Goldsmiths Computing experts have been testing musical technologies to work out which are the easiest to use, sound the best – and can be used by people with learning disabilities to make the music they want to make.

On Wednesday 25 November they’re hosting a day of free, fun and interactive performance, debate and play sessions at Nesta.

Where: Nesta, 1 Plough Place, London EC4A 1DE
When: 4-6pm and 6-8pm Wednesday 25 November
Tickets: SOLD OUT Get free tickets for the SoundLab Play Space

Participants will be able to experiment with top musical technology and talk to the developers who make it. There’ll be a chance to play in a digital pop-up band, watch live-performances, try out fantastic music-making apps, and take some home for free.

From music apps that let you compose, DJ or play countless instruments with a fingertip, to those that make a voice sound amazing even if it’s not quite in tune, the SoundLab researchers have spent the last year rigorously testing iPhone/Pad, Android and web programmes.

Whether you’re a technologist, artist, musician, teacher, health expert or policy maker, SoundLab Play Space is designed to bring different people together to get a new perspective on, and debate, the future of music making.

The SoundLab project is led by Heart n Soul, with Goldsmiths’ Dr Mick Grierson, Dr Rebecca Fiebrink and Dr Simon Katan working on research. SoundLab is a collaboration between our EAVI group, award-winning creative arts company Heart n Soul, and Public Domain Corporation, a company providing interactive experiences and technology for the games and digital arts sectors.

SoundLab has been funded by the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts, an initiative created by Nesta, Arts Council England, AHRC and the National Lottery.

• About SoundLab
• About EAVI, Goldsmiths’ Embodied AudioVisual Interaction Group
• About Heart n Soul

Adapted from an article originally published in Goldsmiths News

The legendary EAVI gigs are back for the new academic year, with a night of experimental & electronic beats, bass and new music at the Amersham Arms, New Cross.

EAVI gigs showcase a blend of music from electroacoustic pioneers to free improvisers, instrument builders and techno wizards. The gigs offer a way for EAVI’s research to find its way onto the stage and the dance floor. They are also a cheap, relaxed and friendly way to experience some of the most interesting, cutting edge new music you’ll find in London.

When: 8pm till late, Thursday 8 October 2015
Where: Amersham Arms, New Cross SE14 6TY. Map
Tickets: £5. Buy advance tickets for £4.50

This month’s performers > > > > >

Graham Dunning – Rhythm and Drone Set
Master of mechanical techno and Ghost-in-the-Machine music, Graham Dunning presents his delicate and accidental form of techno. He is currently “maker in residence” at the Machines Room and hosts his own NTS radio programme, Fractal Meat on a Spongy Bone. About Rhythm and Drone

Iris Garrelfs
An internationally-successful composer/performer intrigued by change, voices and technology, Iris uses her voice as raw material which she transmutes into machine noises or choral works. Her most recent ‘performance walk’ took place at the National Gallery as part of the Soundscapes Late series. About Iris Garrelfs

Nuno Correia
Audiovisual artist and researcher Nuno Correia is interested in interactive multi-sensorial experiences. Nuno will present AVZones, part of Goldsmiths’ Enabling AVUIs research project. This is an iPad audiovisual app – an audio sequencer/looper with a visualizer.

Helena Hamilton
Belfast artist Helena marks the end of her three month residency with EAVI with a performance of The Butterflies in my Brain, where she transforms an overhead projector into a site-specific, performative sound device where all sounds originate live from within and around the machine. About Helena Hamilton

Rose Dagul & Penny Klein
Rose Dagul is a composer, cellist and vocalist based in London. She writes patterned pop music under the moniker Rhosyn. Tonight she improvises under her own name with violinist Penny Klein – possibly an echo of their project Alien Wind.

Kim Kate
Kim Kate is a London based producer / DJ who brings a synesthesiac image onto the dance floor. Kim Kate sonifies connections between the city, technology and human perception.

DJs
Chloe Freida from Alien Jams & NTS and Mike & Dan of Team GBH will yet again be taking over the decks, providing the perfect soundtrack in between the acts and giving us something wonderful to dance to at the end.

• Join the EAVI XIII Facebook event
• Read about EAVI, Goldsmiths Embodied Audiovisual Interaction research group

This Tuesday 14 April, Álvaro Sarasúa will give a talk about his work on expressivity in classical music conducting from naive listeners using repovizz.

Where: Ben Pimlott Building Lecture Theatre (ground floor), Goldsmiths
When: 3.30pm, Tuesday 14 April at 15h30 in the

Álvaro Sarasúa is currently a visiting researcher at Goldsmiths’  EAVI research group. His research focuses on the analysis of conducting gestures performed by participants with different musical backgrounds with the aim to build more intuitive and expressive interfaces drawing upon a conductor-orchestra metaphor.

In this talk, Álvaro will discuss the results of studies with different subjects conducting on top of classical music excerpts and recorded with a Kinect camera, exploring the relationship between their movements and the expressive aspects of the performance.

In addition, he will discuss his use of repoVizz (an online repository for multimodal data developed in the MTG), make some demos about the current possibilities of the tool and explain the directions for future development under projects such as RAPID-MIX, in which EAVI is a partner.

• More about the project