Technology is heavily involved in the production and performance of music. However few artists go beyond the basics of what can be achieved with it. We are asking "what new opportunities for sound and performance could be developed for artists if they are given access to some computer engineering know-how?"

Buzz Jam paired 6 emerging artists and their managers with 6 technology developer teams. The 'hack day' is to tech what the 'jam session' is to music. Adapting these methods, the teams worked together in a recording studio in a workshop lasting two days (and one night) to create a new musical instrument or interface. The results

of their collaborations were then performed live in front of an invited audience and media at the end of the weekend and filmed for a series of follow up videos.

July: WMAS curated 6 teams of coders, YGN created an open application for artists. The website and entry process launched and we had 50 applications from which we selected 6 artists based on a mix of musical styles, tech knowledge and experience and their fit with the coders.

August: we held creative sessions with each team to help them brainstorm ideas and decide which piece of music they would be working with, and what components they would need. The pre-production was managed by YGN. We sourced components and planned the format of the event. We began the twitter campaign.

September: The final event was planned, guests were invited and media partners engaged. We brought in three Sony guest speakers and three Sony ambassador artists, and shot pre-event teaser videos.

Event: The event was delivered over 2 days and documented by WMA.

Event took place 19th and 20th Sept 2015

The original objective was to look at how 2 creative processes (from music and coding) could come together to create a new, playable instrument. We were interested in how these 2 worlds collide and whether they could create functioning one offs. As it turned out not only did all the instruments work and stand up to the scrutiny of a live performance in front of an audience but, in some cases, the artists expressed a clear desire to continue using them as part of their live performance - almost a reverse hack of how they perform. So, although the creation of working prototypes that could could end up in production was not our aim, in some cases these instruments could be candidates for future investment to produce them on a larger scale.