Dates: February 17-20 (Friday-Monday)

Time: 10am til afternoon

Location: SBCAST, 513 Garden St, Santa Barbara

Hosts: Karl Yerkes, Graham Wakefield

We are hosting a local synthesizer design hackathon hosted by MAT, UCSB and SBCAST. It is part of an international project sponsored by Synthux Academy, Electro Smith, Cycling`74, and Arturia with many universities and institutions around the world taking part through January and February.

(For more info see https://tsemah.notion.site/International-Synth-Design-Hackathon-90930f2fe12f42ae88ada91002b306fd)

Build an experimental synth instrument, sound art or experience involving sound

Participants make anything from sound art devices to interactive installations to musical instruments or sculptures, but really the program is open-ended. The only ground rule is that projects must be connected to the theme and one of the prompts provided on the first day.

Examples of projects from the 2022 event

Who can join the hackathon? Students or researchers affiliated with the university. There’s no constraints and collaborations are encouraged.

Do I need prior experience? This is an inclusive event that invites participants in any age and background. If you’re interested in sound and design you can join! To make it easier we suggest forming small teams.

What tools and parts are available? Thanks to MAT, we have a pool of essential components an interesting sensors to build the projects. We also have five Electro Smith Daisy microcontrollers, which can be programmed using C++, Max/MSP's gen~, or Pure Data. We'll be giving an introductory session about the Max/MSP gen~ workflow on the first day. We may also have Teensy microcontrollers.

What will happen? It is a 4-day affair with a modest budget for lunch. You will receive a theme and a set of prompts to choose from on the first day. We can't tell you what they are before the event, but... we like them and it is all very MAT.

• Day 1: We will introduce the theme and hackathon, and work through a couple of minimal examples using the hardware available, then you'll dive into brainstorming and designing. You are encouraged to explore human-centered design.
• Days 2 and 3 are all about prototyping. By the end of the third day your project should be completed
• Day 4 is reserved for documenting and submitting the project to the SynthUX competition.

What is the SynthUX hackathon? Launched by Synthux Academy, the International Synth Design Hackathon is a global event hosted by 17 academies, where students and researchers of music technology, engineering, computer science, design and art, design interactive sound experiences over a 4-day sprint in January or February 2023.

Video from 2022:

Prizes. Although this is not a contest, some truly amazing companies offered to give away their products to participants, among all the hackathons happening around the world. Here are the prizes:

• 15 participants will receive lifetime licence to Cycling74`s Max & RNBO
• 3 participants will receive a licence to Arturia’s _FX Collection
• 2 selected projects will present at Superbooth Berlin in May 2023

All participants will also receive a PDF copy of the classic but long out of print book "Electronic Music" by Allen Strange, recently republished through the efforts of Jason Nolan.