Interview: Paul Snider, ‘Orchestra of Sound’

Ahead of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, we’re chatting with a range of creatives who will be heading to the city over August to find out more about their shows. Today we’re chatting with Paul Snider about their piece, Orchestra of Sound.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far. 

I am an actor, musician and composer. As an actor and film-maker I have appeared in over 85 film, TV  and theatre projects. I’ve written and produced a feature film and many short films, most of which have  appeared in film festivals. As a musician and composer, after graduating with a music and computer  science degree from university, I have written and scored original music, released a folk rock solo album,  and have written 2 musicals. Most recently I created and produced The Music of Junk, a 10-person orchestra performing on instruments I invented from junk and recycled materials which I toured in  western Canada. 

Wanting to bring all my artistic passions together in one show, I then created this current show,  Orchestra of Sound, bringing together my filmmaking abilities, my love for performance, and my passion  for composing and scoring music, all in a unique, innovative way. 

What is your show about? 

Orchestra of Sound is a one-man, music theatre show that combines unique inventive instruments,  hundreds of sounds, and explosive original music into an unforgettable sonic and visual experience.  Music is created using hundreds of sounds, without traditional musical instruments. How the sounds  were created is projected on a screen while the performer performs live on instruments made from junk  and recycled materials. There is a strong environmental theme to the show. 

What was the inspiration for Orchestra of Sound and what’s the development process been to get to  this stage? 

The idea of creating music without using traditional musical instruments came from a volunteer trip I  took to western Kenya in 2011. While teaching at a school in a rural community, the students made this  beautiful sound drumming with their hands on their old wooden desks, the deep rhythmic beat  reverberating off the mud walls. The next day I got them singing some Queen songs as a choir, while  other kids kept beat tapping old tin cans, sticks, and a rubber tire. That was the inspiration to create an  orchestra using instruments built completely from junk and recycled materials. I invented 25 unique  instruments, and created a 10-person orchestra called The Music of Junk which I toured around western  Canada from 2014 to 2017. Then I wanted to take this idea further and expand on the concept, so I  created this show Orchestra of Sound, wrote all new original music, and created orchestrations using  hundreds of sounds I recorded in Canada and other countries I visited. Many sounds came from a cross Canada trip I made in an electric car. I brought the sounds into my home studio, cleaned them up and  tuned them, and made them all work together in my musical compositions. I rebuilt some of my  invented instruments in order to get the sounds I envisioned live on stage. I created the video that would 

play along with the songs, in order to show the audience the sounds they are hearing. Then I put it  altogether in a cohesive, energetic show. My premiere was at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in  September 2023 where it was well received, so I decided to take it up a notch and perform at the  Edinburgh Fringe. 

What made you want to take Orchestra of Sound to the Fringe? 

I had always wanted to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe since it is the largest arts festival in the world,  and would offer the possibility of being seen by an international audience. My previous show had 10  performers and a truckload of instruments which would have been quite difficult to transport from  Canada. My current new show is a one-man show and is much easier to transport. I also wanted to  leverage the success of my show at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in September 2023, so the timing was  right to take this show to Edinburgh. I am quite proud of this show and its music, and so taking it to an  international venue is a dream come true for me. 

Apart from seeing Orchestra of Sound, what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this  summer? 

Take advantage of being at the world’s largest art festival and see as many different types of shows as  you can. Go out of your comfort zone, that’s how you grow, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the  perfect place to see shows you wouldn’t normally have access to. 

Why should people book Orchestra of Sound? 

This show is something you have never seen before. There is no other opportunity to hear such beautiful  music created from hundreds of non-musical sounds. It is as educational as much as it is entertaining to  see how these orchestrations were knitted together, and you won’t believe the music you are hearing  was created using the sounds you see on the screen. The live performance is energetic and intriguing,  and the themes of some of the songs will touch your emotions in ways that will surprise you. 

When and where can people see Orchestra of Sound? 

The show plays at the Lime Studio Theatre in Greenside at George Street, Venue 236. The show plays  from August 2 – 10, 12 – 17, 19 – 24 at 15:00. It is family-friendly and runs 50 minutes.