One of two jams on the same theme by Hayden, Zak, Alex, Chris and Luke. Recorded through a line mixer, out to a Zoom H2 hand held recorder through the headphone output.
Filed under: Jam Sessions, SN/LDD
June 1, 2010 • 2:45 am 0
WAC Wonder Web softsynth jam session
A short jam from a set of 4 by Hayden, Alex, Chris Luke and Zak, each with an iMac and Audio Unit synths samplers or drum loops.
Filed under: Jam Sessions, SN/LDD
May 5, 2010 • 11:26 pm 0
Music Workshops at the Wonder WAC Project
A personal look at the continuing music workshops for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities in the unique setting of the Wonder WAC project at WAC performing Arts & Media College. Paul Chivers. February 2010
Index:
1.Introduction
2.Personnel
3.Approach
4.Musical Activities & Technology
5.Case Studies
6.Percussion Workshops
7.Proposed Workshops
1.Introduction
The Wonder WAC project is for young people with learning disabilities, funded by Camden Council, catering for young people with special needs who live in the borough. The aim is for the students to have fun, socialize with their peers, be creative, and develop communication and independence skills. Workshops are run by WAC Performing Arts & Media College, an organization now in it’s 30th year, located at the old Hampstead Town Hall building in Belsize Park, NW3.
Term time sessions are held on a Tuesday and Wednesday evening and are augmented by half term projects lasting 3 days and by residential trips, usually lasting either for two nights over a weekend or 4 nights during the week. These all involve different activities, of which music is always one. This document describes the unique setting and context within which the group engages musically, using acoustic instruments and electronic technology.
This document considers the musical content of the workshops in the unique context in which it must operate. Without consideration of the circumstance, the form, content and delivery of the workshops would differ significantly and their success become untenable. It also addresses work approaching a 10 year period and can be supplemented, in time, by a more focused look at individual types of workshop, although it should be noted that circumstances tend to dictate direction and the most consistent and successful music workshop formula primarily involves drumming and head switches for some students. Most workshops are based on or deviate from that central theme in one way or another.
2.Personnel
Wonder WAC staff members tend to be recruited by invitation from the senior administrator Melanie Ancliff and are recommended through the existing staff network rather than recruitment by advertisement and interview. There is a ‘family’ atmosphere and despite what may appear on first view to be an informal and sometimes even chaotic approach, there is a solid structure and procedure in place. Wonder WAC has been running for 20 years. Qualifications and experience are welcome in staff but aptitude, flexibility, patience determination; a sense of fun and an ability to cope with the absurd prove the primarily effective qualities. Evening sessions have a structure of Group Leader, a ‘Qualified’ (usually with a Degree), a Youth Worker (certified), an Assistant, (often recruited from students on other courses run at WAC) or a Volunteer. The motto “expect the unexpected is frequently invoked.
There have been three staff who over the last few years who have focused on music. They are, apart from myself, Charles Matthews and Chas Mollet. We all use drums and percussion in our sessions but often collaborate to bring in technology, facilitating in particular, those who cannot physically drum and often for the group at large to experience some different ideas and interfaces.
Students have learning difficulties and disabilities ranging from mild to severe; from immobile non-verbal and tube fed students, to those with harder to detect issues such as mild Aspergers. I have in the past, asked ‘what is your disability?’ detecting none until informed. On the other hand, behavioural issues can include biting punching spitting or self-harm. Recent medical history may include epilepsy and medication. Most students are keen to engage with the activities and although various incidents can be disruptive and interruptions are frequent, the group is capable of working hard and achieving an excellent standard of work.
Many students have known each other since early school days, are old friends. Most have been coming to Wonder WAC for several years now and know what to expect. This atmosphere helps new group members integrate quickly. There are students who need practical assistance from staff (sometimes from students) to achieve anything at all other than observance and with a combination of this assistance, workshop techniques and the employment of technology, we are able to facilitate and engaging experience for most of the students. A few will engage only on their own terms and sometimes exclude themselves or in some cases excluded by the group leader in order that the workshop may proceed unhindered. This inevitably reduces accompanying staff levels simultaneously but enables the remainder of the group.
The technology we use in music sessions tends to be readily utilized by group members although it requires a higher level of patience and co-operation from the group as a whole. We tend to keep aims simple and build on them as we progress at the group’s natural and variable pace.
There is a high student to staff ratio approaching 1:1. The students needs can be high and sometimes take priority over workshop activities. Proceedings may grind to a halt momentarily but usually progress is made and workshops tend to continue even if they are several group members down for any given period of time while anything from toilet breaks to behavioral disruption are accommodated. Other challenges might simply be the nature of accommodating such a mixed ability group and trying to include or not exclude group members from activities. This however is an exciting part of the musical and technological challenge.
3.Approach
I joined the project in 2003, getting involved through working as the Colleges recording studio Training Manager. Passing through the atrium on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening I would see the group’s art session in progress and was invited to look and say hello from time to time and was surprised that I was often remembered by name or waved to by students as I passed by. Mel asked me one evening if I would like to do a percussion workshop with the group soon. I was delighted to be asked but simultaneously unsure, having never worked with a Learning Difficulties and Disabilities group before. What transpired was a defining experience and has directed my approach ever since:
Trying to give instructions on how to beat noisy objects to an already loud group of over 20 people, I ended up standing on a chair, cowbell and stick in hand, belting out rhythmic ‘calls’ and getting responses, some on target some off. Eventually, when we ended up singing Elvis songs, I really thought I had lost the control needed for the session to successfully conclude. After the session was over, when I saw Mel coming down the corridor toward me, I thought – “Oh no. What’s she going to say?”
Her reaction was; “Paul that was fantastic, they loved it!” I was amazed at first, but looking back, I learned something crucial, that with this group, I had to let go of my plan at a certain point and allow the session to go with the pull of the tide. As long as the group can head for shore and land successfully, the journey can become the greatest adventure and need not, should not and cannot be over managed if it is to succeed. It is about setting the correct goals in the first place, knowing what the group is and is not capable of.
I could see no other path for the workshop to succeed other than to abandon my original lesson plan. It turned out to be the right thing to do but I was, until Mel’s words to me, admonishing myself for losing the tight control I would normally expect to keep in a workshop situation and to at least deliver what was asked of me, in this case, a percussion workshop. We did use percussion, but there was one group member with a guitar who, I wasn’t sure at the time, was staff, student or possibly Elvis himself and who, with the will of the wind, seemed to steer our sails his way. He was neither student nor staff but did have learning disabilities and in his capacity as a volunteer and his experience in these workshops gave him confidence to take some of the direction away from my intended path. Rather than battle with him, I joined with him and included both his and my direction as best I could. The outcome was a new energy for the group and a successful session under the official terminology of Wonder WAC, which as stated earlier, is for the students to have fun, socialise with their peers, be creative, and develop communication and independence skills.
Art and drama are also used and we have a sensory room and a parallel project, which involves blogging, so from time to time we venture into these other areas, but the usual run of a Wednesday evening is split between art and music. We have the option to split the group between the activities and swap over half way or to keep the group together and do one activity at a time. Each activity is lead by a different member of staff, usually the same one for each activity. We are however starting to introduce new staff members or experienced staff members into new roles to keep things fresh and expand their talents and the group’s experiences.
We have other smaller activities each evening such as the welcome, register and a warm up, usually taking the form of a game, the most popular being duck duck goose, resulting in chase around the room on the perimeter of the chair circle in which we all sit. Sometimes we have one member of staff who is a fitness instructor give us a warm up dance or movement session and sometimes a warm down. When we had drama specialists in the group we would emphasize story telling, and other dramatic devices for workshops. The energy is usually quite high and intense, particularly with the noise generated by the drumming and electronic sounds but also added to by the noise of young people, particularly those who do not engage in the group and who are non-verbal by very vocal nonetheless. Sometimes workshops continue through both noise and actions which can range from people being taken to change a pad or even clothes, go to the lavatory with a staff member or as has been happening recently with a new group member, urinating on the floor and the subsequent clear up operation. The flexibility of a session must therefore be enormous and be able to turn in an instant to facilitate any situation.
The entrancing nature of a group drumming session, again, proves its worth in these circumstances and its popularity is one result. Another reason why drumming is so good for this client group is because you do not need to have great instrumental skills to play. Even if your timing is not good, there are enough players both staff and young people usually to hold down a rhythm, sometimes we sing on top of the rhythm. Introducing electronic drums has maintained this energy whilst introducing a range of new sounds. Continuing in this direction will slowly unfold more opportunities for diversifying into new sounds or ways of using sounds & ways of playing and interacting.
4.Musical Activities & Technology
By the time I joined the group, it had already several years of experience with percussion workshops lead by Zedakiah Morgan. His workshops laid out a foundation for the group’s discipline today because there was a certain system and discipline he had worked into the group over the years. Percussion therefore remains an essential weekly activity. Even when focusing more on technology such as Soundbeam or recently, the Wii-mote, percussion tends to be integrated into whatever we do.
The group can start together, stop together, play in time (most students), and go loud, quiet, faster, and slower, on just a word, signal or a sign. The group is really together on this, though of course some days are more together than others. If we skip a session we are quickly asked to resume next time. It is the core of our group’s discipline, which we can and do transfer to more progressive ideas and technologies. However, when the group discipline or the flow of a session breaks down due to any manner of disruption, drumming is the easiest solution for a flexible workshop and so is often resorted to and often, ambitious plans have to be patiently postponed.
There are several reasons for conventional musical instruments being less favoured by workshop leaders at Wonder WAC. Primarily, the motor skills needed to play a guitar or keyboard in an ensemble or indeed solo, are beyond many group members abilities and beyond staff’s ability to teach or indeed have time for in a session. We have used electric guitar, bass and a drum kit on occasion and cranked up the volume for fun and made some kind of musical arrangement to work with, but this kind of adventure is better suited to a longer project such as half term when there is more time to set up and take down equipment and it avoids the expectation and then frustration of the limitations for the group which usually numbers above 10. Again a drum is much better, with minimal (but important) technique to learn and a great musical dividend for the group.
Technology used in workshops:
1. Soundbeam with sonar beams and switches
2. Jazz Mutant Lemur
3. Headswitches
4. Roland V-Drums and Roland Pad 8
5. Wii remote controller
6. Laptops with Ableton Live
With these various tools we have been able to generate and affect amplified sounds and projected visuals whilst moving around the room or from a static position. Sounds might simply be a percussive noise with which to engage in a drumming workshop or a sound effect or contrasting longer tone to the short sounds made by a drum. The different tools, however, are useful for different group members, suiting their abilities in different ways:
1.Soundbeam
Soundbeam is a device built on sensor technology facilitating MIDI information controlled by movement and proximity. It can be set to trigger sounds by moving around a large space or over a smaller zone of a meter or so. It is great for group activities or close up on an individual. We have used it in a variety of ways, one example being with two beams placed parallel, pointing the sensor beam down the length of the room. The signal could be interrupted on approach to and on walking away from the sensor. Moving in a circular motion around the room caused MIDI notes to trigger pitched instruments such as piano and saxophone sounds, at differing points on a musical scale. These were set to harmonize with audio loops triggered by floor switches, creating a layered groove with variable melodic or ‘soloed notes improvised by the motion.
After a period of demonstration, one student at a time, we were able to engage the whole group to trigger all the sounds by moving around the room, with the students being cognizant of their notes and their overall contribution. The result was a fruitful dance and movement workshop with a party atmosphere as the footswitches triggered dancey drumbeats and bass lines. We were able to adapt this idea to integrate with a drama workshop. Some triggers were also used to switch projected images as scenery for the drama piece. Wheelchair users were engaged in a similar fashion to able-bodied students as they were able to use wheels to trigger switches and being moved around the room would trigger notes as with anyone breaking the sensor’s beam.
2. Jazz Mutant Lemur
Lemur is a touch screen remote control technology designed to trigger and control sound. We connected it to a laptop and used Ableton for triggering loops, which can be faded and panned. Co-worker Charles Matthews wrote a MAX patch to interface with Ableton and another to have a simple synthesizer with a simple X/Y controller or just one slider to control oscillators.
Lemur can be a great instrument for more able-bodied students who have learning difficulties but who have the ability to understand and engage with the technology at this level, for example those who enjoy using a computer but can only get so far with it un-aided. Charles’ MAX patches were ideal especially in the context of the variable group dynamic, where simple is good and instant control is even better.
3. Head Switches
Head switches and similar triggers provide simple on/off information. We have used them to trigger samples and tones, to start and stop sequences and to change colours and shapes on the projected images. Samples can be advanced progressively with a switch, or the switch can send to a randomized outcome, but usually the workshops have put the head switch user in the position to play alongside acoustic instruments so that it is always apparent which noise is by the user. We have recently introduced the possibility of multiple head switch users, having usually just worked with one at a time. I try to place speakers near the users have recently discussed utilizing a mono speaker for each switch user.
4. Roland V-Drums and Roland Pad 8
Drum pads are popular and need rotation of users in a workshop, as it is easy to sit down at them and dominate the session. As with an acoustic drum kit, which has occasionally been brought in, each student can ‘have a go’ or it must be integrated into a session, usually involving djembe drums and percussion using and elaborating on well-established rhythms such as the Heartbeat. The advantage and potential of these instruments is that they can be assigned to play any sound, so a narrative can be built around them and ideas developed beyond drum sounds.
5. Wii Remote controller
Both Charles and Chas have developed software applications enabling the students to use the familiar Wii games technology in a variety of ways during music workshops. Using a computer or a sound module, Max/Msp/Jitter and Pixelshox/Quartz Composer softwares.
Computer generated visuals can be changed in size n shape: The movement of a Wii-mote controller sends cc data to ramp parameter changes on a given scale which can be used to change the image or pattern displaying on the screen. We have developed very successful workshops this year and last which integrate the projected visuals with the music. Shapes and colours respond to frequencies received by a microphone, so the workshops have become known as ‘Painting with Sound’. Drummers and percussionists can control the shape size and colour of abstract images whilst another student can control the location of the updated image using the Wii-mote.
The Wii has also been used to control sounds and often features in this capacity in the same workshop as above, either controlling the filter on a sampled sound or a synthesizer with a simple x/y controller and a trigger for the note. It can do volume changes and has potential to be set to control many other parameters.
6. Laptops with Ableton Live
Laptops are frequently used to facilitate or augment the above technologies. Ableton Live is the sequencing software of choice for its speed and flexibility. It is usually operated by a staff member simply to set up and facilitate the user of a physical interface be it Soundbeam, head switch or Lemur etc. Using a MIDI and Audio interface, it is connected to a small pa system or sometimes even a guitar amp for convenience, thought that produces a pretty grim sound. When there is time in a workshop to set things up nicely the computer brings a dimension to the session which is flexible and open to development with the correct staff available to not only operate it but set it up in a suitable manner to give an uncomplicated experience to the group.
5.Case Studies
Catherine had been in the group for about a year with me. She is in a wheelchair and cannot move out of it herself. She cannot speak and is highly dependent. When she is energized, she rocks in her chair enthusiastically. She will clap her hands together though inaudibly. This particular communication can mean a lot and significantly, during a Chinese Whispers session where we passed a rhythm around the room, one by one, Catherine, un-aided on this occasion, moved her foot when it was her turn, in a small kicking motion. I held a tambourine in front of her foot and each time it was her turn, she played it. She stopped when it was the next persons turn. It can take a while to read these communications, if indeed they are happening at all, but once realized they can be worked with. It was quite a revelation since Catherine can communicate so little compared with other group members.
There are many reasons for this kind of progress to become apparent. The group dynamic can involve some activities from individuals that require such monitoring and attention that the quieter members of the group can be overlooked. The attention of the staff can be distracted by the managing of other group members, some wanting the toilet, some needing to be changed, some disengaging, running out of the room, behaving in appropriately in a manner of ways, fussing or chatting, whatever the distraction may be. It sometimes means that some group members will get less attention than would otherwise be possible. Ideally, the workshop will include everyone. Wonder WAC staff have to remember from week to week, term to term, which student is capable of what. However, attendance may vary and a young person attending only from the middle of a term that has been spent working with the strengths of a much more able group, presents a challenge to the staff and sometimes the group, in order to include them. There are so many challenges for the group members, both staff and clients, that the path of least resistance is often the path taken (a better word than chosen) in these sessions.
Each individual client has their own needs their own abilities and disabilities. There are seldom similar in outcome or in needs unless generalizations are made. This means that ideas for inclusion are tailored specifically to the higher needs group members individually.
Michael, for example can engage with the group in a number of ways. He has Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair. He has some communication abilities but is non-verbal other than some clear utterances such as “Dadadada” He will grin hugely and clap, rocking with great force in his wheelchair, into which he is strapped. Occasionally he will blow raspberries, though I still have not discerned whether this has a particular meaning. These reactions are often displayed to music, to his name being called on the register or to comments about his favourite football club. He can understand everything you say, but will choose when to engage or ignore. Michael has been a group member for several years and for a long while his contribution to music workshops was to rattle a small shaker momentarily until he dropped it or to simply to rock in his chair. Staff working with him would hold an instrument such as a tambourine with him but left alone, he would, more often than not, throw it to the floor and laugh.
At first I thought this was a rejection of the instrument and so discouraged the activity. It was only when he was given cymbals because they were less breakable that it became evident that we could include his contribution of throwing them to the floor in the composition of our music. Since Michael cannot resist the temptation to throw them immediately, staff or students hand him cymbals, them at the right moment in the piece, often an otherwise silent moment written in especially for him. Lately he has been given a switch, triggering a percussive sound. He triggers it when he rocks back and forth, though his aim is not accurate.
Jason has engaged with switches more than any other student, not least because all three music staff have worked as his personal assistant and have been able to develop ideas with him, particularly with Charles Matthews developing bespoke Max patches for his utilization in Wonder WAC sessions and indeed outside of WAC too. Jason is usually the one to start a sequence, to play a sound effect, or to join in with a percussive sound or bass note, something distinctive and audible. Jason has cerebral palsy, is wheelchair bound, strapped in, and communicates with a kiss for affirmative, a poking out of the tongue for a negative and a few other signs with multiple meanings depending on the context. The most important thing to realize is, as it says first on Jason’s card, is “I can understand everything you say”.
Jason has developed a clear understanding of the possibilities of the technology presented to him. He is anxious about trying new things, which require less favoured or unfamiliar body movements. My suggestion of an auxiliary head switch on the other side of his head to his existing one was met with anxiety. With rational and reassuring conversation and a little time however, Jason can be encouraged to try some more adventurous maneuvers. This bodes well for the future and Jason continues to experiment and work with Chas Mollet on his bespoke software developments.
Maegus engages well with the Lemur, which suits him, as it is suitable for one person to use at a time and he is not always keen to engage in the musical group activity, preferring the art sessions, or conversation. Maegus’ is able bodied, has a learning disability but engages in enthusiastic and relevant conversation, which he will readily initiate. He has derived much satisfaction form fading audio loops in and out and from controlling sounds with his finger on the Lemur screen.
Charlotte P can use a switch with encouragement and a lot of attention, but is more preoccupied with what is going on around her.
Nazia would simply ignore a switch, leaving her fingers in her mouth and her thumbs in her eyes. She is wheelchair bound, non-verbal and does not seem to engage at all with our activities. Interesting now to think that I assume this, with much reason, but it would at least be better to say that I have tried her with a switch. She has been involved in Soundbeam sessions, being wheeled in and out of the beam by a member of staff. It is hard to tell if she enjoyed or even dislikes this activity.
Johti will not engage at all with a switch, she would rip it from its Velcro patch on her wheelchair and throw it to the floor. In her case it is more obvious not to try.
Sabia will press a switch but it is hard to say that she is aware of the consequence of that action.
Joanna very is very aware and goes hammer and tongs at the switch. This is quite remarkable because she is a student who, if left, will simply sit in her wheelchair through a music session, even if accompanied by a staff member playing an instrument in their hands together, giving little sign of engagement. Joanna is one of the students who until recently has fallen below the radar, due to her dislike of loud noises and the groups propensity for making them.
Manju is immobile, strapped into a wheelchair, tube fed and nil by mouth. She clearly smiles when music is played and unlike Joanna, enjoys a good cacophonic experience. She is fully aware of the Soundbeam. When Chas placed the sensor pointing at her head, within clear sight for her and explained to her that if she moved her head she would trigger the sounds, Manju began to move her head repeatedly and smiled with the resulting noises. This was a surprise to me however, as Manju is easily overlooked in the melee of a Wonder WAC session as she is so self contained and apparently happy with it all.
Iona is a new group member. She doesn’t like using switch but enjoys music. At her school they use switches in a way we have not thought of at WAC, for switching things on and off such as lights, or a computer. We could perhaps utilize these ideas and apply them to amplifiers keyboards or anything else that empowers the user in a new way.
Non-wheelchair users include Dean, able bodied and partially verbal with a limited vocabulary but who understands much. Dean engages only momentarily with Lemur, which presents too much of a challenge for him to realistically utilize, but enjoys using a footswitch, though is happier in general with a drum, which he can increasingly play in time.
Much more able and cognizant are Charlotte H and Shanice, both of whom have mild learning difficulties and can enjoy the Lemur, the electronic drums and Soundbeam and are able to fully engage with them. So can Kayliegh, who has Down’s syndrome. Her lack of rhythmic skill is made up for by her enthusiasm in everything she does. Fatima is a new group member who will most likely engage with and enjoy all our technology options. James will engage sporadically with the Wii-mote, has not tried switches but loves drumming. When the energy levels get too high however he can become over-excited and tends to lash out at people within his reach. The energy usually has a positive effect on students, some of whom, like Dean and Hilda, may spontaneously get up and dance.
6.Percussion Workshops
Including young people with physical difficulties and disabilities in a mixed ability group is a challenge that has found unfolding solutions as time has gone on. It is great to even have a shared energy as an audience member sat in with the group, even with no participation. I have led various workshop pieces that involve everyone however, despite an often apparently impossible involvement through motor disabilities. Often a staff member will sit next to a student and hold a hand percussion instrument in their hand. Some workshops involve taking it in turns to play. This could be a solo, passing on a phrase like in Chinese whispers, or a conversation between two people, sometimes more, and each on their instrument.
Over the years I have introduced non-metric ideas in order to work better with young people who have difficulty paying in time with the group. Sometimes their playing can be completely disruptive and spoil a huge effort by the rest of the group, but it remains important to include them. There are one or two members of the group that are ever excluded form the group. These are people who will not play, for example john who will take the instrument offered into her hand and immediately throw it to the floor in displeasure. Some do not like the noise of the workshops. The non metric ideas have crystallized now into a piece called “the weather: where we play the sounds of rain and thunder on djembes and hand percussion including tambourines woodblocks shakers etc.
Here is how the Weather workshop usually runs:
The weather forecast first, where I talk the group through the moves one by one. We start with our hands in the air and slowly, waggling our fingers drop our hands down to the surface of our instruments and let the rain gently fall on them tapping gently at first, and building harder as the rain sets in. the fingers turn to hands on the drums and we introduce thunder by playing bass notes in the centre of the drum skin. I add lightning with a slap technique. Not everybody attempts this part of it but they do increase their vigor when they hear the cracking sound. We go back to rain. What after the rain comes? I ask the group… drips.
Sometimes the silence in the group is so good that you can hear the quietest drips being made until inlay we lift our fingers, raise out hands back up into the air sat he sun comes out and the water evaporates back where it came form. When this part of the workshop is done, we move into part 2, which is that actual weather itself, not a forecast, not a practice run. We star with out hands in the air and when the rain comes down, no words are said. If the piece lasts 20 minutes, so be it. 30 seconds, so be it. Both have happened. We stop when we all stop. Hands go up one by one and then all together. In between, it may have been rainy on one side go the room and thunder and lightning on the other. It’s not always all at once. Often you think the rain has cleared and the sun is going to come out again but the rain starts up again ands there is another full storm, or just a shower, we don’t know till we try. Its great to contrast a piece like this with a rhythm based piece in the same workshop.
Before I began working leading percussion workshops at Wonder WAC, Zed had already established several rhythms with the group, namely the heartbeat and the rumba. The heartbeat remains the most useful. We are introducing new rhythms too, the train in 6/8 time, with an emphasis on the one. Another similar 6/8 rhthm is based on the words “Boom boom shake the room”. “Shaka shaka” is a new 4/4/ beat based not the Ghanaian horse rhythm or Latin tumbau. We have a call signal on the drum, which is well understood and observed by the group. It is a major unifying statement and identity for the group and gives our performances a strength that will surprise many a new audience member.
7.Proposed workshops.
The Rainforest. Incorporating the switches with the Weather Workshop and using the techniques encapsulated therein, we can have a multi dimensional piece using technology to trigger the animal sounds in the rainforest. The rain and thunder will be provided by the drummers and percussionists basically repeating the rain in the weather workshop but there are other elements that we can bring in to make not only an interactive experience with a conductor and technology, but also a great performance piece.
Recently we have discussed the idea of working just with the switch users and focusing on them to improve our understanding of the young people, their abilities, and the appropriate nature of what we can facilitate them with alongside developing their skills and understanding of the equipment. After this process, we can reintegrate them into the larger orchestra once more but to much better effect. WAC has this month, secured significant new funding for equipment and has also been granted funding for the continuation of a web based project which can include performances either live or recorded, to be streamed from the website dedicated to young people in Camden with mild learning difficulties, at http://www.wacwonderweb.co.uk
Filed under: Essays, Music workshops, SN/LDD
