- SOLD OUT -
Please sign up for a waitlist ticket to be added to our chronological waitlist. We will notify you if spots become available.

Are you curious about Synth DIY but don't know how to begin? Maybe you’ve soldered something simple, perhaps not even sound related, but don’t know what all the components are/do or how it relates to making sound? Then this is the workshop for you!

Let us show you the ropes. From soldering basics to understanding components and their roles
in making music - this workshop will provide everything needed for building beautiful audible
creations from scratch!

When complete, you’ll have a simple, standalone battery operated synthesizer with a single
knob for changing the pitch of the sound that you can plug headphones into, or other music
gear. No prior soldering experience necessary.

Led by AFRORACK founder Aaron Guice

Sun, Feb 19, 4pm-5pm
$30
15 NE Hancock St, Portland, OR 97212
https://pica.org/events/r2r

--

Aaron Guice is a rising social advocate whose work focuses on community wellness, STEM learning, and technology justice. Born and raised in Chicago, Guice earned a bachelor's degree in Audio Arts and Acoustics at Columbia College (Chicago). Early in his profession, he worked as an on-set recording engineer, later establishing himself as a prominent Los Angeles commercial sound designer. Following a 15 year career with cutting-edge directors and ground-breaking advertising agencies, his return to Chicago has led to an expansion into the world of modular synthesis.

Aaron's new vision for STEM education is a composite style that bridges the gap between communities of color and equity opportunities in the tech industry. Through this unique lens, modular becomes more than just sounds, more than just music, and more than just technology—it's literally a space for new ideas and dialogue, a platform where students can aim to reformat solutions for tomorrow's needs. His creative process is tailored to each project's content, community, or space to produce truly unique and advanced innovative experiences.

He has held masterclasses and frequently lectures on modular synthesis performance, technology, and their relationships to activism. The continuously evolving practice strives for civic empowerment and investment to increase access. Aaron not only provides talented young African American students with means of approaching modular synthesis, but also creates cultural products that link art with social, spatial, and sonic realms—shaping community narratives into a creative production.

--

Synth Library Portland programming is funded in part by the Regional Arts and Cultural Council (@regionalarts), the Fred W. Fields Fund of Oregon Community Foundation (@the_ocf), and CommuniCare students at Portland State University (@communicareor).