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Music is a language, especially if you work with others to create it.
The notes, dynamics, chords and rhythmic choices you make in your songs all communicate something to your audience and those you collaborate with.
But understanding that language and knowing how to communicate musically takes a lifetime.
So who better to talk to about the language of music and the meaning of musical collaboration other than Orphy Robinson–a highly skilled multi instrumentalist who’s worked with everyone from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Pink Floyd’s Robert Plant, to the legendary free jazz composer Don Cherry.
We sat down with Orphy to hear his ideas about the language of music, the role of a multi-instrumentalist, composition and how the internet is changing the way artists collaborate.
As a youngster, Orphy started playing music when he joined a local Scottish pipe band.
Learning snare drum rudiments was a useful start into the world of percussion, but he consistently found himself enamored with the marimba and xylophone.
He hung around the local roller disco during his teenage years where he made friends and it wasn’t long before they started jamming.
They formed what Orphy calls a “workshop” band with initially a bassist and guitarist– they’d cover Kool and the Gang tracks and the occasional attempt at an Earth, Wind & Fire song.
Over the next few years, the band evolved as players came and went.
Soon the funk band named itself “Savanna”. They would go on to release a few singles that briefly showed up on a few UK R&B charts.
Savanna was only the beginning for Orphy. Congas, drums and the occasional stint at the keyboard wasn’t enough.
Inspired by the likes of vibraphone jazz legends like Lionel Hampton and Bobby Hutcherson, Orphy decided to get better at the vibes and the marimba.
Orphy was on a quest to learn from the best vibes players he could find, but he also wanted to expand his musical palette outside of pitched percussion.
He was drawn to the alto sax partly because a massive vibraphone was so hard to get around town with, but also because the alto saxophone is such an expressive instrument.
He picked up a sax with some Christmas money and started transcribing saxophone parts from his favorite records, learning them both on the vibes and the sax.
Learning the vibes and saxophone at the same time helped him understand how the languages each instrument spoke and worked together.
Orphy’s journey to find mentors paid off. His lessons with his sax teacher soon led him to his first big gig with Courtney Pine and the Jazz Warriors.
Touring with Courtney Pine and living in London during a generational shift in London’s 80s jazz scene opened Orphy’s mind to new forms of expression.
Before his touring gig with The Jazz Warriors, Orphy recounts a chance to see Tony Williams while working at the Hard Rock Cafe and playing with Savanna.
It was the first experience where Orphy really became aware of how powerful different forms of expression in Jazz can be.
The second came while on tour with Courtney Pine when he saw the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The contrast between Sun Ra and the buttoned-down look of the Courtney Pine band struck Orphy–he wanted to work in freer forms of musical expression.
Orphy grew somewhat tired with the straight-laced sound and look of Courtney Pine and the Jazz Warriors. He soon broke off into more experimental areas of music.
Being a multi-instrumentalist with sought after skills, he was able to collaborate in many different musical projects–often surprising collaborators with his ability to experiment with different instruments.
He soon left Courtney Pine to work more closely with free improvisation groups that were more experimental.
At one point touring with composer Lawrence Butch Morris in an improvisational ensemble that relied exclusively on hand signals from the conductor as instructions over sheet music and notes.
That tour would lead him to work with many free jazz and experimental projects–including work with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Sun Ra Arkestra member Marshall Allen and experimentalist Don Cherry.
Orphy’s experience working with many mediums in the jazz and experimental world gave him the chops he needed to become the flexible, creative and adept composer he is today.
Interestingly, Orphy struggles to compose on the vibes and marimba–the instruments on which he’s most comfortable.
Rather, he prefers to compose on the keyboard, saying his average skill keeps him from going on tangents.
Orphy finds direction for his compositions by looking at three sections that make up a grid from which he finds his inspiration.
The first section of his grid is the undertone of the piece he’s writing. It’s what helps him understand what sounds work best within a sound world or story he’s trying to tell.
The second section he describes as ‘text’–the elements in a piece that moves a composition along for the audience.
Orphy sees the ‘text’ of a composition coming from rhythms and melodic elements that push and pull against the undertones to create tension and release. He suggests the modal scales as a good place to start when playing with textures.
The third section in Orphy’s composition process is the frequencies and volumes between different instruments. For him, this is how you blend light and dark within a composition.
Thinking within this grid helps Orphy determine what instruments he needs to tell the right story within his own compositions and when working with other collaborators.
One of the coolest things the internet has done for music creators is how it opens up new avenues for both learning and creative exploration.
There’s just so much out there to absorb, especially when it comes to learning as a young musician.
The ability to easily find old music, transpose it and learn it is one of the things that excites Orphy most.
His suggestion for young artists? Be patient. Listen to a lot of music. And, open your mind to new forms of expression.
In 2020, working and collaborating online has grown to a greater level of importance than ever before.
Orphy sees this new paradigm as an opportunity to reach artists and collaborators that previously wouldn’t have been as accessible.
He believes online communities like LANDR Network are a big part of this shift in thinking, because it makes it so easy to find talented collaborators.