FILM OPPORTUNITY FOR HAND DRUMMERS

CALL FOR HAND DRUMMERS

 

 

 

On Tuesday 30th October at 11.00am I will be filming in Llangrannog. There will be 12 dancers from LeagC Contemporary Dance troop doing their piece in the sea, Maggie Hampton, Director of Disability Arts Cymru will be signing in the waves with them as Mermaid Guinivere, Bob Edwards and Rob Latham will be our actors crawling from the waves .. and in the rocks

Rachel Hargrave will be leading drummers who will represent the waves crashing into the rocks.

 

If you would like to take part please contact either myself or Rachel Hargrave via facebook or cherylbeermusic@gmail.com

 

Please be prepared to wrap up warm with layers, bring dry clothes, towells and blankets.

Please bring a packed lunch.

Starts 11.00am likely to go on until @ 2pm

The Filmscape will be used as part of my production The Dragon Tree, kindly funded by The Arts Couincil of Wales and will be exhibited in January and February at Oriel Y Parc, St.David's, The National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire, St.Cadoc's Church, Trevethin,

Another 12 hour stint in the studio!

Another glorious day in the studio!

I was so engrossed in it that I didn't realise Maisy the puppy was trying to play the Djembe!

A 12 hour stint and we're still at it!

Jeff has laid down some bass for me today on the first 3 tunes which combine as a concept piece to open the production; includes the rhythm interpretation by Rachel Hargrave based on the sign language of my lyrics that I filmed with Maggie Hampton earlier this year.

I have also recorded the sea around the coast and have included it here .. so in the first section which is a pirate speak fisherman's song taken from the inspiration of Pembroke's Black Beard, I have mixed in the sea from that coastline ... then when the 2nd part moves to Cardigan Bay I have the Llangrannog sea recordings ...

That's Dai Collage in the back ground getting ready for Welsh translation duties! He's not far off ready to receive the welsh language recordings which I'll be starting once I have the translations back from Ceri Wyn Jones.

Signing & Singing: A Personal Insight

When I was growing up I had 3 friends who were deaf and one of my closest friends, her mum was a teacher with deaf children.

One of my friends taught all of us the basics in BSL so that we could talk with our hands. 

I used to sit on the grass outside my house playing my  old rusty stringed  guitar, writing my little songs, and sometimes she would come and sit with me.

One day, she pressed her head against my guitar while I played. I thought it meant she could hear the music but in hindsight, I expect she could feel the vibrations of the strings. I showed her my lyrics scrawled on a scrap of paper ... she twigged that I was writing songs and she starting signing my lyrics, with her head still against the body of the guitar.

'You try it' ... I pointed at her .. 'YOU' ... then mimed writing ... 'WRITE' ... and then over exagerated singing ... 'A SONG'

She looked puzzled, then smiled and nodded.

She carefully pushed the side of her head against my guitar and signed her song as she felt it ... she was singing with her sign, writing her own song.

I didn't know what her lyrics were but it was so moving that it stayed with me thoughout my whole life and is probably instrumental in my finding as many ways as possible to bring song to everyone: promoting equal access to song.

When I was thinking about my new production and growing a piece of music from complete silence, it was through this inspiration from my childhood that the idea originally came.

It is very special indeed to be making that so with the help of Maggie Hampton, Director of Disability Arts Cymru and percussionist Rachel Hargrave, thanks both. 

Composing a song in this way is something I have wanted to do since being that child sat on the grass signing and singing. Having an Individual Mainline Grant has given me the space to pursue this as part of Fusion Inspire. 

www.cherylbeer.co.uk

Recording the Rhythm of Sign Language

The lovely Rachel Hargrave came round yesterday and recorded the percussion section of Mermaid Tales which will be the opening song in my production. It is her interpretation fo Maggie Hampton's signing of my lyrics .. it's very exciting hearing Rachel's interpretation. I thought I would want to put piano with it but funnily enough it works perfectly with an instrumental piece on ukulele I have written whilst in New Quay called 'Seagull' & have been working on this week. And it needs a bass line too ...

Here are some pictures of Rachel doing her wonderful thang in my studio :)

It was so exciting hearing all the layers come together

And as she laid down the tracks I could feel the waves, the boat ...

When she left I write a sea shanty to go at the start so that it leads to the build up of the Mermaid's Wrath!

Can't wait to put all the pieces together with the filmscape at Morfa Isaf later this year! Rachel will come with ehr drumming group, and any others of you that would like to join us, and the drummers will be sat in the rocks, at one with the rocks ... while the dancers are the sea ....