Creative Resource Library
Synth Session & Breadboarding Mini Workshop
A monthly free-to-all electronic music workshop & collaborative jam session held in the Gray Area lobby.
Monday January 15, 2024
6PM Mini Workshop
7PM Group Jam Session
Free RSVP (Limited capacity)
View our FAQ page for more info, or contact us at [email protected] with any accommodation requests.
Gray Area, ZERO1, and Crowbar Corner are proud to present Synth Sessions, a free hands-on workshop and group jam open to all levels to expand your sonic horizons.
Every month, participants learn about a new synthesis topic (drones, sequencing, sound design, etc.), then collaborate on a group jam that will propel the workshop sounds into the beyond!
Participants are encouraged to bring their own electronic instrument or use one from the Creative Resource Library (limited availability). Participants can also preview the instruments available from the Library and sign up to borrow one after the session. We have full modular systems, desktop synths and drum machines and a selection of Macbooks, iPads, midi controllers, and audio interfaces.
The workshop begins promptly at 6pm, followed by group jam time beginning at 7pm. There will be time at the end of the workshop for general questions and advice about synthesis. Please arrive in time to set up your instrument(s) before the jam begins.
This Month's Session includes a special Breadboarding Mini-Workshop!
Sean Russell Hallowell will be joining Ryan Smith to lead a portion of the workshop on designing basic electronic oscillators with integrated circuits as an introduction to his larger workshop: Breadboarding Modular Synthesizers on February 19 & 20. All materials for the breadboarding workshop will be provided.
Come experiment with a DIY analog synth with pitched oscillators and percussive sounds all built out on a breadboard!
About the Instructors
Ryan Smith
A long time touring musician with the band Caribou, Ryan also produces futuristic techno music under the moniker Taraval, makes modular ambient music in the live electronic duo Bathing, and has a long running collaboration with Jeremy Greenspan of the Junior Boys, both producing experimental electronic music and running the label Geej. He produced a collaborative performance of a 1973 graphics score by avant-garde composer Frank McCarty called Tactus Tempus, a controlled improvisational process for 9 audio visual performers live at Gray Area. He is an expert level user of Ableton and Max For Live, VCV Rack (virtual modular synthesis environment), numerous hardware instruments and an accomplished guitar player.
isorhythmics
Sean Russell Hallowell (isorhythmics) is a composer and video artist from San Francisco. His time-based art synthesizes experimental techniques developed from hand-built circuitry with a cosmological perspective on music’s origins in number and time. Concert works and installations of his have been showcased at festivals and galleries across the US as well as in Mexico, Chile, South Korea, the UK, Belgium, Croatia, and Iceland.
The Creative Resource Library is a collaboration between Crowbar Corner, ZERO1, and Gray Area.
