Join visiting artist Noah Vawter (MIT Media Lab) as he teaches you how to construct the Electric Eel, a portable hybrid synthesizer instrument with a built-in sliding generator, over the course of a week.
For the final class meeting, students will prepare a performance: together, in small groups, or as individuals. The performance will begin in front of a real audience in the vicinity of the gallery. As the instruments’ generators and built-in speakers make them portable, the final performance will proceed along a path while continuing to play, as in a New Orleans funeral. The audience is encouraged to follow, hum, sing dance, or chant, as they wish.
All starting materials will be provided, but there will be room to incorporate additional materials into each instrument. Participants will be encouraged to seek influences on the days in between the workshops, and to integrate these experiences into their personal instrument design. For example, if you’re into the sound of steel drums during the week of the workshop, it may be a sign to produce an instrument which reflects and explores that inspiration. This counts equally for all of the senses. Participants are encouraged to bring materials to facilitate this.