"The reason why dyslexia, autism, and various other ways of being are still in our human gene pool is that they have value, they are important to us. It is not a problem and when looking at the bigger picture, as a human ecosystem, there is much more value in being exactly the way you are" - an ethnomusicologist, sound engineer, and film-maker Robbie Campbell joins Eniko Toth on the podcast today. 

-- Robbie believes that “Music is the part of the answer to any problem we have”. In the past, Robbie worked in the television industry and took part in filming projects across the globe. He was always interested in music and has been playing multiple instruments since he was a teenager. Robbie also did some music production and sound engineering.  

-- However, 10 years ago he decided to make a change in his career due to his dyslexia. He went back to study and now is writing his Ph.D. Robbie studied ethnomusicology, which is the anthropology of music, and studying how different cultures use music. Robbie chose this study because he wanted to understand how music can aid communication and what differences it makes when we consider dyslexia. In his studies, he focused on African music, with a special interest in a small ethnic group in southern Mozambique, the Chopi who play a very special instrument, the timbila.  

-- Robbie spent a year in Mozambique, got to know their culture and music. Now he is one of the few players of this unique instrument. While he was there, he also filmed two documentaries and since he returned home to London, Robbie has been working on finishing his Ph.D., from which he is only a few months away. His documentary and his study will soon be available in an unusual thesis, a website, that will be open for everyone to visit. When the site is ready, I will make sure to post that and let you know about the updates. 

-- Today Robbie and I will talk about how we can communicate through music, how are stories and cultures get built into songs, how musical cultures are shaped, and how music can help people with dyslexia.  

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