Alison Beattie is a composer and sound artist who blends acoustic instrumental sounds with nature recordings to create fixed media compositions.

Her inspiration arises from her prior scientific career. She also creates scores for acoustic ensembles, interactive electronic pieces, installations and musical instruments from recycled objects.

Irresistibly drawn by the pull of music Alison Beattie left a career in Chemistry to embark on the long journey towards becoming a Composer and Sonic Artist.  Alison graduated with a Masters in Composition (MMus), by research, from the University of Glasgow in 2019.  Her area of study combined writing for acoustic instruments with field recordings exploiting the spectral properties of both sound worlds.  She was supported by Dr Drew Hammond and Professor Nick Fells in these respective areas.

Now owner of Alison Beattie – Composition and Sound Sculpture, Alison loves to blend the sounds of acoustic instruments with the sounds of nature to create electroacoustic fixed media compositions.  She has, with the help of fellow musicians, just released her debut single Angle to the Sun and debut Album entitled Bifurcation.  Inspiration for a lot of her acoustic writing comes from her prior career as a scientist.  She favours the use of maths based systems and unusual tunings to generate musical material which she then sculpts and further combines with field recordings, to create her own style.  She also creates interactive electronic pieces and scores for acoustic ensembles ranging from small chamber group to wind band and orchestra. In addition, she constructs sound installations and has recently begun designing and building strange musical instruments from recycled objects.

Alison believes music to be a powerful medium for breaking down barriers and bringing people together from different sectors of society including age, race and political views.  Alison also plays saxophone and cornet in numerous community bands, orchestras and ensembles and is one of five volunteer directors for “Music for People”, a summer school which offers a vast range of playing, singing and composing opportunities for adult learners.