Thank you for your detailed responses! John: I have checked out those sites, and am making notes on the KS3/4 curriculum as we speak. It does seem though, that there is gap between the creative side of things and actual recording process. It may be that early teens might want to record their favourite songs, and write 'beats', this of course is not a problem, I remember being that person! I think that by using the curriculum as a platform, and extending the students perceptions on what music is and could be, there could be some very interesting results. Also, I have already contacted my local music service, and am awaiting a reply. With regards, to secondary/primary, I see our primary goal as being unaltered. of course the way in which we approach the subjects will have to change, but our concepts are very versatile. Sonic Arts, is possibly the most academic music concept out there today, though it has roots in the most basic forms of music: hitting things, being experimental, approaching things in a completely different way, i.e. the most fundamental form of creativity. David, thanks for the extra links. The previous PDF's you sent were extremely helpful!
Thanks again for you help guys! I'll let you know how the next few weeks pan out in terms of our research. Cheers.

John's comments below make a lot of sense. It would be well worth your while studying the documents he cites. To get an idea of where the primary curriculum is heading, go to http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/primarycurriculumreview/ Make sure you look at 'Understanding the Arts' from this webpage - you will be encouraged to see lots of references to ICT!

Another useful document is the Music education update - published by NAME which gives a good overview http://www.name2.org.uk/pub/bull.php

John is right regarding recording in schools - most now do it for themselves and even primary schools are making much more use of hand held mp3 recorders and basic recording/editing software such as audacity.

Your ideas for use of creative music technology could be interesting though, especially if used to support cross curricula work.

Finally, if you are in this for the long haul, you will probably need further training - artists into schools is becoming much more professionalised. MusicLeader is the support service dedicated to the professional development of UK music leaders - start by looking at the resources they have put on this site (search under member's tab for 'musicleader') and then follow the links....

Good luck!

It might be worth you guys getting a broader knowledge of what happens in schools on this front already. Have a look at...
- www.numu.org.uk to hear recordings of what students are doing in schools
- www.musicalfutures.org.uk to see one initiative making a big splash with this sort of thing
- http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/subjects/music/index.aspx to get an idea of the opportunities that students are supposed to be given by schools as part of the National Curriculum (3a&f seem most relevant)
- getting yourselves into schools to make sure that you understand your local market niche

A lot of secondary schools are really upping the game on the recording side of things (I'm not that familiar as I perhaps should be with the state of play in primary schools). As a result, I think that there's a lot less work available for an external company to come in and record students' work than there would have been in the (relatively) recent past. A lot of this can now be done 'in-house' and often by the students themselves. Again, primaries might be in a very different position - anyone care to jump in on this point??

The workshop elements that you suggest could be a different matter entirely. Local music services often act as 'brokers' for this sort of thing, so it might be worth approaching those in your area and offering your workshops as a service that they can promote for you.

Hope this is of some use.

I just noticed that In all of that I didn't even mention what age group we're going for, I envisage 7-12 year olds, however we need more research to make that a firm target.

Hi, I'm Lou, the other half of this project.

Basically we're looking to start working with a few schools around the Greater London/Surrey area. What we're initially interested in offering a simple mobile recording service, we collaborate with the music teacher in the school to arrange us to come in and do an audio recording of the children performing some pieces.

The above has two goals, to begin contact with schools, to establish a track record and to begin to generate income.

Once we reach a stage where we have enough contact and have developed our 'experimental music' side of things we intend to push into workshops and performances of 'sonic art' or sound design methods. It seems through our exposure to these fields there is a much looser approach, there are conventions, but there is no right or wrong way or approaching music of this field, it's purely explorative and fun, probably one reason why it's so common in academic circles! How ever I feel that because of these traits it's very well suited to being a learning tool, for communication, ICT, musical & artistic and creative skills, and possible more so that 'traditional' music tuition.

There' are other, longer term aspects that we have firmly in mind, however it's too early to throw all of our ideas out there without research first.

We're now at a stage where we have the majority of equipment, just a few little things to pick up, we need to craft a solid business plan so we can begin to approach schools, and the obvious CRB checks and the like need to be done first. However we're unsure of whether there is the potential of funding available to get things rolling more quickly. I feel we could have this up and running within two months, the first main hurdle is contacting schools to do some market research and also contact some children and parents about their opinions.

Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lou Greenwood
www.colourstobe.co.uk

Hi

This is a very interesting area - could you please add some discussion pointers or opinions of your own to get the ball rolling? People are then far more likely to respond if you can start things off in this way.....

Thanks!