Rethinking Electronic Music

Electronic Music development has historically been mostly oriented to the sound source (technology) and the object (finished work). The individual is rarely the focal point. More concerned with the musician than with the instrument, the Space Program is Rafael Toral’s long-term research into human performance possibilities in Electronic Music, a fundamental reevaluation of its conception, performance and experience.

The Space Program Workshop shares some concepts, focusing on how we make performance decisions. Aimed at musicians using hacked, bent, or custom electronic instruments or controllers, it raises fundamental questions about what can we do with them. The Workshop provides participants with conceptual tools for structuring musical discourse, with emphasis on phrasing from Space Program’s viewpoint.

The workshop has the duration of 5 days and covers topics like:

1. Matter: Instrumental choices and interface optimization.

2. Discourse: elaborating a syntax and articulating silence.

3. Composition: listening modes and macro-form decisions.

4. Performance: the body on stage and functions in a group.

Participants are enabled to perform collectively in the end.

What is required :

• The Space Program Workshop has to do with electronic instrument control. Your instrument absolutely needs to be able to instantly start and stop making sound.
• It is aimed at non-conventional electronic instruments that require a physical interaction. No keyboards. No classic instruments. No computers (except with gestural controllers).
• Previous hacking workshops and basic electronics knowledge are preferred.
• It’s about simplicity. Be prepared to focus and simplify your sound.
• A small mixer if you have several sources (your output should be one channel).
• Headphones (and your own monitor circuit, mixer, etc., if necessary)

What is offered :

• Personal focus on your instrument technique and choice of sounds to perform.
• Structure your sounds, establishing a personal lexicon.
• Exercise an articulated way of listening and dealing with silence and “space”.
• In short, to develop a physical, organic, elemental approach to electronic music.

Participation is limited to 6 participants.

Rafael Toral calls his playing style “post-free jazz electronic music”, once described as “a brand of electronic music far more visceral and emotive than that of his cerebral peers”. Toral’s Space Program delivers music that is full of clarity, articulating silence and sound in a thoughtful, yet physical way. A long time collaborator of Sei Miguel, he has performed throughout Europe, Canada, USA, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, released 13 albums and produced the first Anthology of Portuguese Electronic Music. He is a member of MIMEO orchestra.