School
for
Poetic
Computation
With much of our listening mediated by streaming platforms, social networks, and virtual environments, it is exciting to imagine possible new alternatives that these tools open for composing and distributing music online. But how can these web technologies be used to shape a modern sound practice? In this 10-week class, participants will explore this question by building musical experiences that draw on live web APIs, networking, and generative algorithms in the web browser. Sessions will combine discussion, sharing, technical exercises, and hands-on lab time. Approximately half of the courses will focus on tech agnostic composition and sound design exercises. These lessons will include sampling and digital synthesis techniques, as well as tactics in improvisational performance. Participants will work each week to build their own web-based sound pieces while collectively imagining what new forms music may take on the world wide web. The course will primarily use the Web Audio API and the Max/RNBO and p5.js sound libraries though other tools will also be explored. While some experience working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is required, we welcome all experience levels. If you have any doubts about required skills coming into the class, reach out to us before applying.
This class may be for you if:
This class may NOT be for you if:
Tommy Martinez is an artist and programmer working primarily through research, sound and code. He creates software and musical systems for the internet, embedded devices, and for live multichannel performance. Martinez has performed at MoMA PS1, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Fridman Gallery, and Pioneer Works. He has lectured on sound and electronic art at School for Poetic Computation, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and NYU.
he/him
· website
· twitter
· instagram
Maxine de las Pozas is a music artist and technologist in Brooklyn, NY. She has performed, published original music, and DJ’ed under the name Axine M since 2017. As Axine M, she is a 2024 Issue Project Room Artist in Residence. Maxine holds a master's degree in Music Technology from NYU Steinhardt, where she focused on the design of novel music controllers for live performance. Her thesis project was published in the proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2020) and International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2021). Maxine is an active participant in and sound engineer for Chaos Computer. She works as an Audiovisual Technician.
she/her
· website
· instagram
Our programs are conducted in spoken English with audiovisual materials such as slides, code examples and video. Online programs are held over Zoom.
Please take care and be well. We hope you are comfortable in your housing, living, and working situation in general. Never hesitate to ask us for advice and reach out if you have accessibility requests or need any assistance during your time at SFPC. We will work closely with you towards co-creating the most accommodating learning environment for your needs.
What excites you about making sonic experiences and music on the internet?
Applications open until Applications closed on April 16, 2024.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on . Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.
For 10 classes, it costs $1200 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule weekly or monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.
SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.
Upon payment, your space in the class will be reserved. We offer scholarships for those who cannot pay full tuition. Read more about scholarships below.
If you can’t pay full tuition, we really still want you to apply. Our application will ask you how much you can pay. We will offer subsidized positions in all of our classes, once each one has enough participants enrolled that we’re able to do so.
We have also started a scholarship fund, and we will be offering additional scholarships as community members redistribute their wealth through SFPC. We direct scholarship funds towards participants who are low-income, Black, Indigenous, racialized, gendered, disabled, Queer, trans, oppressed, historicially excluded and underrepresented.
Right now, tuition is SFPC’s main source of income, and that is a problem. It means that we can only pay teachers, pay for space, and organize programs when participants pay full tuition to attend. Tuition is a huge barrier to entry into the SFPC community, and it disproportionately limits Black participants, indigenous participants, queer and trans participants, and other people who are marginalized, from participating. Scholarships are not a long term solution for us, but in the short and medium term we hope to offer them more while we work towards transforming SFPC’s financial model.
For SFPC to be the kind of place the community has always meant it to be, it needs to become a platform for wealth redistribution. If you are a former participant, prospective participant, or friend of the school, and you have the financial privilege to do so, please donate generously. There is enough wealth in this community to make sure no one is ever rejected because of their inability to pay, and becoming that school will make SFPC the impactful, imaginative, transformative center of poetry and justice that we know it can be.
Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.