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)

Snippet from the upcoming documentary 'Mad Scientists of Music', vocals by Ewan Hennelly (HERV, ZPG), track sampled is from the brilliant HERV album 'Snaphands', 'Its OK I'm a Collage'. http://garethstack.com/tag/madscientists/

Image used 'Dark Mint Chocolate' by Boz Bros - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dboz/3442480063/ Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

The Strongest Chocolate I've Ever Had (HERV Remix)

New documentary about Irish experimental music featuring No!, 
Deathness Injection, Andrew Edgar, Siam Collective, MarQu VR, Kieran Dold, Ed Devane (Withering Zithering), Patchblocks, Bitwise Operator, Ewan Hennelly (HERV / ZPG), Meljoann, Niamh de Barra, Luxury Mollusc, Colm Olwill (DJ PCP), Niamh Houston (Chipzel), Roger Gregg (Crazy Dog Audio Theatre), Oswald Green, The Dublin Laptop Orchestra, and Karakara.

Track used is Symphony Chop by Bitwise Operator.

Coming May 29th on Near FM and GarethStack.com

Mad Scientists of Music Documentary Promo

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

The is the first web only bonus episode of Mad Scientists of Music. Focusing on interviews rather than sound, these episodes feature clips, topics and artists there wasn’t space to fit into the radio series.

We kick off with early experiences in technology, hearing from a host of folks about how early encounters with computers and electronics fuelled their interest in sound. A diverse collection of musicians, from Ewan Hennelly and Simon Kenny to MarQu VR of Gamepak Collective, give us their radically differing opinions of technology.

Moving on to influences we hear how artists like Auteker and Aphex Twin inspired a host of Irish experimental electronic musicians.

Ed Devane talks about moving from constructing his own instruments to collecting a unique set of sounds to manipulate electronically.

Niamh De Barra talks describes how composers like Stravinsky helped steer the course of electronic music and why contemporary virtuosity pushed her towards electronic composition and performance.

Meljoann talks about her diverse influences and combining classical and electronic composition.

Oswald Green and Sebastian Dooris speak about the pleasures of understanding the physics of sound. And there’s a special exclusive track from Oswald right at the end.

Mad Scientists of Music - Bonus Episode - Beginnings

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

The final episode of the series looks at the future of Irish experimental music. We find out how techniques like ‘Live Coding’ (where computer programming during a concert is used to change the music in real time) and ‘Geocached Music’ (where intrepid explorers follow clues to discover hidden caches of music in the real world), and new interfaces like ‘Leap motion’ (which tracks users hands as they move through space) will change how audiences can interact with the music. This episode ties together the threads of the series, and offers a glimpse into the existing future of music, technology and creative collaboration.

Part 1 – Geocaching with Ewan Hennelly

Irish electronic musician Ewan Hennelly, formerly HERV, now known as ZPG, has combined his love of hiking and electronic music in an unexpected way. Climbing the hills and valleys of the South Downs, Ewan takes part in geocaching. Tracking down geocaches (tiny boxes for marked on an online map) with his GPS, Ewan leaves tapes of his experimental music for curious travellers to encounter.

Part 2 – Simon Kenny’s Inventions

Simon Kenny (Bitwise Operator) is a musician and inventor. He takes us on a whirlwind tour of software experiments, working with a variety of groups like Galway Autism Project. Simon shows of his incredibly expressive software synthesiser app ‘Oscar‘.

Part 3 – Andrew Edgar’s Weather Machine

Andrew Edgar of Gamepak Collective. has a dream. He wants to build a new kind of instrument, a ‘terrarium’ that can be teased into sonic life by musicians ‘like God’s of yore’.

Part 4 – Ed Devane’s Binaural Recordings

Electroacoustic musician Ed Devane has been experimenting with binaural recordings: Sending these hypnotic microphones out to vocalists all over the world. The results are beautiful and dreamlike.

Part 5 – Sebastian Heinz of Patchblocks

Patchblocks are a new invention, successfully kickstarted by Belfast based, German born Sebastian Heinz. 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.

Mad Scientists of Music - Episode 6 - Postcards from the Edge

As promised, here’s the second bonus web only episode to accompany my series ‘Mad Scientists of Music’. Episode five of the series, ‘The Instrument of the Law‘ examined how changing technology and copyright laws are impacting music. This bonus episode fills in the blanks, addressing additional issues we didn’t get to talk about in detail, like creative commons, the legality of mashups, copyright as a promotional tool, and alternative business models at a time when music sales are in decline.

Mad Scientists of Music - Bonus Episode - Copyright

This segment, from Episode 6 of Mad Scientists of Music (http://garethstack.com/tag/madscientists), won the Sounds Alive 'Your Story Your Sound' Prize, 2014.

The piece takes us on a musical journey into the hills above Brighton, where avant-garde music finds a home in an ancient landscape.

Irish electronic musician Ewan Hennelly (HERV / ZPG), has found a way to combine his two passions; hiking and electronic music. Climbing the hills and valleys of the South Downs, Ewan takes part in geocaching. Tracking down geocaches (tiny boxes for marked on an online map) with his GPS, Ewan leaves cassettes of his experimental music albums for curious travellers to encounter.

'Hiding Music In The Mountains' - Sounds Alive Prize Winning Piece

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.

From Episode 1 of 'Mad Scientists of Music', Learning how to listen. http://garethstack.com/2014/05/29/mad-scientists-of-music-episode-1-learning-how-to-listen/

That's What Sound Can Do

Chipzel (Niamh Houston) talks about the experience of becoming a chiptune superstar. 

From episode 2 of Mad Scientists of Music, 'Growing up Digital' - http://garethstack.com/2014/06/05/mad-scientists-of-music-episode-2-growing-up-digital/

Featuring the music of Chipzel, and sound effects from Terry Cavanagh's award winning videogame 'Super Hexagon'.

Levelling Up

Andrew Edgar of Gamepak Collective and A4 Sounds has a dream. He wants to build a new kind of instrument, a ‘terrarium’ that can be teased into sonic life by musicians ‘like Gods of yore’

From episode 6 of Mad Scientists of Music, 'Postcards from the Edge' - http://garethstack.com/2014/07/03/mad-scientists-of-music-episode-6-postcards-from-the-edge/

Weather Machine

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

This outtake from my documentary 'Mad Scientists of Music', was shortlisted for the Ballyhoura Award at the Hearsay Festival 2014.

Featuring the voices, music and robots of 'Deathness Injection'.

Robot Jam

The HearSay Audio Prize celebrates the world's finest creative audio of all kinds.
In the spirit of inspiring others, we are releasing a selection of diverse and powerful entries to the 2014 competition, though they didn't win, they definitely deserve to be heard! Listen, enjoy, create!

HearSay Audio Prize 2014 Shortlist: Robot Jam by Gareth Stack

Roger Gregg is a dramatist, poet, musician, actor and performer. Over a long career on radio and theatre, he's had dozens of plays performed all over the world, and written and recorded numerous  much loved radio dramas as 'Crazy Dog Audio Theatre'. Today Roger continues to record and perform, with his 'Bee Loud Glade Cabaret'. Their shows fuse poetry and music, giving new life to verse, mythology and storytelling. Roger appeared in episode one of Mad Scientists of Music, and this episode continues our discussion. Roger talks about everything from his radio influences, to his career in Irish theatre, to the inimitable power of sound.

Mad Scientists of Music - The Life & Times of Roger Gregg

Producer / Writer / Director at Dead Medium Productions.

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