On 09 - 10 April 2025, 18:00 - 21:00, Notam invites you to a workshop in contact microphones.
If you're curious about alternative microphone techniques, Notam's contact microphone workshop could be for you. Contact microphones, or piezo microphones as they are also known, are an exciting tool with many possibilities for creative work with sound. Contact microphones can be difficult to use for beginners, and the idea behind this workshop is to give participants a simple but thorough introduction to contact microphones.
In this workshop, we will review different types of contact microphones, preamps and microphone placements. We will also look at how we can extend this work with software, acoustic measurements and impulse responses. By the end of this workshop, you will have created a working contact microphone and preamplifier, ready to use for your projects.
Individual guidance will be given along the way, and if the participants have questions and ideas of their own, we can solve this together. The workshop will give you a good foundation for further work with contact microphones after the course.
The goal of the workshop
The aim of the workshop is to provide a simple and basic review of contact microphones, so that participants can produce their own contact microphone solutions after the workshop. The course requires no prior knowledge.
The course provides basic training in both the practical use of contact microphones and working with electronics, acoustics and digital sound processing. Participants will gain an understanding of working with contact microphones, which will be useful for people working with, for example, sound engineering, visual arts, music, composition, installations and interaction design.
At the end of the course, you will have a good foundation for further work and your own studies of contact microphones. If the need arises, Notam will launch a follow-up course as an extension of this course.
About contact microphones
A contact microphone is a type of microphone that detects sound vibrations through direct contact with the sound source. Unlike conventional microphones, contact microphones are relatively insensitive to air vibrations and mainly record structure-borne sound. Contact microphones can be used to amplify sound from acoustic musical instruments, they can be used as sensors, and they can be used to record sound in challenging environments, such as underwater.
The most common contact microphones use a piezoelectric sensor. It is made of a thin piezoelectric ceramic disc bonded to a metal disc. Such contact microphones sound thin without a suitable preamplifier and must therefore have a preamplifier specially adapted for contact microphones.
Contact microphones are widely used for experimental music and art. These microphones give you the opportunity to capture sounds you can't otherwise hear. They can be used in concert contexts where feedback can be a problem. They are also well suited as sensors for various types of software. Contact microphones are often used in conjunction with art installations, where you need to capture slight vibrations.
Read more about contact microphones here:
https://zachpoff.com/resources/choosing-a-contact-mic-for-field-recording/
https://www.musicofsound.co.nz/blog/the-first-rule-of-contact-mic-club
About the teachers
Niklas Adam (b.1986) is a Danish sound and visual artist based in Oslo. He works with performance and installation art as well as music. Adam likes to use both programming and electronics in his work and has performed in Europe, Russia, USA, South Korea and Japan, at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Super Deluxe in Tokyo and Henie Onstad Art Centre outside Oslo, to name a few. He is particularly interested in electronic sound, algorithmic systems, cybernetics, psychoacoustics, time and perception. Niklas Adam is also an experienced sound engineer with extensive knowledge of microphone techniques for installation art and performing arts.
Asbjørn Blokkum Flø (b. 1973) holds a degree in composition from the Norwegian Academy of Music. Since 1999 he has been working as a freelance composer and sound artist focusing on instrumental music, electronic music and sound art for radio and installations. He has worked with sound engineering since the mid-90s and has extensive experience with sound installations.
Thom Johansen (b. 1981) holds degrees in electronics and programming from Sør-Trøndelag University College (HiST) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Since 2011, he has worked at Notam with a focus on electronics, programming and sound engineering for art and music. He has worked with electronics and programming since the early 2000s, and has extensive experience with contact microphones and audio engineering.
Course schedule
Evening 1:
- different types of contact microphones
- preamplifiers for contact microphones
- microphone locations
- the contact microphone as a speaker
- build a contact microphone
Evening 2:
- acoustic measurements, impulse responses
- software
- creative work with contact microphones
- underwater recording
- the road ahead, self-study
Practical information
When: 09 - 10 April 2025, 18:00 - 21:00
Price: 1300,- kroner. This includes a contact microphone you can take home.
Language: Norwegian or English as required
Deadline for enrolment: 19 March 2025
Location: Notam, Oslo. This is a physical course, and will not be posted online.
The course has only 12 places. Participation in the course is confirmed upon payment.
Enrolment
Norwegian Centre for Technology, Art and Music