Mike Vass

Throw back to 1st July 2019 and the release of 'The rainbow of your last days' music video.

Mike Vass - The Rainbow of Your Last Days The Official Music Video for 'The Rainbow of Your Last Days' from Vass' April 2019 release 'Save His Calm' with animation by Gavin C Robinsonhttps://www.mike...

Am Ploc

24 hours left to pre-order and make our vinyl dreams come true!!

In 1996, I had just visited Blairgowrie with my mum and grandmother to compete in the U13 fiddle competition at the Royal National Mòd —a rather surreal experience. The competition was halted right before my turn to perform, adding considerable anxiety to an already nerve-wracking day. We were waiting for the Mod's patron, the future King Charles III to arrive and take his place in the front row on an expensive-looking velvet cushion to listen to the next young fiddle player—me.

Despite the nerves, I went on to win the competition, claim the Mod gold medal, and most importantly, choose a CD from a music shop in Perth, paid for by my grandmother as a reward for my win. I chose 'Now 34' a compilation of the chart-topping music of 1996. Nestled among pop favourites by the likes of the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams, and Gina G, were some more esoteric numbers by electronic producers Josh Wink and Underworld.

Josh Wink's 'Higher State of Consciousness' had the uncanny ability to get me dancing every time the lead part hit the high register. How? What was this strange music? How on earth did they make it? Was it just made to make me want to move? Twelve-year-old me had no clue what the 'Higher State of Consciousness' title referenced; I just enjoyed the sound and the arrangement.

Hearing this tune set me on a lifelong quest of sonic exploration and the desire to make people dance the way 'Higher State' had made me. A couple of years later, I discovered Shooglenifty and Martyn Bennett, and a couple of years after that, the first Croft No. Five. All these artists somehow blended elements of our traditional music with elements of electronic music, similar to what I'd first heard from Josh Wink. These ideas percolated in my head, and I knew that one day I would try to create something similar.

I left home at 17 and moved to Edinburgh, quickly finding myself in the melting pot of the Edinburgh session scene. My electronic aspirations were forgotten in favour of furiously practising my fiddle so I could sit with the best of them in a session and truly enjoy the freedom of those tunes played well.

It wasn't until 2007, at a house party in Edinburgh, that my electronic curiosity was rekindled. Someone played a track called 'Take Me into Your Skin' by Danish producer Trentemøller, and the spark was relit. New discoveries and a search for sound led me to Scottish acts Boards Of Canada and Aphex Twin, and later to Jon Hopkins, Bonobo, Max Cooper, and Kiasmos—all creating addictive sound worlds that I couldn't get enough of.

Years of exploring and creating, learning new bits of hardware and software, refining techniques, listening deeply, listening again, trying to recreate some of the feeling I got from these artists, led me to the new sound worlds of A.D.A.M. Every melody is an ancient one, learned from the records of living Gaelic tradition bearers like Margaret Stewart and Alyth McCormack, and archive recordings from the School of Scottish Studies from the likes of Mary Morrison Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh , who inspired the title of the new record.

Part of the challenge with this album was that we wanted to cut no corners, to not 'make do', but to keep pushing ourselves further and further, to learn more and more, to grow, to refine techniques, to abandon all reason and deeply explore the possibilities of blending the bagpipe with synthesisers, found sounds, and drum machines. I always thought the small pipes had a 'synth-like' quality of tone and would blend well with modern production techniques.

We feel like we finally cracked the code with this album, it's the best things we've made so far, and hope you love listening to it as much as we loved making it.

Link to pre-order in the comments!

Last chance! Your shares are very much appreciated.

A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass Pre-order the brand new album from A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' | Check out 'A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass' on Indiegogo.

Mairearad Green & Mike Vass announce new album project

'A.D.A.M - Everybody wants to be like Mary'

In 1996, I had just visited Blairgowrie with my mum and grandmother to compete in the U13 fiddle competition at the Royal National Mòd —a rather surreal experience. The competition was halted right before my turn to perform, adding considerable anxiety to an already nerve-wracking day. We were waiting for the Mod's patron, the future King Charles, to arrive and take his place in the front row on an expensive-looking velvet cushion to listen to the next young fiddle player—me.

Despite the nerves, I went on to win the competition, claim the Mod gold medal, and most importantly, choose a CD from a music shop in Perth, paid for by my grandmother as a reward for my win. I chose 'Now 34', a compilation of the chart-topping music of 1996. Nestled among pop favourites by the likes of the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams, and Gina G, were some more esoteric numbers by electronic producers Josh Wink and Underworld

Josh Wink's 'Higher State of Consciousness' had the uncanny ability to get me dancing every time the lead part hit the high register. How? What was this strange music? How on earth did they make it? Was it just made to make me want to move? Twelve-year-old me had no clue what the 'Higher State of Consciousness' title referenced; I just enjoyed the sound and the arrangement.

Hearing this tune set me on a lifelong quest of sonic exploration and the desire to make people dance the way 'Higher State' had made me. A couple of years later, I discovered Shooglenifty and Martyn Bennett, and a couple of years after that, the first Croft No. Five album. All these artists somehow blended elements of our traditional music with elements of electronic music, similar to what I'd first heard from Josh Wink. These ideas percolated in my head, and I knew that one day I would try to create something similar.

I left home at 17 and moved to Edinburgh, quickly finding myself in the melting pot of the Edinburgh session scene. My electronic aspirations were forgotten in favour of furiously practising my fiddle so I could sit with the best of them in a session and truly enjoy the freedom of those tunes played well.

It wasn't until 2007, at a house party in Edinburgh, that my electronic curiosity was rekindled. Someone played a track called 'Take Me into Your Skin' by Danish producer Trentemøller, and the spark was relit. New discoveries and a search for sound led me to Scottish acts Boards Of Canada and Aphex Twin, and later to Jon Hopkins, Bonobo, Max Cooper, and Kiasmos—all creating addictive sound worlds that I couldn't get enough of.

Years of exploring and creating, learning new bits of hardware and software, refining techniques, listening deeply, listening again, trying to recreate some of the feeling I got from these artists, led me to the new sound worlds of A.D.A.M. Every melody is an ancient one, learned from the records of living Gaelic tradition bearers like Margaret Stewart and Alyth McCormack, and archive recordings from the School of Scottish Studies from the likes of Mary Morrison, Tobar An Dualchais who inspired the title of the new record.

Part of the challenge with this album was that we wanted to cut no corners, to not 'make do', but to keep pushing ourselves further and further, to learn more and more, to grow, to refine techniques, to abandon all reason and deeply explore the possibilities of blending the bagpipe with synthesisers, found sounds, and drum machines. I always thought the small pipes had a 'synth-like' quality of tone and would blend well with modern production techniques.

We feel like we finally cracked the code with this album, it's the best things we've made so far, and hope you love listening to it as much as we loved making it.

Super yacht Loch Broom

Arthur’s jig PDF now on the website

Plockton

Arthur's Jig (PDF) now on the website!

Art - sheet music (PDF) Download sheet music Arthur's Jig is the melody on 'Art' (feat. Innes Watson) from Mike's third solo record 'Notes from the boat' written for his nephew.

I have just uploaded the full score for 'QUIET VOICES' from 'In the wake of Neil Gunn' to my website. Check it out and please share!

Quiet Voices - Full Score - Sheet Music PDF Download sheet music Quiet Voices is track 6 from Mike's 2014 release 'In the wake of Neil Gunn'

10 years since we set sail on the ‘In the wake of Neil Gunn trip’ starting in Duntulm, Skye on the 1st May. full score for ‘Settled in Clay’ on the website

Ullllllaaaaaaapooool

A shout out for Friday.

If you buy this record your life will be better! 😆
Last few days to pre-order our new album A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' with Mairearad Green.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-d-a-m-mairearad-green-mike-vass/x/586865 #/.................
Mairearad Green & Mike Vass announce new album project 'A.D.A.M - Everybody wants to be like Mary'

We’ve been writing new music together under the moniker, A Day A Month for over 10 years now.

Our new album, Everybody Wants to Be like Mary is set for release this summer. We have long been inspired by contemporary electronic music and we wanted to meld these production techniques with the traditional music we grew up with.

We wanted to push ourselves creatively and really take the time to find traditional melodies that fit with the vision that we had for our new sound. We spent several months collecting songs, some from the school of Scottish studies archives and some from the recordings of living tradition bearers.

We spent all of 2023 working on the sounds and we are really proud of this project.

We're excited to offer a high-quality double vinyl pressing of the album, complete with original artwork by Mairearad—inspired by the remarkable Mary Morisson from Barra, whose incredible canntaireachd influenced one of our tracks

We would be delighted if you got involved and pre ordered the album. A full hi-res download of the album will be included with every pre-order. We can’t wait for you to hear it.

A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass Pre-order the brand new album from A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' | Check out 'A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass' on Indiegogo.

Home (feat. Conal McDonagh) - Notes from the boat.

I’m slowly getting round to adding all my tunes as PDF downloads to my website. This one has been a favourite on Spotify for a few years now with over 1.3 Million streams!! - I’m grateful to everyone who has listened!

Home (feat. Conal McDonagh) - Notes from the boat.

I'm slowly getting round to adding all my tunes as PDF downloads to my website. This one has been a favourite on Spotify for a few years now with over 1.3 Million streams!! - I'm grateful to everyone who has listened!

Home - sheet music (PDF) Download sheet music Home is track 8 from my 2018 album release 'Notes from the boat' and features Conal McDonagh on low whistle.

If you buy this record your life will be better! 😆 Last few days to pre-order 'A.D.A.M'

A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass Pre-order the brand new album from A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' | Check out 'A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass' on Indiegogo.

Skye

We keep making our independent records and your support is much appreciated! Please share and pre-order if you can. New bagpipes/techno sounds from Mairearad Green and me.

A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass Pre-order the brand new album from A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' | Check out 'A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass' on Indiegogo.

New A.D.A.M sounds coming summer ‘24 with check out our vinyl/digital preorder. Link in bio

Pre-order the new album here https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-d-a-m-mairearad-green-mike-vass/x/586865 #/

Some synthesiser play for the new A.D.A.M album with check out our preorder on Indiegogo double vinyl £19 hi-res digi download £9

Had a rare old time with making our own drum samples for the new ‘A.D.A.M’ album in back in September. Check out our vinyl/digital preorder link in bio. Double vinyl album £19 digital download £9 donate £3 to help us get it released. Thank you!

Check out our home-made video of clips from the making of 'A.D.A.M - Everybody wants to be like Mary'

A.D.A.M Mairearad Green & Mike Vass https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/d092ea80 #/Indiegogo Crowdfunder video featuring A.D.A.M - new music from Mairearad Green & Mike Vass from their for...

Brand new music from Mairearad Green and me coming this year! Check out our vinyl/digital pre-order for A.D.A.M and please share

A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass Pre-order the brand new album from A.D.A.M 'Everybody wants to be like Mary' | Check out 'A.D.A.M - Mairearad Green & Mike Vass' on Indiegogo.

Dystopian adventures

Nice beach