Biblioteka Records, Frequency Freaks, Ryerson University's Responsive Ecologies Lab have joined forces to create an exceptional panel and workshop focusing on modular synthesis and synthesis and circuits 101 for those with a beginner's interest in modular synthesizes, but no idea where to start.

Joined by expert panelists Heidi Chan (Moog), Laura Dickens (Moog, Leucrocuta), and Cayce Fischer, and opening with a brief presentation on Synthesis 101 with Frequency Freak's Paul Stillwell (Intrepita), the panel will cover the basics of beginning with modular synthesizers, what they are made of, specific moving parts, elements needed to start building your very own, and will include and show-and-tell, Q&A, and exploratory period where attendees can experiment with synthesizers that are brought in by panelists and provided by ReLab.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Heidi Chan (Bachelard)

Heidi Chan is a musician and sound artist based in Toronto. With ever-shifting musical interests and curiosities, and refusing to settle into one genre or form, she has worked as a professional Japanese taiko drummer, rock drummer, film sound editor, foley artist, live multi-instrumentalist for theatre and dance, and composer. She currently performs solo as Bachelard (modular synths, loopers, bamboo flutes), and is a member of Japanese experimental folk ensemble Ten Ten. She is also a Dora-nominated sound designer for live theatre (2019 - Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land)) and has participated in productions at Summerworks, Blyth Theatre Festival, CanAsian Dance, and others. Her explorations on the modular synthesizer can be considered a culmination of all her sonic and musical adventures.

http://www.bachelard.bandcamp.com/

Laura Dickens (Leucrocuta)

Leucrocuta is an electronic music producer and performer living in Toronto. Her music plays in the spaces between synth-pop, post-industrial, ambient, and techno. Sleepless and obsessed with post-apocalyptic sci fi, in 2017 she released her debut EP, when all the animals are dead. Alone with her machines, she comforted herself with broken sonic sketches and alien landscapes, and in February 2019, she released a full-length experimental electronic album, exorcizes in loneliness, on Lost Angles (NOW!'s Best Music of the Week). She has performed in festivals across Canada – Electric Eclectics (Meaford, 2019), Sled Island (Calgary, 2019), Forthwith Festival (Winnipeg, 2018), Switched on Synths (Ottawa, 2018), and she has played on bills with incredible local and international acts such as ADULT., Joanne Pollock, and p0st3rb0y. She will be opening for Morton Subotnick on Sept. 1st for Intersection Festival.

https://leucrocuta.bandcamp.com/

Cayce Fischer (autotectonic)

Cayce Fischer is a self-taught synthesist and experimental musician. Her ambient/drone project AUTOTECTONIC references the creation of self-generating, self-sustaining systems, and her work explores music to process, to heal, and to share intimacy and space with others.

https://autotectonic.bandcamp.com

Paul Stillwell (Intrepita)

Paul Stillwell is a musician and composer who is fascinated by the darker side of sound. His influences range from Dark Ambient and Berlin School electronica to Musique Concrète and experimental. The Canadian Electronic Ensemble, of which he is a long-time member (with David Jaeger, Jim Montgomery, John Farah, and David Sutherland), has also had a profound impact on his style. In 2018 he formed Not Your Average Worker Bees with David Sutherland as an improvisatory duo. Jeremy Sykes soon joined the group, contributing his unique blend of analog and digital visuals to their performances. Paul also performs and records as a solo artist under the name Intrepita.

In 2016, when 2Egress Sound & Design was unable to continue hosting their popular Toronto Modular Synth (TOMS) workshops, Paul took up the torch by founding the Frequency Freaks Workshops in association with Arraymusic – an inclusive, multi-generational community of electronic music composers, musicians and makers. Paul is also the co-organizer of the Toronto Sound Festival, an annual event featuring music hardware and software, live performances, as well as talks and workshops on mixing, mastering, sound design, field recording, game audio, VR audio, and instrument building.

https://www.freqfreaks.com/

MODERATED BY

Sofie Mikhaylova (Sonja)

Sofie Mikhaylova, also known as Sonja, is an experimental live hardware musician, DJ, writer and editor, and founder and operator of independent record label Biblioteka Records. She is the editor of Dive Music Magazine’s Toronto issue, the Technical Director of the Toronto New Wave Festival, a member of the Pleasure Dome Board of Directors, a member of the Toronto Music Industry Advisory Committee, and a 2019 Polaris Prize juror.

https://www.sonjaonline.xyz/

COST & INFORMATION

The panel is PWYC with a suggested donation of $10. The money goes towards paying our panelists. For those unable to attend but interested in supporting the event or paying it forward for somebody else's ticket, there will be a donation option on the Eventbrite page. Those interested in attending but experiencing financial difficulty can email sofie@biblioteka.world to reserve a spot.

SCHEDULE

1-1:30 p.m.

Entrance and mingling, light snacking

1:30-1:50 p.m.

Paul Stillwell Synthesis 101 Presentation

2:00-3:00

Panel discussion

3:00-3:30

Q&A

3:30-onward

Exploration, experimentation, touching of synths, etc

ACCESSIBILITY INFO

-The building is accessible via street level

-Automatic doors & staff on will be on hand to help with doors and entry

-There are accessible washrooms downstairs via an elevator

-Helpers, caregivers, and translators are welcome to attend the event free of charge

For any questions about this event, please email sofie@biblioteka.world

We would like to thank Ryerson Responsive Ecoiogies Lab for the space, Frequency Freaks for the collaboration, Paul Stillwell for the introduction, and Jason Nolan for the big help with the event.

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.