Adopt a Music Creator blog: Experimental sounds

Music creator Fraz Ireland details the workshops they did with Blackheath Choir as part of Adopt a Music Creator 2023. 

A workshop is a time to explore sounds and textures and ideas – not a first draft, but the opportunity to try out some first sketches. For my very first workshop with Blackheath Choir in June of last year, I was keen to try something quite experimental with the score, partly to introduce myself and the variety of ways that I am interested in writing music, and partly to take the choir a bit outside of their comfort zone.

I started by teaching them a simple melody by ear. Next, we continued singing in a loop, and then I handed out double-sided sheets of paper to the ends of each row with various instructions – to hum different things, to whisper, to make other sounds, and – crucially – to keep one and pass the rest of the sheets along to the next person. 

Gradually, the sounds changed as different people received their instructions at different times and adapted accordingly. The overall soundscape transformed – but still loosely retaining aspects of the original melody. Though this was all quite unfamiliar territory for the choir, I managed the different challenges - for example, once they received the paper, they had unfamiliar instructions to follow, but I’d also printed the original melody, so the memorising aspect suddenly became easier.

We finished with a second piece, a simple composition more likea carol or hymn tune, which we sight-read and sung as a fun end to our first workshop. A way to demonstrate that though I wanted to challenge them at points, I also wanted to write something they would be able to enjoy singing! Finally, I asked the singers to answer the questions on the sheet that would help me get to know them as a choir.

Fraz's notes and diary entries for the first workshop

By the second workshop, I had worked out some more ideas for the final piece – a series of songs exploring different aspects of choral singing. So for the workshop I brought along some little experiments to explore that could end up in the final piece.

Firstly, I was inspired by some warm-ups that Blackheath Choir have done when I’ve visited rehearsals. We focused on two warm-ups – descending patterns with changing vowel sounds, and counting up a scale using numbers to show which note we’re on. Having numbers to sing while learning the notes just takes away the added complication of fitting words in at the early stage – especially when you’re putting things together quickly. 

While thinking about numbers I was reminded of a method for learning psalm chants that I’ve used singing in church choirs, where you count up through the first half and down through the second half. Having such straightforward text makes the pacing very transparent - you know once you're counting down again that it’s going to have to end at 'one', so it all becomes about the journey to get there, and there’s a nice tension that can build between the number of chords left and the feeling of how far away a chord or key is from where it’s going to get to. I’m really interested in writing music that shows something in the final piece of the process of creating it, and these warm-ups and number exercises never really go beyond the rehearsal room, so bringing it to a stage is like the choral equivalent of wearing your pyjamas to work!

Overall, I thought the workshop went great! It was so valuable to have a bit more time working with the choir, trying out different things and getting to know their sound a bit more. We didn’t have loads of time per section, so the focus was more on experimenting than rehearsing. One of the most useful things about this project has been the feedback from the choir – to be able to chat to people and hear their thoughts and ideas about the workshop and the piece.

Next stop – rehearsals!

Find out more about Fraz Ireland on their website and follow them on X (Twitter) / Soundcloud

Find out more about Blackheath Choir on their website and follow them on X (Twitter) / Facebook / Instagram