Mad Scientists of Music is a six part, BAI funded documentary series on Near FM. The show explores the world of Circuit Bending, Chip Tune, and Electroacoustic music in Ireland. Low cost technology, recycled instruments and a new attitude to tinkering embodied by the ‘maker movement’ are helping to reinvent music. A new generation of Irish musicians raised around computers, the internet and video gaming, see noise as something to be hacked, taken apart, and reconstructed. These artists build their own instruments, whether by recycling toy keyboards, modifying video game consoles, or attaching electronics to traditional stringed instruments. They often share their music online for free, and in doing so challenge our ideas about copyright and ownership. Their playful attitude to technology finds new uses for obsolete devices and brings the collaboration of musicianship to engineering and the arts.

Mad Scientists of Music Radio Documentary Series (with extras)

Episode one explores how circuit benders, hackers and artists are building teaching and education into their practice. This is a culture as much about sharing as making, and all the artists interviewed run classes and workshops (often at no charge). Children and adults alike attend the ‘maker fairs’ and hacklabs where circuit benders share tips and show off their home brew projects. This episode explores the tensions and opportunities that exist when artists seeking to make a living participate in a culture founded on freely giving. We look at how the history and technology involved are intimately connected to learning as a democratic horizontal practice, and how workshops facilitate access to these emerging technologies. We drop in on a circuit bending workshop at A4 Sounds and hear adults and children explore this new world of experimental sound. We join electroacoustic musician and instrument maker Ed Devane as he teaches musicians and non musicians alike how to improvise. Roger Gregg takes us on a tour of his radio theatre laboratory, and tells the story of how he fell in love with the storytelling possibilities of sound. Sebastian & Emma, of Dublin experimental duo 'Deathness Injection' discuss their massively collaborative performance at Open Learning Ireland.

Mad Scientists of Music - Episode 1 - 'Learning How to Listen'

Episode two explores the videogame backgrounds of a variety of Irish experimental musicians – how video game culture and ready access to technology influenced their love of music and their aesthetic sensibilities. Chiptune music in particular reappropriates not only the machinery, but also the distinctive sounds of computer games of the 1980’s, and this helps to define its unique aesthetic. Kieran Dold (Karakara) discusses the aesthetic appeal of retro videogame music. Niamh Houston (Chipzel) explains how ‘home brew’ software like LSDJ, allows her to make music from classic Game Boy portable gaming consoles. Niamh talks about completing the loop – working with BAFTA award winning video game designer Terry Cavanagh to create retro video game inspired music for contemporary ‘indie’ computer games like Super Hexagon.

Mad Scientists of Music - Episode 2 - Growing Up Digital

Episode three takes a journey into the underground world of circuit bending. Circuit benders hack children’s toys and dissect cheap archaic electronics, to produce strange new instruments. Circuit bending lies at the intersection of instrument building, grass roots activism and psychedelia. Listeners will learn about the history of circuit bending, a hobby that grew out of the the microprocessor and psychedelic revolutions in the 1960’s; and how these technological and cultural movements fused into a kind of activist musicianship.

From the work of Reed Ghazala (creator of Circuit Bending) on, musical tinkerers have been antiestablishment figures – taking technology beyond its intended uses and in the process becoming outsider artists.

Andrew Edgar explains how geographical differences in the history of consumerism influenced the musical cultures of different countries – and how he views taking toys apart as a sort of ‘sound archaeology’. Andrew introduces us to his collection of unique circuit bent instruments. Artist and VJ MarQu Vr situates circuit bending in the history of electronic music. John Leech gives us a live ‘cartridge ripping’ demo, which involves tricking a classic megadrive into producing chaotic musical sequences. We begin though, in Berlin, where writer and one time rock star Julian Gough, is making his own weird and wonderful instruments.

Mad Scientists of Music - Episode 3 - Toys

Teaser - Andrew Edgar takes us on a tour of the A4 Arts Collective.

Part 1 - Ed Devane talks about the relationship between self taught musicians, hackers, artists and the "new music" (contemporary classical music) establishment.

Part 2 - The Dublin Laptop Orchestra introduce us to their own unique take on electronic music. Performing using digital setups with midi controllers, the group focus on making a performance which combines physical movement with electronic collaboration. 

Part 3 - Stewart Geelon of Luxury Mollusc &amp; Primal Barber Quartet introduces us to the Dublin 'harsh noise' scene, where electronic improvisers taking their queue from industrial and early 20th century avant-garde music, create challenging dark soundscapes from found objects.

Part 4 - Artist Aine Belton, talks about combining language and musical sound to enhance the impact of poetry and creative writing. Aine, a trained musician and visual artist, became fascinated with combining music, language and visual media. This work has resulted in a practice which includes instrument making and zine culture alike.

Interjection - Ed Devane talks about sound as art, the different purposes behind experimental music, improvisation from a visual art / sound art background, and the creation of work that elicits a 'sense of awe'.

Part 5 - Dublin postpunk-neokraut-nowave-neopsychadelic multi-instrumentalist improvisers No!, discuss collaborations at their open door Concrete Soup Experimental Music Afternoons in Twisted Pepper.

Mad Scientists of Music - Episode 4 - The Hacker in the Gallery

This episode looks at how innovative new ways of making and distributing music are coming into conflict with our legal system. Some argue that copyright and patent laws, created to encourage innovation, are no longer in touch with how artists remix and reinterpret our cultural landscape. 

Part 1 – Piracy

We learn about the ‘copy left’ movement and new licensing schemes like Creative Commons. Ed Devane and Simon Kenny discuss their experiences having their music pirated. Niamh Houston (Chipzel) discusses how small Chip Tune artists are challenged by ubiquitous piracy and major label plagiarism alike.

Part 2 – Sampling

MarQu and Meljoann describe about how ready access to the internet enabled them to learn techniques and exposed them to niche scenes that would have been unavailable historically; and how our always on, connected society is reshaping music. MarQu VR discusses the endemic and transformative use of samples in VJing and parody.

Part 3 – Illegal Art

Karakara and Siam Collective discuss the idea of remixing as a crime and illegal art as a wilfully provocative act.

Mad Sientists of Music - Episode 5 - The Instrument of the Law

Sebastian Heinz wanted to share the joy of music making with non-musicians. Using his electronics experience he's created a machine to 'share the geeky world' of music making with everybody.  Patchblocks are small tangible objects, part synth, part midi instrument, they can be used alone or as a programmable effects pedal; with a huge library of community effects to download.

From episode 6 of Mad Scientists of Music, 'Postcards from the Edge'.

Patchblocks

Producer / Writer / Director at Dead Medium Productions.

Check out my comedy series, documentaries and other sound stuff - http://garethstack.com/radio

Patchblocks

Gareth Stack