Our education and outreach program allows us to share our passion for art, music, and technology with adults and children throughout the central Ohio region. Our introductory and intermediate-level workshops give participants the opportunity to work with various open source platforms, robotics kits, DIY electronics and soft circuits, and more. Our instructors provide the materials, supplies, know-how, and encouragement for participants to create and innovate.
In 2019 we were awarded an Arts Partnership grant from the Ohio Arts Council to offer a workshop series titled “The Science of Sound”. The purpose of this series is twofold: first, it will provide introductory-level, hands-on instruction in electronic music making over a range of approaches. It will also demystify electronic music and electronic music composition for youth and adults with little to no formal musical background who are interested in electronic music production, as well as musicians with formal musical background with traditional instruments and are looking to expand their practice into experimental electronic music.
This workshop series is not centered around learning specific technologies or electronic music generating equipment as such, or learning the newest technologies for their own sake; instead, they will learn how to learn new tools. Particular technologies and applications introduced in the series will play a supporting role in teaching participants the fundamentals of sound and the physics of sound as it pertains to experimental and electronic music making. In addition, these technologies and applications will be placed in a historical context by introducing participants to musicians who explored current music technology’s predecessors and whose explorations also delved into scientific concepts regarding sound and how the new electronic technologies of their time informed how they explored these scientific concepts.
While all workshops in this series will cover relevant music theory, music history, and physics as it relates to sound (resonance, frequency, pitch, amplitude, wave descriptions, and so on), every workshop will be grounded in hands-on learning activities in music making and lab time that allow participants to directly and immediately apply what they have learned, while bridging the gap between theoretical and practical applications of music and science. The areas of focus in the series are: fundamentals of physics, mathematics and music; using the iPad to make music; introduction to coding and open source computer applications; and exploring electronic music equipment and gear (pedals, controllers, field recording equipment, etc.).
Our educational program currently takes place at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center.
Our upcoming workshops are listed on this page, as well as our website’s calendar. To sign up for a workshop, click on the workshop title, which will take you to the workshop information page. At the bottom of this page are clickable buttons that let you select the workshop option you want; when clicked, you are taken to PayPal.
Yes! The nice thing about being a mobile lab is that we can come to you, supplies and all. In addition to Franklin county, we are able to travel to Delaware, Licking, and Fairfield counties. If you are in one of these counties and are interested in having us offer a workshop in your area, please contact our Executive Director Alison Colman.
Hooray! We are always looking for enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructors! To begin a discussion with us, please contact our Executive Director Alison Colman to let her know you are interested in teaching a workshop and the topic(s) you would like to offer. We also recommend that you take a look at our workshop planning document to get a sense of what it takes to get a new workshop up and running. Please contact us for a copy of this document.
