Turn It Up!
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, a number of Beaufort Secondary College students participated in the Song Makers workshop. The workshop is run by APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society) and brings world class songwriters and producers into secondary schools to work with students who are passionate about music.
The 2-day workshop allowed the students to work on collaborative writing, demo’ing new songs, and learning about career pathways into the global industry, from people currently involved and working in the field. The latest workshop built on their experiences from a workshop held in March, and allowed the students to work with three new mentors, to expand their song-writing skills.
The three incredible musician mentors for the program were;
- Claire Rayner (who performs under the name Rromarin) is a vocalist, songwriter, topliner and vocal engineer working out of Joyluck Studio in Thornbury, Melbourne. Recent years have seen the prolific musician forge her name locally and overseas, receiving airplay across Triple J, Double J and Unearthed and adding her voice to a slew of acclaimed singles with artists such as The Presets, Golden Features, Benson and Mazde.
- Hayden Lauersen is a much sought after producer, specialising in mixing and vocal engineering, whose studio credits include Tentendo, Raria, Woodes, Akosia and Boy Soda. Hayden has been seen performing at SXSW in Texas, Splendour In The Grass and BIGSOUND, working with artists such as Woodes, Shannen James, Essie Holt and San Joseph.
- Sebastian Morales (who performs under the name Reggie Banks), is an electronic musician and producer from Sydney. Using different beat machines, samplers and synths, he weaves intricate melodic riffs over strong beats. With an engineering background, Sebastian has collaborated and produced for multiple local and international artists.
These musicians were able to take the students through a number of exercises to explore how to write collaboratively in a group and then mentored them through the process adding instruments and recording their group songs. The students played a range of instruments, from guitars and ukeleles, to piano and even the cello.
Student quotes:
Scarlett Vandenberg- ‘I have really improved my confidence with my instrument from the March workshop. The mentors really encouraged us to step outside our comfort zones.’
Mimi Temam- ‘It was great to develop a sense of community in the school amongst the music students. I have made new connections, with a wide range of students from different year levels, and we developed some great songs together.’
Hank Graham- ‘It helped me understand how the music industry works, which is helpful for what I want to do in my future.’
‘From a teaching perspective, it was excellent to see the students immerse themselves with their passion for Music. It also allowed the students to develop their literacy skills in the song-writing component. They would start with a concept and branch out into related words, to build their ideas and develop their song structure. The guidance from the mentors meant that every student had a role to play in the group's final song performance. By the end of the two days, there were three amazing recordings that the groups had created and they have been given the song-writing credits for these songs.’
‘We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have a second workshop this year. It has been difficult to attract a dedicated Music teacher to our school, so this opportunity has been invaluable for keeping these music opportunities open for these students.
Song Makers Project Director, Katie Wighton, arranged the workshop and her passion for providing the students an opportunity to work with world class musicians is invaluable. The funding support from APRA AMCOS was vital to ensuring that our students in regional and rural areas don’t miss out.’
-Simone Conroy - Head of Art and Technology
