Biofeedback Music: Your Heart as a Drum Machine and Sweat as a Melody

This course has limited capacity, reserve your spot now to secure your place!

This workshop on biofeedback music offers an introduction to the theory and practice behind this innovative approach to utilizing physiological data to compose and perform music.

Participants will learn about live representation of biological data through video and sound, and develop an understanding of the challenges of this hybrid art-science practice. Then, they will build a small emotion biofeedback system using galvanic skin response (GSR). Students will process the data from the GSR device and map it to music/visual changes using Max/MSP. Participants may choose to work solo or in small groups of 2-3 people. The session will conclude with an open discussion of the participants’ experiences and results of the workshop; those willing to share their work will be offered an opportunity to present their biofeedback pieces.

Upon completion, attendees will have a basic understanding of the main concepts of biofeedback music and sonification techniques for their GSR devices that they can also apply to working with other types of biofeedback data – sourced from heart rate (EKG), brain electrical response (EEG), or respiration frequency (RESP).

In order to have enough time to prepare and ship kits for workshop participants, please note that the enrollment deadline for this workshop is July 26.

ENROLL TODAY

Course Logistics

Enrollment Deadline: Saturday, July 26, 2025

Dates: Saturday, August 9, 2025

Times: 1 – 4PM PT

Cost: $125

Scholarship: We also offer Diversity Scholarships.
Apply by July 19, 2025.

Format
In-Person Workshop at Gray Area

Address
2665 Mission St, San Francisco

Experience Level: Beginner to advanced

Requirements:
Laptop

Please download and install Max/MSP before the class: https://cycling74.com/downloads

Additional Information:
• No Refunds or Exchanges.
• View our FAQ here.
• Contact [email protected] with any questions.

Workshop Outline

I. Brief Overview of Notable Biofeedback Projects, including:

“Discovery” of biofeedback in the 1960s
Early biofeedback art and counterculture, 1960s-nowadays
Aesthetics and tools of biofeedback art

II. Open Lab: Making Biofeedback (GSR) Music

Build a small GSR biofeedback hardware system with the electronics kit provided (no experience necessary)
Data processing and mapping to sound/visuals in Max/MSP (patches provided)
Composition/performance techniques using the system

III. Reflection on Results and (Optional) Sharing of Works

Open discussion with participants

Educational/Experiential Goals

Describe the origins of biofeedback art and be able to discuss its cultural history
Discuss theoretical and practice-based challenges of biofeedback music
Identify common sensors used for measuring bio-data and the main mediums of biofeedback information (video, audio) and their pros and cons
Build a biofeedback system utilizing GSR sonification/visualization with music software Max/MSP

ENROLL

Accessability Update:

Please note that this workshop will be held in the upstairs Gray Area classroom, which is not ADA accessible. We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage those impacted to contact us for assistance. Thank you for your understanding.

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Instructor(s)

Barbara Nerness

Barbara Nerness is an artist, researcher, and PhD candidate at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), also pursuing a Certificate in Composition. Her research focuses on brain dynamics measured by EEG during music improvisation, and she also writes, performs, and improvises multichannel music using sounds of the body (heartbeat, breath, brainwaves), field recordings, guitar, and electronics. Barbara enjoys collaboration, especially projects investigating the body, surveillance, and technological subversion. She has performed throughout the Bay Area and Los Angeles, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, ZKM, and the Sonic Arts Research Centre. She holds an MA in Music, Science, and Technology from Stanford University and a BA in Mathematics from UC Berkeley.

Anastasia Chernysheva
Research Fellow

Anastasia Chernysheva is a scholar and curator exploring topics of experimental music and biofeedback art. Recently, Anastasia gave invited lectures at the UCLA Department of Art (Art|Sci Center), UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and presented at the NIME2024 Colloquium. As a curator, she produced event series —ranging from music performances to science talks— at the University of Illinois, Santa Monica College, and Bergamot Station Art Center that were supported through grants from the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Santa Monica Cultural Affairs. In October 2024 she started Biofeedback Art|Research Network — an international community of artists, researchers, and scholars pursuing work pertaining to biofeedback. Currently, Anastasia is a Visiting Researcher at UCLA Music Industry Program and a Research Fellow at Gray Area, where she continues to work on cultural initiatives, and investigate and write about the topic of her passion.