If you wander down Bodmin High Street on a Saturday afternoon, don’t be surprised if you hear the sound of laughter and music blasting out of one of the shops. Its really kind of uplifting for a wet Saturday, in winter, in a town where you wouldn’t normally expect it. That shop just happens to be ours; PolyRhythm and the Musical Instrument Library.
We have watched our Jam sessions grow organically since way back in November and its really kind of special. At first, one or two people would call in to hire an instrument, try before they take home, pluck a few notes, sing the odd song or three. And then, before we knew it, we find we can get 20+ in our shop on any given Saturday. What strikes me is the way that it helped tackle many issues that our community face, the problem of social isolation, the problem that poverty brings with it and the mental health issues like anxiety. Thats not to say that everyone who comes through our door to take part face these issues but what it does say is that the space that has been created, is warm and welcoming, its non-judgemental and its open to all. Most off all though, its fun and that’s the bit that has been missing from life in the last few years. Polyrhythm is really lucky in the way that we have Colette to head up these sessions and oversee the library. To her it's her dream job, to those participating she is a goddess! She simply plucks out tunes each week that set the tone and the rhythm of the day, she is mindful of those taking part as so that all abilities can join in and somehow organised enough to make sure the instruments are ready, serviced and set up with the help of her youth volunteers who are just as eager to get playing, Tom on drums, Sam on base and Blaine rapping along to the beats. Alongside regulars who support this, we find Helen and Paul who simply are fantastic. They have given us on long term loan a PA system to help with a more professional touch and Helen has started a Youth Session after the Jam finishes in the later part of the afternoon. This we have found, helps the youth go to the next level and have recently been recording with Paul at the helm guiding the use of the software and editing, while Helen takes over the sound room to bang out vocals from the young participants that leave even them shocked at just how good they are. Now, if we thought it was good, well it's just got a boost to make things even better! We have found support from Feast in the way of a small grant and it has come just at the right time. We were getting desperate for a projector to be installed as we found that a few didn’t know words or the chords and now they can, Its also going to be great use for our guitar lessons that see 20 + each week. For the Jam sessions, It will really help with them being more organised and structured. We always faced a problem of servicing each item before / after the sessions and many times we simply didn’t have enough instruments as some were often waiting to be restrung, set up or at times we simply needed more. And now we can, we can get these things sorted and get jamming on the high street. I could write on and on about these sessions we hold and to be honest, they really are magic. I have come to see that the language of music is international, it crosses all ages and it is powerful. It can lift you high and set your day on fire. We see it and feel it each week, the 16-year-olds setting the pace for the 60-year-olds to rap along to, we see the 60-year-olds teaching the 16-year-olds the techniques they have learned and now pass down for lifelong learning. Skills exchanged across the ages and our fantastic women leading the way. This is how we lead our community out of Covid, how we grow back together and how we learn to live once more! Here is just a small sample of what has been created. Its raw, organic and its ours! Its what ignites our participants and keeps them coming back, its what Polyrhythm is all about and we love it! Follow the links to our Facebook page and see for yourself. https://www.facebook.com/1117418585/videos/449302006992477/ https://www.facebook.com/723242693/videos/1147769049383917/
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Desert Island Discs with the Community Team of SWW We were lucky enough to be granted support from South West Water Community Team that came via the fine people at Action Funder. ( link Below) For those who are unsure who Action Funder is then go check them out as they bridge the gap between Corporate and Communities. They offer many things and very often this is Grant Funding for project work. Ours came via SWW and their community team as so we could work with young people in our recording studio so we could teach them to use the software so they could then teach others. They saw us a quite a unique project and gave us some support that helped kick start the youth involvement in the radio and recording studio. They not only supported us, they also came to visit. One Friday afternoon in early March, we welcomed the community team into our library and studio. Both Nancy and Si from SWW were quite impressed with the musical instrument library we had set up on the high street and that it has attracted a lot of youth involvement and not just due to access to instruments. We planned the afternoon to do a Radio style Desert Island Discs where both Si and Nancy could choose their tracks, a book and an item and over the next hour we recorded the session that, I must say, went really well. It was comfortable, honest, informative and fun. The youth got the most out of it as they recorded not just the sound but through our media students, they helped capture the session through film. Our recording booth is not the high tec booth that you would find in a top end recording studio. We built it ourselves on a small budget and spent the majority of the money we had on the computers, equipment and software. It may be basic but for us, it's simply the best. It's on our high street and its accessible to all in our community who would like to use it. We do plan to invest in it further if we can find the money that will enable it but until then we use it as it was set out to be used; a tool for teaching youth, a space that is accessible for all, a place where we can help you record, edit and upload your music to where you want it to be and we are currently working with other young people who are in that process. With support we manage to do great things as SWW community team found out and when we do get support, it is so often our youth that benefit. Action Funder link - https://www.actionfunder.org/ We will share a link when it will be played on the radio next. Just waiting for the nod from SWW. Over the last few months we have worked with young people on solar power systems and made portable power kits. We spent the day in the library making the solar kits and learning about the components, the wiring, battery storage and inverters. Once we made the portable power kits, they wanted to see what they would power and much to their delight they found it would power their PA system, guitars, drums, mics and so much more. It was a real pleasure to see that they had created something from scratch and gained new found skills and understanding. What was noted was that in real terms, the closest they get to anything solar powered is seeing it on houses and in fields, so to actually learning how to make a working system and then to discover what it would do and ways they could use it, for them was inspiring. Soon they realised that they could power their band anywhere they wanted so with that we tested the theory out with a trip to the moors and actually took their Music to the Moors ! During Half Term, we loaded the van, packed a BBQ and took a trip out to Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor. We wanted to be as Off Grid as we could and this is as much as remote as we could get. The results were fantastic to see and such a reward for all the work they put in to this. We often talk about engaging with youth and we think we do much more than that. Our youth are really inspiring and leading the way as its not every day you see solar powered bands and especially ones that are youth led. Powered by the sun, created by our future leaders. This was part of our `Together for our Planet` project where we discover ways to look at the climate challenge. |
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August 2022
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