This project has now come to a close, but you can still listen to the full radio ballad here!
Interviews: Friday 23rd July
We are inviting Wales based sound/music/radio producers to work on a co-created bilingual radio ballad Cân y Ffordd Euraidd / The Song of the Golden Road, part of PLANED’s National Lottery Heritage funded Ein Cymdogaeth Werin – Preseli Heartlands Communities project which is being produced by Span.
There are three strands to this brief:
- Music and Sound Recording Fee £1000
- Community music making/song-writing Fee £1800 (3 x 600)
- Radio Ballad Production and Broadcast Event Fee £2500
All fees are inclusive of VAT, travel expenses and material costs.
Though each strand can be applied for separately we are open to applications from individuals, partnerships or collectives who are able to creatively fulfil a combination of, or all elements of the brief as outlined below:
Music and Sound Recording
Fee £1000 5 days @ £200.00 inclusive of VAT, travel expenses and material costs.
We are looking for an experienced sound recorder with access to their own recording equipment to attend the remaining Song of the Golden Road community workshops capturing audio content from the days including a guided walk across the Golden Road. Workshops are scheduled to take place on the 31st July, 14th August and 21st August and will include a mixture of indoor and outdoor recording. This recorded content will be used in forming the final radio ballad.
The sound recorder will also work with the Span Community Producer and Radio Ballad Producer to record music and songs created and performed during the Preseli Jam weekend at the end of September 25/26. Venue to be confirmed but likely to be Brynberian.
Community music making/song-writing
We are looking for musicians with experience of leading community music workshops to engage project participants in music making and song-writing sessions as part of a summer school style mini festival scheduled to take place on the last weekend in September (25th and 26th) at Brynberian.
Successful applicants will be invited to take part in a walk across the Golden Road on the 21st August 2021 along with project participants and given access to the materials collected as part of the research phase of the project made available through the project’s interactive map:
They will then be asked to use this experience and material as inspiration for devising music and songs that will be recorded during the Preseli Jam Festival in collaboration with festival attendees and project participants which are likely to include a wide range of experience and ages. The recordings will then form part of the radio ballad.
We are envisaging engaging three musicians for a fee of £600.00 (3 days @ £200.00 a day) each but are open to alternative proposals. Applicants might consider working on a traditional song connected to the area and a new song to be devised, rehearsed and recorded with workshop participants during the Song of the Golden Road Preseli jam weekend. There will be a maximum of 30 workshop participants. We would also ask applicants to perform at a gig as part of the weekend.
Applicants will need to demonstrate a clear rationale for including and engaging the creativity and musicianship of project participants within their proposal.
The total fee for this strand of the brief will be £1800 inclusive of VAT, travel expenses and material costs.
Radio Ballad Production and Broadcast Event
Fee £2500 10 days at £250.00 per/day inclusive of VAT, travel expenses and material costs.
We are looking for a highly creative sound/music/radio producer who brings with them a depth of experience and aptitude for working in a community setting. They will need to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the project.
The project will be delivered between August and November 2021, dates to be confirmed once roles are recruited.
The sound/radio producer will be expected to work alongside the Span Community Producer to construct and edit the radio ballad Cân y Ffordd Euraidd / Song of the Golden Road from materials collected during phase 1 of the project: community mapping workshops and phase 2 community music making/Preseli Jam workshops.
The sound/music/radio producer will work with the Community Producer, Sound Recorder and Community Musicians to ensure audio is captured of the highest quality during the Preseli Jam weekend (24/25 September).
The sound/music/radio producer will also work with the Community Producer to edit materials from the content already identified and collected during phase one of the project to form the final radio ballad. It is envisaged that the final radio ballad Cân y Ffordd Euraidd / Song of the Golden Road will be up to an hour in length and will consist of potentially two half hour ballads; one in Welsh and one in English the hour length version being an amalgamation of the two.
The radio producer will also help to craft, alongside the Community Producer, a public event for the completed radio ballad which would ideally include a live broadcast element. This will be held at the end of the project in October 2021, date to be confirmed.
Application
Please apply to rowan@span-arts-dev.co.uk by sending your CV and a covering letter which outlines why you would like to undertake this project, any experience you have that is relevant and how you intend to approach fulfilling the brief. Please confirm if you are applying for the full brief that you are also happy to be considered for individual elements.
Project Context
Cân y Ffordd Euraidd / The Song of the Golden Road will create a radio ballad in response to the Preseli Heartlands Communities from Crymych to Cwm Gwaun. The Golden Road is a name given to the ancient trackway which traverses the seven-mile ridge of Mynydd Preseli (the Preseli Mountains) running from Foel Drygarn to Bwlch-Gwynt. This community produced radio ballad will give voice to the sounds, speech and songs of this ancient trackway: a route through the Preseli Heartlands. The project will take the form of a series of workshops and walks from the communities that reside at the foot of the Preselis concluding with a community walk along the Golden Road itself. These initial sessions will be an opportunity to get to know this place from different perspectives following different themes and to explore and discover the things (“y pethe”) that are important to people about this place. Workshop walks will include talks by invited experts, with opportunities for story swapping and sound recording. These ramblings will be followed by an intensive weekend of community music-making where participants and musicians will be invited to give voice to the songs of the place. Speech, sound and song will then be incorporated into the final radio ballad, an oral record of a unique place, that future generations can appreciate and enjoy for years to come.
This project responds to two strands of the PLANED National Lottery Heritage funded : Ein Cymdogaeth Werin - Preseli Heartlands Communities project; namely Routes to Roots and Our Museums. Routes to roots aims to bring people together to explore and identify tangible and intangible heritage, current and past cultural and heritage activities and events as well as existing heritage skills and skills gaps. Researched material will form the basis for heritage interpretation with different communities creating specific outputs in order to celebrate their local history. Our Museums aims to explore the concept of museums as experienced traditionally in order to find new and holistic ways to present local heritage especially given the rurality of the area.
The project is funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Great Place Scheme.
Management
The project will be managed by Span Arts in partnership with PLANED who will:
- Organise community groups to participate in the project
- Provide volunteer support where needed
- Provide public liability insurance for the final event
- Publicise the project
- Support the successful applicants to fulfil the brief
Availability
The project will be delivered between August and November 2021, exact dates to be confirmed with successful applicants on recruitment. All successful applicants will need to be available on the 21st August 2021 to undertake a walk on the Golden Road which will mark the culmination of the community mapping workshops and the start of the song/music making phase.
Fees
All fees are inclusive of travel expenses and material costs.
Eligibility
The brief is open to those who are UK residents. Successful applicants will need to be in possession of a current DBS no more than 12 months old.
Please also include links to previous examples of your work online.
Selection Process
Successful applicants will be selected through demonstration of their aptitude for the roles against the following criteria:
- Quality of the proposal and creative response to the brief (Innovation, originality, relevance)
- Quality and suitability of proposed engagement work
- Experience (Artistic track record, previous inter-generational and community work)
- Deliverability (Project plan and capacity to deliver).
Span is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from diverse people.
To read Span’s privacy policy statement please follow this link: Privacy – Span Arts (span-arts-dev.co.uk)
Other Information
The successful applicants will be expected to have their own public liability insurance up to £5,000,000.
Access to a vehicle and full UK driving licence is desirable as the area is very remote.
This is a bilingual project and the ability to work in both English and Welsh is essential.
If you would like to discuss anything before applying email rowan@span-arts-dev.co.uk or call 01834 869323 to discuss in more detail.
Notes
The radio ballad is an audio documentary format created by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker in the 1950s. Originally combining four elements of sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and the recorded voices of those who are the subjects of the documentary. The format was revisited by the BBC in 2006 and again in 2012 proving its continued power to engage, inform and inspire. Please see the following links for examples:
The Big Hewer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf7LuLSJBLM
The Travelling People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GehYE1c9tc&t=1007s
Lonely Distance Runner
