‘Groovy Sunset Mellow’ by Zak
We have worked with Zak as part of our In My Own Time and Outreach projects. Our tutor worked with Zak to help him gain more confidence and independence with his music-making, followed by the support of some original songwriting. Facilitated and hosted by The Wherry School, this engagement was a joyful journey, watching Zak overcome barriers to unleash his amazing creativity!
Fast forward graphic scores
Fast Forward was a partnership project with OPEN Youth Trust and Nansa designed to provide meaningful practical and creative activities to young people on the edge of disability services.
Activities were delivered in four-week blocks. Working with musician Chris Dowding and artist Annie Brundrit, during the Graphic Score block the group studied contemporary classical music and discovered how music can be interpreted in different ways. The group then created their own scores which were give to two Norwich jazz groups and were responded to during two unique performances (can be viewed here).
stepping stones
We have a fantastic ongoing relationship with Stepping Stones, having worked with groups of students on several unique projects that are typically focused on creating a unique creative product.
Here you can listen to and watch the results of three of these projects. Winter into Spring consisted of six two-hour music making sessions where the group improvised and played with various instruments and around specific ideas, as well as recording preconceived elements that created the soundscapes that frame the music. This music was then taken away by electronics improviser, David Ross to process further, resulting in the finished EP.
I Can Hear A Bird I Can was a version of this same process but created remotely during lockdown. Participants sent David field recordings that they had made on specific journeys during lockdown, which David then worked on at his studio.
The most recent project, Stepping Sounds, is the result of a series of open-ended workshops to explore the relationship between sound and movement. Led by dance artist, Rosa Kentwood and David Ross, over four two-hour sessions the group devised movement that responded to sounds, and vice versa. The process was filmed and turned into a sensitive and immersive film.
West norfolk national autistic society ep
Musical Keys has worked with west Norfolk NAS for a number of years, forming a lasting relationship. Between 2013-16 NAS commissioned Musical Keys to provide fortnightly music technology focused workshops for two groups of young people.
During the period that this EP was created both groups participated in a wide range of traditional and progressive music activities, including coding, free-improvisation, soundscapes, digital music production, sensory music making and songwriting.
This EP is a small selection of the many pieces of music that were made and represents the more experimental and exploratory aspect of this project.
‘In C’
As part of Make Music Day Musical Keys produced a version of Terry Riley’s minimal masterpiece ‘In C’.
Recorded over a period of weeks and including a contribution from dozens of participants from TWELVE of our groups and projects, this is the biggest piece of ensemble music we’ve ever made
‘In C’ is designed to be accessible in that each performer has a small selection of phrases they can play, when they feel like it. The only ‘rules’ are that it has to be played at 120BPM (or thereabouts!) and in the key of C.
Recordings were made by MK tutors and sent to MK’s Programme Manager, Oliver who produced the track (much like piecing together a giant jigsaw). All proceeds go to support our vital work
Journey Without End zine
Between spring 2020 and early 2021, we worked with a group of woman accessing Sue Lambert Trust services. The group was set up to create a safe and supportive environment, where participants could explore activities focused around text, poetry, songwriting, visual art, college and sculpture. The culmination of the project was a beautiful 20 page zine which showcases a small proportion of the wonderful work created.
‘NORfolk’s nature’
Norfolk's Nature is the result of Musical Keys working in collaboration with participants from NANSA as part of the Creative Communities Consortium's Arts and Wellbeing Programme.
These recordings are edits from workshops, rehearsals and group performance - the material was written by the participants, inspired by Bjork's Biophilia project and framed by the beautiful landscapes of Norfolk.
After the music was recorded the group created the album artwork by making large-scale floor collages using coloured tapes.
The results of the Arts and Wellbeing Programme, including more detailed outcomes from our contribution, can be found here.
Creative Connections
Creative Connections is our flagship multi-genre intensive workshop, currently offered through the Short Breaks framework (as well as places being commissioned on an individual basis).
Throughout a typical session participants will create movie’s and animation, create characters and stories, compose and perform music, and everything else in between. We have many amazing videos from the Creative Connections sessions available via our YouTube channel but here are a couple of good ones!
A WORLD OF MUSIC
Although music is at the heart of everything we do, much of the success and impact of our work is experienced through the processes and participation in meaningful activity. This means that creating a ‘product’ is not often a key priority, however we always try and capture the material that is made, and occasionally we will focus on recording as a key component of a project.
Here are a few recordings from some very different projects. Firstly, a recording from a participant of ‘In My Own Time’, a bespoke home-based 1:1 service. Then a song from an album created as part of the ‘Jumpstart’ project where we worked with a group of adults at risk of homelessness and substance misuse (please be aware this track contains adult and explicit language).
Finally two pieces that were created to be preformed on stage. ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ which was created with the Equal Lives Youth Forum and then a piece by Salman Toheed that was created during a project with the Norwich International Project and the Matthew Project.
Also ANIMATION….
Animation plays a big part in many of our longer-duration groups and projects. Here we have ‘Santa’s Claws’, an animation that was created during one of 12 four-weekly creative blocks at the ‘Fast Forward’ project (in partnership with NANSA and OPEN Youth Trust). Then a detailed interpretation of the great Norwich Library fire, created during a Creative Connections session.