What Participants Say

"I don't have to shout to make someone leave my room. I just say, "Excuse me. I hope I'm not being rude, but would you mind if we spoke about this later?. You know, I'm trying what [the instructor] does and it actually works."

"On the wings we're in our own little world, just surviving. I wanted to meet people and build bridges. I can work with people now, and I'm helping. It can help me to see the person. On the wings they used to just blank me out. I felt that I was a loner, but here I'm developing social skills."

"During the week I was on the course, I was coming off my methadone. The course really helped me with that. It gave me confidence and took my mind completely off what was happening to me. I had a great week... I can see a bit of tomorrow now."

"I learned how to work with people, how to listen, how to be told what to do. I want to learn more things now."

"This is the first thing I have done in prison for 18 years and I was forced to do this. But in the end I enjoyed it and I would do it again."

"I feel more confident - would like to have a go at something else" - [Very low skills, illiterate, has never spoken in class, he led a section in the performance and announced a piece]

"It's different from other classes there's a friendly environment. No one is trying to get to the front. It brought us together without us knowing it. Peaceful, no aggression."

"Western music doesn't appeal to me: the conductor tells you what to do. With Gamelan, you choose what to do and when, to fit in with the group. It's a different way of thinking."

"I've only talked to 4 or 5 people since I've been here [more than a year] - I've talked to far more this week, because we're all the same, we're all here with a clean slate, and I feel much better."

"(With regular Gamelan sessions) we could sack the psychology department because gamelan automatically builds into how you think and act."