On Air ! Your chance to run a radio station.
This month, with the completion of the sound recording room we can now start to expand on services and this includes a Radio Show and podcast facilities. We are offering free airtime to anyone in our community to join in and create your own radio show. Already we have people working on 1-2-hour radio sets that are pre-recorded and then go live on our own radio station – Poly Radio. We would like to offer more people the chance and can provide you with the equipment, the space and teach you the basics in editing to get you going on your own radio show or podcast. We are looking for small groups to work with on the first cohort so if this is you, you are interested in a weekly slot on the radio, any age, any taste in music, then message us and lets make your ideas into reality. If you cant get in the first cohort then we will be looking to run more next month. This is a free service due to the support we have received through The National Lottery Community Fund that has enabled us to add extra services to our free musical instrument library. This is part of our bigger ideas and widening the ways we support the community. This is on the high street and without barriers to inclusion. Music, arts and cultural activity are important to us to help build back stronger communities after the last two years and with the problems many face from what Covid brought with it. Alongside the Radio Station we offer weekly guitar lessons, free hire of a large range of musical instruments and the chance to join in with any of our weekly jam sessions we run in the shop and in collaboration with Bodmaxx in Bodmin. Over the next few weeks we will be filling the radio timeslots with your music, podcasts and interviews that you can listen online to here - https://s8.citrus3.com:2020/public/polyradio
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The last few weeks a lot has been going on behind the scenes and its all quite exciting.
The recording studio is finished off and ready for use so if you are interested in recording, podcasts, radio or just learning about studio work, pop in the shop and take a tour to find out more. This has only been made possible due to the support from The National Lottery Community Awards. It seems that this year has involved a lot of meeting and conversations around the things team Polyrhythm have identified from feedback from our library members, participants and community. It would be great for Bodmin and would involve collaboration with a few other orgs in the town if only one or two of the ideas we have set in motion get going. We will really push for these things to happen because we think that its about time some good things happened in our town that are all inclusive and accessible to all. Our free lessons are proving to be quite popular now and due to numbers we will splitting the sessions. Guitar lessons will continue on the Mondays and may see two lessons that evening if numbers keep growing as they are. The keyboard lessons will be finding another evening lesson slot and we will announce this later over the next week. Bass and Drum lessons are being developed and we are in real hope they will start very soon. Although its been a grey, dull winter, although generally January is a hard month to get through, we found a lot of fun through our Saturday Jam sessions in the shop. The cross generations playing and learning from each other, the support from instrument donations to help it along and the increase in library membership has shown that this is something organic and well received so come along just after 12 on a saturday and join in, any age, any instrument and any ability. The Friday night jam sessions start again this week and tonight is youth based fortnightly, mixed aged on opposite weeks and aimed at getting more young people access to the experience of playing together, supporting each other and learning new music. Its what they have told us they want to do so lets do it! Over all, Polyrhythm starts the year with a real positive attitude. More meetings next week involving collaboration in other rural areas, a wider network and finding ways we can share the things we do and are good at. Polyrhythm really is providing a great service to the community and if you want to find out more, be involved or simply borrow a violin, guitar or drum set, pop in the shop and see what we got to offer. Polyrhythm has received funding from the 'Lottery community fund' for an exciting project entitled 'More than a library'. The funding enables the expansion of the library to better serve our community. We will start delivering the project in January 2022, with small group instrument lessons for beginners and intermediate players. We are using part of the funding to create a small studio upstairs where we can record service users and offer production lessons too. We have created a board to enable our youth participants to help shape the vision of Polyrhythms future. They have been instrumental in making decisions about this project and future projects, and have been heavily involved in planning and preparing for our new workshops. We took part in the Christmas light switch on in Bodmin, which was a delightful evening, despite the weather. The shop hosted local performers just outside and provided electricity and equipment for them and other businesses on the high street to put on music for the event. Some of our members performed outside, and inside became a haven for local youths to chill out, chat and munch on our Christmas party food. It was so lovely to see local children joining in with the music with percussion instruments we provided too. As usual our youth were central to preparing for this event with their creativity and enthusiasm. They constructed a Christmas tree out of a drum stack dressed with lights and baubles, a Hawaiian themed Christmas palm tree and covered the shop in festive decor to create a cheery seasonal space for all our visitors to enjoy. We will be working on our studio space over the Christmas holidays to ready it for use in January. Our youth are keen to develop the space to be used for recording radio shows, so we are helping them research all equipment and software needed, licencing etc to make this a reality....watch this space next year. Until then wishing you all a great festive season. PolyRhythm, the free musical instrument library based in Bodmin has just received funding from The National Lottery Community Fund / Climate Action Fund to enable them to make instruments from waste and junk items. Open community workshops will enable people to create and make instruments that will be taken and used at events and festivals over the next 12 months and beyond.
Together for our Planet is part of National Lottery community fund portfolio aimed to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change. It has been created to engage people with COP26 and inspire positive climate action in communities across the UK. Polyrhythm will be starting to build instruments from waste from November and will be taking them to events and festivals across the SW next year. The project will enable the community to be involved from the start and if you would like to be involved with making or playing junk instruments then email hello@polyrhythm.world where you can find out more about the project and workshops. They will be teaming up with a few other organisations and hope run an event in Bodmin next year that will be aimed at reimagining waste and what we do with it. PolyRhythm will also be taking a tour with the instruments and will be found at Pandafest and The Great Estate Festival amongst others. If you would like to invite us to you event or would like to come and join in making some noise over climate then get in touch. Press Release https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news/press-releases/2021-11-02/cop26-400000-awarded-to-uk-community-climate-action-projects The Polyrhythm Team (- Alfie who was busy sorting snacks and me behind the camera) Planning the future, what we want to accomplish and feeding in the community voice we have listened to over the last few months. A well represented bunch made up of 3 women, 3 male adults and 3 x 16 year old youth. What i would call a ' good mix ' that bring experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the table. If only half the plans go ahead then i will be really happy but I try not to do things by half so expect some epic stuff to happen over the next year ! The main changes will be seen in the shop where we expand opening hours, start to offer lessons and more workshops + we are working on setting up a School of Rock to run over the winter months. The continuation of the Jam sessions we help run fortnightly in collaboration with Bodmaxx was a solid yes. The skills and equipment we bring to the rooms makes it a really enjoyable time for the participants and now with setting regular, planned sessions then it should attract more although with encouraging numbers that often hit 20 per session is a real good starting base. The shared desire to introduce production on the Top Floor is quite exciting but might be funding dependant and as such, a few months away. We shared the belief that the benefit and use of being able to go into small production in the space would help strengthen the needs of the library members after listening to their feed-in. We should be able to start over the next month with the planned delivery of events and workshops. Make sure you follow us on Facebook as not to miss out on updates. Over the last few weeks we had chance to run a couple of workshops with The Lighthouse CIC in Liskeard. Clare Bevan who runs the Girls Youth Sessions there asked if we wanted to call up and run some workshops as something different for them to do. Needless to say, we sorted the instruments, got our team of youth to design the activities in the workshops, packed the van and drove up. Fun was the main theme, closely followed by Riptide. What was great to see was our team of youth leading the workshop, giving lessons that were easy to understand and to really engage with other young people. The 2 x 2 hour sessions we held there over 2 weeks really were engaging and they found real fun. Playing songs that they knew and liked inspired them to rent instruments for the weeks in-between our visits and to learn more through YouTube and other sources. 8 instruments were loaned out in that time and left us quite surprised. We ended both sessions with a sing along and again, that for us was a surprise as not planned and great to see that the participants were coming out of their shells and brave enough to give it a go. They want more and we want to go back as we all had fun and a few actually managed to play and sign along with Riptide. Networking over the summer holidays we had chance to get talking and meeting with Jordan, the main man behind PandaFest in Cornwall. PandaFest has been running a number of years and more recently has moved from the pub carpark and into sprawling country fields on an old Manor in Lanivet that attracts up to 3,000 each year. It`s a 1 day music festival that features local bands, supported by Sharps Brewery and has a good reputation for a fun day out. Our invitation to have space there for PolyRhythm was very welcome as we know that Team PolyRhythm get so much out of the festivals and the participants. Also, being just 4 miles from our shop, its local, it will help stir interest in the library and it would get more members. It's also great for the festival goers as they seem to really enjoy the chance to get involved with playing various instruments while there. The feedback we get from these types of events is fantastic as it's really does give benefit and enjoyment to so many attendees. For PolyRhythm we had 2 new team members joining us for the day, Tom who is 16 and studying A level music + an avid drummer and Bex who runs the Jam sessions for us and loves to sign at any given chance; they had listened to the stories from us about the last festival we took part in and they were eager to help out on this one. For me, the hard work is setting up the day before and the takedown on the day after. The festival is the easy, fun bit but the hard work either side is really worth it. The Event was a great turn out even though it had been date changed this year to go along with the Covid Restrictions that were enforced during the earlier planned date in the summer. Obviously, any outdoor events held in late September give worry in Cornwall and especially over the weather. It was good to see the sun make an appearance late morning and for it to stay dry for us during the event. What it means for us is that we can spill out of our main tent and provide for more people to join in with us. We ran the music session from 10.30 until 7.30pm when we just about ran out of steam. It was really enjoyable and we met so many people but it was noted that we either need more people to help out or that 10 hours is that maximum time we can do per day with our team and to be honest, 10 hours is really enough. For us, Pandafest is on the menu again for next year we hope. They have some great plans going forward and the mention of the opening slot of the festival for any bands we are involved with gives us great ideas and helps us plan the future with youth in mind who are screaming for these opportunities. All in all, If you haven't been then you might want to think about it for next year. It should be earlier in the year and I think they have some exciting news to release over the coming months regarding their plans. As for us, we are spurned on to seek out more events for next year to take part in as it simply ticks all our boxes. Watch out for further releases of where to find us in a field near you next year. With the schools starting again this week and the rain due in today, it may feel like summer is over but for us its not quite yet! The wonderful people at Sharps Brewery have invited us along to take part in PandaFest that is held in Lanivet later this month. Set in the center of Cornwall at the picturesque Manor Mead, the independent festival is gaining attention, showcasing the best in local food, drink and music.
"PandaFest is a new music festival set in the heart of the Cornish countryside. A celebration of community. Showcasing food, drink and the very best music Cornwall has to offer" Needless to say, Polyrhythm is delighted to be part of it and we will be bringing a great selection of musical instruments from our library to enable anyone and everyone to join in a jam, make some noise and have some fun with music. Our team of 6 will be there all day and there will be chance to sign up to the instrument library, find out about future events and get connected with other musicians. See you in a field on the 25th ! We ended this summer in a wild and wonderful way; a weekend spent in a field at a Festival with 1000`s others in Cornwall and what a weekend it was. Earlier in the year we had talked as a team on the future, what we could do and where. The talk of festivals that were at that time just a hope became a reality with The Great Estate, the first of 2 festival events we take part in. The fact we only had 16 days' notice of conformation didn’t deter us as it merely made step up a gear and get organized. We didn’t even own a marquee to house us in while there but we did have a team of people who were determined to make it a great weekend and we set about to make it Epic! Once conformation came through, we sat as a team and planned out what we were going to do, who was doing what, our roles, expectations and ground rules. The youth that work with us had a big part in this and got busy listing and preparing the instruments we would take with us and helped us look at the covid safety measures we needed to make it as safe as we could for all included. The time passed quick and we were soon loading the van, driving there and signing in. The need to show proof of vaccinations and tests were reassuring for the team as everything was checked before we could enter the site. These measures were not only for the staff but for the public as well as to help make the event as safe as possible. We brought with is a huge selection of instruments and were so glad we did as from the first day the gates opened the music, mayhem and memories were made. Within hours we knew we had created something special and would be used as intended. From months ago, those chats, ideas and visions we had talked about, planned and imagined – to reality, a well-used and enjoyed space that created fun. The simple flow of things made me realise that music does what many other projects I have worked on fail to do so well. Music is so organic in this setting; it finds its own place and beat. It can't be forced; it just needs to flow. Our part was just to provide the instruments to allow it to happen. And it happened. More experienced helped newer beginners regardless of age, people tried instruments that were new to them, that they had years of experience of playing and people just came to join in for the fun of it or to listen to what was created. Polyrhythm - the definition is - the simultaneous combination of contrasting rhythms in music and that just about sums up what 11 hours a day for 3 days in a field in Cornwall was like. So much contrast brought by so many different people. We expected around 50 –60 people a day to join in, how wrong we were as in fact it was more like 150 –160 and then I think that’s an understatement. We had nothing but happy people all weekend, nothing got lost and only one accident on an instrument that was looking fragile before the festival. The feedback from those that participated brought goosebumps and grins. The hundreds of photos taken that weekend by proud parents of their want-to-be rock stars assured us that it wasn’t just the kids that were happy with what we created and the offers for future collaboration, of help, donations and participation on future events kind of really hit home just how special it was for so many. To quote a little of the feedback we received - Wow, Wow, Wow - The main reason why my sons enjoyed the festival. Too watch an 8 and 11 year old having a jam has been overwhelming and i will be sure to continue with lessons after seeing their passion this weekend - It is much more than a workshop or project & there should be one of these in every town, village and hamlet! - Very special indeed - Never seen anything like this at a festival - it was mesmerising witnessing how much these kids got out of it ! - The best experience learning all the instruments - The kids had the best time, they spend 2 whole days at the festival going back to you guys. - Couldnt get my kids out, you guys are the best! - Lovely vibes, top blokes, great for kids - Unexpected wonderful experience. My girls spotted instruments from the start and asked time and time again to come in. A very warm welcome and calming instructions on how to play different instruments. Many we had not had the chance to try before. - This feedback and so many more like this, spurs us on to do more, to enable more people to have access to music and the arts. The transformation we have seen through music and people as we exit the restrictions Covid brought is simply amazing. Connection, community and cohesion all rolled into a great weekend. It started a couple of months ago through casual conversation. 2 likeminded souls supporting the community and brushing over the future, the hopes and the needs of communities and what plans we have in place to help where we can. An idea, a decision to take it further and to take it back to those others involved or interested to see if it's what they would like to do.
2 months later and we find ourselves in one of the most gorgeous settings I have had chance to help organise events. St Ives Community Orchard. Overlooking St Ives Bay, that just a few weeks ago was host to warships and the G7 summit. Also an area we have been involved with over the last year through supporting the food banks here during Covid. The setting is just wow and the people who are behind the Community Orchard just burst with this thing called hippieness and a big dollop of pride. So eager to show us the orchard, the hives, the new developed areas and the Pizza Oven, that we almost ran late for setting up for what is our, first outing and community workshop. There was a booking system in place set up before the event to make sure it was something the community wanted to take part in. 17 had signed up. 26 instruments packed up. 5 staff to make it happen. For us it was a great chance for the youth involved to have a big part of delivery. They sorted, serviced and selected the instruments for the day. They worked on the safety aspect of the day with Covid deep in everyone's thoughts and especially after the recent spike in numbers in the area and they took to the event like naturals. You would have never known it was their first event but the way they taught, interacted and inspired was better than what we all expected. The feedback gained from the participants was really uplifting for them and all involved. They wanted to capture the day through film and we took along a polaroid instamatic camera to just that and the film taken was just the perfect way to do it and really helped capture the day. All ages turned up and although some of the 17 pre sign ups didn’t show, we found we had some walk in after hearing the music being played and wanting to find out more. In all, 22 people joined in with the music and for us, this was a great success. The 3-hour workshop quickly passed and we ended the day with the youngsters playing a few turns they had mastered during the last few months. While they played, the Pizza Oven was fired up and we spent the next couple of hours, kicking back, eating great food in a great setting and with great people. If this is what coming out of Covid looks like then we all want more. If this is what the future of Poly Rhythm looks like then, again, we all want more! |
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August 2022
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