April 11 Workshop is ON!!!

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To help keep everyone’s spirit up we are going ahead with a virtual Frequency Freaks Workshop on April 11th, 2020.

Here is the link for the YouTube Premiere taking place Saturday April 11 at 3PM Eastern.

If there are any questions please use the Contact Form.

We will have a mix of Home Studio Video Tours, and Home Studio Video Performances presented as a YouTube Premere on the Frequency Freaks YouTube Channel.  It will be good to get some more content up there as we haven’t added anything in a while!

The YouTube Premiere allows for comments, questions and answers to be submitted via text chat during the premiere.  The total length of the video will be kept to between 1 and 1.5 hrs. Extra video will be saved for the next workshop.

Video submissions will be taken on a first come, first served basis up to the allotted time as best we can manage. Submitted videos will be put together in an order that makes sense to give us a mix of performance and studio tours.

Please, no mobile phone audio for the performances. If you have trouble with this simply create the video with your phone and record audio into your phone but also record the audio in your DAW. Submit both the resulting wav file from your DAW and the video from your phone with similar naming and I will put the two together – Final Cut does a really good job of aligning this stuff!

File Names:

  • StudioTour_YourName.xxx
  • Performance_YourName.xxx – video file
  • Performance_YourName.wav – audio file – if necessary

Upload location: https://www.dropbox.com/request/6djROijexXY6t1pUh19z

I hope this makes sense to everyone – please use the Contact Us form to ask questions and if we need to clarify anything edits will be made here.

April 11 Workshop / COVID-19

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Hi Everyone,

To help keep everyone’s spirit up we are going ahead with a virtual Frequency Freaks Workshop on April 11th, 2020.

If there are any questions please use the Contact Form.

We will have a mix of Home Studio Video Tours, and Home Studio Video Performances presented as a YouTube Premere on the Frequency Freaks YouTube Channel.  It will be good to get some more content up there as we haven’t added anything in a while!

The YouTube Premiere allows for comments, questions and answers to be submitted via text chat during the premiere.  The total length of the video will be kept to between 1 and 1.5 hrs. Extra video will be saved for the next workshop.

Video submissions will be taken on a first come, first served basis up to the allotted time as best we can manage. Submitted videos will be put together in an order that makes sense to give us a mix of performance and studio tours.

Please, no mobile phone audio for the performances. If you have trouble with this simply create the video with your phone and record audio into your phone but also record the audio in your DAW. Submit both the resulting wav file from your DAW and the video from your phone with similar naming and I will put the two together – Final Cut does a really good job of aligning this stuff!

File Names:

  • StudioTour_YourName.xxx
  • Performance_YourName.xxx – video file
  • Performance_YourName.wav – audio file – if necessary

Upload location: https://www.dropbox.com/request/6djROijexXY6t1pUh19z

I hope this makes sense to everyone – please use the Contact Us form to ask questions and if we need to clarify anything edits will be made here.

Workshop Announcment March 7, 2020

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The next workshop is from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm on March 7! 
Please join us at the Array Music Studio, 155 Walnut Ave!
A new DiY project to demo, maybe a special guest performance, and performances by your friends at FF!  What more could you want?  See you there!

This month Scott Campbell will talk about and demonstrate his now complete Eurorack DiY project. 

Working to try to get some special guests in to perform… Will make another announcement if that is going to happen.

We also have time for your performances! Bring your stuff to show off and come hang out with us!

See you there!

Frequency Freaks January 2020

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Happy New Year!  Frequency Freaks is always free, no registration required, no experience or gear necessary. Come hang out, learn, share, listen.

For our first workshop of the decade we will have a gear swap and sale along with performances if anyone wants to play. Bring the gear that needs a new home and bring some gear to perform with, show off, or just have questions about!

Load in for people with gear at 2 pm. People without gear 2:30 pm.

Thanks, see you there!

Next Workshop June 29 2019!

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So much to tell you about this month!  Keep reading below for FF discounts on DIY, and a cool festival.

This month Yoni Newman from Rabid Elephant will be doing a talk about the Rabid Elephant modules, their development process, and any other cool stuff he can come up with!.  As usual, we also have time for performances.  Please bring some stuff to play, show us what you’re working on, or do your first live performance!  Please reply to this e-mail to let us know if you plan to play something.

Yoni Newman is a musician, artist, sound designer,  and member of Rabid Elephant Artists Collective. We make electronic music instruments, records, custom rigs and various other creative outputs, all of which seek to express an ever evolving philosophy rooted in rigour, honesty and lightness. Working under these principles seems to lead to things of value, and certainly makes for a fascinating journey. 

His current projects include Rabid Elephant’s latest modular designs, the upcoming releases of affiliate music project  “Karla”, as well as collaborations with musician Claire Yunjin Lee.

Build Your Own Psychogeographic Noise Synth at InterAccess

Our own Gabe de Oliveira will be hosting a very cool DIY workshop at Interaccess on July 27!  Please note that this is a new date.

In this hands on workshop, you will learn how to build your own experimental noise synthesizer – the Fort Processor! 

The Fort Processor is an experimental noise synthesizer and audio effect circuit designed by harsh fun noise duo ISN’TSES for Fort Process Sound Art Festival in 2018. The synth is controlled by light, touch pads, 3 knobs, and a trimmer. Audio is created and manipulated by four sections which have been combined using a circuit-bent approach. All the necessary components in kit format will be provided during the workshop, as well as guidance to build your device from scratch.

NEW DATE! Saturday, July 27
1-4PM

Exclusive Members discount (through Frequency Freaks): $45 + $70 materials fee = $115.00
Please choose the Workshop Pass Discount when registering.

Vector Festival

Our friends over at InterAccess have asked us to let you know about Vector Festival.  It looks pretty cool!

July 11-14, 2019

Locations: InterAccess, MOCA, the Ontario Science Centre, Trinity Square Video, Artscape Youngplace, Mississauga Celebration Square, Ryerson University, Electric Perfume, and Small World Music Centre

+ Invitation to VIP Reception, July 11, 6-7PM at InterAccess (950 Dupont St., Unit 1)
+ Admission to Vector Festival performance, July 12, 8-10PM at Small World Music Centre (180 Shaw St.)
+ Admission to Vector Festival screening, July 13, 8-10PM at Ryerson University School of Image Arts, Room 307 (122 Bond St.)
+ Admission to the Ontario Science Centre between July 11-14, 2019
+ Member pricing on workshop Intro to 3D Modeling: Digital Sculpting with Rhino

More information at: Vector Festival

May 2019 Workshop

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The next workshop is from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm on May 11! 
Please join us at the Array Music Studio, 155 Walnut Ave!
This month its time for spring performances!  Bring your gear, show us what you’ve been working on, play a little something to celebrate the coming of warmer weather!  There are no talks planned for this one so bring your stuff out to play.  Every synth deserves to get out of the studio once in a while!  Don’t be shy, first time performers hold a special place in our hearts!  You are guaranteed encouragement, positive feedback and constructive comments!

For those who are bringing gear, load-in / setup is at 2 pm.

Even if you don’t plan to play, bring your stuff!  If you have questions it is good to have your synth there in person!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

New Workshop Dates

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Hey everybody, really excited to announce that our fantastic relationship with Arraymusic is continuing for another year!

The dates for the rest of 2019 and into 2020 are:

June 29, 2019
July 20, 2019
September 21, 2019
October 19, 2019
December 14, 2019
January 11, 2020
February 8, 2020
March 14, 2020
April 11, 2020
May 16, 2020

March 2019 Workshop Announcement

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This month we celebrate!  Seriously can’t believe we’ve made it to 3 years of FF Workshops!  Thank-you all for your support and coming out to meet in person!

There will be as little talking as possible this month!  Bring some stuff & Play What You Bring!  1 minute, 2 minutes, 10 minutes… We will fit in as many performances as we can!  There will be cake!

In case you missed the announcement previously, there is a new Frequency Freaks Discourse Forum.  Head on over, sign up and join the discussion!  

Of course, bring stuff to sell, trade, and your questions.

February 2019 Workshop Announcement

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Always Free! No tickets required 🙂

Have you ever wanted to take some gear to the park or camping? Wondered how you might get power, or how you could mix and record those nature inspired performances? Paul Stillwell is going to talk about this topic and the design of his evolving battery operated jam rig. He may even perform something with it while running on battery power, of course!

Derek Simmons will also do a little talk on modular synths and performance. Focusing thoughts on module selection and module placement in a performance case.

Performing this month:
Matt Nish-Lapidus fresh off an awesome Album Launch performance at Handlebar on Jan 31 and Les Hartai who was last heard at the December workshop in a memorable duet with Angus Tarnawsky. Derek Simmons who returned to FF last month after being MIA for a while due to work responsibilities is also going to perform

Check out some of Les’ sound here: https://greenheavycanvas.bandcamp.com/

Check out Matt’s new album here: https://sm-ll.bandcamp.com/album/batch-0008 and older stuff here: https://newtendencies.bandcamp.com/

Check out Paul’s music here:
https://paulstillwell.bandcamp.com/

Check out some of Derek’s music here: https://soundcloud.com/rezzn8r

It Comes In Peace – FF Workshop 20190112

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The first workshop of 2019 is from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm on January 12.
Please join us at the Array Music Studio, 155 Walnut Ave!

This month our own Michael Brooker will talk about the Disting Mk IV.

IT COMES IN PEACE: A user-friendly approach to the Disting MKIV

  • With a total of 89 individual algorithms at the release of firmware version 4.9, Expert Sleepers’ Disting has gone from a helpful utility to a universe of functionality
  • Let’s explore some of the myriad possibilities offered by this unit, while exploring some useful supplementary material to get you navigating through – and patching with – this 4HP-fits-all digital wonderland

Michael Brooker is a recovering jazz musician with an obsession for modular synthesis and musical expression in general.  Having completed formal musical studies at the University of Toronto (MusBacPerf, Trombone, Jazz Studies) between 2009-2013, but seeking a new creative medium to express himself, Michael recently built a Eurorack modular synthesizer and has been quickly but carefully studying each of the modules, both individually and in the context of the larger instrument.  With plans to attend the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) in the Fall of 2019, Michael’s passion for electronic music and electronic modes of musical expression are only beginning.

We will also have time for performances.  Please reply to this e-mail to let us know if you plan to play something.