In LA’s DubSpot Live 8 Sessions, I shared a panel with Daedalus, talking about design, live playing, the monome, and how limiting tools for performance can be powerful. Austin gets its own cast of presenters this weekend.

Sadly, I can’t be in all places at once. If I could, I’d be in Austin – twice over – this weekend. Handmade Music session two hits with an all-new set of learning and noise-making. Whether new to electronics making or an old hand, there’s something to absorb from some of the best mad sound scientists in the world. And our friends at DubSpot are in town, too, with a big lineup of production, recording, and performance techniques centering on Ableton Live 8. And on top of all of that, the city is host to the brilliant art + sound East Austin Studio Tour – a fantastic idea coupling events, studio tours, and art exhibitions I hope we steal in cities like my home New York.

This is all of interest to a tiny fraction of a percent of our readers since it’s really relevant only if you’re in Austin, but therein lies my plea — if you are in Austin, we could use your help documenting this weekend’s events. Get in touch, and we should be able to hook you up with a free pass for the DubSpot event, plus — well, whatever I come up with to thank you for videoing and/or writing about Handmade Music.

First up, Handmade Music:

This sunday is Handmade Music Austin #2.

We’ll be building 4ms’ Autonomous Bassline Generator. The upper division class is filled but there should be some space in the beginner class. Even if there aren’t any seats available, there will be all kinds of things happening in the gallery space for EAST. You can play with the Thingamagoop 2, Eric Archer’s noisemakers, Andromeda Space Rocker kits as well as other handmade instuments.

Noon – Gallery space opens. Bleep Labs, Eric archer, and friends interactive exhibit.
4 pm – Free beginner class
6 pm – Upper division synth class $45 at door
6:30 – Free performances :
Red X Red M
Douglas Ferguson/Steve Marsh
TelepathiK Friend

Red X Red M
Douglas Ferguson/Steve Marsh
TelepathiK Friend

As always, see:

http://handmademusic.noisepages.com

DubSpot’s event includes two full days of programming covering production and performance. It’s about Ableton Live 8, but it’s also more broadly about how to make your tracks sound better, how to get them into the world, and how to be successful as an artist both in your releases and live. Austin includes many of the folks I’ve been hanging out with in NY and LA, plus favorites like Ableton veteran sound designer and Keyboard contributor Francis Preve. Christopher Willits will also take a first look at Max for Live and talk about how he uses Max/MSP to process his playing. And Saturday night is a FunkAid benefit with DJ OBaH, Ocote Soul Sounds, Akina Adderley & The Vintage Playboys, and Daetron Vargas.

I expect we can get a guest in if you cover the event for CDM.

http://www.dubspot.com/abletontour/austin.html

Autonomous bassline generators? Wireless, modular, infrared sync? Tiny drum machines networking together? Welcome to Texas, and the minds of Eric Archer, Bleep Labs, 4ms Pedals, the Church of the Friendly Ghost, and Andromeda Space Rockers.

One look at a floor full of blinking circuits, and most ladies and gentleman might assume they’ve stumbled upon some alien technology. “Imagine the things we could learn from this civilization – advancements far beyond our own,” as the stock line from sci fi goes. “Man and woman are not meant to learn such things. You’re meddling in things beyond your comprehension.”

In other words, you couldn’t build something like this, right?

Or could you?

In Austin, Texas, Eric, Dann, and Dr. Bleep are launching a new Handmade Music series, kicking it off with kits and classes so that anyone – including beginners – can start building stuff. For the 101 crowd, there’s a free beginner class even if you’ve never touched a soldering iron, so you can build your own analog drum. “I’m no n00b,” you say, “impress me.” Sure – the “upper division” gets to talk more advanced synth design and walks through the full-blown modular, networkable kit.

At the end of it all is an open jam and featured performance.

If you’re anywhere near Austin, Texas – or can find a bargain plane fare – you’ll want to clear your calendar for October 18!

Full Event Details, October 18 Handmade Music in Austin [Handmade Music @noisepages]

That’s just the first of more events to come, so stay glued to the Handmade Music site for events in Austin, New York, Portugal, Germany, and beyond.

“That’s right / you’re not from Texas / Texas wants you anyway.” For those of us in New York, Lisbon, Rio, Sydney, and Jakarta, there’s still hope. The kits will be online, and I”m looking at ways of putting together a full Handmade Music curriculum of projects online for all of us on the site we’re developing this fall, noisepages – ideas welcome.

I certainly didn’t expect to get deep into these geekier topics in high school while I was busily trying to fail Calculus and screw up science lab results in ways that baffled my teachers. But it’s a glorious age we live in, in which we get to assimilate alien technology as our own. Stay tuned.

Showcasing amazing projects is a good thing. But we know that no creation emerges fully-formed. They start from nothing, with lots of mistakes along the way. You get help and ideas from other people. And you need time.

So this month’s Handmade Music in Brooklyn we’re declaring an Open Lab. Got a kit lying on your shelf, waiting to get made? Got a half-finished project that needs fixing? Just want to hang around some musical and visual DIYers and see what they’re up to? And just need a few hours to make some progress? That’s the idea.

Software projects, hardware projects, gear hacking, circuit bending, coding, patching in Reaktor or Pd or Max – it’s all welcome.

We also have a very special guest this month in the form of Morgan Packard, a talented multi-instrumentalist and computer musician (video at top, with live visuals by superDraw creator Joshue Ott). At 7:30p, Morgan will show off his free Ripple musical environment, built on the powerful open source SuperCollider code-for-sound platform. It’s a great chance to see what SuperCollider can do, how a scratch-built environment can open up musical possibilities, and what you can do with Ripple yourself.

Full details: Handmade Music Brooklyn: Open Lab, Featuring Morgan Packard’s Musical Code [handmademusic@noisepages]

Facebook Event Page

The whole event runs 6:00p-11:00p at 3rd Ward Brooklyn. As always, it’s completely free. Be sure to bring your projects and the tools you’ll need; we can provide power, a PA, space, and other folks to hang out with. And we can help give you an excuse to set aside a few hours of time.

We’ll also be taking notes on how the setup works, as we know this may be something other Handmade Music events want to try in your neck of the woods.

…and a bunch of bananas (footage from the Theremin Center, Moscow).

Via the Pd list, though, it seems that the next NK workshop will go somewhere else altogether: music with microorganisms. Really – you’ll need a USB microscope. It’s electronic music in a Petri dish.

I could try to explain, but I’ll leave it to the description by organizers Marc R. Dusseiller & Kaspar Koenig:

Overview–Experimental make-workshop with multilayered outcome for people interested in sound, DIY-biology, microscopy and interaction of living microorganisms. Knowledge in physical computing, video and sound processing, electronics and puredata is welcome, but not compulsory.

Description–In this workshop the experiments will take place in close-up view of microorganisms (e.g. water bears aka tardigrades, amoebae and collected organisms from urban environments), which appears to be a world by itself. Maybe due to the scaling and the amplification of a microscope, but maybe also due to all parameters of imagination that the microcosmos provokes. Growth and behaviour of these microscopic animals remind us of our own micro-macro-development. With the image and the movement of the organisms, the participants are encouraged to collect inspiration and bridge video and sound to what they experience with these small ?"animalcules?", as termed by their first observer Leeuwenhoek in 1677.

The participants will learn how to work with the usb-microscopes and hack webcams to be used as microscopes, observe the behaviour and motion of the waterbears and other microorganisms, find sounds from the lab equipment, hack into electronic devices to integrate into bioelectronic culture devices and build habitats for the animals. Also they will discover sounds from the different instrumentation and utilities of the laboratory. Recycle and compose arrangements for Lab-visual and
Lab-sound scapes and benefit from a cross fertilization between the whole (scientific) equipment (you can bring your own too!) and an artistic metaphorical language. The outcome can be a video with a microscopic soundtrack, a living object with singing waterbears, a performance with laboratory sounds, or an openLab Hackteria installation.

Material needed–The participant should bring their own laptop/computer, a webcam with an adjustable lens and some general lab stuff they have access to. Material available various labware, glassware, petri-dishes, usb-microscopes, microorganisms, soldering stations, electronic parts,
arduinos etc..

H a c k t e r i a & l a b h a c k i n g with Marc R. Dusseiller & Kaspar koenig

Saturday 30 May – Wednesday 3 June 2009, 12.00-18.00 daily

Location: NK / ElsenStr. 52 (2.Hof) Berlin, Germany

Telephone: +49 (0)176 20626386

Course Participation fee: 100 euros

Registration is required for this workshop and can only be done via

email to: enka_nkATgmxDOTde

Please register early to ensure a place. Places are limited to 16.

I know most of you can’t make it to Berlin, but perhaps this will spawn (breed?) other ideas.

Found via the Pd mailing list.

Saturday night, there’s a huge convergence of wonderful people in Los Angeles. The lineup looks terrific (music: Speakers, Sahy-Uhns feat. Bucc Rogerz, Eli Walks, Owen Vallis, Counters, D-Funk), and there will be a new iteration of the Brick multi-touch table which we’ll be seeing here on CDM soon. Flyer below; watch MySpace for address details.

Sunday, there’s a free design workshop/demo by the creator of Where’s the Party At, the open source sampler, at Machine Project.

Rest up and enjoy.

It’s time again for Handmade Music, the party – musical performance – science fair geek-out for musicians and the musi-curious. We’ve got an amazing lineup this month if you happen to be in the New York area. We’ll have some usual raucus racket noise-making time, but also a full live performance from a DIY gamelan ensemble. (I’ll see if I can set up a live stream, too.) And if you have a hardware or software project you’d like to show off, check out our call for works. Remember – it doesn’t have to be done / entirely working; this is a chance to get some feedback from fellow makers. We’re all learning.

Event Details

Presented by createdigitalmusic.com with our friends at music trend-setters XLR8R.com, DIY bible makezine.com, self-made marketplace Etsy.com, and artists’ facility 3rd Ward

7:30pm, Thursday, February 19
3rd Ward is located at 195 Morgan Ave., at the corner of Stagg St., in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
(near the Grand St L train)
Directions
RSVP: handmade@3rdward.com

Sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon, with free beer while it lasts!

This Month

Handmade Music 2/19 features special guest Electric Junkyard Gamelan. Composer/founder Terry Dame and ensemble members will demonstrate the self-created instruments, and will provide a unique live performance.
Terry Dame’s Electric Junkyard Gamelan

Also in February, a free hands-on: learn the basics of musical electronics without any previous experience, and without even picking up a soldering iron. Using the PAiA ribbon controller kit, a kit you can assemble on a business card with a graphite pencil as your only tool, you’ll make a simple sound-making circuit that you can apply to many other projects. Come early while the PAiA kits still last.

Learn musical electronics without soldering
Provided through the generosity and ingenuity of PAiA Electronics

Newcomers to music and electronics alike welcome, as always (and you, too, can make a ribbon controller kit).

Call for Works

Got a project you want to show off? We’d love to have you bring it round for the show-and-tell / racket-making portion of the evening.

Call for Works [direct link, Google Docs]

Embedded form:

Earlier this week, I got some welcome news: the STEIM performance research and development center in Amsterdam is safe for now. STEIM has been a real hub for people doing work in sound around the world, not just in Amsterdam, as many readers here described. That means this should be good news for all of us – and it also demonstrates that, while the state funding upon which Europe has traditionally relied is endangered, making the right argument could protect institutions there. The question of what should get state funding started an interesting and passionate debate here, but at the same time, it’s good to see these folks defending what they believe.

See some video of crazy STEIM sonic projects on their Vimeo channel.

And in other news, speaking of reaping some benefits from STEIM:

• A new version 4 of their JunXion software is coming next week for manipulating controllers like mice, game pads, joysticks, HID devices, and even video motion tracking (below) on Mac OS X. There’s a nice preview on Mormo’s blog Basement Hum; expect more next week
• There’s a big party in Amsterdam all next week with workshops (including JunXion 4), performances, and more. I was actually invited to go but couldn’t last-minute; the lineup looks fantastic. Next time (perhaps once some of my own research and development is further along)!

Here’s the official thank you, which can go to those at CDM who included their support:

We have good news: STEIM is safe for now and will be able to continue doing her work.

The Dutch Council for Culture has reversed their initially negative decision.They were without a doubt impressed by the well over 1000 insightful, eloquent, personal letters of support from all over the world, which we received in just under two weeks. This, as well as some other factors, played a large role in opening their perception of STEIM’s importance and contribution to our community and field.

We cannot thank you enough. You helped us realize again how extensive and faithful the network around us is. We are excited and thrilled that we can keep working with you and continue to build collaborations, connections and exchanges.

STEIM is bound for change, but we will fight to keep its spirit intact. Michel Waisvisz has left us, but along with his legacy of inventions and a very human ‘touch’, he has left a dynamic team behind. Under the guidance of our new director, Dick Rijken, our task is now to create a new structure that will honour both our history as an institution and look forward into the future. STEIM is what STEIM
does: supporting a wide community of artists and composers, musicians and other performers in their search for great art, on stage, in the studio, in gallery spaces and on the streets. We will continue to be a safe house for an international community, bringing people together in our guesthouse and studio’s.

Together with you, we aim to remain both the oldest and the youngest electronic institute in the Netherlands and are thrilled to continue working with you.

STEIM

And here’s info on the (well-deserved) Jamboree (with plenty of video links, if you can’t be in Amsterdam and want to live vicariously through YouTube):

STEIM Micro Jamboree 2008

PERIOD: Dec 8 Monday – Dec 11 Thursday

FEE:

Micro Jamboree Sessions – Free but reservation required

Jamboree Concert – 5 euros

Description:

Main Entry: jam·bo·ree

Pronunciation: \ˌjam-bə-ˈrē\

Function: verb

Etymology: origin unknown

1: a noisy or unrestrained carouse 2 a: a large festive gathering b: a national or international camping assembly of Boy & Girl Scouts 3: a long mixed program of entertainment

STEIM is hosting it’s 2nd Micro Jamboree this Dec. 8-11, 2008. Featuring 4 days of creativity and excellence in the future of electronic music through a wealth of presentations, discussions, and performances. An intense 7 sessions of lectures, demos, and discussions held by the most innovative artists, musicians, and instrument designers in the field will be hosted in STEIM’s studios. An intellectual jam on creative musical software, modern sensor interfaces, alternative energy sources for electronic music, rhythm and sequencing for live performances, and more!

At night STEIM moves to the Smart Project Space on Dec. 10th and 11th for the Jamboree concerts for 2 large and festive gatherings  of noisy and unrestrained carouse. The 5th edition of Turntable Music Night will feature 4 acts, but 8 turntables. The 2nd concert night will be a plethora of controllers, voice, samplers, a cowboy suit, and even a Wii for individual performances. Concurrently, experience the STEIM Mobile Touch exhibition in the concert venue where you can make your own electronic music with the Finger Web or make some noise with the Crackle Box.

Sessions at STEIM have limited capacity, reservations required.

Concerts at Smart Project Space have unlimited capacity, 5 euros entrance fee.

FEATURED GUESTS:

David Zicarelli (US), Sukandar Kartadinata (DE), Andy Schmeder (US), Kjetil Hansen (SE), Kassen (NL), One Man Nation (NL), Jamie Allen (CA), Brian Degger (UK), Ben Knapp (UK), Dieb13 (AT), Stig and Pussy Crew (IR), Institut fur Feinmotorik (DE), Alex Nowitz (DE), Robot Cowboy(AT), Heidi Mortensen(DK) and more!

SCHEDULE:

Day 1, Monday Dec 8 //////////////////////////////////

Welcoming from STEIM

Session 1: Opening Presentation

David Zicarelli (Cycling 74) – On Max 5 and creative musical software http://www.cycling74.com/

Frank Balde (STEIM Software Designer) – Release and demo of new features in JunXion 4

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Day 2, Tuesday Dec 9 //////////////////////////////////

Session 2: Modern Sensor Interfaces

Sukandar Kartadinata (Instrument Designer, Gluion Developer) – Developing sensor instruments and platforms for artists http://www.glui.de/

Andy Schmeder (CNMAT Researcher, Developer of uOSC) – uOSC; OpenSoundConroll framework for USB and multiple sensor platforms http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/people/andy_schmeder

Session 3: On Mapping – techniques and future possibilities

Organized and hosted by Robert van Heumen (STEIM) and Daniel Schorno (STEIM) with invited guests

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Day 3, Wednesday Dec 10 //////////////////////////////////

Session 4: Turntable Music – the practice and its future direction

Kjetil Falkenberg Hansen (Scratch Researcher, PhD candidate at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden) http://www.csc.kth.se/~kjetil/

Takuro Mizuta Lippit (STEIM) – Turntable Music in the digital era

Session 5: Rhythm and Sequencing for live performances

Kassen (DJ, performer, ChucK programmer) – improvising house music with custom software and game controllers http://www.toplap.org/index.php/Kassen

One Man Nation (musician, producer) – techniques in live sequencing and beat generation in Ableton Live and PD http://onemannation.com/

Jamboree Concert 1: Turntable Music Night 5 at Smart Project Space

Dieb13 – Turntable improvisations with custom software http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5L1Lu87kX-E

Stig and Pussy Crew – Turntables, feedback and visuals http://www.vimeo.com/1602827

Institut fur Feinmotorik – Turntable soundscape with 4 performers 8 turntables http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3w2Smr5aNeE

dj sniff – Turntable reconstructions http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jkR2ID8j_mU

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Day4, Thursday Dec 11 //////////////////////////////////

Session 6: Energy Music – Exploring new approaches to electronic music generative energy sources and off-the-grid art and performance work.

Jamie Allen (Musician, Artist, Researcher at Newcastle University, UK) http://heavyside.net/index.html

Brian Degger (Researcher, Artist) http://transitlab.org/

Ben Knapp (Engineer, Instrument Builder, Professor at SARC, Co-Founder of BioControl, UK) http://www.mu.qub.ac.uk/Staff/AcademicStaff/DrBenKnapp/

Session 7: Closing Panel Discussion – Excellence in Electronic Music

Panel TBA

Jamboree Concert 2 at Smart Project Space

Alex Nowitz – Voice, Wiimote and LiSa http://cec.concordia.ca/econtact/10_4/video/nowitz_selfportrait.mov

Jamie Allen – Circuit Music http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G4vtSfT0gHw

Robot Cowboy – Robot Cowboy suit, midi guitar, controllers http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CuuJkE789ag

Heidi Mortensen – voice and sampling http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BswH7nKCvjQ

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Our friend Florian Grote is giving a workshop at STEIM in Amsterdam on Pure Data, the open source patching environment that’s a close cousin to Max/MSP. Florian tells us there are a couple of spots left for anyone near STEIM. The workshop is geared for composers, live performers who want to create their own instruments, and installation/visual artists interested in working with GEM’s visual capabilities.

The workshop will start with a thorough, two-day introduction to creative audio work in Pd, and then expand its focus on the GEM extension library for Pd. With GEM, sophisticated tools for visualization are available directly inside Pd, and their handling is not different from the audio-related elements. This enables Pd users to seamlessly integrate their own visuals into their musical performances or installations, as well as to get creative with the user interfaces for their instruments.

Cost is EUR200. There’s also a class blog, which I’ll be watching closely to make up for not being out there.

Pure Data & GEM Workshop @ STEIM

Plastic, aluminum, wood … why not felt? Brian Crabtree and Kelli Cain, co-creators of the open source Monome multimedia controller, have long had an interest in alternative, sustainable materials for music and multimedia. They recently shared some of those ideas at a felt + circuits workshop in Los Angeles. (You may have seen the felt calculator synth show up on Music thing.)

Brian explains to CDM what the workshop was about, with a glimpse of why felt and copper-etched circuits could be the future. I’ve left it lowercase, in keeping with Brian’s textual aesthetic. -PK

the felt+circuits workshop wouldn’t have happened without the enthusiasm and encouragement of mark allen of machine project. teaching workshops helps raise money for the space in addition to bringing together a community. machine continues to serve as a platform for the intersection of art, technology, craft, and social consciousness. it’s certainly our favorite place in los angeles. we were very happy to be there in residence this last spring.

the felt+circuits workshop was one of numerous events we scheduled, all which involved a great deal of process. this workshop in particular covers a wide range:

- make felt from the wool of happy, healthy sheep living on a picturesque farm in northern california. (these particular sheep were rambouillet)
- turn wool into felt with a little physical labor
- learn basic schematic entry and circuit layout
- discuss and collect candidates for natural dyeing (all plant-based, best if we could locate and harvest locally)
- experiment with various dyeing methods (boiling and fermenting)
- transfer film of circuits (as well as images of the student’s choice)
onto copper then etch
- drill, populate, and solder circuit, test on some willing USB port
- create the creature of choice, sewing felt into magical squeak-embedded shapes

the calculator was inspired by a favorite texas instruments calculator (much to see at the calculator museum). we found that color matching was very difficult and could take an entire day. the dark brown color alone took about seven hours and 4 different dye baths including amaranth, logwood, madder, and coffee.

we were lucky to have an incredibly enthusiastic and patient class. despite a few moments of uncertainty, the workshop went smoothly. felting, dyeing, etching, and soldering ended up being a great combination.

Ed.: And what about this felt calculator (and other projects made at the workshop)?

the calculator has conductive metal contacts on the back which control the pitch/volume of an oscillator. sqeezy squeak ish.

usb is power only.

no batteries.

others– bunnies, birds, monsters, pot roast. not sure how many finished up.

Squeezy squeakish, incidentally, is the name of my upcoming album. We hope to have more felt + circuits goodness soon; stay tuned. -PK