Drop a Beat

We delve into the realms of Mozart, MetaeX, Skrillex and Fatboy Slim. We drop some fat beats using the incredible SonicPi, a program which turns your code into sweet, sweet music live and in real time. Using the Ruby language, we explore musical scales, tempo and timing, composition and chords. Once we have a decent melody going, we dive into variables and threads by adding a chocolatey bassline and sampling a rapturous drum loop to create your own personal nightclub anthem, movie theme or game.

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Age

8-16 years

Location

MakeSpace, Cambridge - CB2 1RX

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Dates

29th May 2017 (Cambridge)

Times

9am - 5pm

Duration

1 Day Camp

Level

Level 1 This is an introductory course and is suitable for anyone above the age of 8 or above to try, these courses will provide a good starting platform for developing tech skills.

Hardware/Software

Raspberry Pi, Sonic Pi

Discipline

Coding

Languages

Ruby

About the course

Sonic Pi is an open source programming environment developed at Cambridge University by Dr Sam Aaron, designed to explore and teach programming concepts through the process of creating new sounds.

What that means is Sonic Pi is a program which will help you to learn about coding in Ruby while you make some cool music.

Sonic Pi was developed to be a platform for the live coding of music, so that the code can be manipulated, changed and adapted in real time; this means coders can make changes to the music as the computer is playing it, and perform their code rather than just playing pre-written programs. (In fact, Dr Sam travels all over the world as part of a DJ team called MetaeX, coding his sets live on stage using Sonic Pi!)

ALL TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT IS PROVIDED FOR THIS COURSE.

Skills acquired

Creativity

As a Hacker, you're responsible for creating a useful, interesting or fun piece of work that others will want to use. As a result, you must have strong creative abilities to design technologies that are unique, visually appealing, interesting and thought-provoking. You’ll construct projects that engage users, encouraging them to purchase new items you create when released for public distribution.

Mathematical Reasoning

Creating technology often requires a good grasp of mathematics and science in order to build projects which are accurate, sturdy or stable enough to perform properly. Measurement, regularity and patterns are very important aspects of the technology we use, and not understanding the science behind the tech often leads to poor results.

Technical Knowledge

Not all tools are suited to all jobs. You wouldn't use a screwdriver to drill a hole, for example. Hackers understand that the right tool, programming language, software package or material can make the difference between excellence and efficiency, or failure and frustration. Knowing what tools are at your disposal, or what tool you need to get is an invaluable skill for any Hacker.

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