A tune commissioned by Jim, Holly, Gracie and William, for friends Julie & Aaron.  Composed by Karen Steven, the tune is written in a traditional Scottish style and performed on fiddle by Karen, with accordion melody & harmony plus keyboards from Alastair MacDonald.  Alastair also sound engineered the recording in Petawawa, Ontario on 24th November 2023.

Julie & Aaron's North Highland Reel

2 tunes I composed during lockdown; the first one is inspired by the Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve in Scotland.  When the tide goes out, the seals come ashore, a gorgeous site.  Don't get too close though.  They are beautiful, but wild animals.  The second tune was composed for multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, Alastair MacDonald, originally from Wick in Caithness, now living in the Upper Ottawa Valley, Ontario, Canada.

09 Karen Steven - March For The Grey & Common Seal Haul Out, The Pigini Playing

A tune composed especially for John Bain, a fixture at Feis Ghallaibh for a number of years.  Not a tutor, John would spend his time in the staff room, making sure everyone had refreshments.  Sady missed.

Coffee Mate John

Here's a tune I wrote yesterday, 2nd January 2024.  What a surprise today, to get a call from former North Highland College fiddle student, Johnny Murphy.  Johnny studied music at North Highland College more than 20 years ago.  Since then, Johnny has gone on 7 world tours with the Irish dance sensation, Riverdance.  Johnny is married, with 5 children.  He tells me he has 60 music students.  He also makes and repairs violins and bows.  What a talent.  Johnny is active on social media and enjoys preserving and passing on his native traditional Irish music.  He runs Braid River Violins in Ballymena, N. Ireland.  Was so good to catch up with Johnny today - was easy naming one of my most recent compositions for Johnny, to reflect our chat.  Johnny has a new album coming out, so I'm looking forward to hearing that.  The famous musician, Sean Maguire was the fiddler who inspired me to learn to play.  Through Johnny's social media, I've noticed that he too has been influenced by Sean Maguire.  Hope you enjoy this track - fiddle (Karen Steven), Accordion & piano (Alastair MacDonald), sound engineering (Alastair MacDonald).

Catching Up

Edited track of tune written for Johnny Murphy.  More piano in this mix.  Enjoy.

Island of the Seals - Between the Ears
Composer, sound artist and flautist Rob Mackay traces his family roots on Eilean nan Ròn, just off the north coast of Scotland.
In the early 1800s this small island at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue – its Gaelic name translated as “Island of the Seals” – became home to three crofting families, and at its height of population the community flourished to around 70 people. But the island became devoid of human life again by 1938, as the departure of its younger inhabitants prompted a gradual re-location back to the mainland. Since then, apart from a brief period of research into the common cold in the 1950s, Eilean nan Ròn has been home only to the grey seals which give the island its name, a flock of wild sheep, and colonies of seabirds.
The memories created over that century of human inhabitation still linger today though, amongst the ruins of eight abandoned stone houses and their crofts, which dot the dramatic landscape. This story of human life includes the ancestors of Rob Mackay, whose grandfather and great-grandfather lived on the island with their families. 40 years on from his last visit as a child, Rob makes a return trip to search for a closer connection with these family roots, and to understand their self-sustaining way of life, which included fishing for herring, cooking over peat fires and making crowdie. We join Rob as he crosses the short stretch of North Atlantic water to wild-camp next to his grandfather’s house, and uses recorded sound and his own flute playing to tune into the soul of the island’s deserted village.
We hear stories of the island and its people through the voices of Rob’s mum Iona Mackay, his cousins Lina and Donny Mackay, fellow descendent of islanders Ray Richards (archive audio courtesy of Wick Heritage), artist and rower Ruth Macdougall, local school head-teacher and documenter of oral history Katherine Van Voornveld, and Jean Maclean, whose small fishing boat enables Rob and producer Andy to spend 24 hours on the difficult-to-access island. Excerpts from two poems about the island are told by Ray Richards, and storyteller Alex Patience.
Traditional tunes related to the area (The Dark Island, Waters of Kylesku and the Gaelic tune Cailin Mo Rùin-sa) were recorded specially for the programme by fiddler Karen Steven, whose granny was also an inhabitant of the island, with accordionist Alastair Macdonald. Rob’s immersive musical soundscape includes echoes of these fiddle and accordion tunes, field recordings of snapping shrimp and grey seals, and ambisonic recordings from the night on the island.

BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears - Eilean nan Ròn

Composed on 12th January 2024 for a great venue in Ottawa.

Red Bird Jig

Composed as a thank you to Craig and Jayne for hosting us on the night of the Ardbrae Ball, 3rd February 2024.

Springtime Bliss

A new composition for a 3x32 bar strathspey, for the dance of the same name, devised by Jayne Irwin

Diamond on the Water

A recent composition I donated to the Fiddles on the Rideau silent auction fundraiser, supporting mental health charities in Ottawa.  The highest bid on the tune came from Margaret Allen, who named the tune 'McCarthy Reel'.  As well as naming the tune and receiving an MP3 copy of the music, Margaret also received a PDF of her tune with frame.  I play fiddle on the track.  As well as sound engineering and mixing the audio, Alastair MacDonald plays accordion, piano and bass on the recording.

McCarthy Reel

A tune I composed as a fundraiser for Fiddles on the Rideau silent auction, Ottawa, raising funds for mental health charities in Ottawa.  Loretta Fitzpatrick bid the highest amount and received a framed copy of the sheet music, with the tune named by Loretta.  Loretta also received an MP3 audio recording of the tune performed on fiddle by myself.  Sound engineering and mixing by Alastair MacDonald who also played accordion, 2nd accordion, piano and bass on the recording.

The Fitzpatrick Reel

A tune composed for a Scottish country dance, devised by Jayne Irwin, for the dance of the same name.  The dance is a 4x40 bar hornpipe.  In addition to the original tune, the set includes; St. Joseph's hornpipe, The Trumpet Hornpipe and the first two measures of Crossing the Minch

Mianha

Refers to a particularly bad storm in Caithness, September 1990, when many fishing boats were damaged or capsized.  Photo by Mario Luciani, Thurso.

The Wild Spell

Are Cnoc Stanger, Keoltag and Beinn Ratha, their names evidence of both Norse and Gaelic presence in the country of Caithness at one time.  At 795ft, Beinn Ratha is the tallest of the three.

The Hills Of Reay

Composed for Alison, herself a lovely, multi-instrumentalist, singer and dancer on the occasion of her significant birthday.  Alison’s passion and commitment to conservation, earned her the title of, Professor.  She is a Senior Scientist and Baillie Gifford Entrepreneurial Research Fellow at The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen.  Photo by Duncan McLachlan, www.studiograff-photo.co.uk

Half Century Jig

– Is a natural headland, coastal arch, situated to the south of Wick in Caithness.  Starting out as 2 caves either side of the headland, weather and sea erosion has resulted in a single arched opening forming.  Photo by Mario Luciani, Thurso.

The Brig O Trams

Composed for Alastair Macdonald; engineer, accordionist, piano player, music producer, composer and Vice President of Decommissioning and Waste Management Oversight at AECL, Canada.  A good friend of Karen’s, who travelled to Cape Breton Island, Canada with her in 1986 as part of the group, The Caithness Junior Fiddlers, Alastair has assisted with this book project by editing all the audio tracks.  Photo by Duncan McLachlan, www.studiograff-photo.co.uk

The Pigini Playing V.P.

Chloe took part in a photo session for Karen’s website.  She was a joy to work with, happy and professional.  This tune is suited to the Scottish National Dance called The Blue Bonnets.  Photo by Duncan McLachlan, www.studiograff-photo.co.uk

Chloe Mackay Of Halkirk

If you are new to playing for dancing and want to inject a little 'dance' sound in your playing, begin by taking a reel that you know well, play it at strathspey tempo, fill the tune with snaps and dotted quaver/semi-quaver combinations.  Gradually build up the tempo of the strathspey, going from a 4 beats in the bar rhythm to 2 beats in the bar.  Try to maintain a little of the strathspey rhythm at reel tempo.  If you lose the rhythm, just slow the tune back down again to strathspey rhythm and build up again.  The example tune from the book used in this tip is, Matty's Appeal (Reel).

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