Musical enthusiasms/influences include: the English Renaissance composers, Schubert, Schumann, Sibelius, Mahler, Stravinsky, Satie, Webern, Ives, Terry Riley, Charles Mingus.
[4] He played the oboe in the first British performance of Terry Riley’s In C in 1968, in the same year joining Cardew's experimental music class at Morley College.
Shrapnel was a member of the Scratch Orchestra throughout its existence from its formation in 1969 writing many experimental pieces for both trained and untrained musicians for it including the popular Raindrops.
[5] In the same year along with John White, Chris Hobbs and Alec Hill he formed the Promenade Theatre Orchestra with its distinctive pioneering brand of English minimalism contributing many pieces for it, including Four Toy Pianos.
From the mid 70s through the ‘80s Shrapnel played oboe in the folk/rock group Peoples' Liberation Music (later becoming the Progressive Cultural Association (PCA) Band) together with Cornelius Cardew, Laurie Baker, Dave Smith and others.