One thing most learn at school is that papier mâché can be used to make almost anything from odd-shaped faces to hollow balloon shapes. But for one music-loving couple, it produced sound to their ears. KEELEY KNOWLES found out how.
Nine months ago husband and wife luke and Heidi Woodhead embarked on their biggest challenge yet – making four French horns from scratch. And there was one hidden extra, they had to be made from scrap and recycled materials.
The task was for an ambitious 90-minute documentary titled Scrapheap Orchestra shown on BBC Four tonight.
Conductor Charles Hazelwood charged a group of the UK’s top instrument makers – including Luke and Heidi’s Ampthill-based company Woodhead Horn Repair Ltd to transform junk into an orchestra.
Then in July he conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall which performed a flawless medley of three classical pieces, one of which was Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
For the first time ever an entire orchestra of 44 instruments was built from just scrap.
The quest to build an orchestra of instruments out of rubbish was more than just a musical spectacle – in the construction of these objects those behind the show delve into the history of instrument making and the science of music.
Thirty-four-year-old Luke explains how they set about the job: “The first thing we had to do was to think about what materials we were going to use. We decided on papier mâché which was quite a challenge in itself but we wanted to do something out of the ordinary. We thought it’d be an interesting project to do.
“We had three months to make all four horns so it was a lot of evenings sat in front of the television making papier mâché.” The couple, who set up their company specialising in repairs for French Horns two years ago, used a gramophone part for one horn, lampshades from scrap heaps for others and even part of a garden hosepipe for the internal circle.
Copper central piping was also used on the instruments but it was the trusty papier mâché that made up the majority of the horns.
Both of them have a background with the instrument, in particular playing it, and Luke, who is a member of the Ampthill Orchestra, explains that he was worried about the quality of the sound from the recycled horns.
He said: “We thought that the paper would kill off the brass sound but it was surprisingly similar to the real thing.
“Most of the players were surprised too.” The prom was a success with members of the orchestra playing instruments from items ranging from a coathanger (violin bow) to washing-up bowls (cello) and Luke and Heidi, who live in Ampthill with their two-year-old daughter Lyra and who are expecting their second child in April, travelled down to watch it.
Luke said: “It was such a fun project. It was a lot of effort but we learned from it. It made us explore some aspects we didn’t think of before.” The BBC still has the unique horns and it is hoped they may be featured in a museum so members of the public can admire the handiwork.
The documentary will be shown at 9.30pm this evening.
