A Dramatic Union Births an Iconic Whisky in Glendronach Film

The Glendronach distillery, renowned for its single malts and rich heritage, recently launched a new worldwide campaign, focusing on the relationship between its Scottish roots, and the Spanish sherry barrels they use to distil their whisky. Developed by creative agency Southpaw, with renowned director and photographer Rankin, and featuring flamenco dancer Rocio Orellana. 

From the first meetings we had with the agency and production team, there was a strong sense they wanted to steer away from obvious Spanish or Scottish musical references. The onus was very much about capturing a sense of drama and evoking a story of passion, dedication, and a whisky born from a dramatic union. The goal was to make it clear that there was a bigger story here. Something beyond what we are seeing on screen.

The composition needed to be pared back, whilst also being cinematic, rousing and flamboyant. Our instinct was to explore the violin, which Jack began scoring for as soon as it was possible to do so. Simultaneously Will set about creating drones that evoked a sense of 'Scottishness' without leaning too heavily on the bagpipe specifically. The end result was a combination of pitched down pipes, alongside heavily processed and filtered synths. This laid the foundation for Jack's score to sit on. 

Initially we used VSTs (audio plug-in software) to demo Jack’s composition. Once we landed on a preferred approach, we called in renowned classical and folk violinist Simmy Singh to record Jack's composition. She was able to bring her virtuoso talent, and play a variety of arpeggiated lines, at varying speeds, that were intended to mirror the style of a flamenco guitar. 

We assembled various different arrangements from the takes recorded, to give Southpaw & Rankin many creative options to choose from. Then we spent a day in the studio, going over the various versions, until we whittled it down to the final piece that you hear on the film.  

This approach also allowed us the freedom to move different parts of the recording into places that worked with the movements of the dancer. From dark and mysterious, through to the flamboyant conclusion; ultimately mirroring the flavour profile of Glendronach whisky. 

We then had to think about the sound design of the film. Again, we wanted to keep things simple, but also accentuate the raw passion of Rocio’s dancing and the space she was occupying. The feeling was to use her movement to accent certain moments in the film and to combine these elements with key musical cues. The clapping, the foot stamps, the flourish of the dress, all combining and becoming musical instruments in and of themselves. We were able to access the rushes and find vocal ‘whoops’ and ‘chants’, which we were able to blend into the soundscape and percussively hit where necessary. 

The end result being a synergy of sound design and musical composition that blended the heritage of Glendronach with flamboyant flamenco imagery and sound. It's a piece of music that instantly grabs you and builds in intensity, leading to a dramatic crescendo that captures the essence of Glendronach’s new blend.