Announcement | Live-Electronics Workshop & Concert in Kuala Lumpur (19.-22.11.2025)

Written on October 2nd , 2025 by AH

Image: Kuala Lumpur inner city.

Workshop Announcement

From 19–22 November 2025, we will hold a live-electronics workshop at Universiti Malaya (UM), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), followed by a concert at klpac as part of SPECTRA (22.11.2025) within the PEEK project “Études for Live-Electronics,” in collaboration with the ASEA-Uninet project “Investigating acoustic properties, playing techniques, and live-electronics potential of traditional Southeast Asian musical instruments”. Workshop Presenters will be:

  • Tim-Tarek Grund (mdw)
  • Cedrik Fermont (Syrphe)
  • Alex Hofmann (mdw)

Title: The Art of Latent Space Navigation in Music

In this workshop Tim-Tarek Grund (mdw), Cedrik Fermont (Syrphe), and Alex Hofmann (mdw) will give insights into their artistic research on live-electronics with an emphasis on combining it with acoustic instruments, including the saxophone and south-east asian gongs. Starting with the text “The Art of Noise” by Luigi Russolo (1913) and a short reflection on the history of Noise Music, they will open a discussion with the participants on the potential impact of emerging technologies on music performance.

Providing background information to their live-electronic performance “Beneath, Within” (to be premiered on 22.11.2025 at klpac), they will show how human musical intervention can probe AI sound synthesis models and their creation process, excavating fragile equilibria of the parameter space and friction points within the AI-human relationship. They’ll discuss their approach of only using their own data in the models to ensure that the use of AI in music composition remains ethical.

Participants will get insights on training and performing with RAVE (Realtime Audio Variational Autoencoder) tone transfer AI models, performing with Open Source Tools (Pure Data; Python), and the influence of the different acoustic properties of musical instruments on capturing their sound for live-electronic processing. Hands-on knowledge will be shared with the participants, who are encouraged to explore the tools themselves. Hence, participants should bring their laptop (+headphones), and if applicable an acoustic (Malay) musical instrument, for their own experiments. Optional material to consider are microphones, pickups, mixers, and MIDI/controllers.

Target Group

Primary Audience: Composers, performers, sound artists, live-electronic musicians, and researchers interested in machine learning for music.

Skill Level: Intermediate (or a motivated beginner). A basic familiarity with electronic music concepts, sound processing, and possibly Python or Pure Data would be helpful but not strictly required for the core insights.

Prerequisites (for full participation):

  • Laptop with Internet access.
  • Headphones.
  • (Highly Recommended) Prior installation of Pure Data, as installation time is limited.
  • (Optional, as noted) An acoustic instrument, especially a Malay musical instrument.
  • (Optional, as noted) Microphone, Pickup, Mixer, MIDI controller.

Presenters:

  • Tim-Tarek Grund is a Berlin-born, Vienna-based music technologist. He has worked on computer vision, machine learning and granular synthesis in his audio installation called Cloud hands. He is currently researching live-electronic setups and mapping strategies as a PhD candidate at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. (https://www.youtube.com/@grundtongrundton)

  • Cedrik Fermont (aka C-drík, Kirdec, Cdrk) is a Berlin-based Belgian-Congolese composer, musician, mastering engineer, author, radio host, concert organiser, independent researcher and label manager (at Syrphe) who operates in the field of noise, electronic, electroacoustic, sound art, and experimental music since 1989. (http://syrphe.com/c-drik.html)

  • Alex Hofmann is a professor in music acoustics at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, sound artist and saxophone/live-electronics performer working with improvised and contemporary music. (https://iwk.mdw.ac.at/hofmann/)

Technical requirements by the presenters:

  • Power socket for laptops
  • Room with projector (HDMI connection)
  • Stereo sound system for audio playback

Timeframe (preliminary):

  • Wednesday 19.11.2024 10am - 1pm (Workshop at UM, Faculty of Creative Arts)
  • Wednesday 20.11.2024 2pm - 5pm (Research Presentation at UiTM)
  • Saturday 22.11.2024 from 8:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Showcase Concert (start 8:30 PM) at klpac

Registration:

To register, please submit the following information:

  1. Full name
  2. Contact details (email, phone number)
  3. Short CV (background and experience)
  4. Short motivation letter (why are you interested in participating in this workshop)

Application should not be longer than max. 1 page in total.

To secure your place, please send your registration to hofmann-alex(at)mdw.ac.at by November 1st.

Location(s)

  • UM - https://maps.app.goo.gl/SaHoxBNmdqHxzHUZ7
  • UiTM - https://maps.app.goo.gl/DoPPGPhk1tsfagvR8
  • klpac - https://maps.app.goo.gl/xHNz5cexkvs8gEkM7

References

  • Russolo, L. (1913). The art of noise. Glover, VT: Something else press. (pdf, pdf)

Funding This research was funded in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/AR743] and ASEA-UNINET of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education.

Feel free to share!

You may also enjoy...