Further Details

The obvious benefit of holding workshops online is that it reduces the cost and travel time for participants and dramatically reduces the environmental impact of the course in general. After running these workshops since April 2020 we've also discovered that the output, and the quality of the output, of the participants was considerably higher than working face to face.

All the courses are open to anyone over the age of 18. It's important to note that we cater to all levels from complete beginner to very advanced. It's often the newcomers who write the best songs as they come without pre-conceived ideas. This makes collaboration really exiting for beginner and advanced alike. If you would like to attend a course and cannot afford it we might be able to help you find funding especially if you are an early or mid-career professional or semi-professional musician, singer, songwriter, music producer, poet, storyteller, actor, writers or teaching artist get in touch via info@birdonawire.info

Yes... we'll teach you to write songs.

The workshops will be held on Zoom we expect you to have a basic working knowledge of that technology. A zoom link will be emailed before each class and again on the day to a BOAW WhatsApp group. The zoom meeting will be open around 15 minutes before the classes will start. Link to complete beginners guide to Zoom HERE ​ We'll ask you to share lyrics and a recording of what you've been working on in class. A simple mobile phone recording is fine. A simple screenshot of a document is fine... even a photograph of your notebook. In order to save time we will ask participants to upload what they have been working on to a Dropbox. We will share lyrics and audio from the dropbox. A link to the BOAW Night Class dropbox will be shared on the week leading up to the course. Beginners guide to Dropbox HERE ​ For some tasks we might ask for you to work in pairs. We can do this with breakout rooms during the workshop. When we set a task we DO NOT expect participants to come back with a finished song we just ask that you do what you can and stick to the guidelines of each task.

Yes... we can help you create the music either by writing it with you or teaching you to use an app like Garageband to digitally create the music.

Everyone can sing. We only ask that you have a go. We can help you with your singing and, in the extremely unlikely situaltion that you can't sing, one of your tutors or a fellow participant can help sing your song.

A functioning internet connection. Headphones to avoid feedback loops on the Zoom call. Headphones are essential to the smooth running of the meeting. If you have budget for a fancy new pair we recommend 250 ohm version of THESE. They are extremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time and are considered the industry standard for listening to audio mixes. You will not regret buying them. ​ A way of sharing your lyrics. ie sharing a .pdf, docx or pages file to the dropbox. A way of recording your song. A phone recording is absolutely perfect. If you set up the Dropbox App on your phone you can share directly to the BOAW dropbox. ​ Something to write with and something to write on. Pen, paper, tablet, computer...

Firstly it has nothing at all to do with ability. It is about how you earn your living. Answers from the dictionary: Professional- "Engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime." So if you teach, perform or record music full time you are considered professional. Semi Professional- 2/2 Semi-pro. "Actively engaged in some field for pay but on a part-time basis" You might be working part time in a cafe/bar/school/gym/insert-job-title-here but fairly regularly play shows, release and record music. You may be surprised to learn that this represents the majority of people in music industry at the moment.

Yes. Please get in touch. If you wish you can donate anonymously via Paypal.

Yes. We can tailor a course to suit your needs. Anything from an hour long workshop to a series of workshops that run throughout a week. Please get in touch.

Yes. Get in touch via info@birdonawire.info we can direct you to funding and, in limited cases, we may be able to fund your place ourselves.