He is widely known for burying the only existing copy of the master magnetic tape of his first classical album, a violin concerto in Orkney, deleting all digital files and leaving only a treasure hunt of clues for fans and his record label alike to search for it.

[1] In 2011 Cooper co-founded the British shoegaze band The Magnetic North with Simon Tong and singer, composer and orchestral arranger Hannah Peel.

The album is the first of a triptych that reflects on the natural world surrounding Orkney, with its tracks each taking their titles from Orcadian dialect words for birds.

[14] In 2022, Cooper provided a soundtrack, Music For Growing Flowers, to the Superbloom wildflower meadow installation within the moat of the Tower of London.

Cooper is known for his contemporary arrangements of traditional Scottish and English folk songs, including most notably "Love Is a Killing Thing" and "The Derby Ram" collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams.