A Deep Dive into Drum Synthesis Workshop at Arnolfini
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A gig held at Arnolfini on Sunday 29th May. The event starts at 14:00.


Bristol Communal Modular are designing a percussion synth based around the circuit of the classic discowrecking drum synth, the Synare 3.

The synare was a staple in a lot of post punk, dub and disco production in the ’70s through the ’80s. You can hear it in loads of tunes by Joy Division, Scientist, The Cure, Depeche Mode, the iconic Jah Shaka sound system scene in the film Babylon(1980) and a tonne of disco tunes too. Once you start noticing the Synare hits you won’t stop finding them. Legend goes you could pick it up in 70s Argos for cheap. And now the original synares are selling for nearly £800

The Magnum Percussion Instrument is a standalone unit that is also suitable for a Eurorack modular system. The Magnum P.I. has two oscillators and a noise source going into a four stage 24dB resonant low pass filter with CVable cutoff. It has two decay envelopes, one of which is CVable and a vintage style VCA. You can trigger it with a finger or a drum stick, and it also has trig in.

Come and join us at Arnolfini for an in-depth look under the hood at the Magnum Percussion Instrument. We will be picking apart the different stages of analogue drum synth circuits, and explaining how they work in depth. We will be building simple sections of a drum synth circuit and learning how different the different circuit stages can be used to synthesise different drum sounds. There will be the chance to sequence and record your own prototyped drum synth sounds. We will also supply a host of other drum machines, modular synths and fx for people to patch and record.

Workshop runs 2pm - 5pm. All materials and equipment provided.

Run by Guy John and Dave Gibson from Bristol Communal Modular.
Bristol Communal Modular are an open collective who are slowly building a communal modular synth system, which will be co-built and co-owned. They are operating out of Bristol Hackspace in St Phillips.
https://www.instagram.com/bristol_communal_modular/

** Due to some manufacturing delays, we will sadly not be able to supply the Magnum P I kits for people to build and take home in this session, but participants of this initial session will be the first in line to come and build the full kits with us at a follow up workshop later on in the summer **

The EP/64 # 64 workshop programme is supported by the West of England Visual Arts Alliance (WEVAA) and Arts Council England.

The Brunswick Club is committed to making our events as inclusive and accessible as possible. If you feel cost is a barrier please get in touch and we will do our best to accommodate. If you have any specific access requirements please get in touch via [email protected]

Entry requirements:

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