Salm (pronounced salam), the Gaelic translation of the word Psalm, is a collection of Gaelic Psalms, sung in the traditional style by some of the best precentors -- those who lead the praise -- singing with a large church congregation. The recordings took place over two evenings in Back Free Church, Isle of Lewis, Scotland on 20th and 21st October 2003 where the singing was spontaneous and completely unrehearsed.
The style defies description; with so much of the sound texture relying on the congregation's individual response to the melody and the individual precentor's lead. The musical term is "Free Heterophony", and in the hands of the Gael this has become quite different to the English, European and Scottish tunes on which it was originally based.