Open Lab
Practical Lab
- Language of instruction
- English
- Semester offered
- SS 2025
- Schedule
Weekly
- Date(s) & Time
- Thu, 14:30 – 16:00
- Contact hours per semester
- 21
- Location
- Room 349
- Instructor(s)
- Lorenz Schwarz
Open Lab' emphasizes creativity and collaboration and is designed for anyone interested in sound, music, and technology. The course integrates principles of electronics, acoustics, and music theory with their artistic applications.
It offers participants the opportunity to engage with technology, particularly for their own sound-related art projects. The course demonstrates how fundamental music technologies—such as oscillators, sound generators, filters, mixers, and speakers—function and how they can be utilized in the contexts of stage performance, music production, or sound art.
Additionally, techniques are taught to build interactive sound environments and instruments using sensors, microcontrollers, and computers. Through group projects, participants can complete smaller works suitable for exhibitions or concert performances. Open Lab encourages independent experimentation with ideas, supports collaborative projects, and provides guidance through theoretical input and hands-on workshop sessions.
Course Content
- Arduino programming and sensor integration (LDRs, FSRs, push buttons)
- Music interaction and interface design (OSC, MIDI, value mapping)
- Audio electronics fundamentals (operational amplifiers, filters, microphones, speakers)
- Sound design techniques (sampling, looping)
- Max/MSP for interactive sound environments
Prerequisites
- No prior knowledge required; open to students from all departments
- Software Arduino IDE and Pure Data (install instructions provided during the course)
Learning Objectives
- Develop fundamental skills in Arduino programming
- Design and implement musical interfaces
- Understand and apply basic audio electronics principles including operational amplifiers, filters, microphones, speakers, exciters, and amplifiers
Credits
- Leistungsnachweis Medienkunst (graded Course Credit)
- Workshop-Nachweis Medienkunst (Workshop Credit)
Methods
- Weekly impulse lectures building on core topics
- Practical assignments to reinforce theoretical knowledge
- Collaborative group projects
Assessment tasks
- Read and interpret schematics
- Construct a simple audio circuit
- Program light sensors (LDRs), force sensors (FSRs), and push buttons with Arduino
Workload
- In-class time 1.5 hours per week over 14 weeks, approximately 21 hours total
- Independent work approximately 30 hours for reading, research, and assignments
- Total approximately 51 hours
Recommended literature
- Anderton, Craig. Electronic Projects for Musicians. Amsco, 1980.
- Brindley, Keith. Starting Electronics. Newnes, 2011.
- Collins, Nicolas. Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2009.
- Cook, Perry R. “Principles for Designing Computer Music Controllers.” Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Seattle, WA, 1–2 Apr. 2001, pp. 3–6. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1176358.
- Edstrom, Brent. Arduino for Musicians: A Complete Guide to Arduino and Teensy Microcontrollers. Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Miranda, Eduardo Reck, Marcelo M. Wanderley, et al. New Digital Musical Instruments: Control and Interaction beyond the Keyboard. A-R Editions, 2006.
- Roads, Curtis. The Computer Music Tutorial. MIT Press, 1996.
- Self, Douglas. Small Signal Audio Design. 3rd ed., Focal Press, 2020.
- Wright, Matthew, and Adrian Freed. “Open SoundControl: A New Protocol for Communicating with Sound Synthesizers.” Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, International Computer Music Association, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1997, pp. 101–104.