Aprender com o Som dos Búzios - The Album

Supporting the album release of the project 'Aprender com o Som dos Búzios' is to offer structured and practical music education to children up to 10 years old, using traditional Portuguese music.

Aprender com o Som dos Búzios is a project that began in 2020 right in the middle of the lockdown. It was born from the awareness of the Projecto Cardo team that there was a lack of artistic-pedagogical resources capable of stimulating creativity, curiosity, and freedom in the classroom and in a family context. Furthermore, it is also clear that there is increasingly less interest in using the traditional repertoire with children, which is reflected in the enormous lack of knowledge and prejudice regarding this rich, interesting legacy, which is deeply connected to the nature and culture of our territory. The consequences could be as serious as forgetting or uprooting.

This is how the idea of creating a collection of audiovisual resources came about (accepting, with some difficulty, that the use of videos is a reality in music education in most schools) with the aim of offering children, teachers, and guardians some traditional Portuguese melodies, combined with ideas and suggestions for working on musical content in a creative, fun, and organized way.

We started with 5 videos that explore theoretical-practical musical content (e.g., pitch, pulse, coordination...) through stimuli, games, and play inspired by the characteristics of each song. Supporting documents associated with each video were also developed to help teachers use each resource in the most correct and stimulating, but also freer and more adaptable way.

The project has grown over the years and so has the number of videos. We had the privilege of filming in several inspiring locations, with rich heritage and breathtaking landscapes: Miranda do Douro, Sever do Vouga, Funchal, Monsanto, Fundão, Santo Tirso, and Lousada. In these locations, we also expanded the spectrum of artistic-pedagogical exploration, addressing the most varied topics, from important dates in our calendar (e.g., Christmas and Easter), to gastronomy, nature, local legends and habits, and even natural human emotions and fears.

All these resources are available on the Projecto Cardo website for free use. (https://shre.ink/aprender-com-o-som-dos-buzios)

Now, with 15 videos published, the time has come to take the next step: to produce a disk release with a selection of the songs explored in the collection, re-recorded and mastered to be released both physically and on digital platforms. This tool will help teachers access the music without needing a computer or the internet. Furthermore, each song will be available in two versions: one with vocals, and one without. The goal is for teachers to be able to use the versions without vocals to work on children's autonomy and memory, as well as to allow for presentations to parents without the need for in-person accompaniment or (as often happens) poor-quality playbacks.

Currently, the album has been recorded, all with acoustic instruments, organic materials, body percussion, and voices (some of them belonging to the sweetest and most mischievous children ever). To complete the long process involved in musical fixation, mastering is missing (it shouldn't be too laborious, the recording is very good), along with the design and the replication of the disks!

Despite knowing that, nowadays, most people use the internet to listen to music, the truth is that our country is extremely diverse and in many things unequal. The physical replication of the disk guarantees access to this resource, regardless of where the school is located or where each family lives. Furthermore, similar to a book, listening to music in a digital format is not the same thing. An object that can be handled and explored by children brings them closer to it, contributing to the healthy curiosity natural in human beings that is often forgotten or undervalued.

Aprender com o Som dos Búzios is a proven project and is already being used by the school community. We hope that it is to your liking and worthy of your support and that, together, we can take a step forward in promoting our traditions among the youngest!

We thank you deeply for your help!

About the author

Projecto Cardo is an association whose main objective is to intervene artistically and pedagogically in current society through music, focusing a large part of its work on the preservation, dissemination, and promotion of traditional Portuguese music. It was born from the desire and the need to create a team with the necessary profile, sensitivity, and generosity to listen, observe, and learn directly from the population, and finally, transform that information into an artistic object or pedagogical material. The raw material of Projecto Cardo's work is thus the knowledge of every individual it meets and every community it engages with.

Projecto Cardo operates under the direction of Carmina Repas Gonçalves and Antony Fernandes, founders of Ensemble Cardo-Roxo and Cardo-Amarelo – School of Traditional Music, relying on a very interesting and complete team, which makes the execution of the most varied projects possible, in a specialized way.

In addition to the regular work of teaching traditional Portuguese music, Cardo-Amarelo has collaborated with various municipalities to preserve their respective traditional repertoires and help communities organize themselves, keeping alive the desire to sing and play their own music. An example of this is the collaboration with the "Há Festa na Aldeia" project, with which six choirs were created in small villages included in the "Aldeias de Portugal" network. In slightly different ways, it also created two choirs in the urban context of Vila Nova de Gaia, integrated into the FIGaia forum.

The Ensemble Cardo-Roxo, created in 2012, also works with the aim of bringing Portuguese oral tradition repertoire to light through concerts that, due to their popular but highly delicate nature, reach everyone, regardless of their origin or community. Its sound results from the blend of traditional and ancient instruments with contemporary arrangements, which allows for the performance of concerts in the most diverse contexts: churches, auditoriums, art galleries, and even outdoors. Cardo-Roxo has already released 7 self-published albums with the support of Antena2.

The Projecto Cardo team works daily towards a greater appreciation of music, by raising awareness, engaging, and teaching. Traditional music is a privileged musical expression in the execution of the project's various actions, as it is aesthetically unifying. The identification and recognition of the repertoire are very important for multi-generational integration, for the use of the language and its older expressions, and for the exploration and updating of cultural heritage.

Music can and should be (as it once was) an expression understood and mastered by everyone, and a daily practice in family life.

Equipa do Projecto Cardo

Budget and due dates

To be able to complete what is missing from this project, based on our accounts and experience from previous work, we need around €3000:

• €1600 for the mechanical reproduction of 500 disks, including a 28-page booklet;

• €1000 for mixing and mastering;

• €400 for design.

We are asking for your help with €2500. We can cover the rest with our own funds.

In terms of scheduling, the campaign will last 2 months, so only after that will we move forward with the remaining process.

If the project is supported, we will immediately proceed with the mastering and design, which takes about one month. After delivering all materials to the printing company, we will have the disks in 15 working days.

Accounting for some delays, I believe you can expect your rewards in your mailbox by April 2026!

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