Schedule

Mondays, December 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd
1pm - 3pm EST (NY time) // 7pm - 9pm CET (Berlin time)*
*EMEA-friendly time zone

Description
Sonic Worldbuilding II: Methodology in Practice continues our exploration of sound and its possibilities. Creativity and sound can be more than just a balm for precarious and difficult times. Together, we will co-explore sound as an apparatus of interconnectedness, a sensitivity to what is, and a space to dare toward the sonic vistas of what if.

We’ll integrate embodiment, intuition, critical theory, and music production to develop a meaningful and transformative creative practice. As a continuation of Subversive Creative Practice & Sonic Worldbuilding, we will continue to balance a playful and critical lens in how we approach sound as a tool for healing and sensing beyond our present reality.

Part II will emphasize the production and development of an idea from start to finish, with a stronger focus on practice and technical skill-sharing. Each step of the process will be informed by the methodology developed in Subversive Creative Practice & Sonic Worldbuilding: Connection, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and Collaboration. With these in mind, we’ll navigate each step of the creative process together:

✣ Ideation and conceptual development
✣ Sourcing and creating sonic material
✣ Arrangement and composition
✣ Mixing, releasing, and sharing music

This will be a BIPOC and FLINTA-focused space, prioritizing marginalized voices and perspectives. Allies are welcome, but please come with an open mind and a commitment to support these voices. Some experience with Ableton is useful, but not required.

This course is open to those who participated in Subversive Creative Practice & Sonic Worldbuilding and new participants alike.

Please note: ticket registration closes 30 minutes prior to event start time.
Week 1: Review of Sonic Worldbuilding Part I + Creative Ideation

Summary

✣ Review the worldbuilding methodology, theory, and practitioners from the first session 
✣ Strategies for balancing conceptualization & intuition in creative research
✣ Mapping out material for a sonic world using weighing techniques and methodology (e.g. De/Re; unworlding to reworld)
✣ Setting a tone: ritual’s for entering into a creative headspace

Production Tutorial

✣ Organizing and tagging a soundbank to create a sonic pallet in Ableton
✣ Techniques for using Ableton as a composition space for digital and analog sounds
✣ Setting up Simpler & Drum Racks for flexible use
✣ Resource sharing for sourcing sound (online, sample packs, tutorials, etc.)

Week 2: Creating a Sonic Pallet; Composition + Arrangement

Summary 

✣ Unworlding and reworlding with composition + arrangement 
✣ Centering others and more-than-human voices, landscapes, textures and tones (e.g. co-worlding and a/biotic collaboration)
✣ Non-anthropocentric, non-hierarchical composition & sonic narrative

Production Tutorial

✣ Techniques for merging disparate timbres to create "hybrid" sounds
✣ Introduction to audio effects such as granular synthesis, spectral processing, and convolution reverb
✣ Use Granulator II to stretch and morph non-human sounds into evolving textures
✣ Layer human and non-human sounds, applying spectral effects to emphasize shared frequencies
✣ Use Ableton's Convolution Reverb to create shared acoustic spaces for both sound types
✣ Exploring generative composition: letting sounds dictate structure
✣ Using randomness, chance operations, and automation in Ableton
✣ Use Follow Actions in Clips to generate unpredictable sequences.
✣ Program LFOs to modulate pitch, panning, and effects on non-human sounds

Week 3: Refining, Mixing, EQing

Summary
✣ Engage in a dynamic dialogue between self and the creative process, listening deeply to the sonic world we're building and letting it inform our decisions. 
✣ Refining our work, we reflect on how these evolving landscapes resonate with our intentions and challenge our perceptions
✣ The process becomes an iterative conversation—learning from the world we’re creating as it takes shape

Production Tutorial

Mixing Techniques

✣ Balancing levels: Understanding volume hierarchies in your mix.
✣ Panning: Creating spatial width and movement.
✣ Layering: Adding dimension through thoughtful arrangement.

EQing and Sculpting Sound:
✣ Identifying frequency ranges: Carving space for clarity and impact.
✣ Using subtractive vs. additive EQ techniques.
✣ Creating emotional impact through tonal balance.

Tools and Approaches:
✣ Ableton’s native mixing tools: EQ Eight, Glue Compressor, Utility.
✣ Third-party plugins: FabFilter Pro-Q, iZotope Neutron.
✣ Visualizing sound: Using spectrum analyzers to identify frequency imbalances.

Week 4: Sharing & Releasing Music

Summary
✣ Sharing & small group feedback for our final compositions
✣ Group Discussion: Technical, ethical, and personal challenges/barriers to sharing and releasing music
✣ Tips & resource exchange for platforming and sharing our worlds
✣ Reflecting: on the course, keeping in touch, and continuing this process together 🤍

Hardware & Software Requirements

• Ableton Live 11 (Standards) or 12 (Standard, Suite, or Trial)
• Computer with the latest Zoom update
• Headphones or studio monitors
• A second screen (optional but recommended)

Please email us at hi@soundial.org with any questions about the equipment list.

Instructor Bio

Madelyn Byrd (they/them) is a Berlin-based musician, researcher, and curator. They have produced critically acclaimed albums, mixes, audiovisual works, collages, poetry, and social-praxis experiments. Madelyn holds a master’s in Neuroaesthetics from Goldsmiths, where they researched the impact of collaborative imagination on measures of connection and hope in social praxis art. Fostering dialogues between humans, non-humans, and new technologies, Madelyn’s overarching research integrates possiblia’s emotional and theoretical nodes to prefigure unconventional ways of being. 

Slowfoam is Madelyn’s all-encompassing sound project they DJ, produce, and perform under. Slowfoam traces the peripheries of ecology and technology, presence and possibility, and more-than-human connectedness. A tapestry of artefacts - drones, glitched-out textures, field recordings, obfuscated words, glossy sound design, off-kilter polyrhythms, electro-acoustics, and sparkling ephemera - convey a genre-defying paraworld. Their carefully crafted aural environments plunge listeners into paradoxical pools of deep meaning and obscurity, bubbling with transformative potential and the magic of the in-between.

Slowfoam is a former resident at Internet Public Radio, where they curated their monthly show, Our Tomorrow. They have released music on Jungle Gym Records (Los Angeles, USA), Lillerne Tapes (Chicago, USA), and Mappa (Lučenec, Slovakia) and Somewhere Press (Glasgow, SL), with whom they released Transcorporeal Portal, their debut LP in March 2024. Their music has yielded features on Bandcamp, Electronic Sound Mag, First Impressions, Pitchfork, Boomkat, The Wire Magazine, and Futurism Restated.

https://madelynbyrd.com/
@slowfoam
https://slowfoam.bandcamp.com/music
https://soundcloud.com/slowfoam
Contact
hi(at)soundial.org
Website: soundial.org
Instagram: @sound.ial
Cancellation Policy

Ticket holders have the option to cancel their reservations and receive a full refund if they do so at least 48 hours before the event starts. However, please note that any cancellation requests made within 48 hours of the event start time or after the event has already begun will not be honored.

If you're unable to attend but have a friend who'd love to take your spot, you can transfer your reservation to them before the class begins.

To request a cancellation, please send an email to hi(at)soundial.org with the subject line "Cancellation Request." In the email, include the following info:

• Your full name
• Date and time of the scheduled event

For eligible cancellation requests, we will initiate a refund to the original payment method used during registration. Please allow a processing time of 5-10 days for the refund to be processed.

Soundial reserves the right to cancel or reschedule events if necessary. Despite our best efforts, unforeseen circumstances such as technical issues or unavailability of instructors may arise, requiring adjustments to the event schedule. We will make every effort to notify you promptly and provide alternative options or refunds as needed.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in these situations!