At PIFcamp, beepblip (Ida Hiršenfelder) is going on an expedition to the vast universe of retrofuturist sound with the extensive construction of a do-it-yourself analogue synthesizer —The Music from Outer Space Sound Lab ULTIMATE. The synth contains all the basic and some extended building blocks for modular synthesis. The project is a tribute to the legacy of the late Ray Wilson, who generously shared his circuits and knowledge with the DIY and DIWO community, while maintaining the ethics of non-commercial and attributed work. He published a detailed description of the Music from Outer Space Sound Lab ULTIMATE construction from soldering to calibration. During PIFcamp, we will follow in his footsteps and try to venture into a retro analogue sound nebulae.
With surgical precision, calibration and selection of rare and accurate electronic elements the synth contains threemusically punctual voltage controlled oscillators (VCO), white noise generator, active mixer, voltage controlled low voltage filter (LP VCF), voltage controlled amplifier (VCA), attack release envelope generator (AR Env Gen), two low frequency oscillators (LFO), repeat gate generator, sample & hold and attenuator bank.
In times when projections for the future are becoming increasingly dystopian, when time has shrunk to the immediate reality, which is doubtful in itself, I wonder what kind of projections a retrofuturist sound will produce combined with an idyllic natural environment along the emerald green Soča river. Retrofuturism is not nostalgic, but requires a reassessment of technological development.
“By assembling modules, source elements, and elements for treating sound (oscillators, generators, and transformers), by arranging micro intervals, the synthesizer makes audible the sound process itself, the production of that process, and puts us in contact with still other elements beyond sound matter. … The synthesizer, with its operation of consistency, has taken the place of the ground in a priori synthetic judgment: its synthesis is of the molecular and the cosmic, material and force, not form and matter, Grund and territory. … to make thought travel, make it mobile, make it a force of the Cosmos (in the same way as one makes sound travel).” — Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus. Capitalism and Schizophrenia
This is an ongoing project by Julian Chollet fuelled from a deep fascination with microbes and a hacker style approach to technology. The integration of multiple scientific disciplines (microbiology, chemistry, electronics, etc.) is a great starting point for the PIFcamp style of open collaboration and it is not clear at all what will come out of it.
What is a microbial fuel cell? Microbial fuel cells convert the chemical energy derived from bacterial metabolism into electrical energy that can be measured and used to power low-voltage devices. Electrogenic (electricity generating) bacteria can be found in almost all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, where they perform key functions in organic matter degradation, nutrient cycling and biofilm formation.
We will convert hand-crank powered flashlights to off-grid sound machines. What could be the hurdy-gurdy of a post-apocalyptic world, will be built from used electric torches and scrapped electronics. The outcome of this endeavour will be situated anywhere between musical instrument and ritualistic artefact of cacophony.
When playing the sound tool, the movement of the hand directly translates to the voltage the synthesizer receives, enabling the musician to explore soundscapes at the fringe of a working circuit.
The project imagines a world without batteries, where hand-held devices only receive power generated in situ.
An exercise in muscle powered sound synthesis is a project by Thomas Preindl.
Tucked away under the shade of a tree, a pop-up tattoo studio by day, at night transforms into a stage for telling tales from the making. The Headless Pin Tattoo Studio is open to all, and is always hiring. Come by and let them temporarily tattoo you with a design that captures your current project. While they work on you, lay back, relax, tell them about your practice. What are you making? Why are you making? Open up to them, tell them more, what ideas are you chasing? What ideas are chasing you?
Want more than a tattoo? Enticed by the idea of becoming a temporary tattoo artist yourself? Apply to work with them! They will introduce you to their tools and techniques, you’ll become part of their family, tattooing by day, storytelling at night. Helping them collect, write and perform the other stories they care to tell.
And what are the other stories they care to tell? To them makers/hackers the world is a malleable place, full of materials and tools that they can use to realise their ideas and shape their surroundings. But what about how they are equally remade in their collaborations with other materials? If their tools and materials could talk, what stories would they tell of “their” making?
As the sun sets, the tattoo studio transforms into a stage for telling tales from the making. They make sound, they make light, they make up, they jump down… they make all kinds of spectacular technological things to help them get at our inner workings.
The DIY ambisonic dome 2 is a continuation of last years project by Blaž Pavlica, who experimented with spatial sound synthesis and processing. This time Blaž will experiment with synthesis of the 3D sound fields and new sound effects possible in ambisonics format with the SuperCollider programming and livecoding environment.
Ambisonics is a spherical surround sound format, which in addition to the horizontal placement also contains sounds above and below the perceiver. Unlike other formats, its channels do not carry signals for individual speakers, but a representation of a spherical sound field, which is independent from the number of speakers. Because of this, it allows more freedom in the speaker placement, as signals representing the sound field can be decoded into any applicable sound system. In addition, it allows the sound producer to think about the spherical origin of sounds instead of having to deal with the final sound reproduction and opens new possibilities for sound synthesis and audio effects, because it broadens the ubiquitous stereo field which represents one dimension to three. The format was developed as early as the 1970s, yet it has only recently been gaining a bigger popularity, mainly because of patent expiration and use in gaming audio and virtual reality.
Live coding is the process of creating music or visuals with code. The code is written in programming languages that can generate audio or video and support changing or replacing it while it runs without stopping.
Have you ever wanted to build a circuit from ethical hardware?
Join Stefanie Wuschitz and build a device to sonify your most active acupuncture spots on the surface of your skin (no needles involved). You can later connect the input from your acupuncture points to Pure Data. For more sophisticated sounds and more detailed findings on how the environment changes your body we will build several prototypes of instruments.
This workshop is trying to use only hardware that was created under fair labour conditions. Without harming the environment and avoiding commodity chains connected to mining. This can work if we use fair trade certified electronic components, self made and recycled electronic parts and explore the capacitive quality and resistance of our own body.
Ants are Earth’s dominant animal, but their ubiquitous networks go unnoticed by humans. This project helps us feel their presence, by viscerally connecting us to a superorganism. MYRMECORPORA is a project to explore ants by living intimately with them, and designing ant farms we can wear on our bodies. The goal is to embed a human into the superorganism in a way that both creatures can sense and understand the living flows of each other.
We will redesign traditional scientific formicaria (ant-farms) into small wearable devices. Form factors like watches, hats, shoes, epaulets, and more will be created with embedded sensors that monitor the movements and ambient features of the enclosed colonies (e.g. respiration, temperature). The sensed data is then mapped to haptic actuators (such as electro-tactile-stimulators, vibration-motors, Peltier-heaters) to allow the human to feel real-time changes in the attached colony as the ants eat, sleep, forage, and reproduce. Challenges are how to design intimate apparel that houses ants near the human body while also keeping the colony safe and healthy.
Also, since it’s PIFcamp, we will probably end up with some cool ant-synths.
Activities
Participants will engage in series of workshops and learn about: • Collecting ant colonies • Rearing ant colonies • Designing homes for ants • Sensing Ants
Schedule
The project will be carried out at Panama & PIFcamp in several stages. You are invited to join the workshop from your garden, nearby park, forest or even facilitate the workshop in your local community!
July – Panama Experimentation Andy will be working to develop some basic prototypes and testing out some techniques for collecting, housing, and sensing ants. These early prototypes are evaluated regarding the human-user interactions, varying ant-species, and the comfort and safety of the ant colonies.
ONLINE – INTRO DAY 1: Wearable Ant Farms Monday AUG 3 at 5PM CEST | 3PM UTC We will have an online workshop sharing techniques for how you can collect your own ant colonies.
DAY 2: Ant sensing Tuesday AUG 4 at 5PM CEST | 3PM UTC We will have an online chat demonstrating ways to add sensors and computer vision to monitor the movements of your ants in real time.
ONLINE – DAY 2-4: Participant Collecting and Housing Participants have time to collect a colony and get to know their ants.
ONLINE – DAY 4: Wearable Ant Farms Thursday AUG 6 at 5PM CEST | 3PM UTC We will have an online workshop exploring how to safely attach ant colony’s as fashionable and useful wearable items.
ONLINE – DAY 6: Final Superorganismal Fashion Show Saturday AUG 8 at 5PM CEST | 3PM UTC During the traditional final day of PIFcamp, participants can show and demonstrate the amazing cybernetic superorganismal devices they have created.
Tools & materials & code
Core Materials List
10-25 red SMD leds (10-25 per person) or just a bunch of the smallest red LEDs you can find (KEEP THEM RED! Ants can’t really see red, and we don’t want to disturb them at any point!)
lots of 100-200ohm resistors
perfboard
breadboard
solid core wire (for soldering to the perfboards and connecting to breadboards or Arduino)
soldering irons and solder (especially with thin tips for SMD soldering)
Arduino (Uno or whatever you have)
lots of clear tubes of 1-2cm diameter (vinyl or silicone tubing)
cotton balls (we can use to plug up tubes and give ants moisture)
collecting vials with lids (or any kind of small plastic containers you can gather insects with)
simple grease, 3-in-1 oil or WD-40 kind (used for keeping ants in open containers and stopping them from crawling out)
For those who want more
Teensy 3.2 (they have 11 analog inputs each, they are more powerful and can easily turn into music interfaces or keyboards or mic, so you can hook your ants up to lots of stuff easily!)
Photoresistors (tiny ones)
Infrared LEDs (small or SMD)
Analog multiplexers (if you want to make arrays with more sensors than the analog inputs on your Arduino has)
Arduino Mega (16 analog inputs) or Teensy 3.6 (has 23 analog inputs!)
3D printer and filaments to print out some connectors, sensor holders, and even full on ant farms
3 inch/7.7 cm squares of thin acrylic (to use as standard clear covers for ant farms)
very thin, flexible sheets of FLUORESCENT plastic (the kind that looks like it basically glows at the edges)
Agar agar, vitamins & protein folks who are into cooking can make foods for ants
some small shovels and a bucket for hardcore folks who want a whole colony
Bonus Materials List: Fiber optic bundles
Bonus Materials List: TPU (flexible filament) and 3D printer pens
MYRMECORPORA – Wearable Interactive Ant-farms is a project by Andrew Quitmeyer (Dinacon). The workshop will be led by Andrew from Panama and facilitated by Simon Streljaj Gmajner at PIFcamp. Below you can find all the necessary tools and materials you need if you want to join the remote workshop and easily participate from wherever you are.
For easier communication we suggest you send an email to pifcamp@ljudmila.org and we can update you about the streams and progress on the daily basis, or follow this blog post for updates!
“MycoMythological machines were assembled to tap into the underground flow, the data poured out of the flow and with it numerous stories. No matter where the flow was sampled, there the stories were, pouring out of the mycelium network together with much needed nutrients. There were many whispers, but some stories seemed the same as they trickled out of hyphae in chunks and pieces. Almost as a repetitive mantra that loops and loops, however they were never completely the same, there were always glitches of differences as if they would be assembled again and again like some sort of distant memory and then murmured by the machine.”
MycoMythologies is a series of ontogenetic mythological stories, video essays and machines by Saša Spačal. Series researches the multilayered question of how mushrooms can help humans think possibilities of entangled life in capitalist ruins. MycoMythologies as speculative artistic research thinks not only about what fungal underground networks can teach humans but also how technologies define the teachings we receive.
During PIFcamp Saša Spačal will be focusing on visual and sound technologies that reach beyond human perceptive abilities. She will be developing a Light reader synth workshop, video tutorial and lab book, while recording inaudible and invisible MycoMythological landscapes of fungi and microbes with geophones, hydrophones, microscope, thermal and infrared camera.
MycoMythologies series is supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Toby Kiers Laboratory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Projekt Atol.
Since the lockdown situation might become the new normal I would like to investigate various ways how musical performances could happen in the online space. I have already made one piece with 3D scan of my studio situated in an virtual environment randomly edited with live shots of my performance. I would like to explore deeper in this territory by looking at gaming engines and several other 3D and sound platforms and share my findings and learn from others how this could be approached.
In a referential system an entity always refers to something. That might be a zero point or any other potential, but there is always a point, plane, potential or idea to refer to. Electric power systems work that way. A potential, away from the earth potential can create over humanly forces. These forces can only be experienced as a manifestation of the potential difference. Something lights up, something turns and moves or becomes warm. The manifestation that becomes apparent is a transformation of energy.
Sound and music work on a referential basis. One beat without another will not become a rhythm, one tone without another not a sense of harmony, a chord or a melody. There is always a second entity that builds the reference.
At this year’s PIFcamp Bernhard Rasinger would like to explore the principle of reference with the help of oscilloscopes, lasers, modular synthesizers and the horn of a crane. (Whaat?) Join him for the adventure of recording your instrument into the modular laser system to compose a collaborative visual sound piece.
They say that when you are weightless and floating in space you have to leave something behind to go somewhere. The greater the loss, the greater the impulse.
