Words On Screen

For a long time now we've talked about harnessing the power of video and making it an integral part of our website (www.outoftheark.co.uk). Videos have such creative potential and we have all sorts of schemes and dreams up our sleeves to pursue in coming months.


Some of our more innovative products and publications are pretty difficult to communicate clearly within the confines of a written page - as text in a catalogue, for example. So we are looking to compile a number of videos to open up the doors on Out Of The Ark! (Watch this space).


Last week we had the pleasure of working with Gemma Hunt (she's off the telly!) to produce video number 1. Filmed in our new offices, Gemma did a fantastic job - and we are really pleased with the results. She truly is a 'Gem'! It was great visiting a few schools to interview some enthusiastic teachers and to see our songs in action, using our Words On Screen™ technology! 


We're now busy working with the team on our new Autumn Catalogue and a FREE Words On Screen™ resource to be made available with an upcoming issue of an educational magazine. Like you, we're tying up all the loose ends of deadlines that have to be met before the start of the holidays.

Happy and Healthy

Yesterday saw us finalising a few details for the new songbook/CD publication - a couple of pages of text highlighting specific features of each song - and also choosing the running order for the CD. We heard all 15 songs a good few times (and pretty loudly) in order to do this. Still love 'em!


There are certain criteria that have to be considered when you choose the track order. Some songs lend themselves more naturally to 'opening' or 'closing' a project, and everything that comes in between has to be reasonably balanced, in terms of style, pace, theme, keys, time signature etc. We also have to consider minimising page turns in the song-book, which can also impact what goes where. With all that in mind though, it's a decision-making process steered more by the ears than by analysis. Some songs just 'sit' better placed alongside others. 


It's been 4 years since we produced the popular 'Songs for EVERY Singing School'. This new collection is the long-awaited number nine in the 'EVERY' series, and it's a positive values-based project. We are confident it satisfies our core vision very well, 'putting life into songs, and singing into schools'. Here's a taster of some of the song titles you can look forward to: (Spot any clues for the overall title?)

• It's Good To Be Me!
• Put On A Smile
• Happiness Is Not....
• We're In It Together
• The Lord's Prayer
• Change And Grow
• A Healthy Life
• A Little Bit Of Kindness

("Can you tell what it is, yet?!)


No prizes for guessing.......

..... 'Songs For EVERY Happy, Healthy School". Coming soon!

Songs for EVERY......?

We've just received the rough mixes from our weekend's recording session. What a treat! Finally, we get to sit down - with the essential cup of frothy coffee in hand - and listen to all fifteen tracks. We're really pleased with how they're sounding, and are confident that these songs are definitely going to be scratching where schools are itching! 


One particular strength of this new project lies in the thematic and lyrical content of the songs. We've got some invaluable themes covered in this collection. That said - the melodies are not in a hurry to leave our heads, so we're happy they are definitely of the 'ilk' that you would expect from a 'Songs for EVERY... ' project. The question is, 'every' what?! This will be the ninth publication in our flagship series that has become so well established in tens of thousands of school assemblies up and down the country each year. 


Big thank you's to all of our fantastic team who make it possible to produce the quality songbook/CD/Words on Screen  resources that Out Of The Ark Music has become known for. 


Watch this space for the new, definitive title, coming soon.....

Nearly Done and Dusted!

We're very happy to say that we managed to write the last few lines of the final song in the project (see below), 'A Brighter Day Tomorrow'. It's not unusual for the first song we write to be the very last one we finish:

                           There’s no telling

                                 What a difference we can make.

                                 This world’s waiting

                                 For the colours we’re yet to create.

Hats off to the 'Out Of The Ark Choir' whose hard work and great singing made last weekend's recording such a brilliant success! Andy, our arranger/producer has worked his usual magic in 'dressing' our songs in a great variety of styles and colours. We really think schools up and down the country are in for a real treat once they got their ears around the finished album.

With the songs recorded, our wonderful publishing and production team can now get going with piano arrangements, mastering, design, printing and words-on-screen. And then it's over to marketing, customer services and despatch to pick up the baton.

Being able to step back and look at all fifteen songs from a bit of a distance has given us a great sense of satisfaction. We believe the issues we've tackled and themes covered in this collection contain invaluable truths, with the potential for bringing significant change in the way we think about things. Thankfully, they're also great fun to sing! 

It's Good To Be Me!

It seems our blog-writing has been rather less productive than our song-writing! Apologies for the gap.... We actually managed to get a few 'away days' to write, before the long school holiday set in. It was a real treat to be away from it all - none of the normal responsibilities. No computer, no deadlines, no telephone calls. Just three days, two guitars, a keyboard and one beautiful spot in the country - with a good dose of sunshine and fresh air. 


Sometimes when we're in the middle of a project, a new idea will appear, almost effortlessly, from nowhere. Sometimes we'll have to do a fair bit of  'digging'  to unearth fresh melodies. Occasionally, however, we'll revisit our deep-freeze of creative ideas. We both record seed ideas on dictaphones (kept by the bed or in a handbag), which, if they're not used straight away, get stored until they're ready to be defrosted at a later date. 


We found an absolute gem in the 'freezer' while we were away. Lively, up-beat, unashamedly happy, it was the perfect melody for the theme we wanted to tackle: 'It's good to be me!' The lyrics themselves are very simple - the concept of self-acceptance often seems a good deal more difficult. Why is it we are so prone to compare ourselves unfavourably with others? This song is all about being "happy to be the 'me' I am" - flaws included - and learning to avoid the crippling comparisons:

"But if I try to compare myself with you,

And all the things you do,

I'll never see all the qualities

That make me the 'me' I am!"

Looking forward to hearing this one arranged and recorded!

The Lord's Prayer

Songs have a funny way of staying with you. The songs we learn as children tend not to go away, even into later years. Some of them we might prefer to forget! 


Using songs as an educational tool to aid the memorising of important material has a long-standing and successful record. The Bible tells us that Moses was given instructions to give to the people in the form of a song, specifically so they wouldn't forget. There were plenty of us, no doubt, who learned the alphabet, or times tables - or even the books of the Bible, through songs.


Today we decided to add our names to the long list of song-writers who have set the Lord's Prayer to music (Matthew 6). Probably, a couple of hundred years ago, children would have all been able to recite this passage as a matter of course - not that that was the point for it being given to us. But these days it's unlikely many children have even heard the Lord's Prayer, let alone know or understand it. A retired Head Teacher was recently bemoaning his experience at a funeral, when children were unable to join in the Lord's Prayer because the words weren't included in the order of service.


In an assembly project that considers healthy living - whether physical, spiritual, emotional or social well-being - the prayer Jesus taught as a model is an invaluable one for us to learn and consider. So, should we keep to the original King James? Or paraphrase it in a way that could be more accessible, but might not be recognised as the Lord's Prayer? We decided to steer a route that navigates, as deftly as we could, through both paths! Two lines of the original, followed by a couple of lines that seek to unpack something of the heart of those words. 


It's a been a good day - challenging for sure, but hopefully this song will go somewhere towards teaching and facilitating some creative thinking and fresh understanding.


This landmark song sees us two-thirds of the way through this exciting new project!

Don't Go Listening...

It's very satisfying when tunes just pop into your head. Our latest melody arrived before we'd even sat down at the piano. Without knowing quite how, we have been able to make a simple melody say something potentially important. "Don't Go Listening To Lies" is a song which carries an invaluable message. How do we react when people say things, either to us or about us, that are neither kind nor true? The power of the spoken word is immense - but we have the ability to choose what to do with what we hear. If children, through singing, can recognise their ability to choose how they think about themselves, they will have mastered a skill many of us - even as adults - are sometimes slow to grasp. 


So that's song 9 ready to roll. Just six songs to go. Maybe a change of scenery would inspire the next few? (Watch this space!)


After yesterday's stint at the piano, today we drove to the BBC Surrey Radio Studios, for a brief interview about our involvement with Red Nose Day. It was a pleasure meeting Nick Wallis,  presenter on their Breakfast Show. Then it was back to our offices for various team  planning and publishing meetings. There are definitely exciting things afoot....