Participants will meet at Indexical to learn about soldering and implementing Piezo contact microphones. We will cover a basic history of transducers, and lead a step-by-step demo on soldering your own. We will then have time for free improvisation using the materials at hand to explore various methods and applications. Participants are encouraged to bring any objects or instruments they are curious about playing with. More resonant objects typically yield clearer results. Indexical will also provide materials to experiment with as well as all necessary building materials. We will have soldering irons for shared use, but if you have one, bringing your own is encouraged. No prior soldering experience is required. No prior musical experience is required. Participants will leave with their own fully functional contact mic and fresh ideas for implementation.

A series of hybrid study groups, workshops, and gatherings that aim to facilitate a collaborative space for the exploration of a topic or modality under the umbrella of Sound Studies. These get-togethers are experiments in how to learn, play, and listen in collaboration with one another. Rather than the traditional format of teacher/student, the aim is to create a generative communal environment fostered through curiosity and safe space. In other words, being together in a place about a thing.

S.C.U.M. (Santa Cruz Underground Music) is the revival of an old anagram to rekindle a collectivized effort towards performance and skill-share across various experimental art spaces and mediums.