And that’s Mechanical Advantage!

“We work together, and we do not take for granted,
Force amplification, and that’s mechanical advantage!”

The process

Throughout March, young people from Becket Primary School, Firs Primary School, The Bemrose Secondary School and Derby College had been hard at work with our creative music team, taking inspiration from their visit to Derby’s Museum of Making to create four brand new songs. You can find out all about what we got up to at the museum here!

Our primary schools worked with music leader Charly Jolly, and our secondary and college participants with James Redwood, alongside Sinfonia Viva musicians Isobel Adams (viola) and Gareth Humphreys (bassoon). Through games, discussion-based activities and groupwork, the groups decided on the theme of their song and created their own unique lyrics and melody lines. This was truly a team effort with everyone in the room encouraged to share their thoughts and build the piece together!

“It was really evident… that Charly listened to all the children’s ideas and made each and everyone of them feel heard and like you said, what a fantastic song they created!” – Teacher feedback

“My voice/ideas were welcomed” – Participant feedback

All our creative schools also worked with vocal leaders Rachel Wilkes and Emily Morris from Derby Music Partnership, who led singing workshops to help them hone their performance skills ready for the big day! One participant said they had learnt “a way to keep your voice steady and sing better” as a result of the sessions.

Rachel and Emily also worked with our audience schools, who learned three pre-existing songs by James and librettist Hazel Gould: ‘Gears’, ‘Levers’ and ‘Pulleys’.

 

The songs

Becket Primary encouraged us to get in their ‘Time Machine’ and go on an adventure! We saved the Titanic from tragedy, travelled the oceans with Sir Ernest Shackleton, and marvelled at the speed of the Japanese bullet train. We also caught a glimpse of the engines of the future: apparently they can even stop natural disasters!

We also thought about the passage of time at The Bemrose School, whose song focuses on a machine that has finally ‘Found My Purpose’. Pupils created some mature and thoughtful lyrics linking the development of technology to the lifecycle of stars: “although they burn out / their light still shines through / like knowledge from the past / helps us find somewhere new”. An a cappella, gospel-style section allowed Bemrose’s talented vocalists to shine just like the stars in the song!

A slightly more straightforward theme emerged from Derby College, who elected to write about a key part of the city’s industrial heritage: the railways! The song took us on a journey from a wistful opening to a lively, riff-filled chorus, finally descending into a prog-rock odyssey: it’s testament to the brilliant college musicians who handled the transitions with ease! We ended with a joyful coda incorporating body percussion riffs created by each of the creative schools.

Finally, Firs Primary School brought an air of intrigue and drama to proceedings with ‘The Mysterious Man’. Inspired by some of the precious artefacts in the Museum, they focused on a spy who breaks into the Silk Mill to steal a golden clock for his love. But all doesn’t go to plan, with both the clock and his heart shattered by the end of the song!

The performance day

Finally, show day was here! In the afternoon we welcomed around 300 children from our audience schools (As Croft Primary School, Becket Primary School, Bemrose Primary School, Firs Primary School, Lees Brook Academy and Village Primary Academy, who filled the auditorium with their best singing voices and brought so much energy to the space!

In the evening we welcomed the families and friends of our creative schools, members of the public and invited guests to enjoy a second performance and celebrate our participants’ amazing work. We were also joined by guests from Derby Museums and ambassadors from Rolls Royce, who demonstrated some of the activities from the Inspiration Day: it was lovely to see lots of excited children having fun with the pulley frames!

The programme for both concerts included three exciting orchestral works performed by Sinfonia Viva, including works by Imogen Holst, Maurice Ravel and Michael Torke. We also enjoyed joining in with ‘Gears’, ‘Pulleys’ and Levers, and of course we heard the world premieres of our four brand new songs! Our young performers pulled out all the stops in both shows and as the curtain came down on the project, they can be certain they earned every second of the applause.

“I am proud that I went on stage and did it… I am proud that I met new people and made friends! I am proud that we made a song!” – Participant feedback

“This project was a really good experience of standing on a stage. I also liked how we worked together as a big team with the other schools. And I loved how we were really close to a real orchestra!” – Participant feedback

Credits

Mechanical Advantage has been a partnership between Sinfonia Viva, Derby Museums, Rolls-Royce and Derbyshire Music Partnerships, and has been generously supported by Rolls-Royce PLC, Derby City Council, Foundation Derbyshire – Tom Carey Fund, The Helen Jean Cope Charity, Scops Arts Trust, CPF Trust and the Thistle Trust.