The Music Hackspace has a new home!

Our residency at Somerset House ended in 2019, and we’ve found a new home at Goldsmiths University. I (JB Thiebaut) am now a research fellow in the computing department, where I will collaborate with academics and students to continue to organise seminars, workshops and artist-engineers collaborations.
Long time collaborators of the Music Hackspace, Tadeo Sendon and Susanna Garcia, are now focusing on their respective practices. I am thankful for their outstanding work and look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

I have been working closely with Max for the past 12 months, and I’m excited to organise meetups and workshops starting in April 2020.
We will organise regular seminars and workshops. If you are interested to give a workshop, or would like a topic to be represented, please send us an email.
Workshop topics might include: Artificial intelligence for music, Virtual Reality, Machine learning, Max, Pure Data, Super Collider, MIDI and MIDI 2.0, modular synths, VST instruments and development, Live coding, and more.
DIY Eurorack workshop with Befaco on 27th and 28th August
Hands on workshop: build your own synth modules on eurorack format. We provide all the necessary components to build your device from scratch. Each participant builds her/his own machine during the workshop.
REGISTRATION. Please note a minimum number of participants is required for this workshop to take place, so please book your place asap!
[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”musichackspace.myshopify.com” product_handle=”befaco-modular-synth-workshop-27th-and-28th-august-2016″ show=”all”]
- With this item you will be booking a spot in our workshop.
- Please send an email to workshops@stagingmhs.local indicating which module/s you’d like to build.
- This £20 booking fee will be deducted during the workshop from the price of the kit/s of your choice.
- Please note there will be no refunds in case of cancelling / not showing.
- Thanks for the reservation and see you soon!
Join us for a weekend of DIY modular synth making on 27th and 28th August 2016:
- Required skills: interest and patience. No previous experience in electronics is necessary.
- Required materials: Fine tip soldering iron less than 25w is recommended (we provide soldering irons and hand tools for participants who don’t have their own).
- When: Sat 27th and Sun 28th August 2016, 11am to 7 pm.
- Where: Music Hackspace @ LimeWharf Yard. LimeWharf, Vyner Street E2 9DJ London
Befaco is a Synth DIY/open hardware platform focused on designing modules and organizing modular synth workshops regularly in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and London. You can read Befaco Workshops FAQ’s for more details.
Befaco modules available :
Spring reverb …………………150 GBP
Even VCO ……………………130 GBP
BF22 VCF……………………..140 GBP
Rampage…………………………….170 GBP
Instrument Interface………..125 GBP
Output module……………….. 70 GBP
Mixer………………………………55 GBP
Crush Delay……………………130 GBP
Hexa VCA………………………150 GBP
power supply + power bus……90 GBP
Power Bus………………………..50 GBP
Dual Atenuverter………………55 GBP
Joysitck controller…………….120 GBP
Slew Limiter ………………………….60 GBP
Sampling Mod………….130 GBP
Midi thing……………..125GBP
A*B+C…………………95GBP
Also we have 4ms and Bastl kits available. If you are interested please let us know in advance:
4ms:
PEG 200 GBP
RCD 100GBP
RCD Breackout 55GBP
SCM 100GBP
SCM Breackout 105 GBP
QPLFO 195 GBP
Bastl
Grandpa: 130 GBP
If you have any questions please email us at: workshops@stagingmhs.local
The Music Hackspace programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
This activity is part of the workshop series #SoundUnfolded, curated by Susanna Garcia. #SoundUnfolded brings together action-based ideas about sound and explores the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making.
MAKING MUSIC WITH LIGHTS – 2 days course
* When: Sat 24th and Sun 25th September 2016 – 11am to 18pm
* Where: Music Hackspace – LimeWharf. Vyner St, London E2 9DJ
This workshop intertwines practice (musical and performative), theory
(historical context and aesthetics) and technique (electronics). It
culminates with a performance and a composition.
[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”musichackspace.myshopify.com” product_handle=”making-music-with-lights-2-day-course-1-day-booking” show=”all”]
1 day = £70
2 days = £120
*Concession 60/100 (students, unemployed, lone parents)
**Participants who make a booking for one day can choose which day they want to come.
*** Price, with this item you will be booking a spot in our workshop. Please send an email to workshops@stagingmhs.local indicating which day you want to go. This £20 booking fee will be deducted during the workshop from the price of the kit of your choice. Please note this £20 booking fee won’t be refunded in case of you cancelling / not showing. Thanks for the reservation and see you soon! We will be in touch with you to confirm registration and provide further details.
The workshop is lead by xname (aka Eleonora Oreggia) with assistance by Astrid Bin.
DAY 1
Sat 24th September 2016 – 11am to 18pm
- Construction of simple oscillators powered by solar panels
- Why solar panels and what do we learn from them?
- Basic of electronics and soldering for beginners
- Reading schematics and reproducing a circuit
- Modifying a circuit and fine tuning your noise
- Sensing systems and LDR (light dependent resistors)
At the end of DAY 1 each participant will have built at least 3 light controlled oscillators. Beginners will learn how to start with electronics, solder and read schematics.
More advanced users will learn how to modify a circuit and increase the complexity of an instruments by connecting different modules to process the signal (oscillate, amplify, filter), reasoning in block diagrams and using an oscillator to control another oscillator.
- Resources will be delivered before and after the class.
- All components will be provided.
- Participants keep what they make.
DAY 2
Sun 25th September 2016 – 11am to 18pm
- Imagining a live set using a choreography of lights and the oscillators constructed.
- Composition and synaesthesia with light controlled electronics.
- Understanding frequencies in terms of colour and sound.
- Melody as colour, beat as pulsation.
- Manipulating interferences.
- Expression, gesture and interaction in performance.
- Rhythmics, tempo, syncopation, cacophony.
- Examples from contemporary composers.
Aesthetics: analog synths and generated sounds working with silence and granularity overlapping and subtracting textures Techno, noise, musique concrete timbral and vertical music.
The day will start with a short lecture (optical music and live composition) and some space for reflection. The focus will be on practicing with the instruments created, imagining a system of notation for live performance.
Participants will learn how to construct a live composition.
The workshop will end with a performance: solo / in duet and all together (directed).
- The performance will be filmed and recorded.
- Video and sound files will be delivered to each student as additional didactic material.
- A small anthology (non compulsory but recommended) will be emailed to the students a week before the course. Individual feedback will be provided upon request.
This workshop is lead by xname (aka Eleonora Oreggia) with assistance by Astrid Bin.
“xname” is an interdisciplinary artist born in Milan and based in London. She makes interactive installations and live performances. Made of self built electronics, lines of code, and other inert matter (noise, dust), her alchemic constructions often contain a live element, something that has to happen, yet unpredictable.
Her live compositions transform light and other electromagnetic frequencies in sound waves through self built synthetisers and complex semi chaotic machines. The result is a hypnotic spectacle dominated by industrial and noise-techno frequencies.
She is currently associated with the Augmented Instruments Laboratory at Queen Mary University where she is developing electronic musical instruments within the Antennas & Electromagnetics Group. She is also the founder of Nebularosa, a record label promoting electronic music that challenges the established modes of music production.
http://xname.cc
http://nebularosa.net
The Music Hackspace programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
This activity is part of the workshop series #SoundUnfolded, curated by Susanna Garcia. #SoundUnfolded brings together action-based ideas about sound and explores the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making.
Competition – Can you hack it?
Enter our making competition to win a workshop voucher worth £150 and see your work promoted in our channels.
We want to see examples of your music tech hacks, new inventions, homemade sound devices, DIY instruments and projects. Upload your photos or short videos to Twitter or Facebook using #musichackcomp
Entries will be shortlisted by social media likes.
The competition closes on Monday 1st of August and the winner will be announced on Thursday 4th of August.
Please see our T&C’s for more details.
For any questions please email curators@stagingmhs.local
Hybrid analogue and digital MicroFM radio broadcast workshop for raspberry pi
µFM
Hybrid analogue and digital MicroFM radio broadcast workshop for raspberry pi
Learn how to set up a local FM radio broadcast with a raspberry pi, and use digital techniques of reception with RTL-SDR.
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July 2016, 11 am to 7 pm at LimeWharf
[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”musichackspace.myshopify.com” product_handle=”learn-how-to-set-up-a-local-fm-radio-broadcast-with-a-raspberry-pi-workshop-16-and-17-july” show=”all”]
With this item you will be booking a spot in our workshop.
Please send an email to workshops@stagingmhs.local indicating which option you want to make. There are two options to choose from:
BYO KIT – 60 GBP
Bring your laptop (linux by preference) + your Raspberry Pi + SD Card (specs: SDHC / microSDHC; class 10; size 8 or 16 Go) + 1 RJ45 cable (Ethernet cable) + Your own radio/s
RTL-SDR antennas will be provided.
GET THE FULL KIT – 90 GBP
Bring your laptop (linux by preference) & Bring your own radio/s
Get the full kit (Raspberry Pi + SD Card + Ethernet cable).
RTL-SDR antennas will be provided.
This £20 booking fee will be deducted during the workshop from the price of the kit of your choice. Please note this £20 booking fee won’t be refunded in case of you cancelling / not showing.
Thanks for the reservation and see you soon! We will be in touch with you to confirm registration and provide further details.
More information:
During the last past years, the radio world has witnessed the rise of numerous initiatives related to the hybridization of traditional radio means with digital standards and systems, nourishing and renewing the classic radio-amateur practises and approaches such as pirate satellite brazilian radios http://www.wired.com/2009/04/fleetcom/?currentPage=all
But even if technical protocols such as Software Defined Radio (SDR), streaming and p2p decentralized practices have opened new perspectives, it is mostly the recent new political approaches of radio, such as Kogawa’s MicroFM [A Micro Radio Manifesto http://anarchy.translocal.jp/radio/micro/o] or the Telecomix Internet radio initiative [http://telecomix.org/] that have unveiled new exciting territories.
Nowadays, radio is -in its digital transformation, far from the unidirectional relationship with the listener of the FM band. It is open to very local broadcast and wild transmissions over large spectrum, carrying both sounds and data, and offering to rethink its architecture on the principles of rhizomatic and meshed networks.
Following the Π-Node experiments [https://www.p-node.org], this workshop proposes to explore the use of RTL-SDR antennas:
- primary conceived for TNT television reception [dongle based on the RTL2832U chipset http://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/]
- subverted to the reception of various signals from the radio spectrum from 20MHz to 2000MHz.
The antenna will be receiving waves of data messages, encoded through Minimodem [http://www.whence.com/minimodem/]
A Raspberry Pi will be transformed in a radio transmitter, using the GPIO 4 and the PiFM software [PiFM: http://icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspberry_Pi_Into_an_FM_Transmitter]
Participants willl use and connect those tools and techniques, in order to create a chain of radio data relays, and trying ultimately to subvert it by various means (radio interferences, sound transformation, data capture and text substitution, etc…).
Previous knowledge
Participants shall have a basic knowledge of command line programming and a wide curiosity for radio phenomenons.
Languages used will be python, but can also be programmed in other various langages (ruby, java, c++, etc …)
This workshop will be led by RYBN.ORG
RYBN.ORG is an extra-disciplinary artistic research platform, funded in 2000 as a web entity, disseminated into several servers all over the internet and physically present in Paris. RYBN.ORG operates through interactive & networked installations, digital/analog visual cross-performances and pervasive computing. Their projects refer as well to the codified systems of the artistic representation (aesthetic, painting, architecture, avant-garde, music) as to the socio-politic and physical phenomenons, exploring various fields such as economics, data mass analysis, perverted artificial intelligence, disrupting auto-learning, language and syntaxes, sensory perception and cognitive systems.
This workshop is part of #SoundUnfolded #ACE funded.
The Music Hackspace programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Befaco Modular Synth Workshop, 14th and 15th May 2016
Join us for a weekend of DIY modular synth making on 14th and 15th May 2016!
HANDS ON WORKSHOP: build your own synth modules on eurorack format. We provide all the necessary components to build your device from scratch. Each participant builds her/his own machine during the workshop.
REGISTRATION. Please note a minimum number of participants is required for this workshop to take place, so please book your place asap!
[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”musichackspace.myshopify.com” product_handle=”befaco-workshop-registration-14th-and-15th-may” show=”all”]
With this item you will be booking a spot in our workshop.Please send an email to workshops@stagingmhs.local indicating which module/s you want to build. This £20 booking fee will be deducted during the workshop from the price of the kit of your choice.
Please note there will be no refunds in case of cancelling / not showing. Thanks for the reservation and see you soon!
Required skills: interest and patience. No previous experience in electronics is necessary.
Required materials: Fine tip soldering iron less than 25w is recommended (we can provide some soldering irons and hand tools for participants who don’t have their own).
When: Sat 14th and Sun 15th May 2016, 11am to 7 pm.
Where: Music Hackspace @ LimeWharf Yard. LimeWharf, Vyner Street E2 9DJ London
If you have any questions please email us at: workshops@stagingmhs.local
Befaco is a Synth DIY/open hardware platform focused on designing modules and organizing modular synth workshops regularly in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and London. Befaco Workshops FAQ’s.
Available modules:
Spring reverb …………………150 GBP
Even VCO ……………………130 GBP
BF22 VCF……………………..140 GBP
Rampage…………………………….170 GBP
Instrument Interface………..125 GBP
Output module……………….. 70 GBP
Mixer………………………………55 GBP
Crush Delay……………………130 GBP
Hexa VCA………………………150 GBP
power supply + power bus……90 GBP
Power Bus………………………..50 GBP
Dual Atenuverter………………55 GBP
Joysitck controller…………….120 GBP
Slew Limiter ………………………….60 GBP
Sampling Mod………….130 GBP
Midi thing……………..125GBP
A*B+C…………………95GBP
If you have any questions please email us at: workshops@stagingmhs.local
The Music Hackspace programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
This activity is part of the workshop series #SoundUnfolded, curated by Susanna Garcia. #SoundUnfolded brings together action-based ideas about sound and explores the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making.
DIY Modular Synth workshop with ‘000’ – 16 and 17 April
DIY workshop about percussion and distortion lead by øpen-hardware team “000”
• Aberrant analogue distortion and percussion modules
Modules are both stand-alone and Eurorack.
The workshop will cover both theory and practice about analogue circuit design, percussion and noise. No previous experience in electronics is needed but interest and patience is mandatory.
Please book your place using the button below. The booking price will be discounted from the module at the workshop. We will get in touch with you after the booking about the module you will choose. For any questions please contact workshops@stagingmhs.local
Both days are independent so participants can choose when to join the workshop.
Modules available are:
TOMS of Finland *NEW* (Workshop price: £135)
BSDM Bareback Kick (Workshop price: £105)
SCAT 0-logical distortion (Workshop price: £85)
Snore Fist Drum (Workshop price: £125)
WHIP MIDI to trigger interface (Workshop price: £130)
This is the first time the module “TOMS of Finland” is available, both as as Kit and already assembled.
- New percussive tool designed by 000 with a special subsonics Twin-T core (similar to the 808/606), including special and extended controls on panel, a second precision FM oscillator and noise control able to perform a big variety of sounds – from metallic, to bass and drone sounds (and a special push button),
to change from High to low pitch sounds. - The module includes a hand trigger push button and cv control for the accent of the trigger.
- The Output has a bast voltage to make strong percussive sounds.
- Eurorack and Banana compatible
- +/-12v power supply – 10HP
- Control for Pitch, P.Envelope, FM pitch, FM amount, Decay, Envelope decay, FM Decay, Noise and Volume with potentiometer.
- Custom light buttons: High/Low TOM selector and a Trigger/Whip.
- The Input section offers trigger/gate in
This workshop is part of the series ¨#SoundUnfolded¨, which brings together action-based ideas about sound. It proposes an exploration of the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making. To patch, to code, to reveal, to sonify. This is a workshop series about modular synths, audio synthesis, the electromagnetic spectrum, the transmission of sound and the digital.”
This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Signum device with Victor Mazon – Sound Unfolded series, April 2016
Two day workshop and artist talk led by artist Victor Mazon
Workshop Date: 9 / 10 April, 11am to 7pm.
Location: Cafe OTO Project Space
Cost: £95 (Keep your device! All electronic materials and documentation included)
Artist Talk Date: 11 April, 7pm to 9.30pm
Location: LimeWharf Yard, Vyner Street
Cost: Free
Listen to electromagnetic waves caused by modern devices and natural forces. Hear the patterns of ultraviolet and infrared light; the vibrations of ferric objects; the friction caused by insects and underwater sounds. Listen to the noise of tectonic movements, or of lighting phenomena thousands of kilometers distant.
Participants in the SIGNUM workshop will build and take home their own device, which is designed to record and listen to sounds hidden in the electromagnetic spectrum: those invisible frequencies, electromagnetic fields and signals that constantly surround us but that we are usually unable to hear.
The workshop will be lead by Victor Mazon Gardoqui, who’s the author of the workshop’s concept, electronics design and documentation.
The device includes a transducer, opticals, coils, germanium diodes and a small loop antenna, which coheres sonically and allows users to listen to surrounding signals that would fall out of the human hearing range. The workshop will also introduce participants to using the electromagnetic spectrum within artistic practices.
No previous experience in electronics is necessary, but interest and patience mandatory.
Additionally you can register to the free follow up artist talk taking place at Music Hackspace (in LimeWharf) on April 11 where we will have the chance to see the Signum device in action, exploring how different artists use the device during a practice based event lead by Víctor Mazón Gardoqui and with composer Neil Kaczor as special guest.
SIGNUM device is a translator – it uncovers the encrypted codes of information and the language of man/machine communication- which remain unintelligible without technical aid. Sharpening our awareness about what surrounds us, we will capture radio waves, FM/AM, ultrasounds, translocal network connections, personal broadcast spaces, inaudible electromagnetic fields, photoelectric effects, etc, read with a micro controller like an Arduino, Pic or a raspberry pi. SIGNUM can be used for various applications and in different environments: for the measurement and analysis of different signals through its 8 sensors and inputs, for field recordings, music composition or for aesthetic purposes within the sound or visual art praxis, as it has the unique ability to provide a wide sound palette and hard-to-identify sounds. The device is intended as an experimental tool for educational purposes and artistic practice.
The Music Hackspace’ programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
SuperCollider workshops at Machines Room – full series offer
Register to all of our four upcoming SuperCollider workshops taking place from April to July one Wednesday per month at Machines Rooms, with a 15% discount. BOOK HERE (£100)
You can also make a booking for each class individually. Links and dates below.
SuperCollider with Shelly Knotts
13th April 19:00 – 21:00 @MachinesRoom
Learn the basics of setting up a live coding session and making soundscapes and beats with sound synthesis and patterns in SuperCollider. BOOK HERE (£30)
SuperCollider with Alo Allik
11th May 19:00 – 21:00 @MachinesRoom
Sound synthesis and interactive algorithmic composition with machine learning. BOOK HERE (£30)
SuperCollider with Holger Ballweg
8th June 19:00 – 21:00 @MachinesRoom
Collaborative live coding. BOOK HERE (£30)
SuperCollider with Les Hutchins
13th July 19:00 – 21:00 @MachinesRoom
Using SuperCollider for installations. Raspberry Pi, recovering from crashes, and interacting with physical devices. BOOK HERE (£30)
SuperCollider is an incredibly powerful, open-source, cross-platform, audio engine and programming language, used not only to create music, but also for machine listening, audio/music reactive installations, performance, interactive systems, research, live-coding and much more.
You will need your own computer (OSX / Windows/ Linux), and a pair of headphones.
This workshop is part of #SoundUnfolded and will be the first of a series of software sessions taking place in the Machines Room classroom.
For any questions please email workshops@stagingmhs.local
“Sound Unfolded brings together action-based ideas about sound. It proposes an exploration of the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making. To patch, to code, to reveal, to sonify. This is a workshop series about modular synths, audio synthesis, the electromagnetic spectrum, the transmission of sound and the digital.”
#SoundUnfolded 2016 is a workshop series curated by Susanna Garcia.
For any queries please contact workshops@stagingmhs.local
This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Magnetic Signals and Radiophonic Soundscapes Workshop – Sound Unfolded Workshops 2016
Music Hackspace presents: Magnetic Signals and Radiophonic Soundscapes Workshop
Part of the new series of workshops “Sound Unfolded”
Location: Hub 67 – 67 Rothbury Road. London E9 5HA (Hackney Wick station)
When: Sat 26th March 12 to 4 pm
Bookings: 50 GBP
Join sonic adventurer Dan Tapper to discover a world of sound inaudible to our naked ear. The workshop involves creating a large wire loop antenna to tap into the electromagnetic spectrum allowing us to listen to a variety of strange and exciting sounds; from natural radio emanating from lightning and more exotic sources in the VLF band to the electromagnetic saturation of man made technology generated from household appliances, the London Underground and the electric grid.
The workshop will involve creating large loop antenna coils to allow these electromagnetic sounds to be heard as well as looking at the basic theory of how the antennas work, how best to record and amplify signals and how these sounds can be used in an artistic context.
The workshop will be lead by artist Dan Tapper, who’s been researching Very Low Frequency (VLF) electromagnetic sound for the past three years and utilizing this rich sonic environment to create installations, radio works and compositions. This interest has led him to publish two editions of “VLF: A Sound Artist’s Guide” which provides information for artists and enthusiasts new to the scene to begin their own sonic journeys with electromagnetic sound.
Workshop attendees take home:
- Your own loop antenna, built during the day
- A PDF version of “VLF: A Sound Artist’s Guide”
- Some Call it Noise – an audio-documentary developed as an artistic and informative introduction to the sounds of VLF.
- Several maxMSP patches developed for artistically working with and filtering electromagnetic audio.
This workshop is part of the workshop series ¨Sound Unfolded¨, curated by Susanna Garcia.
Sound Unfolded brings together action-based ideas about sound. It proposes an exploration of the relationships we can establish with sound through the act of making. To patch, to code, to reveal, to sonify. This is a workshop series about modular synths, audio synthesis, the electromagnetic spectrum, the transmission of sound and the digital.
For any enquiries please email workshops@stagingmhs.local
This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.