Openlab, the London-based open source art and technology collective, presents two more workshops in October about doing some really cool sh** using free (as in open source) tech.  Come out to Space Studios where the computers are shiny and new, or out to The Roebuck pub where the Budvar Dark flows freely (as in we enjoy drinking it).  Either way, learn something cool, and make us happy for having caused you to learn it. And if you’re thinking of coming to a couple, check the schedule at http://openlabworkshops.org and email us at reserve@openlabworkshops.org for a multi-pass.

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~= Workshop #6: Special Daniel vs. Daniel Edition ~=~=~=

When: Thursday 15 October, from 6pm-9:30pm
Where: Space Studios, 129 – 131 Mare St, Hackney E8 3RH
Nearest transport: Bethnal Green (tube), London Fields (Overground), Buses – see http://www.spacestudios.org.uk/contact/SPACE/

Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space.  Please email or Paypal to reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.

Schedule:

6PM: Simulating and Sonifying Natural Systems with Daniel Jones – £10
An increasingly popular practice in digital arts is creating sonic representations of dynamical systems — simulating natural phenomena such as insect swarms, tree growth, wind turbulence and neural networks, and translating such phenomena into sound, to create organic, dynamic audio-visual works. Working from a *basic knowledge* of the Java-based Processing environment, Daniel Jones explains how to create such a simulation and subsequently connect it to the open-source SuperCollider synthesis engine, providing a valuable addition to a digital artist’s toolkit.

Requirements:

• Processing (from http://processing.org/download/)

7:45PM: Introduction to Arduino: Microcontrollers, LEDs, Sensors, and You! with Daniel Hirschmann – £10
Newly-minted Goldsmiths’ lecturer Daniel introduces you to the Arduino as a platform for prototyping physical & digital interactive objects, installation, and things.  We will cover the programming environment, some basic electronics, and learn how to make sensors do stuff to lights.

Requirements:

• laptop computer with Arduino downloaded and installed.  Go through the Getting Started guide on the website.
• An Arduino Microcontroller platform.  These can be bought from Tinker.it.  If needed, a few will be on hand for use, or for sale.  Please let us know by email (see above) whether you’re interested in buying one on the day.
• Breadboard, hook-up wire, switches, LEDs, Potentiometers, Infrared Rangers, Ultrasonic rangers, FSR’s, other sensors…  If you don’t know what these are, DON’T worry!  We’ll have some available to use during the intro.  If you DO know what these are, and you have a them – bring them along and we can help you wire them up!

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~= Workshop #7: Programming is More than Just Words ~=~=~=

When: Tuesday 20 October, from 6pm-10:00pm
Where: The Roebuck pub (upstairs room), 50 Great Dover Street, SE1 4YG
Nearest transport: 5, 133, 343, 21 buses, Borough Tube (Northern line)
About 8 minute walk from London Bridge Station (Northern and Jubilee tube, rail, and bus station: 48, 47, 149 buses)

Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space (limited to 30 people per workshop).  There will be a few spaces for people who show up on the night.  Please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.

Schedule:

6PM: Processing Beginners’ Workshop with Evan Raskob – £10

You’ve heard Evan’s intro workshops and been slightly terrified by the advanced stuff (it’s ok to admit it).  So bring your basic questions and project ideas, and Evan will work thorough them to everyone’s benefit.  Or, if people are feeling quiet, he will go through some of his endless bag o’ tricks, including OSC and MIDI.

7:45PM: Understanding Sound and Music by Programming Computers with S. Jagannathan – £10

Session 1 (of 2): Building a music tuner program.

Your very own accurate musical instrument tuner spanning the entire audio range to tune any instrument.  Several tuning schemes supported including roll your own.  About 50% of the workshop/talk will have computer sound & music ideas – these will be programming language agnostic – in a format that musicians without any prior programming background but with an interest in computer music can understand. PD, max/msp, SuperCollider, etc. users will benefit from looking into that primal black box of sound generators!

Requirements:

• Basic knowledge of C – variables, loops, conditionals, basic pointers. (if you have done programming in the past it should be fairly straightforward.)
• Computer with the ability to compile and run C programs linked to portaudio libraries.

~=~=~=~For More Information~=~=~=~
See our entire Fall / Winter schedule on http://openlabworkshops.org

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/openlabworkshop

You can also keep up with all Openlab events, performances, workshops, etc. on our low-traffic email list: http://lists.pawfal.org/listinfo.cgi/openlab-announce-pawfal.org