Gallions at the CLC

The Year 5s at Gallions were the last group to visit the CLC. They brought instruments with them so that we could mix the 'loops' of music on GarageBand with some real recordings.

Adam and Lubona wrote a rap about modern day slavery after working with a rapper on how to write lyrics. Here is their finished song:
Adam and Lubona's rap

The children wrote blues backing tracks but this one is a little bit different as it features Caleb plucking a bass line on his cello. Check it out:
Caleb and Connor's blues song featuring live cello


Here is some music composed to accompany the scene in the performance where Amelia escapes from the Birds and Beasts show:

George and Spencer's soundtrack music

Thanks to the Gallions teachers and children for producing such fabulous music!

Manor Primary at the CLC

Manor Primary also came to the CLC. They enjoyed using the first 'getting to know Garageband' session to record their own voices and so we had some budding pop singers with their versions of current chart hits!
Here is a lively song composed by Stacey and Fardus:

Stacey and Fardus' song

They went through the same learning process as Essex to create their backing tracks for the blues. Here is Jack and Farhad's blues song. I particularly like their walking bass line.
Farhad and Jack's blues song

Finally, the children created soundtrack music for the rest of the Wednesday night performance. Here is some music composed by Mecah and Tahsin who really captured the feel for Amelia escaping from the Birds and Beasts Fair:

Mecah and Tahsin's 'Amelia Escapes' music

Well done Manor and thanks to your teacher Ms. Collins for working so hard with you!

Essex Primary at the Forest Gate City Learning Centre

Essex Primary followed up their blues workshop by coming to the Forest Gate City Learning Centre in April/May to record their own backing track for their class-composed blues song.

On their first visit, they learned how to use GarageBand, a music composition programme on the Mac which allows users to choose from a bank of readymade loops, or samples, to create pieces of music. In the afternoon they learnt how to transfer their knowledge of the 12-bar blues onto GarageBand.

After selecting a drum track with a bluesy feel, they used keyboards and composed their own walking bass lines. Getting into the more complex elements of Garageband, they learnt how to change the pitch to make their bass line follow the pattern of the 12-bar blues.

On their second visit to the CLC, they added tracks to create a harmony for their blues song and then used keyboards to compose melodic introductions and 'breaks' based on improvisations on the blues scale.

Click here to listen to one of their finished blues backing tracks:

Sana and Nujmin's Blues backing track

Listen to the children singing with one of their own backing tracks:

Essex Primary children singing their blues song at the CLC

Later on, the children composed pieces of 'ambient' music as the soundtrack for the Wednesday night performance of the Freedom Project. Fawjia and Mary composed a piece for a scene in which an albino slave is being shown off at a 'Birds and Beasts' show.

Soundtrack music for the Birds and Beasts show

Thank you Essex children and teachers for your hard work.