At the end of last month VoiceMale went off to Hebden Bridge to perform at the Open Mic harmony night upstairs at the Stubbing Wharf. Lovely small intimate room with loads of great accapella stuff from all sorts of combinations of singers. Many were local but one group was from Sheffield and us lot from Bradford. Me and Dave R were a bit delayed after trying to catch and free a mouse from Dave’s flat before his newly adopted cat got it – clearly saving the environment and protecting natural species was far more important than arriving on time for a gig!. We then went wrong a couple of times en route. Anyway we got there with 15 mins to spare to get our name down for doing our 4 songs we’d prepared.

All the groups did a couple of songs in the first half and a couple more in the second. To rapturous applause we seemed to have gone down well (again if you don’t mind me saying!). Positive comments received included how energetic we all were (ie not just standing still all the time) and how we engaged with the audience rather than look at music or words or stare into space – something we try to work on consciously. It was our second or more performance with the new line up (ie with Damian) – so a well done to Damian especially!

Have a look at some of the pics of the Open Mic night we performed at and maybe come along yourself one day: (the picture of VoiceMale is the one of the 4 men!) http://www.harmonyopenmic.org.uk/

As an aside during our busy rehearsal times you might be interested to know about the odd diversions we end up having in the chats in between or even during singing! Here’s a few (some are singing related but not all) and I quote:

 “ Sorry I’m on the wrong note. I’m wondering is it him or me...we do diverge at one or two moments”

“You know what....I might get a bike from me mate and he might teach me archery!”

“Are we all to agree that we will sing ‘an’ instead of ‘and’?”

“That was rubbish – let’s do it again!”

Hopefully when it’s my turn to write the next blog I’ll have some more ditties for you!

Keith

Perhaps too many weeks have passed by since Jan 1st for me to be still harking on about the New Year, but with the changing of the calendar came some significant changes in my ‘musical’ life which I think are worth mentioning.  For a start, the first month of 2011 ushered in a renewed interest in the musicology – the scholarship of music as a historical, cultural and social phenomenon – as I started my MA in Music through the Open University.  The course promises to offer fascinating insights into many aspects of music, how it is itself influenced by musicians and audiences, and how it influences others through its power of political and emotional expression.

The focus of my studies for the beginning of the course is on Historically Informed Performance (or HIP for short!), and this links to another new and exciting musical challenge that I hope to take on this year: namely to start writing songs that might contribute to VoiceMale’s ever-expanding repertoire.  HIP, you see, springs from the musical mindset that all performances should first-and-foremost strive to recreate the original intentions of the composer.  But the truth is that this effort often conflicts with the creative process of putting together a performance that’s personally expressive and relevant to an audience at a given place and time.  The matter is complicated still further when you consider pieces that are written by and/or performed by groups of people rather than by individuals, which brings me onto my song writing aspirations for VM…

I’ve had an idea for a song that’s been swimming around my head since my wife and I visited Japan last November and we read these words about the Peace Bell in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial park:

May it ring to all corners of the earth
To meet the ear of every man,
For in it throb and palpitate
The hearts of its peace-loving donors.

Taking as my lyrics these words and others from inscriptions around the park, I’ve started working on a song of peace for VoiceMale to sing.  To be honest, it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything so challenging as a piece for four-part unaccompanied male voices, so I’m a bit daunted about it, but also excited to be creating a new piece with a specific group in mind.  One thing I do have to bear in mind, though, is that VM have a very pragmatic approach to rehearsals: once I’ve introduced the song to Keith, Dave and Dave to sing, I need to accept that it belongs to them as well as to me, and will be open to tweaks, changes and (most likely) improvements.  My song should be a living, breathing work for us all to sing and contribute to – there’s no room for VM to try to recreate an authentic aural facsimile of my original intentions as they were when I conceived the piece.. I just hope that my fragile ego can take the hit and enjoy the collaboration!

Damian

This month I have been mostly - getting back into musical gear after the 3 week "lay off" made obligatory by the seasonal festivities, and the British global cooling.  My dedication to musical prowess was manifested by, (or maybe lots of you did the same!), spending Xmas Day finishing a rather bizarre D.I.Y. project in my flat - making a sound reduction "booth" so I can play guitar and sing at modest volume without hacking off the neighbours in the flat above.
Songs that VM (VoiceMale) were practising BC (before christmas) have seemed a distant blur (or oasis) and it will take longer than usual to "crank up", as we've resolved to improve the detail in our finished songs - a slow grind, but we think everyone who hears us will notice the difference!
Dave R

We hope that your New Year's resolution is to see VoiceMale in performance this year :-))

Have a great year!