Why does a whistle sound so different from a buzzer? What makes a flute feel smooth and a saw blade feel sharp? Every sound has a shape, and once you can hear it, you can build it.
This workshop presents basic wave forms and their sonic characteristics. Attendees are invited to draw comparisons between these forms and the sounds they encounter in their everyday life, and to learn how modular systems can be used to combine these waveforms in different ways.
¿Por qué suena tan distinto un silbato de un zumbador? ¿Qué hace que una flauta suene suave y una hoja de sierra suene cortante? Todo sonido tiene una forma, y una vez que puedes escucharla, puedes construirla.
El taller presenta formas de onda básicas y explora sus características sonoras. Durante la sesión los participantes son invitados a establecer comparaciones entre estas formas y los sonidos que encuentran en su vida cotidiana, y a utilizar los sistemas modulares para entrelazar ondas de diversas maneras.
CLASS DETAILS
The class meets Thursday, October 29, from 6:30 to 8:00pm in the Community Synth Studio at AMLA/Esperanza.
The instructor is fluent in Spanish and English. This class is 18+. Class size is limited to 10. No previous experience in music or synthesizers is required.
Advance ticket reservation is required to attend.
DETALLES DE LA CLASE
La clase se reúne el jueves 29 de octubre, de 6:30 a 8:00 pm en el Community Synth Studio de AMLA/Esperanza.
El instructor habla español e inglés con fluidez. Esta clase es para mayores de 18 años. El cupo es limitado a 10 personas. No se requiere experiencia previa en música ni con sintetizadores.
Se requiere reservar boleto con anticipación para asistir.
QUESTIONS
Questions? Email SoundLab@bowerbird.org.
PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD SOUND LAB
This class is one part of the Neighborhood Sound Lab, a Bowerbird project that also offers a free community synth studio, classes, workshops, and community events. See the project page for an overview of the program and a list of classes and events.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Juan Castrillón is a multimodal cultural anthropologist, ethnomusicologist and musician with regional expertise in Türkiye and the Northwest Amazon in Colombia. His research interests include theories of listening, media archives, contemporary healing arts, mimesis, and modalities of inscription. His multimodal work and performances dialogue with contemporary debates about decoloniality, heterogenesis, visual and sound/music cultures, and indigenous analytics of the person, space, magic, and technology.
ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO
From October through December 2026, our Neighborhood Sound Lab will be located in AMLA Studios on the first floor (lower level) of Esperanza Arts Center, in the Hunting Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia. The street address is 4261 N. 5th Street, but the entrance is on Bristol Street, near the corner of 5th and Bristol. Enter through Esperanza’s main doors.
Parking. Free parking is available on the Esperanza campus. The lot is on Bristol Street between North 3rd and North 5th Streets, at 4th and Bristol.
Public transit. Esperanza is on SEPTA bus routes 47, 53, and 4. For the 53, get off at 5th and Hunting Park. For the 47, get off at 5th and Bristol. For the 4, get off at 9th and Hunting Park.
ABOUT AMLA
Artístas y Músicos Latinoamericanos (AMLA) seeks to promote the development, dissemination, and understanding of Latin music and culture throughout Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. AMLA is based at Esperanza Arts Center in Hunting Park, North Philadelphia. For more info, visit amla.org.
Major support for NEIGHBORHOOD SOUND LAB has been provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional support from The Presser Foundation.
