Watching YouTube isn’t learning
Eddie Dobson
We so easily fall into the YouTube rabbit hole, intending to learn DAW skills, coding, or mastering, only to skim through endless videos, unlock that old software vs hardware Pandora’s box, then start daydreaming about kit… simply downloading and doodling until we’re sitting in the dark blinking at that red line and trying not to read the comments below. At this point you may as well be on Insta or TikTok because it’s become a shop window and your original ideas and interests have dissolved under the weight of everything else you didn’t know you were interested in or concerned about.
Do you really see yourself as a passive receptacle of knowledge, or are you ready to be centred in your learning? While YouTube does offer knowledge, insight and often entertainment, participation in an online seminar can literally fire up and grow your brain!
This is because learning happens when you’re, not just passively listening. Language is a psychological tool of higher mental development (Vygotsky) and talk is an incredibly powerful tool in developing your knowledge and understanding. The Chinese education system requires learners to receive and consume information (passively), while in Finland education is approached from a social psychology perspective; advocating learning through interaction, with emphasis on communication, community, play and collaboration. This approach places communication at the heart of learning in Finland through project-based learning.
At Music Hackspace, we believe that social interaction is key to learning. Our online courses are designed to foster learning within a community, maximising peer engagement through collaborative exercises that are delivered in breakout rooms for 5-7 people. This makes it possible for you to experience a virtuous cycle of learning (listening, asking questions, answering questions), and enter a dynamic experience where talk, ideas, suggestions and connections can lead to unanticipated insights, knowledge and some pretty unique experiences.
Workshop participants also build meaningful connections with each other, offering potential for collaboration, and further knowledge/resource sharing. All of this simply doesn’t happen through a-synchronous content broadcast delivery, such as YouTube videos or large scale University lecture broadcasts.
Allow yourself to step into a dynamic space where you can experience active learning, and make more efficient use of your valuable time than you ever could drifting through the lonely YouTube amphitheatre.
Join the future of the Music Hackspace!
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Everyone should be able to learn and be on a creative journey. We offer opportunities to learn together, from live teachers and on-demand courses.
We will soon be launching a crowdfunding campaign to offer even more workshops, scale our operations further and launch a subscription model to help you access our full programme of unique live and on-demand courses on musical and creative technologies.
Join us in building the world’s largest teaching platform dedicated to creative technologies.
* This is not an investment commitment at this stage. Once you have registered your interest, we’ll be in touch via email when our campaign is live and open for investment.
** Investment of this nature carry risk to your capital. Please invest aware.
Capital at risk
Crowdfunding is a way for growing businesses to receive investments from their community rather than rely on traditional financial institutions and investors.
This crowdfund gives you the chance to own shares in Music Hackspace and become a key part of our journey. Music Hackspace will be listed on Crowdcube, the UK’s largest online crowdfunding platform.
CrowdCube is an equity crowdfunding platform.
Yes, every investor will receive shares in Music Hackspace. The number of shares you receive will be proportionate to the amount you invest. The final number of shares issued depends on the number of investors and amount of money raised.
We stand for a community based learning approach and want to include you in the next phase of Music Hackspace growth. We invite you to invest in the early stage of our development to help lower the barriers to learning creative technologies.
Our business plan and financial overview will be available on our Crowdcube campaign page once the campaign is live. If, after reading it, you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. You’ll find our contact details within deck – we’re happy to answer all questions or supply any additional information.
All eligible customers over the age of 18 and resident of the UK or a country where they may legally receive financial promotions of the nature provided. We are partnering with CrowdCube for our seed round. To be an eligible customer you will need to sign-up with CrowdCube.
If you are from US, Canada or Japan please contact us.
To become a shareholder in Music Hackspace please:
1. Register your interest by signing up completing the form on this page
2. Sign up and create an account with CrowdCube
3. Watch out for updates from us
4. Be ready to invest when our share offer is live.
We expect to launch in the Fall. Sign up and register your interest to be the first to know.
The campaign will last up to 30 days, ending whenever we reach our maximum investment target. If we reach our target early, we‘ll give notice 24 hours before the round closes. Please note, there is a limited amount of equity available in this round and we expect the round to fill quickly. We encourage you to invest as soon as the round opens.
Yes all investments will be made on the same terms.
World-class brands and organisations already support us
Jamspace #2
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Watch back the second Jamspace with Ned Rush, Obscenity State (Nilly Brooke), AbletonDrummer (Tobi Hunke) and Melody Loveless.
Performance and interviews with:
- Tobi Hunke: is a professional drummer and music producer. He is an educator and Max for live programmer who releases his work on the website AbletonDrummer.com . Tobi teaches drumming and music production to classes, as well as in one on one sessions. He has developed several Max for Live devices which are enabling drummers to play melodies and chords via acoustic/electronic drums which he is using for his own musical performances. https://blog.abletondrummer.com/about/
- Melody Loveless – will be sharing music that she made featuring live vocal sampling, Sonic Pi and Max/MSP. Melody is an artist, creative technologist, and educator based in Brooklyn, NYC. Her work ranges from live coding performance, generative sound installations, multisensory performance, and more.
- Obscenity State: – Nilly Brook a musician, producer and audio-visual performer, will be performing 2 tracks from her yet to be released EP alongside a live audio-visual TouchDesigner performance. Nilly lectures various visual technologies across a number of institutions including: The National Film and Television School, Central Saint Martins, Wimbledon School of Art, London South Bank University.
Join the second in an occasional series that showcases musical and visual performances and collaborations from members of the Music Hackspace community. After each performance, the practitioners are interviewed about their methodology. Watch the event live from our social media channels.
Showcase your work to the Music Hackspace community.
What is Jamspace?
Jamspace is an occasional / monthly series that showcases audio and visual performances and collaborations from members of the Music Hackspace community. We aim to create an online space in which community members can showcase their creative practice – be it musical, visual, audio, generative, traditional or experimental pieces.
How does it work?
Jamspace is hosted live by Music Hackspace Workshop Leader Ned Rush. Pre-composed performance videos are streamed and after each performance, the practitioners are interviewed live by Ned about their methodology. Anyone can watch the events live for free from our social media channels. Want to pose a question for the interview? You can ask questions in the chat on social media on the day.
Can I play / get involved?
Want to show off your work for the next Jamspace?
Jamspace is hosted by Music Hackspace Workshop Leaders Phelan Kane and Ned Rush.
Your piece could be anything that demonstrates creative use of technology in the arts. Performance to a camera is not a prerequisite – screen capture, generative visuals, green screen, Max, Jitter, video filters, VJ, sonificiations, Ableton Live and /or TouchDesigner created content is perfect. Anyone from the community can submit, be it student, workshop leader or alumni!
Tell us more info on this link and a member of the team will be in touch.
We look forward to seeing your work.
Berlin Code of Conduct
We ask all participants to read and follow the Berlin Code of Conduct and contribute to creating a welcoming environment for everyone.
Our story
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
It’s 2011. Our founder, JB, works for Focusrite as a software engineer. Venturing into the basement of the company, he sees all those PCBs of Novation synthesizers and controllers going to scrap. An e-mail to the London Hackspace, and the next day, two future members (Martin Klang of Rebel Tech and Phil Clevberger) drove to High Wycombe to pick them up.
A week later, 20 people showed up to uncover the treasures that we had brought for everyone to share. The idea of hacking music instruments together wasn’t new, but doing it together was exciting. It was still early days for Arduino, Raspberry Pi wouldn’t launch before 2012, and designing PCBs was hard. Combining skills and ideas, and learn together, on the other hand, was much more appealing.
Among the early participants were Angus Hewlett (FXpansion), Andy Farnell (Designing Sounds), Andrew McPherson (Bela), Blanca Regina, Tadeo Sendon and many more including artists, lawyers, or IT engineers working in the city. The appetite for building one’s own creative device was high.
With so many having creative ideas, we needed a way to sharing them, and once a week the Music Hackspace would gather to listen to someone presenting an idea or an ongoing project. The Center for Digital Music was a stone throw away, and the community grew with some of the world’s best researchers in music technology rubbing shoulder with hobbyists.
Over the next decade, the Music Hackspace would hosted at vibrant places in London: Containerville, Limewharf, Somerset House and Goldsmiths, curating workshops, meetups and seminars.
Running the Music Hackspace always came from a place of passion at the intersection of art and tech. And now that we’ve started expanding our community online, we are on a mission to support artists all over the world to learn, share and make art with tech.
Learn monome norns
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Join a community of open-source creative coders with monome norns
Customise your live performance rig and engage in a powerful open-source toolkit made for musicians, with monome norns. Check out our on-demand and live courses dedicated to programming and playing scripts from others on norns.
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Getting started with cheat codes 2: A sample ...
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Going further with cheat codes 2: A sample pl...
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Tone to drone - Introduction to SuperCollider...
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Ample samples - Introduction to SuperCollider...
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An introduction to Flora for monome norns...
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Arcologies...
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Digging deeper into Flora for monome norns...
AR Rahman, Music Hackspace and Cycling ’74 partner to deliver free online courses to students in India
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, founded by AR Rahman, teams up with London-based online teaching platform Music Hackspace and California-based software company Cycling ’74 to deliver free music programming classes in May 2021. As part of the partnership, Cycling ’74 will provide free 1-year licenses of its flagship programme Max to KM students.
India is home to one of the most dynamic music scene in the world, but still relatively cut off from the US and the UK. As the pandemic rages in India, most students are continuing to learn online. With this new course, we aim to help music technology students engage with new technology with a long term perspective of exchange and training.
AR Rahman says: “There is a huge appetite for music technology in India, but there is a scarcity of tools and teaching professionals. Musicians in India will be able to join in a global community that gives them the opportunity to develop life-long skills. “
Public registrations to the course are open on a first-come first-served basis (register here). The course will be offered to students for free and will be taught by Max Certified Trainer Phelan Kane who has years of experience teaching music technologies.
Cycling ’74 offers a free trial of the software (download here), making this accessible to anyone who is curious about music programming. There is no obligation to buy the software to participate in the workshop.
JB Thiebaut, CEO of Music Hackspace, adds “Our mission is to empower everyone to learn creative technologies and we are proud to enable this partnership on our platform, where visitors will find more free courses on demand to continue their learning journey.”
Max is an ubiquitous software that is taught in over 1,500 institutions around the world. Max is also integrated with leading production software Ableton Live.
Getting started with Max Workshops
The series will have 4 sessions of 2 hours each. Participants will learn how to get started with interactive audio and MIDI, and discover the possibilities of the Max environment. They will learn how to manipulate audio, MIDI, virtual instruments, and program their own interactive canvas, and will learn from guided examples and live interactions with teachers and other participants.
Session overviews:
- Session 1, 5th May – Understand the Max environment
- Session 2 , 12th May – Connect building blocks together and work with data
- Session 3, 19th May – Master the user interface
- Session 4 , 26th May– Work with your MIDI instruments
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About KM Music Conservatory
KM Music Conservatory (KMMC for short) is the first institution of its kind in India. A higher education institution established in 2008 by the A.R. Rahman Foundation with A.R. Rahman serving as Principal and Fathima Rafiq as Executive Director. Situated in brand new, state-of-the-art facilities at the heart of Chennai’s film and music industry, we offer a range of part-time and full-time courses in Hindustani and Western classical music and music technology. Faculty are drawn from around the world, with specialisms in musical performance, musical theory and analysis, music history and music technology in order to meet the highest standards of international education.
About Music Hackspace
Music Hackspace’s mission is to develop the largest online learning platform for music technologies. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut in London, as a collective of artists and engineers. Starting with weekly meetups and seminars, Music Hackspace now curates over 20 live and online workshops every month on music programming, instrument design, and DIY electronics, for a growing number of artists and hobbyists.
About Cycling ’74
Cycling ’74 creates software for the specialized needs of artists, educators, and researchers working with audio, visual media, and physical computing. Our visual programming tool Max serves as the creative engine behind thousands of innovative projects. Its iPad app Mira allows the user to expand beyond the Max environment for increased flexibility.
For more information:
www.musichackspace.org/learnmax
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut; Founder & CEO @ Music Hackspace
Lilli Wessling Hart
First Annual MIDI Innovation Awards Honors The Top 10 Entries
Laura Murden
Entire awards ceremony is now posted on YouTube
London, England – On January 21, the MIDI Association, Music Hackspace, and NAMM held the first MIDI Innovation Awards online. The event showcased the Top 10 entries, as innovators from nine countries competed for a share of $20,000 worth of prizes in a fast-paced, livestreamed show, which also featured live and recorded performances. The show’s climax was announcing the three Grand Prize winners as decided by an expert panel of judges, as well as the winner of the popular vote.
Craig Anderton, President of The MIDI Association said “The number of entries, the high standards they represented, and the sheer number of votes exceeded even our most optimistic expectations. Innovation in MIDI is thriving.” MusicHackspace.com founder Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut, who initially proposed the awards, stated “The awards realized our shared dream: give makers and innovators around the world an opportunity to connect with the NAMM community despite the pandemic, spotlight their work to the public, and celebrate the spirit of creativity.”
The judges awarded 1st place to Krishna Chetan from India for his entry Fluid Pitch, which also won the popular vote. Noted technologist and judge Dr. Kate Stone stated “This novel plug-in re-imagines pitch bending, in a way that enhances and simplifies how keyboard players react with MIDI instruments.” Krishna won over $12,500 in prizes, including a booth at the 2022 NAMM show, 2-year corporate membership in the MIDI Association, consulting from MK2 Audio and MIDI2Marketing, and a full Max 8 license. Watch Krishna’s 3-minute pitch.
2nd place went to Kevin Chang from North Carolina, USA for his entry Sonoclast Plastic Pitch Pro. Judge and YouTube sensationShawn Wasabi said “Plastic Pitch Pro’s innovative approach to microtonality makes formerly obscure tuning techniques easy to use and understand.” Kevin’s prize package, worth over $3,000, includes hardware from Expert Sleepers, a 1-year corporate membership in the MIDI Association, consulting from MK2 Audio and MIDI2Marketing, and a full Max 8 license. Watch Kevin’s 3-minute pitch.
Leigh Davies from Wales, UK won 3rd place for his entry Playces. Judge Helen Leigh, creative technologist said : “This art installation, made from corrugated cardboard and electronics, offers sonic exploration opportunities for children of all ages—and enthralled the judges with its creative use of MIDI and technology.” Watch Leigh’s 3-minute pitch.
The livestream was recorded, and is now available on the Music Hackspace YouTube channel. Preparations will be underway soon for the 2022 event. To sign up for information, visit Music Hackspace. To join the global, web-based community of people who create music and art with MIDI, go to www.midi.org.
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About The MIDI Association
The MIDI Association is the non-profit community for both the companies who develop new MIDI specifications and products, and the people that create music and art with MIDI. The MIDI.org website is the central repository of information about anything related to MIDI technology, from classic legacy gear to the next- gen MIDI protocols coming soon. Join the MIDI Association for free at www.midi.org.
About Music Hackspace
Music Hackspace’s mission is to develop the largest online learning platform for music technologies. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut in London, as a collective of artists and engineers. Starting with weekly meet-ups and seminars, the Music Hackspace now curates over 20 workshops every month on music programming, instrument design, and DIY electronics, for a growing number of artists and hobbyists. Follow the Music Hackspace on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About NAMM
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,300 members located in 104 countries and regions. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation‘s efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit www.namm.org, call 800.767.NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
For more information:
www.musichackspace.org/mia2021
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Founder & CEO
Music Hackspace
jb@stagingmhs.local
Athan Billias
COO
MIDI Association
info@midi.org
Chalise Zolezzi
NAMM
publicrelations@namm.org
*. -End-
MIDI Innovation Awards 2022
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Music Hackspace, the MIDI Association and NAMM to host the first MIDI Innovation Awards
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
2nd December 2020
For immediate release
Music Hackspace, the MIDI Association, and NAMM to host the first MIDI Innovation Awards during Believe in Music week, January 2021.
London, England – Music Hackspace, the MIDI Association, and NAMM are proud to announce the first MIDI Innovation Awards, a showcase of grassroots music innovation, hosted during NAMM’s Believe in Music Week.
MIDI has been at the centre of music technology innovation since 1983, and MIDI 2.0 is poised to repeat MIDI 1.0’s global success in the decades to come. To further MIDI’s development and artistic impact, there is now an official award to acknowledge MIDI innovation.
Craig Anderton, President of the MIDI Association, says, “It’s time to honor the innovators and DIY enthusiasts who are advancing the state of the art in music technology–and I can’t wait to see the entries.”
Musicians and inventors around the world have a unique opportunity to present their ideas on a global virtual stage, as well as win valuable prizes. The first prize is valued at more than $10,000, and includes an exhibition booth at The 2022 NAMM Show, TEC Award sponsor benefits and product advertisement. One prize will also be awarded by public vote.
Joe Lamond, President and CEO of NAMM, says, “While we cannot be physically together in Anaheim this year, we look forward to using the new Believe in Music virtual platform to build upon our global community and alongside Music Hackspace and the MIDI Association, to recognize the next generation of technical achievement through the inaugural MIDI Innovation Awards.”
The awards are open to individuals, artists, and companies who work with MIDI to build innovative products or interactive experiences. Submissions of existing commercialised products are eligible, as well as innovative prototypes and art installations.
Entries to the competition open today, and applicants are invited to submit their entry here. A public vote of shortlisted submissions will start on 11th January, with voting support and tabulation by Broadjam.
A jury is being assembled to represent the wider music industry and its many facets, including artists, innovators, engineers, and actors. Entries will be judged on four categories: Innovation, inspiring and novel qualities, interoperability, and practical / commercial viability.
JB Thiebaut, CEO of Music Hackspace adds, “This new recognition of innovation creates a bridge between DIY communities and the Music Industry. With the MIDI Innovation Awards, we aim to establish a launchpad for new products supporting music creation.”
The finalists will pitch their entries during a livestream on Thursday 21st January 2021 at 12 midday PST (3pm EST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET), during NAMM’s Believe in Music week. It will be open to all to watch on YouTube, Facebook and NAMM’s Believe in Music TV.
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About Music Hackspace
The Music Hackspace’s mission is to develop the largest online learning platform for music technologies. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut in London, as a collective of artists and engineers. Starting with weekly meet-ups and seminars, the Music Hackspace now curates over 20 workshops every month on music programming, instrument design, and DIY electronics, for a growing number of artists and hobbyists. Follow the Music Hackspace on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About MIDI Association
The MIDI Association is the non-profit community for both the companies who develop new MIDI specifications and products, and the people that create music and art with MIDI. The MIDI.org website is the central repository of information about anything related to MIDI technology, from classic legacy gear to the next-gen MIDI protocols coming soon. To stay in touch with the latest news about MIDI, sign up for free at MIDI.org.
About NAMM
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,300 members located in 104 countries and regions. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation‘s efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit www.namm.org, call 800.767.NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
For more information:
www.musichackspace.org/mia2021
Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut
Founder & CEO
Music Hackspace
jb@stagingmhs.local
Athan Billias
COO
MIDI Association
info@midi.org
Chalise Zolezzi
NAMM
publicrelations@namm.org