AUDIENCE members at a performance from a guest musician at Cumnock Tryst will be transported underground.

Scott Lygate will recreate the sounds and the atmosphere of mine-working when he plays the world premiere of Barony A Frame, a specially commissioned piece which he has written.

The 26-year-old from Irvine, who is currently on tour with the Scottish Ensemble, has another major string to his bow.

As one of the few people in Europe to have mastered the contrabass clarinet, which produces a unique deep sound, his appearance is eagerly anticipated in Cumnock.

Taking time out of his busy schedule — he has just taken delivery of a hand-written score from Tryst director Sir James MacMillan — Scott met the Chronicle at the Barony A Frame.

His creation is inspired by the frame as well as the mining industry and the general life which once surrounded it, which was such a big part of industrial Ayrshire.

He said: “I have tried to represent various aspects of working in the mines, such as the metallic sound of workers chipping away at the coal.

“The environment under the ground is also there — so dark with the contrast in sounds, like water dripping with the noisy machinery and conveyor belts.

“It was a different world down there. Things like train tracks and, while you can’t create everything the piece, as a whole, tries to do this.

“There are four players coming over from Austria, who are all adaptable which means I can give them parameters to work with and they can improvise on it.”

Having started playing the piano at aged three, Scott’s musical journey has brought many achievements while he continues to learn.

A career highlight is working with Sir James and playing music composed by him at the festival.

“I am really excited that Sir James is writing me a new piece for me, especially for the contrabass clarinet, which will be played at the festival.

“It is a monster of an instrument and quite rare and takes a lot of practice to master the technique but I love it and you can make some incredible sounds on it,” Scott added.

Another composition Cumnock Tryst, starring Ayrshire’s Nicola Benedetti, takes place between September 29 and October 2 — visit www.thecumnocktryst.com for information.

Meanwhile, Scott is preparing for the second year of a masters course, called Performance Practice in Contemporary Music, which he is taking at a university in Graz, Austria.

“Over in Austria, they have a very different culture of composing and I really wanted to go out there and try the various music styles.

“Also, developing what they called extended instrument techniques which involves using the instrument in different ways to get a wide range of sounds.

“They are really into that in Austria and I am studying with one of the best ensembles in the world as the principal clarinetist,” he added