Author Archives: Elliot Inman
Permanent Prototypes
The ability to define history while it is happening is a rare skill. For every Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, 1835/1840) that gets it right, there is a Coming of Age in Samoa (Mead, 1928) that gets it wrong. We … Continue reading
John Cage, the Student: Time at Black Mountain College
This is from my talk at the Black Mountain College ReVIEWING conference in November of 2021. That year’s conference focused on John Cage’s ideas and practices. The annual conference draws scholars from around the world to Asheville, North Carolina, near … Continue reading
The First Makerspace?
At some point in our evolution, human beings started sharing tools. We know from biologists that many animals make some kind of tool, but many tools provide only latent solutions — a specific tool to accomplish a specific task. At … Continue reading
Let’s Get Small: Python for Microcontrollers
Let’s Get Small: Python for Microcontrollers Elliot Inman In the world of Big Data, some of the most prolific data generating devices are also the smallest – microcontrollers that gather data from sensors and pump out an always-on highspeed bitstream. … Continue reading
High Speed Computing for Poets
Natasha Goldowski: Science, Cybernetics, and High Speed Computing at Black Mountain College Elliot Inman Paper presented at the Black Mountain College ReViewing Conference 2019 held on the campus of UNC-Asheville. The success of any interdisciplinary curriculum often depends on a … Continue reading
Deliberately Disorienting Design
Deliberately Disorienting Design: Using the Scientifically Sound Principles of Experimental Psychology to Create a Confusing Musical Instrument Elliot Inman Pint of Science at Indendiary Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC May 22, 2019 As we strive to optimize every aspect of our lives, … Continue reading
CircuitPython for DIY MIDI Microcontrollers
CircuitPython for DIY MIDI Microcontrollers Moogfest 2019 Session 1: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019 Session 2: 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019 For years, the Arduino, programmed in C, has … Continue reading
Sums of Squares Breadboard Synth
Sums of Squares Breadboard Synth 4:30 PM – 5:45 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019 A single digital square wave produces a buzzy musical tone. A second slow square produces a slow-rolling LFO. A third fast square produces a … Continue reading
The Makerspace as 21st Century Bauhaus: A Black Mountain College in Every University
At the 10th Annual Black Mountain College ReVIEWING conference (September 2018), I moderated a panel with three innovative makerspace leaders — Adam Rogers (NCSU), David Romito (UNC), and Lauren Di Monte (U of Rochester). We talked about how the modern … Continue reading
Musical Circuits Goes to Moogfest 2018
From Digital Bits to Analog Waves: Breadboarding an 8-bit Synth Using only digital logic and handful of wires and resistors, we will breadboard a circuit that creates complex analog sounds. Theoretically speaking, we will wire an R2R (resistor to resistor) … Continue reading
Musical Circuits 
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