Residency Recap: Muddymonk

We had the pleasure of welcoming Berlin-based experimental musician Lucrecia Dalt for a concert at the Bad Bonn club and a talk in Fribourg at the SMEM Playroom. We asked her some questions about her latest album, ¡Ay!, and went into some detail about her production techniques, for her own albums as well as for the movie scores she has written.

The Synkie is a modular instrument for video synthesis and mangling, offering unique and strange possibilities. Michael Egger, the "brains" behind the project, tells us about it.

We visited Muriaux, in the Jura area, to meet with Janine Wiggli, the wife of the famous swiss composer Oscar Wiggli. We learned that this quiet character is actually behind many instruments used by Oscar for his experiments, and, having noticed a lack of informations about her, we seeked to further understand her role and her perspective.

In October 2021, the SMEM hosted Sarah Davachi for a talk followed by a concert. Below are some of the highlights of our discussion and some answers to the questions she received from the public.

Stéphane Caviglioli aka Boodaman has been making electronic music for more than 30 years. We visited him to talk about his musical journey, from virtual instruments to modular systems, and to discuss how he's currently engaged in making in the modular scene more accessible through his teachings, events and modules.

In 2019, SMEM invited Rabid Elephant, an american synthesizer manufacturer, for a talk. In this article, we share some of what was said that day, revealing interesting takes on how electronic music is created and how that process can be improved through the design of better instruments. (check the french and german translation of this article)

We pay a visit to Cédric Maillard to talk about the history of the Amiga music scene, as well as its current state. It's a true hotspot of ingenuity and craftsmanship.

Google's cultural program "Arts & Culture" united about 50 institutions from all parts of the world for an online exhibition entitled Music, Makers and Machines. The smem had the pleasure to contribute to this project with articles and 30 of the most famous instruments of its collection that were 3D scanned by a team of rendering experts.

Active since the early 90's, Mark Verbos is musician, engineer, producer and instrument designer of Verbos Electronics, a well known modular company. Most of all he is known for totally improvised live performances. The smem had the chance to welcome Mark for a visit of the museum and ask him a few questions on his continuous journey through music and technology.