Welcome
Music Mirrors: capturing the sounds of memories
Memories are a large part of who we are.
Music helps us remember things – from mother-love to times-tables.
But memories can fade – it’s a normal part of ageing and can happen with illness, accident or dementia.
A Music Mirrors is a brief life story in our own words, with sounds and music embedded to spark memories later.
Not a playlist but a memory toolkit…
Memories are a large part of who we are.
Music helps us remember things – from mother-love to times-tables.
But memories can fade – it’s a normal part of ageing and can happen with illness, accident or dementia.
A Music Mirrors is a brief life story in our own words, with sounds and music embedded to spark memories later.
Not a playlist but a memory toolkit…
About
This video will help explain more about the project:
You can also watch this local news report on BBC Look East, to understand more about its origins:
For most of us, memory loss is a normal part of ageing, but it can also be the result of dementia or other conditions affecting our brain.
Whatever the reason, one way of holding on to our personal memories is to hook them up to music which has meant something to us.
We all know moments when hearing a simple snatch of music opens up a whole world of memories and feelings and makes us think of people, places, words and times we have long forgotten.
Music Mirrors helps people at an early stage of memory loss — or even before that — to make very simple digital resources which link their life stories told in their own words to recorded music.
This is done in such a way that the words and music are easily portable to follow someone all through their journey. If they move from one care setting to another or go into hospital, the information can readily be passed to help them connect with unfamiliar carers who might have few other clues for getting to know them.
How to make a Music Mirror with someone…
- Start as early as you can, to get the most satisfaction from making a Music Mirror.
- Think of the good memories of life and the sounds or music that have been part of them. (There’s a leaflet to give you some clues.)
- Condense your ideas into just a few written sentences, using your normal way of speaking. (This will help to keep the memory vivid.) Make it short enough to read quickly and easily.
- Once you are happy with the words, write them as an e-mail, and match each reference to sound or music with a link to a suitable version on YouTube. (see examples tab).
- This document, with live links, can be shared or sent wherever it is needed. It can be a comfort, useful for reminiscence and information, or a wonderful gift to be shared with family.
Then…
If you would like to store your Music Mirror securely on this website you first need to register for an account on the menu above or by clicking here. This will provide you with a password which will allow you to access the site. When you have your password you should log in.
You can now create a new Music Mirror on the My Memories page. A simple form will ask you for details about the person you are creating the mirror for. A bit about their choice of music and the memory they associate with their choice. You can optionally put in a YouTube link to the piece of music. You can see an example of a Music Mirror here.
Step by step guide:
- Create an account by registering and getting your password
- log in to your account
- Visit the My Memories page
- Click “Create a New Mirror” from the side bar on the left
- Fill out the form
Once you have created a mirror you can edit or delete it by click on the buttons on the Mirror card itself.
You can print our all your Mirrors from the side bar on the left