It is always interesting when you see something which makes you think about going in a different direction. I recently attended a couple of classes on cinematic composing and professional music production. Although they were interesting, I didn’t really want to commit to a subscription model for either, although I may purchase a book recommended by one of them. Which brings me onto a new direction which has come out of the blue.

A friend of mine, Jon Oates, who has purchased both my “Aestas” CD and the download of my Christmas single “Rainbow’s End”, has approached me about having my music performed on draairogel, which is a Dutch barrel organ, and is even having one built. Examples of how this sounds can be found on the YouTube channel of one of Jon’s friends.

https://www.youtube.com/@matssijnesael9987/videos

I am always open to interesting suggestions and this is certainly one of them. I have sent Jon some MIDI files to see how he gets on.

The above mentioned Christmas single, which was released on 29th November, is quite an old track and was featured in an AV sequence produced by Roberta and me. The sequence was awarded a “Highly Commended” at the nationwide “New Horizons” competition in 2018 and can be viewed on the AV page of our website. Another of our old AV sequences, “The Iconoclast”, featuring the song “Titanium” by David Guetta and Sia, went down very well when shown by Roberta at Stirling and District Camera Club, so maybe there is still some future for us in AV.

Currently I am working very hard on a new version of “Tempora Mutantur” which may be my next single for release in 2025.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.