Mini-synth Workshops - Communal Electronic Music

Our original community project began with our interest in intuitive music making with electronic music equipment. We knew that using electronic music equipment could quickly open up creativity, in people without music training.

Traditional instruments, tend to carry a preconceived notion of what it means to be ‘good’ or ‘bad’. We used loop stations and mixing desks, old keyboards, cheap synthesizers, drum pads and any other interesting musical devices we could get our hands on.

The equipment we used always changed per circumstance and organisation we provided workshops for. With the aim of making it as inclusive and intuitive to use as possible. Connectivity was a strong theme. So our ‘station’ would allow for several instruments to be plugged into the effects and looping equipment, with several points at which the audio stream could be effected. This allowed for several people to engage at once, resulting in noisey and experimental soundscapes.

These workshops were led by Charlie Kew, Rosie Robinson and Kai Swarvett, with support from Jack Cleary.