Latent Soundings workshop at BEK dives into the field of neural audio synthesis, a novel audio synthesis technique enabled by advancements in real-time deep learning. The workshop offers participants the opportunity to explore the evolution of sound synthesis alongside artificial neural networks, train their own generative sound synthesizers and explore their sonic possibilities using SEMILLA.AI.

Throughout the workshop, participants will learn to create and manipulate datasets, train models to generate new sounds that mimic and transform the characteristics of original audio, and merge sounds to produce entirely new auditory experiences. This hands-on approach redefines aesthetic exploration in music composition, sound design, and sound art, shifting from fixed media to a generative understanding of sonic phenomena.

A significant focus will be on SEMILLA.AI, a tool created by hexorcismos that enhances real-time manipulation of sound characteristics, allowing for deep interaction with the latent space of sounds. We will also delve into the best practices for using text-to-music systems and discuss how these techniques can be integrated into participants’ creative processes.

The workshop will culminate in a collaborative multi-neural network autopoietic ensemble, demonstrating the interactive and evolving capabilities of neural networks in a live setting, with feedback logics. Participants will also engage in discussions about the philosophical and ethical aspects of using AI in sound creation, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the state of discourse in the field.

Practical Info
Time: 5–9 June, 12:00–14:00 each day.
We will make room for participants to work individually at BEK during the workshop dates. Changes in time can occur.
Place: BEK, C. Sundts gate 55, Bergen Norway
The workshop will be held in English, for a group of ten participants. Please contact us at resources@bek.no for any questions. Bring your own laptop or computer to BEK to work on during the workshop days.

MOISÉS HORTA / ℌEXOℜℭℑSMOS
Moisés Horta Valenzuela (1988, he/him) is an autodidact sound artist, technologist and electronic musician from Tijuana, México, working in the fields of computer music, Artificial Intelligence and the history and politics of emerging digital technologies. As hexorcismos, he crafts an uncanny link between ancient and state-of-the-art sound technologies channeled through a critical decolonial theory lens in the context of contemporary electronic music and the sonic arts. His work has been presented in Ars Electronica, MUTEK México, Transart Festival, MUTEK: AI Art Lab Montréal, Elektron Musik Studion, CTM Festival: Music Makers Hacklab, among others.