In-Person Workshop Breadboarding Modular Synthesizers

No previous experience is necessary and all materials are provided for you in this workshop. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to design basic electronic oscillators with integrated circuits and discrete components. These principles will allow us to synthesize musical sounds from the ground up and arrange them into melodic and rhythmic patterns. Over the course of two days, we will focus on square wave oscillators for synthesizing pitched instruments. After learning how to build these circuits out on breadboards, we’ll explore two ways of interacting with our circuits – one a button-based system for actuating sounds, and another an automated circuit for sequencing them. By the end of the workshop, you will have built your own unique, playable instrument capable of generating synth melodies and sequencing drum patterns in real-time. Dates: Monday, October 5 & Wednesday, October 7, 2026 (Two sessions) Experience Level: Beginner to Advanced Scholarships: Diversity Scholarships are available. Apply by September 15, 2026 for a scholarship. No previous experience is necessary. No additional tools are required. All materials are provided for this workshop. By the end of this workshop, participants will: Gray Area Members enjoy access to our interdisciplinary arts & education programs while supporting our mission. Get free admission, discounts, and more by becoming a member today! Sean Russell Hallowell (aka isorhythmics) is an audiovisual artist from the Bay Area. His performances and installations synthesize compositional techniques developed from hand-built electronic circuitry with a cosmic perspective on music's origins in number and time. In his art, visual and auditory phenomena emerge as dual manifestations of what Medieval European musicians called the “arts of number” – i.e. music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Concert works and multimedia installations of his have been showcased at festivals and galleries across the US as well as in Mexico, Chile, South Korea, the UK, Belgium, Croatia, and Iceland. He holds degrees in music theory from Brown University (AB) and Columbia University (PhD) with a specialization in 15th- and 16th-century Franco-Flemish vocal polyphony. This two-day workshop takes place in the form of two 3-hour sessions over the course of two days. Dates: Monday, October 5 & Wednesday, October 7, 2026