Berlin Modular Music Culture - Aesthetic and Social Potentials

#electronicmusic

Artistic and scientific perspectives on modular synthesizers are combined in this workshop. The focus is not only on the aesthetic potential of using the devices, but also on the social dimensions of Berlin's synthesizer culture and its utopian, dystopian and heterotopian aspects.

Not least because of the extensive network in which hardware and software for music production is developed, tested and distributed, Berlin is a center of electronic music. International companies and small underground businesses, producers of both danceable club music and avant-garde concert music, live performance acts and multimedia projects interact here. Musical possibilities are explored in areas of complex social conflict (e.g. collective subculture vs. profit maximization; short-term market innovation vs. social-ecological sustainability). Here, analog, digital and hybrid synthesizer modules, which can be combined in a variety of ways to create musical systems, play a special role and are the focus of the workshop.

In extensive hands-on sessions with various modular synthesizer systems, individual projects can be developed under the guidance of the lecturers. Small groups can be formed according to musical interests and previous knowledge (beginners to advanced). Special excursions offer insights into the Berlin modular scene.

Schedule (details subject to change depending on availability of excursions/ guest speakers):

Monday, August 25 (10am – 5pm)

  Presentations by the lecturers with discussion:

• History and present of modular synthesizers and Berlin's modular music culture

•  Overview of the synthesizer systems in our workspace, their similarities and differences

•  Participants discuss their previous knowledge and interests in the field of electronic music. Formation of teams and small groups  (beginners to advanced)

  Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• Exploration of the various complex modular synthesizer systems

Tuesday, August 26 (10am – 5pm)

  Presentations by the lecturers with discussion:

• Module categories, in depth (beginner/advanced): sound generation (oscillators, noise...), sound shaping (filters, effects...), modulators (envelopes, LFOs...), automation of events (sequencers...)

  Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• In-depth work on the phenomena discussed

• Realization of small tasks and development of projects

Wednesday, August 27 (10am – 5pm)

  Presentations by the lecturers with discussion:

• Haptics and visuality: the significance of interface design

• Musical paradigms of modules – modular possibilities of systems. Smart patching and happy accidents

  Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• Individual/team projects

  Excursion (talk with discussion):

• Berlin based manufacturer of modular synthesizers (e.g. Verbos Electronics)

Thursday, August 28 (10am – 5pm)

  Presentations by the lecturers with discussion:

• Innovation, subculture and gentrification: Berlin's modular music scenes

• Hardware/software: from analogue to digital to hybrid

  Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• Individual/team projects

  Excursion (talk with discussion):

• Berlin based music software company, with a focus on modular connectivity (e.g. Bitwig, Native Instruments, Ableton)

Friday, August 29 (10am – 5pm)

  Presentations by the lecturers with discussion:

• Sustainability, re-use, and modding

  Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• Individual/team projects

   Excursion (talk with discussion):

• Synthesizer Repair, Schneidersladen Berlin

Saturday, August 30 (10am – 5pm)

Hands on Modular (guided by the instructors):

• Completion and presentation of the individual/team projects

• Final extended joint jam session

• Final discussion and outlook

Knowledge requirements

none (workshop for beginners of electronic music as well as for advanced students)

Equipment requirements

Headphones with cable (available in the course if you let us know in advance)

Kim Feser (no pronoun): Musicologist, Philosopher, Sociologist. Lecturer at Berlin University of the Arts, Freie Universität Berlin, and Macromedia University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Main areas of research and teaching: History of technical construction and aesthetic use of synthesizers and sequencers; philosophy of music (esp. Adorno, Deleuze); intersections of experimental avant-garde, sound art, pop and club music.

Jessica Kert - Electronic Musician, Techno Producer, Synthesizer Expert (Schneidersladen Berlin). Performances at Atonal, Ars Electronica, Tresor/Globus, among others. Modular synthesizer workshops at Superbooth Berlin, Mikro:kosmos Innsbruck, Ars Electronica, among others.