Earlier this month we hosted the relaunch of our London DMLab with our partners Graeae and Music Hackspace.
It was a fantastic event which brought together musicians and makers of instruments to meet and make new connections.
Different to our usual hackmeets, there was no hands-on making at this event, instead it focused on bringing people together to think about what is/could be possible in accessible music-making.
We also launched the DMLab Manifesto – currently a blank page, ready for us to co-create it with our DMLab communities. The manifesto will be the foundation and guiding principles for our work, so we want to create it together.
Performances
On the night we were inspired by performances which demonstrated the potential of new instruments and technologies.
John Kelly opened up proceedings, playing punk and folk tunes with his band in an alternately rousing and moving performance. John plays the Kellycaster, his bespoke guitar created with DMLab.
Oliver Cross created and performed a new, melodic and completely electronic composition using Ableton Push.
Dike Okoh performed his Drake Music Emergent commission, the electro-pop song ‘2049’. The song is written to incorporate switch technology that allows the audience to trigger effects and interrupt the flow of the music.
Finally, DJ Arthro from Sweden played a banging set of Northern European house & disco using a pared down version of his ‘Spaceship’ – the modular rig he built to allow him to DJ, sing and play live.
Time to play
Between performances people got hands on with a huge range of musical instruments and technology including Soundbeams, iPads, 3-d printed light responders, Strummi and more.
The Drake Music team were on hand to guide people through different apps, switches and triggers and to demonstrate the potential of different instruments to remove disabling barriers.
We were also supported by various members of the extended DMLab Community including Human Instruments, Music Hackspace, Charles Matthews and Jacob Harrison.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the event and to all the performers and presenters on the night.
Up next
The next event is 14th August at Music Hackspace and you can sign up now on their website.
We would like to invite people to sign up to pitch an idea – however big or small, developed or not – and to meet potential collaborators.
Have a think about any ideas you have for new ways to make music and sign up for your slot!
