My Community

​

This year we want to use this category to celebrate our communities! We're hoping this category will allow children to think creatively about what makes up their community; whether that's your local community, school community, town or city. What makes it unique and special and what sounds help create it? Our communities are built on and fostered by a number of factors including the people, landscapes, buildings and objects around us and we hope this category will open up lots of brilliant interpretations and discussions with families, classrooms and schools!

 

Things to consider: 

 

• What sounds do you hear on your way to school?

• What places and people in your community are important to you? 

• Do the sounds in your community change at different times of the day? 

• What sounds make you smile or get you excited? 

• Are there a couple of important sounds you’d like to capture or any sounds that are unique to where you live?

• How would those sounds sound next to each other or blended?

​

Creating your graphic scores and soundscape!
 

1. Check out some examples of graphic scores made by other classroom groups, such as the nocturnal themed ones below created by pupils at Seven Mills Primary School. You can find more examples exploring river systems, nocturnal wildlife and more in our Graphic Scores collection.

2. Choose a community or place in the community to explore, and identify some sounds and features of it that you’d like to bring to life in your soundscape (such as voices, objects, animals, transport, nature).

3. Ask your class how they would like to try writing down their musical ideas; this can include pictures, words, images and lines to suggest different plants, objects and animals, speed, pitch or rhythm.

4. From these ideas, draw up some graphic scores, either working as a class or in small groups.

5. Once you have some scores ready, try playing them! Children can use their voices, bodies, instruments or other materials available in the classroom to bring the scores and sounds of the community to life. When you’re feeling ready, record and submit your soundscape.

6. Take photos of any graphic scores you’d like to submit with your recorded soundscape.
    

Recording and submitting your soundscape!
 

The easiest way to do this is on a mobile phone, but if you have a portable audio recorder like a Zoom device or similar then you can use that too. If using a mobile phone:

Android phone: Use the built in ‘Voice Recorder’ app
iPhone: Use the built in ‘Voice Memos’ app
 

1. Record the class making their soundscape.

2. Save the recording to your devices ‘Files’ folder and follow this link to the submissions page.

3. After completing the required information on the submission form, click on ‘Add File’ underneath ‘Upload your class soundscape recording’. You should then be able to select your recording from your ‘Files’ folder which will attach it to the submission.

4. Upload the photos of your graphic score(s), for other classroom groups to try recreating in the future!

​

The deadline is 29th February 2024, 18.00hrs (GMT)

For any technical questions, please email: info@soundoftheyearawards.com

​

​

Graphic Score Examples

​

​