Posts

Wonderful to go back to the place where it all began last night. Good Engagement, Good feedback and an interesting mix of people from toddlers with their mums, to young teenagers. Really positive to hear interest in doing more work with digital music.

We engaged young people with Ableton Live, a very versatile digital software,which allows users of wide and varying experience and ability the opportunity to create music quickly. We throw into the mix 20 years of industry experience to help them have an immersive experience, which helps build confidence, learn new skills and promotes social values.

As expected from the year I volunteered here, it was a wide and varied group. Some were more hesitant than others, but it was great to give some of them an introduction to how technology can be used.

We are applying for funding to go back and do more sessions to further benefit young people in deprived communities.

Follow us on social media to find out more.

Along with fellow directors Louise Beioley-Flynn and Dominic Woodhouse we accepted membership of Expect Youth, and we have proudly received the UK Youth First Steps Quality Mark. We have also accepted membership of UK Youth and look forward to supporting them in creating positive outcomes for young people in the future.

All our staff have full enhanced D.B.S. checks, add to that Safeguarding certificates, Prevent, Zero Suicide Alliance, G.D.P.R., and Level 3 First Aid. We have also just completed an intensive N.C.F.E. course in Understanding Specific Learning Difficulties. Along with our industry expertise that spans over 20 years, we have everything in place to deliver quality sessions safely.

Although the main elements of our work are about fun and group engagement, the serious matters of professional practice and safety are always at the core of our mindset.

From adversity came the spark that inspired 90 Minute Music. After witnessing a member of my family undergo significant trauma, I decided to dig deep and turn the difficult situation into a positive one by helping young people in similar situations.

90 Minute Music initially developed from a year long program of digital music workshops at Bentley My-place youth hub in 2014. I remember the first day when the equipment had arrived from Germany, I felt nervous and didn’t know quite what I was letting myself in for, just as I opened the door to leave for my volunteer role, my partner told me she was expecting again…

All of my children have been the source of inspiration for this project, their inquisitive nature has fuelled the passion within me to make this much more than DJ mash-ups and Songwriting. My children have been the guiding light which has led me to research further into how music technology can not only help to educate, but also to liberate.

I have been blessed to have worked with young people with additional needs in the last few years. One encounter shone a light on what we were collectively achieving.

I was setting up the technical equipment at a local S.E.N school and there was a girl of about 13-14 years old sat watching a cartoon on the wall mounted T.V in front of the table where I was setting up. I was working with key stage 5 at the time, and I didn’t recognise her from the group. I said good morning, she had her head tilted, carried on staring at the screen and although I was next to her commentating, as I was setting up, she gave no response.

As the sessions were going well, the following week I was asked to work with the secondary children. Instantly we had the engagement of the whole room which is always incredible, out of the corner of my eye I saw the girl from the previous week. She ran over from the fringes, grabbed the bongos and joined in with the jam. The beaming smile on her face was an outpouring, which I’m glad the staff had the foresight to capture on video for her parents.

This contrast is just a snapshot of the experiences I have had over the years working with music, I hope to share some more via these pages in the future. S Flynn