Workshops at St James' School, Millom (Part 2)

On Wednesday 17th September, children from St James' School in Millom took part in the second of two workshops looking at the role played by the mining industry in their town's history. Following on from a visit to the Millom Folk Museum last term, the children, from year 4, were asked to recreate sounds and dialogue from the nearby Hodbarrow mine and Millom Iron Works, formerly the town's main employer until its closure in 1968. A series of worksheets with photos of the mine and works provided a starting point, asking the children to list the sounds that they might hear as well as imagining a dialogue between workers.

Working in groups of 3, the children began to recreate and record the sounds using a variety of amplified household objects and instruments connected to contact microphones.
By attaching it to a flat surface, the microphone transforms vibrations in materials into audio signals, thus making it possible to record the sound of any material or surface. Among the objects we worked with were: plastic egg timers, a jar of cous-cous, pebbles from a local beach, a small wooden frog, a bucket of water and a drum machine. After choosing an object each, the children experimented with making and altering sounds by using effects boxes to add echo, distortion and to alter the pitch. These were then recorded into a looping device which automatically repeats and layers the sounds. Controlling individual loops manually, each group mixed a finished track directly to a digital recorder, providing material for the Hodbarrow section of the audio tour.

Samantha and Glenn would like to thank Copeland Borough Council and all at St. James' school for their help in organising the workshops.