Max meetup 6th March – Americas Edition
Date & Time: Saturday 6th March 3pm PST / 6pm EST
Level: Open to all levels
Hosted by Chloe Alexandra Thompson
With presentations by:
Crystal Cortez – Wearable tech: 9dof headband synth: wearable tech and other microcontrollers and the programs made to play them in Max
Christi Denton -Networked Online Laptop Ensemble: a patch that allows the Portland State University Laptop Ensemble to remotely rehearse and perform pieces.
Nadir B -Trajectory Score Library: A demonstration patch of the Trajectory Score Library : https://cycling74.com/projects/trajectory-score-library
Overview
Join the Max meetup to share ideas and learn with other artists, coders and performers. Showcase your patches, pair with others to learn together, get help for a school assignment, or discover new things.
The meetup runs via Zoom. The main session features short presentations from Max users. Breakout rooms are created on the spot on specific topics, and you can request a new topic at any time.
In the breakout rooms, you can share your screen to show other participants something you’re working on, ask for help, or help someone else.
Ready to present your work?
Everyone is welcome to propose a presentation. Just fill in this short form and you’ll be put on the agenda on a first come first served basis.
Presentations should take no more than 5 minutes with 5 minutes Q&A and we’ll have up to 5 presentations at each meetup.
List of presenters will be announced before each event.
Requirements
- A computer and internet connection
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.
Build an interactive textile instrument
This practice-led course will show you how to make an electronic textile interface for music performance. We will learn a DIY technique to craft with e-textile materials and then explore how to make music with the handcrafted interface in a number of ways. Each session will follow on from the last, developing your knowledge through a series of hands-on projects, delivered in four online workshops.
Level: beginner with notions of DIY electronics and programming
- Some familiarity or experience of working with Arduino and/or Max/MSP (or similar platforms) is desirable
- A tabletop space to work at
- Computer, with USB port
- Arduino IDE (Free – download here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software)
- Max 8 (Free 30 day trial available – you will be instructed to download this for the final session)
This workshop is available internationally. Please order your DIY kit before the dispatch date for your location. Kits will be posted using a Royal Mail tracked service.
UK dispatch date: Friday 17th November
Worldwide dispatch date: Friday 3rd November
We will work with the Lilypad Arduino, a microcontroller board designed for use with e-textiles and wearables projects, and Max/MSP, an object-orientated programming language for music making. The workshop series will cover the fundamentals of working with e-textiles and these technologies, giving a basis for participants to continue to develop their creative ideas when working with sound and interactive textiles.
Tues 24th Nov, 6pm UK – Workshop 1: Crafting an e-textile interface
In this workshop, we will explore an approach to working with electronic textiles and handcraft. This workshop will introduce needle felting as a DIY method of working with e-textiles. We will make an interactive and touch sensitive textile interface, to then be used in a number of ways, throughout the four sessions of this course. Through crafting the brightly coloured interface, we will explore a creative approach to interface design and learn how traditional crafts can be combined with e-textile materials to result in novel interfaces for music performance.
Tues 1st Dec, 6pm UK – Workshop 2: Bringing your craft work to life: capacitive sensing and visualising sensor data with the Lilypad Arduino
In this session, we will transform the needle felted piece from Workshop 1 into an interactive and touch sensitive interface. We will introduce the Lilypad Arduino and explore capacitive sensing as a method of bringing your textile work to life. You will learn several approaches to visualising interaction data on screen, as well as the fundamentals of working with Arduino IDE.
Tues 8th Dec, 6pm UK – Workshop 3: Composing through code: making an e-textile step sequencer with the Lilypad Arduino
This week, we will develop our coding skills and learn an approach to using your e-textile interface with the Lilypad Arduino, as a standalone music making device. We will write, edit and compose through code, to create a playful step sequencer that makes music as you touch the textile interface.
Tues 15th Dec, 6pm UK – Workshop 4: Interactive textiles and Max/MSP
Workshop 4 will introduce a method of using your handcrafted interface with Max/MSP. From this workshop, you will know how to program your Lilypad Arduino, to allow your e-textile interface to control parameters in a Max patch. We will make a software-based sampler, where pre-recorded sound files are triggered by touching the interactive textile interface. Some familiarity and a basic working knowledge of Max/MSP is desirable, but not essential. Participants with experience in Max are welcome to bring their own patches to experiment with.
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A DIY kit, with all of the craft tools and materials you will need, is included in the workshop price and will be posted to your home in advance of the course.
There are two kits available, please select the kit that you will require:
Kit 1 is a full kit and includes a Lilypad Arduino and all of the craft tools and materials you will need for the course.
Kit 2 includes all of the craft tools and materials you will need to make the e-textile interface, but does not include the Lilypad Arduino and USB cable.
(Kit 2 is best suited if you already have a Lilypad Arduino or would prefer to use an alternative board. Please note that this course focuses on working with the Lilypad and so support for alternative boards will be limited and only recommended for more experienced participants.)
Kit 1 contents:
- Lilypad Arduino
- USB cable
- 10 x crocodile clips
- Speaker
- Wool
- Steel wool
- 3 x Needle felting tools
- Embroidery hoop
- Fabric
- Copper tape
Kit 2 contents:
- 10 x crocodile clips
- Speaker
- Wool
- Steel wool
- 3 x Needle felting tools
- Embroidery hoop
- Fabric
- Copper tape