and his own creative and writing projects, with a particular passion for song-writing and sound design. He has been in residence as Sound Artist in Association for Aberdeen Performing Arts, documenting and celebrating the refurbishment of the Aberdeen Music Hall; and Artist in Residence at the ØY Festival in Papa Westray, Orkney. 

He developed ‘The Deep Sea Light’ sound installation project, using submarine recording, convolution reverb and found sound with traditional and contemporary musical composition to reconnect with the underwater marine environment. 

At Watercolour, he has been responsible for a vast number of recordings across the musical spectrum, from indie, hip hop, pop and rock to classical and folk. As a producer and engineer, he has worked with a wide variety of world-class musicians and producers including Josienne Clarke, Martin Taylor, John Renbourn, Jerry Boys, Shooglenifty, Julie Fowlis, Blazin Fiddles, Treacherous Orchestra, Rachel Sermanni, Fred Morrison and many more. 

His reputation is founded on a keen ear for detail coupled with an ability to place recorded sound in a natural ambient setting. He has engineered and co-produced many albums and TV series with his partner, Mary Ann Kennedy, including several albums for Gaelic record label Macmeamnma, their own Watercolour label and Greentrax Recordings. These include Cliar (‘All-time Best Album”, Scots Trad Music Awards), Marit and Rona (Celtic Connections Danny Award-winners 2012) and no fewer than six winners of the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year. 

He co-produced the soundtrack to the award-winning BBC series, ‘Aig Cridhe ar Ciùil’ and the boundary-breaking TV series of musical collaborations, ‘A’ Gharaids’ for BBC ALBA. He is a prolific songwriter, collaborating over the years with several singers, including Findlay Napier as Queen Anne’s Revenge. Their songs continue to be showcased in Findlay’s live performances. 

His interest in sound production and recording has expanded to a long-term exploration of the relationship between the natural world and music composition and performance, from in-situ recordings of pibroch in their places of origin and inspiration, to re-creating the natural soundscape of a frozen Highland landscape within the confines of a Regency library. Previous projects include the recording and production of the soundtrack to the feature-length film version of ‘An Drochaid: The Bridge Rising’ – the first major collaboration between Creative Scotland and MG ALBA. 

He also oversaw the production of ‘Aiseag’, Watercolour’s commission as part of the Commonwealth Games/ PRSF New Music Biennial 2014 – a collaborative composition between lead artist Mary Ann Kennedy, Canadian composer Scott MacMillan, poet Aonghas MacNeacail and Nick as audio designer. He and Mary Ann continue to work together on projects including the 2016 Blas Festival Commission – Beul na h-Oidhche Gu Camhanaich (Mouth of the Night to First Light), a celebration of the night skies; an artistic residency at Aberdeen Music Hall in 2016/7; and Mary Ann’s solo album projects, ‘An Dàn’ (2017) and ‘Glaschu – Hometown Love Song’ (2019) on the international world music label ARC Music.

Nick 1 - (Hearing)  Impulse Number One