40 Years of... Music Making
We’ve had some incredible AAM original songs over the years, all starting off as brilliant ideas from our members. We never know what our guys will come up with, but we know it'll always be a hit!
Going through our archives means we’ve had the joy of listening to them all over again. Some, we can’t get out of our heads, even now! We wish we could reel off every number, but we’d be here for another 40 years! So instead, here are some of our highlights.
We’ll start with a number from our 2007 performance of ‘The Good Old Days’. This Hands and Voices pantomime celebrated 10 years of the choir and featured original material from other AAM projects. The talented Sound Weavers group arranged the composition for ‘I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls’, based on a Victorian parlour song.
It included a stunning solo by internationally renowned clarinettist and late AAM Patron Alan Hacker. We were lucky enough to capture it, so we can listen back to it for years to come.
You can hear it here:
While we were digging, we also came across 2009’s ‘Chips with James’. Applefields School commissioned AAM to run a day-long training programme for post-16 students, which included radio and music production. This foodie ditty, made as part of the radio show, has us all hungry for chips.
The clatter of the cutlery throughout the track makes us feel like we’re in the kitchen with the gang. We love it. Not sure what to have for dinner? It could be chips!
Next, it’s cloudy with a chance of rain. But don’t worry, it’s ‘Soft Rain’ by the fantastic Sensory Music crew. Made during the lockdown, at a time when we were first allowed to visit our friends, so long as we were outside. A lot of our members were shielding but were keen to perform together again. So, we grabbed our camera and headed out to make that a (virtual) reality! We had lots of fun visiting the Sensory Music crew and this song’s music to our ears.
Check out those home-made instruments!
If you like a good boogie, you’ll love this funky 2008 number from our Creative Sound group called ‘Disco’. Creative Sound began in the 80s as our first creative project for learning-disabled adults. The programme went through several iterations until it became AbleWebin 2011.
This was one of the many cool tunes to come out of the project. We love the funny quips, funky beats, and catchy hook!
Every Monday during term time, our IMPs like to hang out with their friends and make music. And last term, they made a band! They worked on original music and lyrics and everyone decided what instruments they’d like to play. The final result was an IMPs original called ‘Singing on a Stage as a Group’, where everyone smashed their solos.
Check out this video of the IMPs performing for friends and family.
Next, we’ve got ‘Spooky Ghost’. Sophie from our Hands & Voices Choir wrote this 2020 number. She even taught the rest of the choir how to sing and sign this ‘frightful’ number – how spooktacular is that?
The choir continue to learn and write new songs at their weekly hybrid sessions. We can't wait to hear their next big hit.
We’ve had some powerful soundscapes written by our members over the years. One that resurfaced as we were trawling the archives was by our Sound Weavers group. It featured as the opening to the 2006 Hands & Voices pantomime ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Thing’.
It set the scene with its battle cries, sword sounds, and booming voice-over from Jem Corner Walker from JSS Audio. Despite all the yelling, it sounds like the Sound Weavers had a lot of fun with this one.
They’d go on to create more amazing soundscapes that featured in our shows throughout the years.
We’re forever bowled over by the talent that comes out of our IMPs Holiday Clubs, and this is no different. In 2021, our IMPs took us on a musical journey that was out of this world with their ‘A Trip to the Moon’ soundscape.
The young people created a spacey soundtrack to an excerpt from George Méliès' 1902 silent film, and we think it’s ace!
You wouldn’t guess that the film is 120 years old, the way our guys made it sound so futuristic.
We’ve got a whole host of original numbers, soundscapes and excerpts taken from our fabulous projects throughout the years. This is just a small selection of the AAM-azing talent we’ve had the pleasure of working with.
Want to hear more? Head to our SoundCloud for an audio treat. Or why not check out our YouTube and Vimeo channels for more music-making from AAM?
Our members have moved to the beat of their own drums for the last 40 years. You can lay the foundations for another 40 years of amazing musical adventures by donating today.