The Birth of Quadrasonic

Quartets are strange beasts. You can get four people to sing together, but if their voices don't blend, or one is too powerful, then the result can be unpleasant. That is why The Downsmen have never created an official quartet even though many combinations have been tried at rehearsals.

Now the club has created a quartet called ‘Quadrasonic'. The name was chosen from a host of suggestions ranging from the comic to the chronic!

So what has changed? Well for some reason the combination of Mike Bates (Tenor), John Friend (Lead), Mike Houghton (Bari) and David Mason (Bass) seems to work. Each can hold his own line against the others, but all are happy to ‘back-off' as required to let a single voice come through.

Although the four have only had time to learn a couple of numbers, they are hoping to increase their repertoire this year. Musical Director, Eileen Mason, has given the quartet a chance to perform in front of sing-out audiences and, apart from the odd ‘hiccup', Quadrasonic have not let her and fellow chorus members down.