SYNTHESIZE_HER

How will each session run?

Participants will be guided through discussion and experimentation, offering a fundamental understanding of analogue sound synthesis, from atom to vibration to brain. They will leave with practical knowledge of the electrical composition of synthesisers. To allow for maximum time with the equipment, numbers in each session will be very limited. Attendees will be encouraged to work together and in small groups as they rotate around stations devoted to a specific skill or piece of gear.

There will be a different workshop on each day. It is recommended to do both. This will allow you to build on skills from day one and develop them further in day two.

Who is it for?

Synthesize_Her is a space for women and marginalised genders. This workshop is open to people of all experience and ability. We especially welcome people who do not think of themselves as “tech minded”. It’s not limited to people with an interest in electronic music, it is open to anyone who would like to understand how analogue technology works.

About:

Synthesize_Her aims to interrogate our understanding of who is encouraged to create and innovate our technology, and to make space for those who are not. “Her” in the context of the workshop name does not represent a binary conception of female but rather the divine Her. This is the lens through which we invite others to learn and collaborate.

Drawing on the work of Gavilán Rayna Russom, whose work explores the connection between analogue synthesis and witchcraft, we aim to tap into our corporeal ability to internalise complex concepts, to feel sound. We hope to bring physical, experiential and communal learning to the fore.

The idea of a synthetic woman has been prevalent in modern culture: the Machinemensch (Metropolis), the Stepford Wives, Ava (Ex Machina). Synthesise Her is inspired by Mary Shelley and Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto to facilitate girls, women and gender minorities in imagining what they could synthesise. The Xenofeminists ask, “Why is there so little explicit, organized effort to repurpose technologies for progressive gender political ends?”

The project is also inspired by the countless women who played the synthesiser in some of our most beloved music: Wendy Carlos, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, Pauline Oliveros, Maryanne Amacher, Joanna Brouk, Patrice Rushen, Kate Bush, Gillian Gilbert, Enya, Lisa Coleman, Robbin Grider, Lynn Malsby, Anne Dudley, Laurie Anderson, Cosi Fanni Tutti, Bjork, Synth Sisters, Caterina Barbieri, Katlyn Aurelia Smith, Jane Deasy, Rising Damp, Mama Matrix Most Mystical, Natalia Beylis, and so many, many more.

@synthsize_her_ / info@synthesizeher.work

Facilitator

Viva Dean:

Viva is a mechanical engineer and teacher who DJs and produces under the moniker Bé. She has over six years of experience teaching maths and movement (respectively) to adults and children of all ages and abilities.

Instagram: @vivadean

Key Collaborator

Kate Butler:

A DJ and writer in Dublin since the late 1990s, Kate Butler has a monthly show on Dublin Digital Radio (ddr) and also produces Atomic, a monthly series on ddr which gives young people an opportunity to host their own radio show. She is currently researching a book on the history of female producers, in the pop and avant garde worlds, asking why there are still so few female producers in the pop charts today.

Instagram: @katebutlerddr / @ddratomicradio