Alive electronics workshop

|Description:|
The workshop is focused on the construction of sustainable, customized and networked instruments. Participants are invited to build up to three different musical devices: Powerful analog Special Noise Unit (SNU), a kind of chaos-musical-noise-generator-touch-oscillator-instrument! (It even produces FM radio); Simple step-sequencer SEQ8 to give electricity certain patterns;
Mini-FM-transmitter to conquer your proximity.
A radio & noise installation will be available to try out and present the above mentioned electronics. Mini FM transmitter and radio receivers are positioned in a room, to provoke the interaction between the broadcasting and reception devices. Different distances between the devices changes the interference between transmitters and receivers. The Transmitters are fed with sound material coming from DIY complex chaotic oscillators as well as from available radio programs on air.
Additionally (if there is time and interest): A simple production technique of electronic boards with laser printer will be shown and practiced;
Some neu(ronal) surprises and electronic DIY tricks (incl. plans) for building most electronic circuits found on the Internet will be explored.

|Artist statement:|
As more and more is known about the physical background, electronics turned into a science where devices are digitally simulated and calculated according to mathematical models.
Especially digital electronics with its binary states' precisely defined 0 and 1, is -nobody wonders- either working or not working. For the majority of digital hardware that means: One wrong bit will break its operation. What we will make from digital chips is always working - but never exactly. By definition states between 0 and 1 are not allowed. In digital electronic data books these states are called 'not defined' or 'illegal'. They are not usable to build a reliable, predetermined, deterministic machine (e.g. a computer) which produces exact, reproducible output within its environmental parameters (i.e. the computer is functioning).
This exactness is remarkable, yet doesn't fit to our known physical laws. Where is the Heisenberg uncertainty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle)of modern quantum physics which should make such precision impossible?
The answer is astonishing: Digital electronics use symbolic states outside the physical reality!
E.g. standard TTL logic gates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_gate) operate with a 5 volt power supply. A TTL signal is defined as 0 or 'low' when between 0V and 0.8V with respect to the ground terminal, and 1 or 'high' when between 2.0V and 5V. States between 0.8V and 2.0V are 'illegal'. The experimental sound circuit SNU, which is the main device of the workshop, uses these illegal states and drives the digital chip it uses into this in-between world of uncertainty. What we get is complexity and uncontrollable behavior. This workshop shows how building-blocks can be arranged in unusual ways. The SNU or SEQ8 are just examples of how arrangements of the instruments can be build. Not two of them will sound the same. You get an alive instrument, different from a sampler that only controls pre made sound. Like a violin, with many possibilities to create sound but also unpredictable moments, it requires constant judgment and adjustment of the player and at the same time has a live of its own.

|Expected outcome:|
Live sound arrangement with all workshop participants making use of newly-constructed electronic instruments.

|Participants profile:|
Electronic artists and every one who is interested in pushing beyond the usual boundaries of controlling electronic instruments.

|Requirements:|
Radios/hacked-radio-instruments.

|More or less Schedule:|
1)Introductions, construction of radio and noise installation to experiment with and learn about its electronics. Soldering.
2)Soldering, contracting the instrument/s
3)Extending your instrument, exploration of connection possibilities, formation of networks, construction of a large performance/installation.
4)More experimentation within a network.
Deciding on the direction of the further workshops in both format and content.Performance.

|Language:|
German/English

|Regulations:|
Admission is FREE
Electronic parts to take home - 30 euro

|Jo Grys FRAGMENT:|

Studied chemistry, philosophy, mineralogy etc at the Justus-Liebig- University of Giessen then more and more turned towards arts using scientifically influenced thinking to investigate formation of structure from noise & order, from error & law and feedback as his main artistic themes. Grys is working with video-snow, electronics, computers, body & brain. Performs with noisiV (self-made electronics and video manipulations), TOB (transmitters and self-made electronics) Since 2004. Grys makes electronic installations & international workshops since 2004. Lives in Berlin.

JFG's previous workshops:
http://www.piksel.no/pwiki/TOB Workshop at Piksel, Bergen
http://www.deaf07.nl/index.php?option=com_openwiki&Itemid=25&id=dn_works... DEAF07
http://dorkbotswiss.org/tiki-index.php?page=Jo+FRGMNT+Grys+%2FTOB%2C+berlin Dorkbot Basel

Sounds:
http://www.noweb.org/noisiv/extra/archives/tob-media/TOB%20at%20FUC%2009...
http://www.noweb.org/noisiv/extra/archives/tob-media/TOB%20Podewil%2018....
Radio feature about TOB-installation:
http://www.noweb.org/noisiv/extra/archives/tob-media/TOB-rbb-12_07_06.mp3
http://tob.de.vu
http://noisiv.de.vu

|Contact:|
Natalia Borissova. workshop[at]aa-vv[dot]org

Participants:

Barbara Herold[de]
Fabian Schmidt[de]
Isabella Sedlak[at]
Heike Siegert[de]
Katrin Petroschkat[de]
Mario Klingemann[de]
Michael Kurz[de]
Wolf Steiling[de]

Hosted and kindly supported by Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München