June 4th 2010. Chris Carter and the Dirty Electronics ensemble, led by John Richards, fill STEIM with layers of multi rhythmic beats, glitches and slow, full-bodied drones. Loud and immersive. The sounds coming from a bunch of DIY electronic instruments made during the Dirty Electronics workshop, on the last four days before the concert.

Twelve participants of the workshop make up the ensemble, each with a couple of self-made instruments, assembled under the guidance of John. On the first day we made the Dirty Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument, a copper-plated and tilt-sensitive postcard, that the performer controls through conducting different electrodes with their fingers and thumbs and which sounds as a furious bird, from a robot-jungle would sound, if only that creature existed.

Then there was the second instrument, made on days two and three, called Petit Coronation. Variable speed pulses, feedbacks and analog input picked by a contact mic.

This involved slightly more advanced electronics understanding and soldering skills, patiently (!) explained and troubleshot by John.

Each participant’s final petit coronation instrument, looks and sounds differently, depending on the size of the used boxes, their materials and microphone placement.

Days 3 and 4 where the days of rehearsal. It was a very open and creative process as various artistic ideas were discussed, rehearsed and developed. John and Chris detailed their views on the aesthetics of the most interesting themes that came up, while participants were teaming-up for the different pieces of the performance, setting ideas on the form and density development.

Personally the workshop gave me fun and creative time, a network of noisy friends, a better understanding of electronics (not ‘intimidated’ to assemble basic stuff on my own   and sent me home with two beautiful hand-held instruments, definitely coming up in the set-up of my next performances.

This year STEIM organizes more workshops than ever, and we are planning to keep doing this in the years to come. So if you’ve missed out on a specific workshop, there’s a good chance you can attend next year.

Workshop subjects vary from hardware building and software programming to structured improvisation and interactive media. Teachers are the best in their field, often having worked before with STEIM staff and residents.

Just last week the Dirty Electronics workshop took place in studio 3. Chris Carter from the legendary Throbbing Gristle teamed up with Dirty Electronics led by noise doctor John Richards to perform a piece for a specially designed DIY electronic instrument. The instrument features an original copper etching artwork designed by Carter that will become part of a dirty electronics instrument. Random sequences, distortion and noise coalesce in a unique hand-held instrument the size of a postcard. Social noise for all!

Some workshops still to come this year:

4-day Interactive Software Intensive Workshop with visual artist, performer & designer Jamie Griffiths

This four day intensive workshop with Jamie Griffiths is a fast-track entry into interactive performance design. Whether you are a visual artist creating museum installations, vj, dj, singer, musician, lighting designer, performance artist, choreographer or film-maker, the workshop frees you up from perceived programming limitations and gives you the skills you need to start experimenting with interactive live performance designs using Isadora software to harness the power of simple tools for design and control of your new media and interdisciplinary ideas.

Using junXion to create an instrument with what you have, or how to do more with less. A workshop by Frank Baldé.
This workshop will be using STEIM’s mapping software junXion to cover various concepts like data analysis, conditioning, storing values, and mapping. Participants are encouraged to bring a physical controller like a Wiiremote, a joystick, a custom build Arduino, an OSC controller, or any other device that is supported by junXion. They will be challenged to create a fullfledged instrument with this device in only a couple of hours.

Ableton Max for Live by Robert Henke & Danny de Graan

This workshop consists of 2 parts: 4 days of in-depth classes on Max for Live by Dutch composer and Max expert Danny de Graan and a 5th day with Robert Henke (aka Monolake) talking about some of the M4L devices he has built for personal use and discussing why it could make sense – or not – to create personal patches in M4L.

Later in the fall we will have the Workshop Oscillator Machine by Tom Bugs, a SuperCollider 3 workshop by Jeff Carey and Alberto de Campo and a workshop on Turntable Music by dj sniff.

Orientation Workshops are a special type of workshop: as an introduction into the STEIM method they form an ideal first contact between artists and STEIM. Participation in an Orientation Workshop is free of charge, and can be applied for by sending an email to knock@steim.nl.

Registration for the workshops should be done through the registration form online. An overview of all future workshops can be found here. A list of Orientations to come is here.