In 2020, Sound and Music three unique, free, digital workshops, as part of our Go Compose! Inspire Days aimed at young people aged 11-18 interested in learning to make their own music. The workshops included:
• ‘Lyrics and Songwriting to Beats’ with Rap Club
• ‘Online Music Production’ with CREATE DEFINE RELEASE (CDR)
• ‘Field Recording and Sound Manipulation’with Sophie Cooper
You can find more details about each session and workshop-leader below. You can follow this link if you want to find out more information about Go! Compose at large.
Workshop 1 – Lyrics and Songwriting to Beats Rap Club (Tuesday 28th July, 10-5pm)
Are you an aspiring rapper or singer who wants to write songs that stand out?
Do you want to be able to write your own songs? Do you struggle with lyrics? Want to find your unique sound as a vocalist?
Then this session is for you.
Join the Rap Club team and explore what makes a successful song in pop, rock, RnB, Grime, Folk and anything else you can think of! We’ll also get some tips on how the industry works for songwriters, as well as how to promote and market your own material.
This workshop is for anyone keen on developing their skills as a songwriter, lyricist and/or vocalist.
In the session we’ll learn to:
• How to write songs over an instrumental (aka top-lining)
• How to write lyrics that bring emotion, draw in the listener and are memorable
• Write melodies for voice
• Market your music online
• Engage in the industry as a professional songwriter
• Write songs for social change
• Construct a unique sound as a vocalist
For this session, you will need a laptop or phone connected to the internet and with the Zoom app installed. You will also need pen/paper or text software so you can write your lyrics.
Workshop 2 – Online Music Production with CDR (Wednesday 29th July, 10-6pm)
What is a Music Producer?
In this session, multi-platform music production community CDR will give you the chance to explore the creation of music and sound using digital technologies. We’ll also look at the roles and contributions of music producers in the industry, and other wider opportunities.
CDR will demystify the role that music producers play, and show us how the skills and processes are applied.
We’ll learn to:
• Create a rhythm and percussion
• Compose a bassline and melodic elements
• Choose and apply audio effects
• Arrange and mix tracks
• Apply finishing touches
For this session, you will need: a laptop with a connection to the internet with the Zoom app downloaded. We can advise you on what free music software you could download ahead of the day.
Workshop 3 – Field Recording and Sound Manipulation with Sophie Cooper (Thursday 30th July, 10-6pm)
Where do you draw the line between sound and music? Is there one?
In this hands-on session you’ll get an introduction to field recording — by using Shure Motiv Audio App for phones and/or Audacity on a laptop — and understand how you can use them in making music, both solely and as accompaniment to instrumental works.
With musician and curator Sophie Cooper, we’ll learn to capture sounds from our everyday environments and use them to create pieces of music.
In the morning you’ll experiment with field recording, and in the afternoon we’ll learn how to use Audacity to manipulate the sounds we’ve captured. In this session you will:
• Get an introduction to field recording and how to use found sound to create compositions
• Become familiar with DAW is and are given basic tools to understand how to navigate the programme
• Learn to create a short track using your recordings, including ambient ideas, loops and rhythms
• Explore other free apps such as synths for phones (if we have time!)
For this session, you will need a laptop/computer and a phone. If you don’t have either of these, we can discuss alternatives!
