More than music: Moogest will feature plenty of new, immersive high tech

DURHAM – Moogfest returns to Durham this week for another year of programming centered around electronic music and STEAM innovation.

Kicking off Thursday, the four-day festival includes daytime and nighttime sessions and performances at several venues across downtown Durham.

On Tuesday, event producer Moog Music announced the winner of the annual Moog Innovation Award—electronic musician Martin Gore, founding member of British synth-pop band Depeche Mode.

Performers in the music lineup include Questlove, Thomas Dolby, Arabian Prince, Max Cooper and Kimbra.

MORE CALENDAR NEWS: Check out WRAL TechWire’s extensive listings covering events across North Carolina for this month – and coming months.

For tech enthusiasts, the program includes several workshops and educational sessions for hands-on learning.

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At American Tobacco Campus Bay 7, there will be a free immersive Modular Marketplace and Moog Pop-Up sessions every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for folks to tinker with electronic instruments. Other electronic music technology workshops will be held everyday at the American Tobacco Campus.

NC State Libraries will present a series of workshops covering WebVR, audio visualization, digital fabrication, portable sound production and DJing . They will also present a “Library of the Future” showcase of VR demos, robots, circuits, hackable synthesizers. Additionally, NC State’s Plant and Microbial Biology program is partnering with NCSU Libraries for a workshop on how to build a digital flower bouquet, viewable using a VR headset or traditional web browser.

On Friday and Saturday afternoons, Kid Cool Theremin School will host workshops on how to play a Theremin, the first-ever electronic instrument. There are two versions of the workshop, one for kids and one for adults.

A two-day synth-building workshop will be held for Engineer Pass holders, where they can build and keep their own Moog analog synthesizer out of the unreleased Moog design. No experience is necessary for participation.

Activist and solo artist Madame Gandhi will present an interactive workshop inviting LGBT and non-binary attendees to jam together. She’ll also share her latest production techniques with the audience.

Elliott Inman, a data scientist and manager of software development at SAS, will present a DIY circuit-building workshop using CircuitPython.

Moogfest’s tech-focused programming stretches all four days of the festival. See the full schedule here.

According to Moogfest organizers, turnout for this year’s festival will be in the thousands, like previous years.

Moogfest 2019 marks the 15th anniversary of the festival and its fourth year in Durham. In 2016, Moog Music moved the annual program from Asheville in hopes of signing on sponsors and partners from the Triangle’s tech community and university ecosystem.

With Move From Asheville, Moogfest to Make Festival Magic Happen in Durham

Durham leaders welcomed the move. Moogfest attracts thousands of attendees from around the world every year—adding fuel to the city’s visibility as a tourist destination. WRAL reported last year that the festival brings in $200,000 in local tax revenue and boosts Durham’s economy by around $7 million.

Partners for Moogfest 2019 are a mix of local and national organizations. American Underground and Guitar Center are the presenting sponsors. Supporting partners include Tarboro Brewing Company, Bedlam, Berklee Online, the City of Durham and Durham County, Myer Sound, Red Bull and the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology.

General admission tickets are priced at $249 and VIP tickets are $499. Single-day passes cost $99, student discounted passes cost $149 and engineer passes are $1,500.

https://wraltechwire.com/event/moogfest-2019/