Simon Ager

This is a tune I composed in Feburary 2018 for no particularly reason. I recorded it entirely on the cavaquinho, with the separate parts recorded separately. The kettle in the photo lives in my kitchen, and is a new one bought not long before I composed this tune, after my old kettle stopped working.

This is a tune I wrote in January 2018 to go with Broken Zips. It has a similar structure to Broken Zips, but is a bit faster. This recording was made in February 2018 on the guitar and cavaquinho. The Swellies is a part of the Menai Strait between the Britannia Bridge and the Menai Bridge. It is treacherous due to the shoals, rocks, whirlpools and surges. The photo shows Red Weir Island, a.k.a. W...

This is a tune I wrote in January 2018 during a week when several zips broke. So it's a lament for broken zips, played on the sopranino, descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders.

This is a tune I composed on the piano in December 2017. This recording is played on the guitar, mandolin, cavaquinho and bodhrán. The photo is one I took in Stoke Gabriel in Devon, where my brother lives. It's the name of a house there.

I composed this tune on the piano in December 2017. This recording is played on the high and low whistles, and the piano. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/6aFSFV

I composed this tune in November 2017 on the harp. The recording features the harp, and high and low whistles. The name of the tune came to me after a particularly wet day when I discovered that my shoes are not waterproof.

I wrote and recorded this tune on the harp in November 2017.

This is a song I wrote in September 2016, inspired by the Ukulele Hooley By The Sea in Dún Laoghaire, a ukulele festival I went in Ireland. I wanted to write something about ukuleles in the style of sea shanty, but as the action takes place on the shore, it's more of a shore shanty. This recording was made in November 2017 and features me on vocals, with accompaniment on the tenor and baritone uku...

This a tune I wrote in November 2017 on the cavaquinho, and all tracks in this recording are played on the cavaquinho. The photo is one I took in Reykjavik old harbour, and the red boats are used for whale watching, and seeing the Northern Lights.

This is a tune I wrote on the piano in October 2017 to go with the other river-themed tunes in the river set. Unlike the previous tunes in the set, this one is in D major. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/zsVAW

This is the last tune in the river set, written in October 2017 on the harp and piano. This recording features the piano, cavaquinho and guitar. After I composed it, I realised that it was quite similar to the Spider's Adventures. The photo is on I took of the Kent estuary at Arnside.

This is a tune I wrote in October 2017 to go with the Swirling River as part of a set of river-themed tunes. The photo is of the River Ogwen. You can see the score for this piece, and other parts of the River Set at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5571810

I wrote this tune in October 2017 on the mandolin. I decided to write something in D and in one octave, and this is what emerged. This recording features the mandolin, guitar, cavaquinho, piano and whistle. The day I recorded it was very wet, and just as I finished recording, the sun came out, briefly - that's where the name comes from. I took the photo the same day from my back garden, looking to...

This is a tune I wrote in September 2017, played on the piano. I decided to write something in D minor, just for fun, and after noodling on the piano for a while, this is what emerged. This is the first of my tunes to feature three sections. Unlike my other tunes, the arrangement of this one comes right in with several parts, then unpicks them until just the melody is left, then all the parts retu...

This is a tune I wrote in 2016, played on the harp. I recorded the different parts separately - they are not quite together in places, which gives an unsteady feeling you might have if you were dancing on custard.

This is a hornpipe I wrote on a Saturday in 2015, played on the melodica. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/vzLmLe

This is a tune I wrote in 2016, played on the piano, cavaquinho, guitar, high and low whistles and percusion. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/QuUUi

This is a tune I wrote in 2016. It was inspired by seeing a cuddly moose head on a friend's wall. This version is played on the harp, with the different parts recorded separately. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/8VKaiU

This is a tune I wrote in 2016 on the cavaquinho. The name was suggested to me by a friend when I played it at a folk session in Bangor. He found that to play it on the concertina, a lot of pushing and pulling was involved. This version is played on the cavaquinho, piano, guitar, high whistle, melodica and percusion.

This a tune I wrote in September 2017 while playing around on the piano. This version is played on the piano, high and low whistles, cavaquinho, guitar and percusion. You can find the dots for an arrangement of this for flute and harp at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5731274 The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/SowLHE

I wrote this tune in 2015. It came to me while noddling around on the cavaquinho, and as it had a bell-like quality to it, I decided to use bells in the title. Hirael is the area of Bangor where I live. The photo is one I took of Hirael Bay and Porth Penrhyn. This version is played on the cavaquinho, with multiple parts recorded separately. You can see the score of an arrangement of this tune for...

This is a new recording of a tune I wrote in January 2016, played on the harp, with each part recorded separately. I used a pūrerehua (a kind of bull roarer from New Zealand) to makes the wind noises. The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/cJP3Z5

I wrote this tune in March 2017, and recorded it on the guitar, with each part recorded separately. You can see the dots at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5607271

This is a tune I wrote in April 2017, played on the harp, high and low whistle, piano, cavaquinho and ocarina. The ocarina makes the tweeting sounds at the end. The title came to me after looking out of my kitchen window one day and seeing the hedge in my garden full of sparrows. I didn't mange to get a photo then, but this is a photo I took of sparrows, and blackbirds, in a bush on Bangor seafron...

This is a tune I wrote in August 2017, played on the guitar, cavaquinho, low and high whistles, piano, melodica and bodhrán. The name of this tune comes from an encounter with an unexpected badger in Glencolmcille in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland. I was walking along the road one night and saw a creature running towards me. At first I thought it was a dog or a cat, but when it got closer I s...