WORKSHOPS

Exploring and developing sonic biking in workshops, hacklabs and groups.

Sonic Kayaks Open Hack Lab: March 15th

We’re excited to be working with FoAM Kernow, Dave Griffiths, Amber Griffiths and marine biologist Dr. Kirsty Kemp on a new collaborative Sonic Kayak project.

We invite you to join us to collaboratively prototype the Sonic Kayak. Bring an explorative mind and experience in any field, and come to tinker with electronics, coding, sound art, boats and climate science.

Kayaks will be rigged with a bolt-on unit consisting of under-water environmental sensors (we’ll start with temperature) and above-water speakers. The sensor data generated as the kayak is paddled will trigger sonifications, generating music to provide the paddler with an extra dimension of senses with which to explore the underwater climate. The sonification will be developed with award winning sound artist and composer, Kaffe Matthews. The project will be developed in collaboration with climate science researchers, offering for the first time a citizen-science approach to collecting valuable aquatic microclimate data. This builds on work by the Bicrophonic Research Institute.

This project is funded by FEAST (Cornwall Council and Arts Council England) and the British Science Association.

2nd weekend workshop in Pd, hosted by the BRI, taught by Andy Farnell. 

Our second workshop weekend will focus on applying Pd to enable the making of meaningful sound and music from live data streams gathered from a variety of sensors and Arduinos.

This workshop is designed as a follow on from our part ONE in Jan which started from scratch, covering ‘What is Pd and how does it work? and ‘Pd on a raspberry Pi2’. 

Everyone welcome,  you don’t need to have attended workshop ONE, but it’s assumed that participants will have some Pd capability and familiarity with Arduino IO.

Just contact us at info@sonicbikes.net  if you have any queries. Booking essential.

TIMETABLE:-

Saturday  : Arduino & microcontroller interfaces to Pd for interactive audio

“Pure Data (aka Pd) is an open source visual programming language that enables musicians, visual artists, performers, researchers, and developers to create software graphically, without writing lines of code. Pd can be used to process and generate sound, video, 2D/3D graphics, and interface sensors, input devices, and MIDI. Pd can easily work over local and remote networks to integrate wearable technology,  and much much more. Pd is can be simple or complex. Find out more here.”  Puredata.info

The BRI are hosting this series of workshops with a view to working with live data input from sonic bike riding during ongoing research. We welcome your input.

Kick off the New Year inspired with a dazzling and practical introduction to Pure Data (Pd) as a synthesis and sound environment.

“Pure Data (aka Pd) is an open source visual programming language that enables musicians, visual artists, performers, researchers, and developers to create software graphically, without writing lines of code.”

Timetable –
Saturday: What is Pd and how does it work?
An Introduction to Pd  as a synthesis and sound environment. An introduction to control and integration aspects of Pd.
Sunday: Pd on a raspberry Pi2
Embedding Pd on SBC (raspberry pi2) for stand alone operations, with a view to working with a live data input from sonic bicycle riding and play
via Arduino and micro-controller interfaces in March.

What students will need to bring …

• A laptop with Pd already installed and tested.
• A spare USB stick for sharing patches.
• If you have one, do bring a raspberry Pi2, Arduino and bread board, connectors, sensors etc. The BRI do have some equipment that can be borrowed.  Just ask when booking.

Development of concept and practical realisation for interactive Sonic Bike games in Brussels, with Kaffe Matthews and Tom Keene. Open to anyone. Technical skills not required. Permanent presence and inscriprion preferred but not imperative.

Timetable:

1st part: Sat 21st and Sunday 22nd: 10 – 4pm

• The BRI will present its past and present projects, including the current technique used on sonic bikes.

• Open a discussion on the restrictions this kind of approach has created.

• How can we enable bikes to be sonically interactive?  How might the bikes operate as a swarm of sound? What games could emerge using the technologies we introduce? How might live and recorded sounds comment on the lives of a migrant population?

• Together and in small groups we will develop ideas for games on paper with these ideas.

• We will then look at how these ideas could be achieved technically.

2nd part: Monday 23rd Feb to Thursday evening 26th Feb

• Explore, experiment and devise sonic interactions locally and practically with sonic bikes.
Aim: to develop a sonic bike to be an instrument that responds to movement around the city, other bikes and the actions of the rider.

• Working with GPS signals, omnipresent WiFi and sensors that respond to the immediate physical actions of the rider.

• Explorations with as many of the workshop participants who might want to work with them at any moment.

Q-02 in collaboration with Bicrophonic Research Institute, Cyclo, FoAM, Globearoma, Rits/School of Arts, Huis van Culturen en Sociale Samenhang van Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Vaartkapoen, VisitBrussels, Overtoon.

Supported by the Vlaamse Gemeenschap, the Creative Europe program of the European Union en de Stad Brussel.

An introduction to the sonic bikes, software, hardware and compositional processes for 9 new bicrphonic artists in The Summer Pedalling Games, led by Kaffe Matthews.

Timetable:

Sat 15th August: 10 – 5pm

• In the morning Kaffe will give an introduction to the sonic bikes, software, hardware and compositional processes used in order to create a new sonic bike work.

• Each artists will introduce themselves and give a brief presentation of their ideas.

• In the afternoon we will start testing sounds on the bikes.

August 16th: 10 – 5pm

• Day two, we will continue testing sounds on bikes – learning about the software and compositional process.

At the end of the workshop artists have the opportunity to take a sonic bike away with them, so as to continue developing their own sound work independently,, ready for The Summer Pedalling Games in September.