Maker Faire Dublin

Breandan Lane will be exhibiting Dreampunk at Dublin Mini Maker Faire. I think the video of his “reimagineered robo carousel” speaks for itself.

Alma is an ensemble of easy to play musical instruments, a piece of music, a group music project and a way for people of all ages and musical abilities to work together to create something they couldn’t do alone. Ed Devnane has been developing instruments and techniques since early 2012 for this project, which will see its first public outing at the Dublin Mini Maker Faire.

ALMA Dublin Mini Maker Faire Promo from Ed Devane on Vimeo.

For the Maker Faire I will demonstrate how to make some simple instruments such as drums and whistles, which will be played in addition to the permanent instruments by the audience at the end of the day.

It is my intention to build on this project over the coming months, adding new instrument types, music games, visual scores and giving workshops in instrument building and group music making. With ALMA I wish to involve people who may not have played music before, by making the instruments numerous (strength in numbers!) and accessible enough (single pitch instruments, played by either blowing into a tube or hitting with a stick) for anyone to play.

ALMA uses a five note Pentatonic scale and colour coded instruments. So far these instruments consist of tube chimes, reed pipes, wood blocks, single note whistles and percussion instruments. Slide whistles and various types of string instruments are in development.

Check out the video below from the Storymaker team – creative technologist Duncan Gough (http://suttree.com) and digital producer Leila Johnston (http://finalbullet.com). These fun folk are interested in exploring the relationship between performance and technology. With puppets!!!

Storymaker from leila johnston on Vimeo.

“We’re turning the tables on the Faire – we want to get the visitors making. We’re interested in theatre, circuses and magic – places of misdirection and illusion but also of fun, where entertainment is the goal. There are clear parallels with consumer technology today, where design decisions obfuscate reality, manipulating a user’s attention and magnifying excitement, and where nothing is quite what it seems. Theatre can inspire creativity through the sheer confidence it has in its own weirdness, and we’re hoping our puppets will bring out some good stories in the people who visit our stand, by intercepting the awkwardness of staring straight into a camera. We hope to find out how some of these geeks became the makers they are today. By inviting people to remember some of their personal experiences of computing, we’ll celebrate the excitement of encountering devices that needed your input before they could speak, machines that asked for an investment of imagination and personality from the user. The maker community has always understood the importance of these kinds of machines, of course, and you only have to look at the explosion of popularity of arduinos etc in recent years to see that we really want our tech to fire the imagination.” – Leila and Duncan

How big do you like your drums? It is 14ft diameter or nothing for Dublin Mini Maker Faire. It is just how we roll. Luckily the talented maker Bounce has met our strangely exact dimensional whims. Here is a video of it being warming it up and body & soul ahead of July 14th.

A 14ft diameter drum designed and built by artist Bounce. It is made from 90% recycled/re purposed material. Fuinneamh (Irish for energy) is for all to play ,a communal drum No experience of drums is needed, its all about having fun together Mel and Keith our drummers will be on hand to show some rhythms and encourage  all to join in.

You, like us, were probably wondering when Forbes magazine were going to start the taking the whirlwind that is Dublin Mini Maker Faire seriously. Well ladies and gentlemen that time has come. Check it out we got a mention in article on “Why The Hacker Economy Will Save Your Business”.

Take a look at the wonderful Lego Fun Faire coming together by the bright sparks at Presentation School Warrenmount.

Check out this video from the NUI Maynooth Maker’s Club hard at work making a montage. Great bunch of guys, who have been really active in promoting the Faire. If the stand they had at St Patrick’s Day Big Day out is anything to go by, you won’t want to miss them at Dublin Mini Maker Faire.

“The NUI Maynooth Maker’s Club is quite simply a time and a place where anyone of any ability, of any background, of any discipline can join in and take some delight in making, building, and inventing anything they can dream up. The Maker’s Club is not confined to electronics. It is not confined to pen and paper. It is not confined to traditional engineering, art or science. It is open to left-brainers, right-brainers and no-brainers. We hope the only limitations you will confront are those of your own imagination – which is an interesting place to be. So come meet us at the Dublin Mini Maker Faire on the 14th July 2012.“

You are the best guys!

In the lead up to Dublin Mini Maker Faire, let’s meet some of the great makers who will be at the faire:

We promised there’d be lasers, and Husband and wife team Fiona Snow and Michael Mohler balance a love for accuracy and precision with a creative “flair” to make some amazing laser-cut products.

Since 2011, SNOW have been lasering away, using a 40 watt Epilog Laser Cutter to create many of their products.

This cutting edge machine has a working area of 600 x 300 mm and can cut and score a very wide range of materials from paper, plastics, wood and much more.  Here are some examples of the setup and sample projects:

Download our sponsor pack to find out how you can support this great event.

Becoming a sponsor of Dublin Mini Maker Faire is a great way for your company or organization to get involved with this exciting and enriching community, all-ages event in its inaugural year.

We’re chuffed that some of the lovely makers from Brighton Mini Maker Faire will be joining us at Dublin Mini Maker Faire.  Check out their faire from last year: