Impact case study database

The Global Sound Movement has extensive international reach. Following media attention from industry press an article about the GSM Uganda project was translated into eight different languages and published internationally. Phil Holmes was then interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme [E2] and the BBC World Service [E3], with a combined listenership of 188 million. Following this, hits to the Global Sound Movement increased massively and currently stands at 65,000 unique visitors. The website has sold over 2,000 downloadable products [A] and is often the subject of music specific blog articles [E4, E5, E6, E7, E9]. A conference presentation by the GSM in Beijing, China in March 2019 was streamed live and viewed by 3.8 Million viewers via WeChat [C7]. BBC One commissioned a short film about the GSM Project hosted by Mark Radcliffe and included the acclaimed guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, associated with the Stone Roses, Paul Weller etc. This was broadcast on 9^th March 2020 [E1].

“I got such a buzz out of meeting the GSM guys. The work they've put into what is a fascinating and vital resource and archive is truly admirable. Perhaps in these challenging times of climate change and Coronavirus our futures will involve considerably less travel and so it makes it even more important that these sounds have been preserved before it's too late. Thanks to their work we will have access to these sounds for the rest of time”. – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio2 [E11]

Supporting communities, indigenous peoples and tribal groups

Set up as a Non-Profit Organisation, the Global Sound Movement commercialise their research outputs for community benefit by way of selling the digital products via an online store. Each product sold is catalogued and all funds are assigned to the original project. Quarterly, these funds are distributed back to the communities that built the original instrument/s or the NGO partners in the locale. Since 2016, GSM have been donating funds back to Uganda, Africa, where the people of Nakimembe (village North West of Jinja) have received monies that have enabled upwards of 150 children of the village to receive school meals and uniforms [D3]. This has in turn seen the level of education raised within the village and means that the food supplies can be directed to other members of the community, increasing nutrition and health. The NGO ‘Brass For Africa’ [D1] receives regular donations and supplies of brass instruments that are used for Musical Education purposes across orphanages in Kampala. ‘Hands for Hope’ [D2] is an NGO that provides schooling from early years to high school for children and learners housed in the Namuwongo Slum, Kampala. Donations from the GSM to ‘Hands for Hope’ provide musical education and enrichment activities alongside language, mathematics and science classes.

Projects across Yunnan province, Southern China have seen donations to three tribes that reside in mountainous regions close to the Vietnamese boarder [D4]. Yao, Yi and Hani communities have all benefited from the monies that have been received and the GSM are aware that the finance is being channelled in to developing agricultural land and the way in which it can be farmed more efficiently. Extra produce is sold generating another income stream for the community [D4]. Supporting sustainability and building relationships with communities in this way was acknowledged by Synchtank when GSM was listed in the top 25 international music charities [E8].

Enabling musicians, composers and sound designers to innovate and develop

Traditional and wholly unique musical instruments are recorded and developed into sample libraries that integrate with professional Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) such as ProTools, Logic Pro X, Ableton and Native Instruments Kontakt. This integration enables musicians to include the sounds recorded by GSM into new musical works. This is especially important and impactful when concerned with musical diaspora. Allowing musicians to utilise the sounds of instruments they would not otherwise have access to into their compositions. As well as providing an avenue for the individuals to use their native instruments digitally. Specific instruments traditional to certain countries are now available to download and use. Mediterranean musician, Edoardo Talenti, composer for BBC’s Death in Paradise and film scores for Magnus Fiennes includes GSM samples and instruments in new works. He fuses Greek and Turkish instruments with Hip-Hop production methods creating a new sound to the genre. The ‘Artist Series’ section [B] of the Global Sound Movement website displays testimony from multiple and varied international music producers who explain how the GSM samples and sound have changed their compositional techniques creating new works, instrument pairings and developments of genre. Of particular note has been the acclaimed guitarist and composer, Aziz Ibrahim who is currently working with the Samples recorded in China and combining them with innovative guitar layering techniques [E1]. This is developed on mobile platforms and the GSM samples fully integrate into this technology making it more accessible to musicians without studios or DAWs. The engagement by contemporary artists with these sounds connects them musically with the indigenous cultures, sounds and instruments, which ultimately provides international exposure to this heritage.

‘The GSM library and instruments has absolutely changed the way I play and compose… It’s a God send in a way’ – Aziz Ibrahim, Musician [E1]

Empowering music education and enriching curriculum

Innovative developments and app creation enables the GSM to disseminate research findings to a wide audience across age groups, international locations and languages. This is made possible by the GSM Player, a step sequencer that plays across platforms in any browser, therefore making the GSM sounds accessible to anyone with an internet connection globally. Users engage with the material and are empowered to create and compose music and soundscapes through products designed by the GSM. Each product has detailed information embedded that explains every sound and instrument. Through workshops delivered across primary schools in North West England, students have a hands-on experience composing music regardless of theoretical knowledge [E10]. Innovative integration of this player enhances other subjects at different Key Stages of the National Curriculum. Geography, Maths, English, History and World Topics are subjects enhanced by this technology, not just Music classes.

Following the success at the Times Higher Education Awards where the GSM project won the ‘Excellence and Innovation in the Arts’ category 2016 [C1], members of the project were invited to speak at education and creative conferences in Africa and China [C2, C3, C4]. BBC news covered a press conference at the 2019 British Science festival where GSM presented ‘Preserving rare instruments in the virtual world’ through the innovative VR software [C6, C7].

Partnerships between the Global Sound Movement and Chinese Universities have proven positive where collaborative projects have taken place, Hebei University in Boading, China worked with the GSM to present a fashion show. Here the music composed used samples taken from southern China, informed garment design and resulted in a catwalk show in Beijing in March 2018 where GSM performed live. Following the success of this project, Paresh Parmar and Phil Holmes were invited as keynote speakers at the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) conference in Beijing March 2019. This was streamed to 3.8 million viewers [C5] and was the only keynote from UK Universities. This has led to further discussions with the Chinese Ministry of Education (People-to-People) with regards to multiple projects and knowledge transfer initiatives that will assist with cultural preservation along the route of the ‘Belt and Road initiative’ set out by the Chinese government.

The Global Sound Movement continues to donate finance to areas of economic need, provide innovative musical instruments to composers globally and educate international communities about musical cultures.