About

Elliot Inman

Elliot Inman has created and led workshops in electronics and creative coding on topics ranging from basic electronics and Python to Arduino programming, Fast Fourier Analysis, 8-bit chip synths, MIDI controllers, Audacity, and the Internet of Things.  He developed and led the “Musical Circuits” series as Maker-in-Residence at UNC (spring 2016), “Quantification:  The Art of Making Data” workshop series at NC State (fall 2016), and “Microcontrollers for the Rest of Us” at the University of Rochester (fall 2017).

At Knobcon 2016, he presented “Experimental Music:  Composing with an Arduino Midi Controller,” demonstrating unusual musical applications for a standard Arduino Uno.  At Moogfest 2017, he led Musical Pencil CMOS Oscillator workshops.  At Moogfest 2018, he led two workshops:  one building an 8-bit wavetable circuit and another using Audacity to develop an imaginary soundscape.  At Moogfest 2019, he led two workshops:  the Sums of Squares Breadboard Synth and CircuitPython for DIY MIDI Controllers.  He is an active participant in the Maker Faire scene, having presented at maker faires in Burlington, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Rochester, NY.  He is also an active digital humanities researcher having presented numerous times at the Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference on topics such as John Cage, Anni Albers, the modern Bauhaus, and others.

His musical roots began playing guitar, piano, and trumpet in various rock and jazz bands and writing pop songs.  These days, his main musical interest is experimental music and improvisation with electronics designed to bend time and our expectations of what music can be.

He earned his undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Kentucky, completing his master’s thesis on Text Processing and a dissertation on Visual Perception and Learning, and an AAS in Electronics Enginnering Technology from Wake Technical Community College.  He works for a leading analytics software company designing software solutions with a focus on data visualization.

Workshops, Talks, and Papers on Experimental Music, Creative Coding, Digital Humanities, and More (in chronological order)

Visual Riddles and the Unexpected:  The Work of Black Mountain College Students Ruth Asawa and Ray Johnson, Elliot Inman, Paper and talk to be presented at Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference, October 2024.

Anni Albers:  Color Theorist, Elliot Inman, Paper and talk at Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference, October 2023.

Asheville Mini-Maker Faire, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) April 2023.

From Digitization to Discovery:  Applying Data Science to the Art of John Cage, Stan VanDerBeek, and Anni Albers, Elliot Inman, Paper and talk at Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference, October 2022.

A Beginner’s Guide to Making Musical Things (Python for Microcontrollers), Workshop at New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYU), June 23, 2022.

John Cage, The Student:  Time at Black Mountain College, Elliot Inman, Paper and talk at Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference, November 2021.

It Came from the Cloud:  The Data Science Monster that Ate the Universe to Save the World!!!, Elliot Inman, Talk for Carolina Data Challenge 2021 (September 25, 2021).

Finding Meaning in Found Data:  A Practical Guide to Determining the Value of Open Data, Elliot Inman, Talk for Carolina Data Challenge 2020 (October 3, 2020).

Roanoke Mini-maker Faire, Virginia, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) January 2020.

Let’s Get Small:  Python for Microcontrollers, Elliot Inman, Talk at PyData Triangle, November 6, 2019.

Natasha Goldowski:  Science, Cybernetics, and High Speed Computing at Black Mountain College, Elliot Inman, Paper and talk at Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference, September 2019.

Deliberately Disorienting Design:  Using the Scientifically Sound Principles of Experimental Psychology to Create a Confusing Musical Instrument, Elliot Inman, Talk at Pint of Science, Winston-Salem NC, May 20-22 2019.

CircuitPython for DIY MIDI Microcontrollers, Elliot Inman, Workshop for Moogfest April 2019.

Sums of Squares Breadboard Synth, Elliot Inman, Workshop for Moogfest April 2019.

Burlington Mini-maker Faire,  North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) April 2019.

NoCoMicro Thingamajigs:  A Hands-on Workshop with the Circuit Playground Express, NCSU DH Hill Makerspace, March 2019.

Physical Computing with CircuitPython:  Creative Coding Physical Computing with CircuitPython, NCSU DH Hill Makerspace, February 2019.

The Makerspace as 21st Century Bauhaus: A Black Mountain College in Every University, Panel Organizer and Moderator, Elliot Inman with Adam Rogers (NCSU), David Romito (UNC), and Lauren Di Monte (University of Rochester), September 2018.

Hackathons, Meetups, Open Data, and Sharing Code: A Beginner’s Guide to Doing Good, Elliot Inman, Talk for UNC Computer Science + Social Good (CS+SG), September 20, 2018.

Circuit Bending for Beginners, Charlotte Mini-maker Faire, Discovery Place, October 2018.

Ciani Versus Buchla:  An Audacious Experiment in Sound Design, Elliot Inman, Workshop at Moogfest May 2018.

From Digital Bits to Analog Waves:  Breadboarding an 8-bit Synth, Elliot Inman, Workshop at Moogfest May 2018.

Burlington Mini-maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) April 2018.

Microcontrollers for the Rest of Us:  An Arduino Workshop Series for Beginners, University of Rochester TinkerSpace November 16-17, 2017.  Included the following workshops: The Arduino as a Real Time Data Engine; The Arduino as a Learning Machine; The Arduino as an Audience Experience Meter; and A Punk Arduino MIDI Controller.

Rochester Mini-Maker Faire, New York, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) November 2017.

Four Four Time, Elliot Inman, Installation at North Carolina School of the Arts Design Center for Design Innovation, November 1, 2017.

Charlotte Mini-maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) October 2017.

Raleigh Mini-Maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) September 2023.

Musical Pencil Synth Make-and-Take Workshop, Elliot Inman, Workshop at Moogfest May 2017

Quantification:  The Art of Making Data, workshops at NCSU DH Hill Makerspace associated with Red Talk of the same name, September 29, 2017, including the following:  Quantifying Touch, Quantifying Sound, Quantifying Attitudes and Emotions.

Burlington Mini-maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) April 2017.

An Internet of Things of Your Own, NCSU DH Hill Makerspace, March 24, 2017.

Greensboro Mini Maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) September 2016.

Internet of Things Sensor, UNC, Kenan Science Makerspace, March 22, 2017.

Experimental Music:  Composing with an Arduino Midi Controller, Elliot Inman, Talk at Knobcon synthesizer festival, September 9-11, 2016.

 Charlotte Mini Maker Faire, Making Sense of Sensor Data, Elliot Inman April 2016.

 Burlington Mini-maker Faire, North Carolina, Musical Circuits (Elliot Inman) April 2016.

 UNC Maker-in-residence, Elliot Inman, Spring of 2016 UNC Kenan Science / BeAM workshops, including:  Arduinos and MIDI:  Coding a Musical Idea; Arduinos and MIDI:  Designing a Musical Instrument; and A Brief History of Musical Time:  A Concert Featuring Participants in the Musical Circuits Series Workshops.

Making Sense of Sensor Data: An Introduction to the Internet of Things, NCSU DH Hill Makerspace, February 5, 2016.

Charlotte Mini Maker Faire, Making Sense of Sensor Data, Elliot Inman October 2015.

Making Sense of Sensor Data, An Introduction to the Internet of Things, UNC BeAM @ Hanes, November 10, 2015.

Making Sense of Sensor Data:  An Introduction to the Internet of Things, NCSU DH Hill Makerspace Thursday, August 27, 2015.

Other Stuff:

NCSU Sustainability Make-a-thon, Technical Advisor and Mentor (2017 – 2024).

UNC Data Challenge, Technical Advisor and Mentor for annual data science hackathon (2019-2021, 2024).

Wake Technical Community College Rube Goldberg Competition Judge (12/2023, 3/2024)

Made by

Wake Technical Community College (AAS in Electronics Engineering Technology)

University of Kentucky (Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology)

University of Kentucky (MS in Experimental Psychology)

North Carolina State University (BA in Psychology)

North Carolina State University (BA in English)

Cary High School (High School Diploma)

NC Governor’s School

East Cary Junior High School

Carroll Junior High School

Ravenscroft

Effie Green Elementary School

Lynn Road Elementary School

Jeffries Grove Elementary School

Key Biscayne Elementary School

Saint Christopher’s By-the-Sea Montessori

Musical Circuits (aka “Amateur Musicology”)

“Recklessly re-constructing music” is the purpose of the irregularly updated blog.  The “re-” prefix became affixed to many different verbs during the postmodern era in which everything was considered to be a response to modernism.  During that period, critics used words like “re-examination,” “re-presentation,” “re-evaluation,” and so on to make clear that what was happening was in response to what had already happened.  “Re-constructing” is to construct something again, especially something that has been deconstructed.  Music is “organized sound.”  The purpose of this blog is to re-construct organized sound based on a scholarly study of music.  Recklessly.  It’s a post-postmodern thing.

Musical Circuits was presented at UNC-Chapel Hill as a series of workshops in Spring of 2016.  The first workshop was with the UNC / Duke Experimental Music Study Group and focused on building the world’s simplest oscillator played with a Musical Pencil.  Later that Spring, a series of workshops were conducted with the UNC Makerspace as part of a Maker-in-Residence program.  Since then, we have done countless workshops, talks, and demonstrations of a wide variety of musical circuits, from CMOS synths to Arduino sequencers to circuit-bent musical toys and more.

Technical Notes

This blog is not intended to provide step-by-step instructions on circuit design.  This is a place to document ideas and prototypes and save a few photos and videos from various workshops.  Consider it one part instructables to four parts rejected art school thesis.  Shaken, not stirred.

That said, every effort is made to ensure that technical information provided is accurate, safe, and helpful. If you find a technical error of importance in these posts, please contact: amateur musicology at gmail dot com and include TECHNICAL ERROR in the subject line so that we can address that issue.

Any quoted material, reference, or other content posted here that originated with another author, artist, composer, critic, scholar, or other content-creator is intended for scholarly purposes only.  This website does not generate any revenue so posting such content would not benefit the site owner in any financial manner.

All content on Musical Circuits & Amateur Musicology, unless explicitly noted (author/artist citation or link), is the property of Amateur Musicology & Musical Circuits, painstakingly created to fit within the narrow functionality of this blog.  Feel free to link to this blog any way you want – recklessly, even.

~WEI 2016, updated 2024