Thanks to support from CreateSA and Live Music Australia, ILA is excited to announce our next series of hands on workshops with a focus on creative tech, shared learning and interdisciplinary collaboration as part of the 2025 Lab Rats program
Over 4 weeks artist and creative Alex Grant will provide an introduction to Arduino hardware as a basis for electronic music production and sound design. Aimed at interdisciplinary creatives with a focus on music production, participants will be introduced to the basics of Arduino and build their own hardware unit to take home. Please register for each session.
More info on Arduino here.
Introduction to Arduino: Focusing on the Arduino microcontroller, participants will be introduced to basics of electronics for electronic music and sound design.
MIDI: An introduction to the MIDI standard for interconnecting music equipment. Participants will learn how MIDI sends messages for notes and control values. We will build a simple system using the Arduino to send MIDI commands to a digital audio workstation.
Modular Synthesis: Using VCV Rack participants will explore sound design and music production using modular synthesis.
Week 4 [Tues, June 3rd]:
Homebrew MIDI Controllers: Bringing together the previous three workshops, in this session, participants will build custom MIDI controllers using Arduino and various sensors.
Doors Open = 5:00pm
Workshop = 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Networking = 7:00pm – 7:45pm
Doors Close = 8:00pm
FREE entry with registration.
Whilst each workshop is designed to be standalone in nature, it is recommended participants register for all 4 events as each build on concepts discussed the week prior.
REQUIREMENTS: Laptop computer with Arduino IDE installed. VCV Rack, and Ableton Live installed. Arduino components will be provided by ILA.
Ardruino kits provided include a USB-A cable. Those with laptops without USB-A ports will need to bring along an adapter or hub that accepts A-Type plugs.
Who is Alex Grant?
Raised in Hackham West by puppeteers, Alex put himself through engineering school as a graphician for educational games on the Commodore Amiga, before embarking on a career as a researcher (PhD in Electronics Engineering, Professor in Information Theory at UniSA) and entrepreneur (co-founder of car technology company Cohda Wireless and satellite communications company Myriota).
Currently Alex works as a consultant operating in Defence, Space and AI, while finishing a Bachelor of Visual Art at Adelaide Central School of Art. His art practice focuses on minimalist painting and installation, performance and poetry.
What is Lab Rats?
Thanks to a community partnership with Lumo SA, Lab Rats is ILA’s public program focused on creative tech, shared learning, and interdisciplinary collaboration as a series of workshops, artist presentations, networking sessions, and discussion panels.
With an emphasis on developing creative communities, Lab Rats fosters a network of emerging and established artists, providing opportunities for participants to upskill, reskill and learn new skills, build portfolios and make connections that expand creative and career prospects within the creative industry.
