What is this workshop?

This workshop is aimed at composers and artists to create tools and techniques for using live electronics in performance, studio, installation and digital media applications. Participants will have the opportunity to learn creatively through sound-design, digital signal processing, and live audio manipulation, with the Swansea Laptop Orchestra using PD.

Swansea Laptop Orchestra use hacked game controllers, laptops, sensors and other bits of tech, to create and perform experimental, classical, electroacoustic and electronic music. Controllers are used to track the performers' gestures and theatrical movements, bringing a unique physicality to electronic music and creating a symbiotic audio-visual experience. Swanlork is comprised of Music Technology lecturers Dr. Jenn Kirby and Simon Kilshaw.

What is PD?

Puredata (PD) is a free open source platform for composers/ musicians/ interactive artists. Pd 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, motor systems, lighting rigs, and other equipment. It is suitable for learning basic multimedia processing and visual programming methods as well as for realising complex systems for large-scale projects.

Resources needed:

Each participant will need to bring their own laptop and headphones.

Each participant will need to preinstall Pd-Extended 0.43 on their laptop.