shmu have been awarded Youth Arts Access Funds (via Creative Scotland) to deliver music making programmes for young people across our strands of work over 1 year. Update 01/06/2021: The deadline for notes of interest to be submitted for these roles has now passed.
Making Waves - New youth music project roles at shmu
This funding will allow us to
- Pilot the roll out of digital music-making sessions across our programmes with young people
- Explore and nurture young people’s understanding of the interrelationship between music and media and to develop the skills required to produce new musical content, individually or in groups
- Explore and better understand how music can contribute to individual and collective transformational change; through personal expression, shared creative endeavour and celebrating achievement
- Fully evaluate and evidence the programmes in order to create a sustainable model of good practice beyond the life of the project.
Young people who do not play an instrument (expected to be a significant proportion of participants) will be given the chance to compose and create on a level playing field.
We want to identify a small team of freelance tutors and an assistant/trainee to work across the programme which will include:
Making Waves Saturday Sessions (11-18 year olds) – linked to our Youth Media programme
We will add music making to our weekend programme which encourages young people from across the regeneration areas of the city to actively participate and engage with our platforms (radio, film and journalism).
On Saturdays, young people from the 7 regeneration areas of the city (Cummings Park, Middlefield, Northfield, Tillydrone, Seaton, Woodside and Torry - all of which are in the 20% most deprived SIMD index category in Scotland with some in the 5-10% most deprived), are welcomed to shmu where they have the building and its state-of-the-art facilities at their creative disposal.
Over the year we will deliver introductory and then intermediate music making workshops, programmed in response to needs of the young people participating. Young people in regeneration areas will have the opportunity to engage and develop their skills over a whole year, progressing from introductory to intermediate workshops as appropriate and being given time to experiment with their creative styles and a range of formats.
Making Waves in HMP & YOI Grampian (18-25 year olds)
This investment will enable music-making sessions to take place within our Creative Media Unit in HMP Grampian for prisoners under the age of 25. We have previously piloted music workshops in HMP Grampian, which were hugely successful and very well attended.
Making Waves post-release
We will also deliver music-making sessions for young adults with involvement in community justice and those in recovery from alcohol and drug misuse at our base in Woodside. This will support those who have engaged with our activities in the prison to continue to develop their music-making skills following release, and also provide opportunities for young people who are supported by partner organisations who are specialists in this field (e.g. Alcohol & Drugs Action, Aberdeen in Recovery etc.).
What Are We Looking For?
We have linked the Making Waves project workshop ideas to the community media context that is already successfully engaging young people from the target groups. Participants will explore how music is structured and the effects of different rhythmic and harmonic choices, while creating their own music.
We have highlighted some of the music-making activities that the project might feature:
· Creating and recording audio – making a complete track as a group using beats and loops
· Using DAWs– Introducing BandLab
· Using synthesizers and other digital interfaces – composing on keyboards, smartphones & tablets
· Exploring musical forms found in media – what does music do for radio, TV or film
· Making Soundtracks – taking character and mood as stimulus for composition
· Using your voice – generating and refining lyrical content, recording & mixing vocals & using microphones (as permitted by Covid guidance)
· Exploring musical forms for personal expression – creating your own material, exploring musical identities and influences
· Intermediate and advanced DAWs
This menu of options will be developed by the tutor team in conjunction with young people and Project Coordinator as the programme develops.
Tutor Roles
The role for tutors includes supporting young people to create their own music and broaden their musical horizons over time; and developing activities that are accessible and can be tailored to the individual or group wherever possible, to take account of starting points and creative aspirations.
Work in HMP & YOI Grampian will involve SPS training and will be delivered on-site in Peterhead beginning in June. Music opportunities will be delivered in-person in 8-week blocks or courses. We also have funding to offer music opportunities to adults in this context (delayed by pandemic restrictions) so are very keen to discuss this area with potential tutors. As the schedule stands, this work is due to take place weekly on Tuesdays.
Working with Youth Media will involve a longer term plan for development of skills and opportunities for personalisation after an introductory phase which may also include taster workshops during school holidays to aid recruitment to the programme. Sessions will take place in-person at our base in Woodside.
If this sounds like you please get in touch with Heather Evans, Project Coordinator - heather.evans@shmu.org.uk - with a CV and a Note of Interest, telling us about your relevant experience and which element/s of the programme you are interested in delivering. We hope to meet with interested freelancers later that week if possible.
Trainee Role
The funding also offers a new role as Making Waves Project Trainee. This position includes a degree of flexibility, allowing the successful candidate to assist with and concentrate on the activities most relevant to their skills and interests; including the preparation and delivery of music-making sessions, administration work, communication support and assisting with monitoring and evaluation.
The trainee will receive support from the Project Coordinator and experienced shmu staff working on relevant strands. They will also have the opportunity to receive support from the freelance practitioners delivering the programme. This will provide the trainee with a number of opportunities for skills development in areas including music and sound, working with young people from a variety of backgrounds and project administration and planning.
If this sounds like you please get in touch with Heather Evans, Project Coordinator - heather.evans@shmu.org.uk - with a CV and a Note of Interest, telling us about your relevant experience, why you are interested in the programme and in which areas you would like to develop your skills.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the project or the roles outlined above please get in touch via email.
Update 01/06/2021: The deadline for notes of interest to be submitted for these roles has now passed.
