Lectures
1:00-1:40 – The Fairlight: The OG of Sample Based Music
The Fairlight CMI was one of the first commercially available music samplers. It
redefined the landscape of electronic and pop music. It enabled the use of foley sounds
and scores for countless memorable TV and movies scenes in 1980s and 1990s.
Furthermore, it evolved into a bedrock of modern DAW workflow and the workstation
aesthetic. Officially opening in 1979, Fairlight instituted many features we now take for
granted in modern music. In this lecture we will explore how the Fairlight CMI evolved as over time and how the
various elements of the system work together to create a whole music platform.
Nick Zampiello
Nick Zampiello is a highly accomplished audio professional, known for his expertise in recording, mixing, and mastering. He holds a degree in music performance and sound recording from UMass Lowell, where his passion for synthesizers first took root.
Immersing himself in the vibrant Boston music scene, Nick played in numerous bands and honed his craft at the original New Alliance studio in Fenway. His dedication to the art of
sound led him to establish his own recording studio, New Alliance East, where he continues to work on 150 to 200 projects annually, utilizing vintage and modern analog equipment.
https://www.newallianceeast.com/
1:50-2:30 – Berlin School Electronic Music: A Simplified Approach
Berlin School electronic music is a style of electronic music that originated in West Berlin in the early 1970s. It is closely associated with the work of German musicians and bands like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Ash Ra Tempel. This style is characterized by its use of sequencers, synthesizers, and a minimalist, hypnotic structure.
This talk will provide you with an approach for creating your own Berlin School-inspired music and give you an understanding of how to apply its ideas in your own music. Berlin School techniques are broadly applicable in electronic music ranging from Deep Ambient to Industrial Noise. Join us for a breakdown of key technical ideas and walk away with a recipe for trying it yourself!
Luke Stark
Composer, tool-maker, synth-seeker. Hello!
2:40-3:20 – The Rhythm Wolf: Forensic analysis of a crime scene
In this talk we will take a deep dive into the Akai Rhythm Wolf – the hype, the let down, the pros, the cons, and why it’s the way it is. Through extensive reverse engineering work, the full schematic can be shown, an understanding of its inner workings gained, and modifications can be made to improve upon the design. The fully modded synth will be available for participants to play with after the talk. Spoiler alert, the Rhythm Wolf actually has a lot of potential!
Open Music Labs is an online resource for learning about analog and digital techniques for hardware sound synthesis, with a number of opensource projects, schematics, and technical knowledge to share.
3:30-4:10 – Strategies for Modular Performance
While the modular synthesizer offers endless possibilities for exploring sound, developing and sustaining a live performance can be daunting. In this session we’ll talk about strategies for developing a cohesive musical form that can be used in a variety of performance situations.
Michael Bierylo
Michael Bierylo is the former Chair of the Electronic Production and Design Department at Berklee College of Music who performs with modular synthesizers.
4:20-5:00 – From the DAW to the stage with the Elektron Octatrack
Blow your audiences away with songs they already know and love from the record! Wizard Peter will present a way to efficiently transfer songs from a DAW to the Elektron Octatrack. From planning ahead, through aligning timelines and place trigs to copying MIDI tracks.
Peter Raffensperger has been writing electronic music for the entirety of this millennium. In 2022, he summoned forth Wizard Peter as his live performance alter ego, playing complex songs live with Eurorack and, of course, the Octatrack. He never crashed his car while thinking about the Octatrack manual.