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PLC writes for new BBC series

Paul Lovatt Cooper writes the music to the BBC's new flagship children's series 'Strange Hill High' - a bit like the Simpsons meets Grange Hill.....

Music composed by Paul Lovatt- Cooper will form the sound track to a brand new children’s series which has just started on the BBC.

‘Strange Hill High’ is BBC’s innovative new animated comedy and stars well known actors Emma Kennedy, Richard Ayoade, Ben Smith, Caroline Aherne and John Thomson.

Ground breaking

It is all about an all-but-forgotten inner-city school filled with fantastical secrets and outlandish mysteries, and has been created using ‘hypervynorama’, a groundbreaking animation technique that combines Japanese vinyl toy design and puppetry with stop-motion animation and computer generated imagery (CGI).

The thirteen, 22 minute long stories of the multi-million pound series follow the quick-witted and street smart Mitchell Tanner (Doc Brown), the new kid at school and his two new best friends, ever-confident Becky Butters (Emma Kennedy) and class nerd Templeton (Richard Ayoade).

Simpsons writer

As the series has been penned by ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Futurama’ head writer Josh Weinstein, not surprisingly, offers more than a little something for adults too.

Huge task

Paul composed the complete musical soundtrack and told 4BR: "It’s been a huge task composing the music because Josh and the BBC wanted an epic film-like soundtrack.

I combined live orchestral musicians with some state of the art sequencing software to create a substantial score. Having to work on 13x22 minute shows is the equivalent of working on two feature films!"

He added: "One episode entitled ‘Snoozical’ see’s the star of the show Becky, fall into a deep sleep during her music lesson and drift off into this dream-like musical. I had to compose several songs for this episode for the cast to sing, including a full scale finale for over 40 voices.

It was a surreal experience having the likes of John Thompson and Caroline Aherne in my recording studio singing away only to apologies profusely when I asked them to re-take a line because they sang out of tune slightly!"

Atlanta and LA

Not all the actors were available for certain recording sessions, with Richard Ayoade filming in Atlanta with Ben Stiller on his latest film ‘The Watch’, so Paul was faced with a tricky situation.

"We had to link up to a recording studio live in Atlanta where I directed him from our studios in Altricham," he continued. "His vocals were recorded there and broadcast to us via ISDN for my immediate approval."

Paul worked closely with Head Writer and Showrunner Josh Weinstein, who is based in Los Angeles.

"Working with Josh has been a fantastic experience. When we received each new episode that was ready for the music score he would give great direction as to where he wanted the music to go and what sort of a feel or emotion he wanted to develop in each scene.

It really helped me to develop my composing style for this type of medium."

Pleasure

Speaking about the music Josh Weinstein added: "It was a genuine pleasure working with Paul. I love his music."

Paul is the Director of Music for Factory Transmedia which is one of the co-producing companies of the show.

Chalk

Factory TM’s Managing Director is Phil Chalk, former assistant principal cornet and conductor of Faireys. He is also the Producer of Strange Hill High.

Phil commented: "It was a big undertaking to set up the shooting of Strange - it is a huge show.

We needed sets that were elevated 6ft high to accommodate all the puppeteers who operated the puppets from underneath the sets. There was a lot of work implementing the stop-motion animation and computer generated imagery into the scenes also.

All in all, the finished product is thirteen episodes that have a fantastic look and feel about them. Each episode is a ‘mini movie’, from the set design, to the acting, puppetry and even the music everything has worked to perfection."

Topping the ratings

The show has become a major hit with the first two episodes having already aired and are leading in the latest viewing figures. The second series has been commissioned and is in full production.

You can watch Strange Hill High on CBBC every Wednesday at 5.00pm with repeats on Saturdays at 11.00am.

You can also watch Strange Hill High on BBC’s iPlayer and by visiting the website http:/­/­www.bbc.co.uk/­cbbc/­shows/­strange-hill-high

White & Newton lead Medway memories

The music of composer Rodney Newton provided the backdrop to a fine evening of music making in Medway.

The Medway Town Band organisation recently performed their first Patrons' Concert featuring their main senior outfit conducted by Melvin White and Medway Concert, directed by John Campbell, with guest trombone soloist Susan White and special guest, composer Rodney Newton.

Memory

The Medway Band's programme included six items composed by Rodney, including the English premiere of his 'Three Burns Portraits' written for, and performed by Susan in memory of her mother Maureen Cordiner.

Melvin and Rodney provided the background as to how the short trombone solo requested, turned into the major three movement work produced!

Tour de force

As one delighted audience member later told 4BR: "It was certainly a 'tour de force' for trombone, which displayed Susan's scintillating technique and beautiful melodious playing."

Meanwhile, the band's Scottish born solo horn player remarked; "From someone who's grown up in the middle of Ayrshire, I think Rodney Newton's ‘Three Burns Portraits’ was spot on."

Turpin

Susan also performed Rodney's, ‘'Dick Turpin's Ride to York' and Kevin Kay-Bradley performed his flugel solo, ‘Dimitri’. Other items included Rodney's wonderfully evocative 'King Solomon's Mines' and his arrangement of 'Gaudete'.

Rodney was also invited to conduct the massed bands in what he announced as the first ever performance of his early work, 'Range Rider'.

Finale

An appreciative audience were treated to a finale of the Introduction to Act III, ‘Lohengrin’ before being sent on their way with a promise that this was the first of what will be an annual event.

Harry's winning game

13 year old Harry Lear is leading Leicestershire Co-operative band to success.

The Leicestershire Co-op Band certainly enjoyed their trip to the seaside on the weekend where they claimed second place in the top section at the Weston Super Mare contest.

Best Cornet

The result was also boosted by the news that their 13 year old principal cornet player Harry Lear, claimed the ‘Best Cornet Player’ award for his contribution on their own choice selection of ‘Royal Parks’ by George Lloyd.

"This is a twelve year journey that has taken us from the depths of the Fourth Section to be competitive at the top level", explained MD, Graham Jacklin.

"The band is still improving and never look back, no matter how tough the opposition. After our promotion to the First Section in 2012, we knew we were in for a tough time, but our team ethics are built on hard work and that's exactly our approach to improvement. All our members are committed and that's what makes our community band so enjoyable."

Bonus

He added: "The bonus of seeing Harry make such a wonderful mark shows our commitment to younger players. As a band we love to give them as much opportunity as we can and Harry's a great player already.

He has no fear and you only have to ask him once and he responds immediately. He is a pleasure to work with and we just know he will only get better."