Mind Labs
Friday, 9:30am - 10am

“Mind Labs” is Sheffield Live’s slot for cutting edge creative work.   It is a space for dealing with stories, issues, philosophical questions and concepts. Although varied in content, each feature is underpinned by strong production values and audio pieces that create pictures and emotion for the listener.

Part 1: Nature As Music

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‘Amazon’ is an acoustic trip into the heart of Amazonas, the area inhabited by the Xingu people.  It is a trip without words, just listening to the sound of the natural environment and the Xingu rituals, which the programme makers used as their source material.  Most of the programme was made in the studio.  Apart from normal musical instruments, they used ‘made-up’ instruments and wooden Brazilian bird whistles.

The idea behind the programme was not to explain or claim anything, but to suggest various interpretations of reality to the listener.  Sounds, music and human presence make up a soundscape for the listener to communicate with.  Reality becomes realisation and vice versa.  Nature becomes music and vice versa

The person behind ‘Amazon’ is award winning radio producer called Harri Huhtamäki.  Harri works for YLE Radio 1, the Finnish Public broadcaster’s channel for culture, in-depth current affairs and talk programmes.  He is the head of Radioateljee, a special unit that creates ground breaking, high concept radio features.

Part 2: Martin Luther King - Auburn Avenue

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This week ‘Mind Labs’ presents a report called ‘Martin Luther King - Auburn Avenue’ by Steve Buckley, the Treasurer for Sheffield Live! and President of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. The Programme was made last year, with recordings made during Steve’s visit to Atlanta, ahead of the 40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. The 4th of April, is the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, the American civil rights leader. King was born and brought up in Atlanta, Georgia. He rose to prominence in the civil rights movement when he led the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, in 1955. He returned to Atlanta in 1960 to work as Pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and it remained his home base until his death in 1968.

On this week last year, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, held its annual conference in Atlanta. Steve Buckley of Sheffield Live, was invited to take part. He took the opportunity to bring us this report from Auburn Avenue.

Part 3: Media Literacy

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This week’s feature in our ‘Mind Labs’ slot is a programme about the, importance of media literacy.  The programme was made possible with a grant from the Community Media Association and the UK Media Regulator Ofcom.  Ofcom has a duty to promote media literacy and community media is seen as an important partner in this process. The programme follows on from a media literacy workshop at Sheffield Live! and is a collaborative work with contributions from Irini Apostolidou, Fabian Beckett, Alan Fransman, Paul Gregory and Harry Stevens. In this programme we examine the idea of media literacy and look at its importance to citizens. As a case study, the programme looks at media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and more specifically, the Israeli invasion of Gaza in January 2009.

We spoke to three people to find our more:

1. Jackie Harrison, Professor of Public Communication and Head of the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield

2. Hussain Currimbhoy, Film Programmer for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival

3. Musheir El-Farra, chair of the Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Part 4: Music by Numbers

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10 years ago, two Russian artists named Komar and Melamid hired a market research firm to find out the public’s likes and dislikes in art. They wanted to know what works, but moreover they wanted to know what doesn’t work. They began with visual art, and then moved on to music.Online surveys were used to determine what instruments and styles were most favourable in music. The same question was then asked with respect to unfavourable music. They then created two pieces. One which in principle should be enjoyed by the majority and one which should in turn, only be favoured by a small, small minority. This week on Sheffield Live we’re going to play both and in the process find out what happens when you try to make “Music by Numbers”. Presented by Lynn Rishworth.

Part 5: The Sheffield Floods

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Thursday, 25th June is the second anniversary of the 2007 Sheffield Floods when the River Don over topped its banks causing widespread flooding in the Don Valley area of our city. During this time a 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen River Sheaf and a 68 year old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre. The Meadowhall shopping centre also had close due to flooding and the Sheffield Wednesday football ground, Hillsborough was under 6 feet of water.

To mark the event, we present a reworking of the Sheffield Floods documentary we made in 2008.  This is a collaborative work; featuring contributions from Fabian Beckett, Alan Fransman Joe Fowler, Kit Lawrenson, Graham Marshall, Hannah Patnick, Kevin Resley and Dave Williams.  Special thanks go to the residents of Chapel Town, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield University and Sheffield Wednesday football club.

Part 6: Wireless Times

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Wireless Times is the on-stage riotous retro radio recreation that has the audience rolling in the aisles, coming from a time when a DJ was a dinner jacket and a big Mac was a large overcoat. Reeling from one disaster to another, the cast often need the help of the audience to create the sound effects for the various ’spots’ being broadcast. Playing anything from a football crowd to the cavalry in the Charge of the Light Brigade (involving an unfeasibly large number of coconut shells), the audience unfailingly rescue the broadcasting crew from impending doom, and probably dismissal.

Wireless Times is a regular stage show performed as part of Millers Modern Music Hall at the Lantern Theatre. This recording is taken from last year when the team came into the studio and worked together with ‘The Cornucopia Radio Show’ Click here, for more info.