Written by Betty, a participant from Down Your Way project…

‘SOUND IT OUT’ about ‘DOWN YOUR WAY’

‘There’s a big get together of youth and old age
Over at Chivenor House on one of the day’s’
Would maybe be happy thought entered my head
And would do what they told me whatever they said
‘Hello everybody’ came the loud greetings call
‘We are all here to greet you and will be having a ball’

Kids from Chivenor School Mr Jones class
Talked and laughed with us about now and the past
Taped it and kept it for a plan to be made
By the folks from ‘SOUND IT OUT’ about ‘DOWN YOUR WAY
Castle Vale Estate folks who were joining in
Were enjoying themselves and all wore a broad grin
Singing and saying lots from the tape
The kids and us old ones thinking ‘it’s great’

There was Nicola, Dave and sweet Bobby
Helping us out and keeping us jolly
Teaching us lots of jobs we must do
Sticking together like ‘NELSONS VICTORY’ crew
They are the team from ‘SOUND IT OUT’
What a delight and what a great SHOUT

So hope the kids know more about old Castle Vale
And the life the old un’s told them as a tale
No baths no TV no games to play nothing like there is today
So fingers crossed that all are like me
Happy and pleased and delighted to be
All together and making a show
And of course now awake to things we didn’t know

So ‘HIP HIP HIP HOORAY’
And a big thank you from us all
Too Nicola, Dave and sweet Bobby
Who taught us how to re call
The past the present and what it’s all about
And of course how to ‘SOUND IT OUT’………Betty P

Yay!!! and phew!

Well done to Halley students year 2 all the way to 5 for their amazing Spitalfields Music performance today!! Boom tingalingding!!
It was great to hear my first chamber orchestra arrangement performed by such a top notch ensemble – CLS! Maybe my parts were to complex but it was my first time and I couldn’t help but try and pack in loads of ideas… Learning curve ennit?

Here is the audio! Live from today’s lunch time concert! Excuse my crap introduction – I hate speaking in front of peeps.

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Well done to the team led by John Barber with soprano Issy Adams and fellow MAASer Helen Smith!

Three today! We had a nice dev day and a scrummy lunch in Bristol, the weather was lush too!

Happy 3rd Birthday and to many more!

I am working with young people in Shard End (labeled disaffected, disengaged, at risk of anti-social behaviour – negative or what!!)

Well, I think the young people are great, they make me smile loads!!

We are in the early stages of bonding and music making. The aim of the project is to raise aspirations for young people through the medium of music, in various capacities – discussion, mentoring etc.

Here is a track we messed around with yesterday, Mini-me on the mic. The vox is a bit low in the mix, but wanted to upload it anyways. It made me laugh hard!! Using MIDI I added some guitar heroesque solo – it is well cheesy!! Next step is to reduce the references to guns, violence, swear words and disrespect towards women. Aaron Yorke – fellow music mentor is crooning at the end!

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In just 3 sessions the creative team and primary students I am working with managed to successfully compose lots of songs, which we will perform with CLS next month. I am loving the challenge of orchestrating in a short time!!

Have a listen to some of my faves:

The words have been written by year 2 – 5 students and I think they are great! Workshop leaders Helen, Issy (is a professional singer) and I are singing ‘em as a guide for students to learn them, John on keys. Next uploads will be of the primary students and chamber orchestra performance! Songs have used Bartok and Warlock’s Capriol suite as inspiration/stimulus.

The Sound of Calm: – (my group wrote the lyrics)

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He’s crafty:

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Dark, Crooked, Black Sky:

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Jealousy:

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(Pic by Guardian)

Thanks to Sound Sense for information re the government’s plans to make it easier to access ex Woolies stores and transform them into temporary community centres.

Check this out! :

“Chorley plan to set up a semi-permanent exhibition because of how popular turning empty shops into craft exhibitions, informal learning, and summer music workshops have proved.”

£3 million pounds worth of grants will enable those with creative ideas to use the vacated spaces for artistic means. I think this is an excellent idea and I would be very interested to see the developments. The communities department also invite you to follow them on twitter – interesting…

How sad for Woolies to close one year from their hundredth anniversary! I used to buy pick and mix from there.

I decided that my lonely living room needed to be used positively as I live in shared accommodation and no-one really congregates there.

I sent a few texts and invited my London friends to bring their instruments along, nibbles and drinkies.
It turned into a quassi therapy session, old youth orchestra friends lacking confidence in their playing, most had their grade 8s and expensive instruments (laden with teenage days stickers). A few were haunted by bad memories from their youth music playing days: “I never got into symphony, I never felt I was good enough, I never got a solo, played first clarinet…”

Well, we had a wicked time! I led some of the session – used some community music techniques in fact and some amazing sounds were created, nothing written down, all aural! Gonna make this a regular thing methinks. Our neighbour next door sat on the balcony and listened, so couldn’t have sounded that bad.

We ALL had a solo on Sunday!! Okay, so we are not the LSO – but it was nice to just chill, eat pizza, drink beer and play music in the comfort of mi living room. Who needs telly?

Here are some pics and audio!

Simple loop/riff based stuff:

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Cheesy, post red wine ‘Stand by Me’:

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Post, post red wine and beer using a riff borrowed from Paul Griffiths, aptly titled ‘Funky Donkey’:

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Messing with Simon’s tune:

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Spitalfields Music MAAS scheme is going well, my first placement is with a primary school in Tower Hamlets and City of London Sinfonia (CLS), it started on Tuesday. I was asked to compose a song about dance; bee dance. So we did some research and I learnt about the waggle dance. John set met the challenge of writing the main bones of the song in less than 2 days. The metre is 9/8 and 7/8. I cannot play and sing it at the same time, but it’s quite jazzy. Thanks to Helen for helping turning my rubbish sentences into lyrics!

Here’s the science:

I am both frightened and excited about having to arrange this song for chamber orchestra!! Will upload the finished version in June!! What an amazing opportunity! Here’s the sketch, (I fluff the bass line a few times):

Waggle Dance

Watch the bees glide up high,
Dancing across the skies,
Drinking Andromeda, sniffing the honey bells.

Waggle dance x 1 only

Matter of life and death
Eternal honey quest,
Words can be such a waste,
There must be better ways.

Waggle dance x 4

Chorus:
Dance longer, honey is close,
Dance head up, fly towards the sun
Dance faster show your message clear,
Our honey hymn has just begun.

Verse 2:

Watch the bees glide up high,
Dancing across the skies,
Drinking andromeda, sniffing the honey bells.

Waggle dance x 1

Feel the beat of the drum,
Wiggle and shake your bum,
You can do as you please
Rhythm controls your knees.

Waggle dance x 4

Chorus:
Dance longer, the honey is close,
Dance head up, fly towards the sun
Dance faster show your message clear,
Our honey hymn has just begun.

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Yesterday I worked at Core Arts – a community arts and mental health charity in Homerton, Hackney. The organisation started bottom up – director Paul Monks was working in his studio one day, when mental health patients from the nearby psychiatric hospital wanted to join in….

At Core, no questions are asked about members mental state, however there is an coordinator who deals with members’ medical details, but community arts practitioners aren’t informed. I like it that way, if a member wants to talk about what’s going on then that’s up to them.

Members can opt to participate in creative arts activities, apply to work there or volunteer. I recall when I first visited Core Arts when observing a music session I was unable to distinguish between who were members and tutors….

I have been covering the songwriting class and have had loads of fun! I encouraged a member called “B” (confidentiality), a friendly guy with caramel skin and lil dreads – (who was very shy) to write a song; he said he was better at art…

We decided to write a song about gun and knife crime. I had a lovely time discussing potential factors as to why it has arisen and potential solutions. Please excuse the dodgy singing, I am a keys player not a vocalist, but “B” would only sing if I did. He has a lovely voice!

What I loved about the session was that “B” would seem to be filled with a surge of creative energy, jumped up when the music started and improvised some excellent lyrics. I was his scribe. Here is our sketch and these are the words we have written so far:

Gun and de knife

Chorus
Gun and de knife taking away the youth’s life,
Causing families a whole heap of strife,
Copper and the lead, killing one another dead,
Time to use your head.

Verse 1
In de past, It started with the belt and the buckle,
Families only knew had to use them knuckles,
Social workers said it was brutality,
I say it’s just dubious morality,
Yeah, respect is free,
But the cost of giving it meks the man feel meek
The government’s doing (SFA) nothing at all,
Then they wonder why the youths dem fall.

Chorus

Verse 2
Now the youths dem have got to stand and see,
Discipline, reality, empowerment are free,
Now it’s time to stop with the aggression,
Ban the bullet, raise the price, stop gun possession!
Look to the future, it’s yours for the take,
Every other f*&*kers on the make.

Chorus

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Nice one to the guys at Substrakt for sorting my uncle out with a nice website for his Master of Ceremonies work. Check him out although not sure whether he spits bars though…