Alex4 takes part in the Discover Music program of the Frankfurt Musikmesse.

The basic idea behind Discover Music is to test musical instruments in a playful way and make your first musical steps.

Discover Music is the further development of the established "Musik4Kidz" project, which has sent more than 140,000 children on a journey of discovery into the world of sounds and tones in recent years. Discover Music not only offers the youngest visitors the opportunity to make their first musical steps, but also provides an attractive platform for all visitor groups. All interested visitors to the Musikmesse can use the Discover Music area to try out instruments to their heart's content and broaden their musical horizons.

Alex4 has set up the "Modular Lounge" with various modular systems for this purpose. Tom Koerting and Sacha Ketterlin look after the young and old at their first contact with electronic sound generators.

Come and see us in the Congress Center, Level 2, Hall Harmonie, Room 10, where many of our brands will be represented and available for experimentation in various systems.

Without Jürgen Michaelis the history of electronic music in Berlin might be a bit different. More than twenty years ago the techno community in Berlin was searching for the perfect kick drum sound (and still is?!). TR 909s were rare and that’s where Jürgen comes into play – he knew how to build a proper analog kick drum and so he did – and with some additions like a sequencer and more instruments, the legendary Jomox Xbase 09 was born!

Right from the beginning the sound of Jomox drum machines was so convincing, that artists like Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, Martin Gore, The Prodigy and many many more have been using Jomox machines.

But this workshop will not only be about kick drums – we are looking further into the history of Jomox, where the Resonator Neuronium was an important cornerstone. This was the first realization of a device with Resonant Neuron Synthesis. The new paradigms that formed this machine are named complexity, order from chaos, self organization of complex systems, networking and cooperation. From a certain complexity onwards a system is not only the sum total of its parts but a greater whole which gains totally new attributes than its sub structures.

Don’t miss this workshop with Jomox founder Jürgen Michaelis!

Thursday // 28th of March // 7:30pm // SchneidersLaden

Sam Barker is a musician, DJ and co-founder of the Berlin based label Leisure System and will be guest at SchneidersLaden on Thursday 21st of March. He will be be presenting a new acoustic sound project, and give an experimental electro-mechanical performance for us with a DIY plate reverb and solenoid-based percussive attachments. We are very much looking forward to this special performance and some insights into his setup and the making of the DIY Plate Reverb! See you there!

No registration needed, the event is free.

Start 7:30pm // Thursday 21st of March // SchneidersLaden

Learn about the history and development of one of the most expressive and versatile electronic music instruments around! The Haken Continuum Fingerboard has been around for several years and is still being developed further and further. The heart of this unique instrument is a digital EaganMatrix – based on the principles of the patch-matrix of synthesizers like Arp 2500 and EMS Synthi 100. And it gets its expressiveness from the incomparable surface that acts as the user interface and offers realtime continuous control in three dimensions for every finger that is placed on the playing surface! As well as presenting the Continuum there will be a very rare chance to hear the La Voix du Luthier Onde! With this exceptional approach to the construction of a speaker, the sound directly comes from the vibrations of the 2 soundboards. There is no traditional speaker cone inside, only acoustic exciters transmitting the vibration into the wood. It is the same principle as for a guitar: the strings themselves make very little sound, but they are transmitting their vibrations to the soundboard through the bridge, and what you hear is the sonic amplification via the soundboard. In case of the Onde the exciter is acting as the bridge and transmits the electric “vibrations” to the wood. The Onde gives you a very dispersive and immersive sound and the chance to experience electronic sound sources in a totally new way. This incredible sound can hardly be recorded – so make sure to come to the workshop to get an accurate impression of the Onde!

No registration needed, the event is free.

THURSDAY – March 14th – 7.30pm @SchneidersLaden

Check out the SUPERBOOTH18 video release to get a better idea of what to expect: