Reactor Halls E14: Cables - Contact Mic Workshop

Workshop conducted as part of the Rammel Club/Reactor Halls E14: Cables event.

There is something inherently musical in the process of actually building and using audio technology. We tend to view music as the artefacts left behind (scores, recordings etc.) rather than as a complex of participatory social activities (playing intruments, listening, dancing etc.) Through workshops I aim to facilitate an exploration of an expanded rubric of improvised ‘musicking’ which incorporates the making and use of such technologies.

For ‘Cables’ I will be drawing upon recent workshops in Uganda, Nepal, Sheffield and Nottingham; offering a drop-in surgery for the humble ‘contact mic’. Materials and tools will be available to build and experiment with contact mics so come along and get involved.

Drop in/out surgery for contact mics. From building and improving through to different ways of using them for recording or live work.

A selection of materials were available for soldering and testing contact microphones along with various instruments and objects for exploring their possibilities.

Passers-by were invited to take part in an informal setting with many then going on to use contact mics as part of the ‘ANT Attack’ Noise Jam workshop.

Reactor Halls (Wayback Machine Link as site doesn’t support HTTPS)