Brighouse composer-in-residence Leigh Baker, Sterling Instruments and the Collegiate Brass Ensemble are involved in an innovative educational campaign to teach school children how to make music, and save water!

Hybrid instruments

Anglian Water commissioned the Bedfordshire based instrument maker to create 5 hybrid instruments – part brass and part genuine blue water pipes. The Collegiate Brass Ensemble meanwhile is using the instruments in educational workshops with a parallel set of messages about water conservation and how to make musical instruments out of pretty much anything.

We couldn't actually make a trumpet, no blue water pipes are small enough, so have created an entirely new instrument. The 'flumpet' is part trumpet and part flugelPaul Riggett

Blue pipes

Sterling’s Managing Director Paul Riggett told 4BR: "We’ve has unusual commissions before but using the blue plastic water pipes was certainly tricky. We spent as long playing with bits of pipe and scratching our heads as we did in the actual production!"

Flumpet

Paul added: "We couldn't actually make a trumpet, no blue water pipes are small enough, so have created an entirely new instrument. The 'flumpet' is part trumpet and part flugel. The final result is bizarre, certainly unique: the instruments play more or less in tune, and make quite a mellow, mysterious sound. This idea will, I’m sure, be inspirational when presented to children, and we were delighted to have been involved."

Water Music

Anglian Water handed the challenge of writing something suitable for two flumpets, a horn, a euphonium and a tuba to Leigh Baker. His brief was to compose something suitable for Collegiate Brass to present to schools. The final result is “The H2-Overture”.

Bizarre

Leigh told 4BR: "I’ve taken snippets from various water-related pieces and worked them together into a piece which I’m sure will appeal to youngsters. I know the idea is to roll this campaign out to all sorts of TV and radio stations too, so it sounds like the piece, and the instruments, should get plenty of exposure.

Writing for these bizarre instruments was quite tricky, but the really tricky part will be playing them!"

Leigh’s sentiment is shared by leader of the London-based Collegiate Brass Ensemble Pete Collins, also principal cornet at Ratby Band and musical director of Foresters Brass 2000.

Fantastic idea

"We’ll be doing a lot of lipping to get these in tune," he told 4BR. "Sterling Instruments seem to have done a great job with such a challenging brief. Leigh’s piece is superb too, and we’re really looking forward to taking these messages out to children around the Anglian Water region."

Innovative campaign

He added: "The company has come up with a fantastic idea to inspire and motivate children and we’re really looking forward to it. Anglian Water is well known in PR circles for innovative campaigns and this one is no exception – hopefully it’ll attract plenty of media coverage too."

Anglian Water’s ‘music in the pipeline’ campaign is visiting Norwich, Kings Lynn, Chelmsford, Colchester, Biggleswade, Bedford, Lincoln and Peterborough.