Ideas of Noise is dedicated to improving accessibility to experimental sound and supporting creative development for everyone. We have many years experience delivering group and individual activities and work with some of the region’s most cutting edge artists and educators delivering workshops and participatory activities.
Check out some of our past projects!
WorRksHop 24
IoN invited Workshop 24 (IoN 2018 Shorts artists) to create a socially engaged project in their area of Stourbridge to feed into IoN 2020. They invited local people who have a disability to work with them over a 3 month period to create a project that uses both sound and visual artwork to explore and share their experience of travel within a 3 mile radius of their workshop in Stourbridge.
Workshop 24 runs social art projects where local people, particularly those with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs are invited to collaborate with artists Helen Garbett and Bill Laybourne to co-create work that focuses the improvement of wellbeing in our community.
sWitcH enseMble
An introduction to various forms of electronic music-making, this DIY sound lab was manned by bassist/electronic wizard Chris Mapp alongside IoN producers Sarah Farmer and Andrew Woodhead. Children participating in the festival (ages 11-18) could drop in and learn about Analogue Synths, Effects Pedals, Live Processing, Looping and MIDI Mapping with Ableton and similar DAWs as well as exploring experimental practices like sound walks, conduction and graphic score making.
SWITCH ensemble is the house band of MAC Makes Music, which aims to break down the barriers to music making that some people face. It provides creative music making opportunities specifically for children and young people that have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, as well as those with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs
AV plAy AreA
IoN brought its first children’s event to mac Birmingham in April 2018, featuring a heap of sonic curiosities for 4-10 year olds specially created by sound artist/saxophonist Joe Wright and guitarist/electronics wizard Ben Lee (AKA Gorillabot). The play area included circuit-bent toys, sound lasersand a draw-your-own graphic score station, all guided by musician/educator Jenny Wood and filtered through the mind-bending electronics rig of trumpeter/improviser Aaron Diaz
ion At Music foR youtH
An introduction to various forms of electronic music-making, this DIY sound lab was manned by bassist/electronic wizard Chris Mapp alongside IoN producers Sarah Farmer and Andrew Woodhead. Children participating in the festival (ages 11-18) could drop in and learn about Analogue Synths, Effects Pedals, Live Processing, Looping and MIDI Mapping with Ableton and similar DAWs.
cRecHe And buRn
IoN returned to Surge in Spring in 2019 with a brand new installation designed and built by Joe Wright. Using light-based synthesisers and a series of sensor “flowers”, children learned about controlling proximity-based instrumentsand electronic systems through games and trial-and-error. The installation ran throughout the day long festival as a drop-in
jAZZlines ensemble
Over a 2 month period, IoN musicians hijacked the weekly Jazzline Ensemble music workshops at Symphony Hall to explore and develop new experimental works to perform at the festival. They explored conduction, graphic score making, free improv, DIY visuals, sounds walks, sampling, and more, culminating in 3 radically different, all incredibly vibrant performances from the 11-19 year olds.
suRGe kids
Led by acclaimed musicians and Surge Orchestra members Tymoteusz Jozwiak and Xhosa Cole, this workshop introduced Improvisation and Group Composition to children aged 8-16, taking in elements of Conduction, Graphic Scores and Extended Techniques.
WoRk WitH ion
If you are interested in us delivering an experimental sound project with you or your organisation, please fill out the form and get in touch.
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