Chiptune Marching Band 

Thursday, 17 December | 10:45 AM - 2:30 PM | Room 513

Note: This course is limited up to 20 people on a first-come-first-served basis.　You'll present your instrument as a part of DIY Hardware at The Emerging Technologies exhibition before you bring it to your home. If you would like to be in the band, please sign up on site.

Chiptune Marching Band is an exploration of themes in resource use, creative culture, and ad-hoc community formation.  It is a public workshop and performance for researchers, students, and the general public that has taken place in diverse international venues and events. 

In the workshop, participants are led through a presentation on concepts and basic knowledge of localized power resources and energy micro-generation approaches, technical knowledge of audio circuits, and participatory performance practice through performative "happening". Then they receive a kit of parts and some assistance with circuit building and instrument fabrication. With step-by-step instructions, they build a sensor-driven sound-making circuit powered by human and environmentally friendly resources. For instrument fabrication, they personalize their instruments in whatever way they choose with provided materials. 

Participants who finish the workshop discuss how to organize a public performance. Following the discussion, participants are organized into a "marching band" that parades through the streets as a public performance and spectacle. At the end of the march, participants take their instruments home. 

Level

Beginner

Presentation Language

Presented simultaneously in Japanese and English

Prerequisites

Curiosity about DIY culture, especially alternative power resources, going "off grid", and audio circuit building, as well as interest in performance and collaborative, creative actions ("happenings", for example). No technical or musical prerequisites. Open-minded, fun, and creative people of all ages and backgrounds are welcome to join the experience.

Instructor(s)

Kazuhiro Jo
Newcastle University

Jamie Allen 
Newcastle University

Instructor Bio(s)

Kazuhiro Jo
Kazuhiro Jo is a visiting research fellow at Digital Media, Culture Lab, Newcastle University. He is interested in the interdisciplinary fields of acoustics, interaction, and participation. His projects include The SINE WAVE ORCHESTRA, Dorkbot Tokyo, and Inaudible Computing. 
 
Jamie Allen
Jamie Allen is a lecturer in Digital Media, Culture Lab, Newcastle University. He makes interactive art and sound makers with his head and hands. He believes technology can allow us to circumvent and reinvent traditional, commercial, and hierarchical relationships in art and performance. His work in digital design, music, performance, and public art creates relationships between people and media.