London Breakbeat Orchestra
Thursday 17 July 2008
Who said you couldn’t mix classical and urban music? n2k meets the London Breakbeat Orchestra who do exactly this. Watch the video!
What is an orchestra?
An orchestra is a collective of musicians and instruments. The instruments usually are bowed string, percussion, wind and brass.
An orchestra which has forty players or less is called a chamber orchestra, while a full size orchestra is called a symphony or philharmonic orchestra, and can have up to 100 musicians.
Orchestras may also be accompanied by a group of singers (chorus) or be purely instrumental.
The conductor is an important part of the orchestra and is responsible for directing the whole musical piece – he or she does more than just waving around a baton!
London Breakbeat Orchestra
The London Breakbeat Orchestra (LBO) was formed in September 2005 by composer Cimeon Ellerton who wanted to demonstrate that orchestral instruments could be used for far more than classical music.
Sarah, who plays the violin agrees, “A lot of people don’t realise that there’s quite a lot you can do with classical instruments.”
Gigs
The LBO currently have 30 members who each play an instrument and/or sing and have performed in clubs, festivals and even on Radio 1 on Annie Nightingale’s show who told the band, “I’m really excited about what you’re doing. You guys should definitely blow up!” Listen to the session online.
Genre mix
Aside from creating beautiful classical music, the LBO are also being touted as the next big thing in underground electro-acoustic dance music.
Listen to some of their tracks on the official London Breakbeat Orchestra MySpace.
Make your own music
Want to be part of an orchestra? The first thing you could try to consider is whether you’d like to play an instrument, conduct or even sing. If you prefer to play an instrument consider which orchestral instrument you’d want to learn or specialise in.
Your music teacher at school, college or uni could help point you in the right direction of music lessons or even a local orchestra that might need members. Our article about learning how to play an instrument might help.
Harry, who plays the Soprano saxophone has advice for aspiring musicians, “You can play music as long as you feel a love for music.”
Junk orchestra
If you want to try something really different, why not be part of a junk orchestra?
As the name suggests, a junk orchestra is an orchestra that uses instruments made from bits and bobs and other materials. There are no rules when it comes to making these instruments – the more creative, the better!
Think about the family of instruments – stringed instruments make sound when the strings are vibrated so think about how this could be recreated using different materials. If you’re stuck for ideas, take a look at existing instruments.
A group of musicians who have opted for the junk orchestra route are UK based Halal Kebab Hut. They see themselves as “improviseurs de junk” and use objects such as water balloons, electric toothbrushes and even whoopee cushions to make music.
