Simon Thoumire Make Good Art

This is a little track. Not much more to say about it! As I'm trying to write my Strathspey and Surreal piece of music I'm also continuing my weekly music!

In January 2016 Aidan O'Rourke, me, Shona Mooney and Jenn Austin will be writing for a 21 strong fiddle orchestra featuring many of Scotland's top players. The idea is to write new music for the traditional Strathspey and Reel orchestra but with a difference. The ensemble will be called Strathspey and Surreal and this track is something I'm working on for it. It's just ideas and they've already changed after I've experimented with the form! I thought would put it up anyway! You can buy tickets here - it's on Saturday 23rd January in the afternoon in Glasgow Concert Hall Main Auditorium. http://events.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/strathspey-and-surreal

Flutter (written by Simon Thoumire) performed by the undergraduates of the music BA at Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. This was performed live at the Concert Hall on 29th October 2015.

A fifth idea based on an idea...

A mini piece of music featuring four ideas linked by an idea...

Written by Simon Thoumire

Written by Ross Ainslie

I'm sitting at Hands Up for Trad's Distil project (www.distil.scot) listening to drummer Mark Sanders talking about free improvising and how we should try finding a new sound on our instrument. Well I'm at a loss so I tried finding a new sound on my lips and combining it with my concertina. Here it is...

A simple march for organ, concertina, strings and flute...

It's been a nice few days spending time with the family. Quite hard to find time to practice though! This is a relaxed air that hopefully describes the good times we had!

I've been thinking a lot about the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame this last couple of weeks (halloffame.scot)so I thought I would do a (stupid) version of GS McLennan's classic Mrs A. MacPherson of Inveran. Possibly brought up to date or more like consigning it to the graveyard of great tunes performed badly!

Here's a wee tune written on the African thumb piano. It's the first time I've used it since Dave Milligan and I bought it in Australia way back in 2002!

Here are 3 tunes. The first jig is called An Gille dubh sugach which translates (from Scottish Gaelic) as The Merry Black Lad. I found this in the William Gunn Collection of Pipe Music. The Battlefield band sang a version of this on their last album as a Strathspey I think! I follow it with two difficult reels by fiddler William Morrison (1780 - 1825). The first tune is Viscount Mandeville and I've changed the ending because it can't be correct in the book. The second tune is Mr Duncan Forbes Duff of Muirtown's Reel. Both are in the brilliant Highland Collection published by Highland Music Trust. I love this book - definitely one of my favourites.

I saw this sign on a recent visit to Stockholm in a gallery and I decided it was a neat concept for some music. I've flirted with negative and positive connotations of this statement and in the end I've kept it positive! So go on - dream on :-)

I had an idea for a bendy track and here it is. Not a concertina in sight!

I wrote this riff on the concertina and brought together the cosmo and drums to finish it off. I can't wait to play it live.

Here is an outside recording I made of Saul Rose and Sam Sweeney's 2015 Folkworks ensemble. It's a bit windy but fantastic all the same. All the ensemble seemed to be having a great time playing lovely tunes and arrangement.

I had a great time at FolkWorks Youth Summer School with our mixed instrument group. Here are three recording we made over the week. If you would like to attend this brilliant summer school visit their website at http://www.sagegateshead.com/tour-dates/folkworks-summer-schools-2015

I had a great time at FolkWorks Youth Summer School with our mixed instrument group. Here are three recording we made over the week. If you would like to attend this brilliant summer school visit their website at http://www.sagegateshead.com/tour-dates/folkworks-summer-schools-2015

In our FolkWorks Ensemble class hosted by myself and Andrew Cadie we worked with a great group of young people. We performed and learned a few numbers and here is one of them! It is Keep Hauling by Andrew Cadie (http://www.broombezzums.com/biography/andrew-cadie/) If you love learning and sharing music why not attend FolkWorks in Durham. You can find out more here. http://www.sagegateshead.com/tour-dates/folkworks-summer-schools-2015