Light shapes every show you’ve ever seen — the drop when the bass hits, the wash that turns a stage into a different world, the single spot that makes a crowd go silent. Someone builds that. This course is where you learn how.

In one focused session, you’ll go from zero to actually patching and controlling fixtures on grandMA3 — the same console system used on major concerts, theatre productions, and TV broadcasts worldwide. No prior experience needed.

Who this is for

• Beginners curious about lighting for live events, theatre, concerts, or entertainment
• Technicians looking to move into lighting
• Students wanting a real introduction to professional lighting control
• Anyone who’s ever watched a show and wondered “how did they do that with the lights?”

What you’ll walk away with

• A clear understanding of what a lighting designer actually does — and how they fit into a production team
• Real insight into the workflow behind a lighting project, from first concept to show day
• Working familiarity with the grandMA3 interface
• The fundamentals of fixture patching — DMX, universes, addresses, and how it all connects
• Confidence navigating fixture attributes and control parameters
• A basic show file you’ve built yourself, with fixtures under your control

The Program

Module 1 — What Does a Lighting Designer Do?
Roles and responsibilities, working with artists, directors, and production teams, and how a creative concept becomes a lit show. We’ll cover the different worlds lighting designers work in: concerts, theatre, corporate events, TV, and architectural lighting.

Module 2 — Understanding the Production Process
Reading plots and documentation, the advancing process, communicating with venues, fixture specifications, and how to prepare a show before you ever set foot on site.

Module 3 — Introduction to grandMA3
A hands-on tour of the software — interface, windows, layouts, show files, and basic navigation.

Module 4 — Patching Fixtures
What DMX actually is, universes and addresses, fixture profiles, adding fixtures in grandMA3, the mistakes almost everyone makes when patching for the first time, and how to verify everything’s actually talking to each other.

Module 5 — Fixture Attributes & Control
Intensity, position, colour, beam, focus — and an introduction to presets and basic programming concepts.

Q&A
Bring your questions. Giovanni sticks around to answer them.

Details

Duration: 3 hours
Instructor: Giovanni Allegro
Location: ACUD Kunsthaus, Veteranenstraße 21, Berlin-Mitte

The post Introduction to Lighting Design & grandMA3 with Giovanni Allegro appeared first on Berlin School of Sound.

Join us to move past performance anxiety and creative blocks. Together, we’ll attune the voice, body, and electronic vocal effects to expand your vocal capacity.

Dumama (composer for Dzata: School of Technological Consciousness) reminds us: tools are shaping you, you are shaping tools.

12 weeks. Wednesdays. Starting September 16.

Ending in a collective choir performance.
📍 ACUD Kunsthaus, Berlin

The post Sounds from a Listening Body — Vocal Semester Course appeared first on Berlin School of Sound.

“The best part was understanding how everything connects — it completely changed how I think about sound.” — Workshop participant, Berlin School of Sound

“I came in knowing nothing. By day two I was building patches I didn’t think were possible.” — Workshop participant, Berlin School of Sound

Four days. One studio. Your first real modular patch.

Early Bird: €549 · Regular: €649 · 14:00–18:00 daily · Max 10 participants · English · Berlin

You don’t need to know what a patch cable is. You don’t need to own a single module. You need four days, a willingness to experiment, and curiosity about what happens when you stop programming music and start building it with your hands.

This is a hands-on intensive in Stéphane Lefrançois’s private Berlin studio — a fully equipped professional space where you work directly with Eurorack systems in a group of maximum 10 people. No lecture halls. No YouTube tutorials. Just you, the modules, and someone who’s been doing this for years.

The Program

Day 1 — Introduction to Modular Synthesis Modular fundamentals. Patch cables and signal routing. Oscillators, filters, envelope generators. Understanding voltage control. Your first ambient and drone compositions. Introduction to VCV Rack — setting up, downloading modules, basics of patching.

Day 2 — Sound Design & Exploration Deep dive into oscillator behaviour, filter types and envelope shaping. Building expressive patches from scratch. Learning to trust your ears over your eyes. Drum patching, FM synthesis, self-evolving patches.

Day 3 — Complex Patching & Generative Systems Cross-modulation and feedback loops. Sequencers and randomisation for generative patches. Creating evolving textures and self-playing systems that surprise even you.

Day 4 — Modular in Performance Modular in a live context. Building sets, managing complexity, improvisation strategies. Final session: each participant presents a live patch to the group.

What’s included

→ 16 hours of hands-on instruction across 4 days
→ Full access to Stéphane’s professional Eurorack system
→ Maximum 10 participants — guaranteed hands-on time every session
→ Private studio environment — not a classroom
→ Certificate of completion

Your instructor

Stéphane Lefrançois is a drummer, recording engineer, performing artist, DJ and teacher based in Berlin. He has run studios in London, Ibiza and Berlin, and founded Secret Music — a label releasing electronic music with soul. At Berlin School of Sound he leads the modular synthesis curriculum, bringing years of professional studio and live performance experience directly to students.

He doesn’t teach from a textbook. He teaches from the studio.

Who is this for?

Complete beginners are welcome — no prior knowledge of modular synthesis required. If you already patch, this workshop will push you into more complex territory. What matters is curiosity and a willingness to experiment.

What people say

“The best part was understanding how everything connects — it completely changed how I think about sound.” — Workshop participant, Berlin School of Sound

“I came in knowing nothing. By day two I was building patches I didn’t think were possible.” — Workshop participant, Berlin School of Sound

Details

📅 Mon 14 – Thu 17 July 2026 · 14:00–18:00 daily (16 hours total)
📍 Stéphane’s private studio, Berlin — full address shared after booking
👥 Max 10 participants
🌍 English
🎓 All levels welcome — complete beginners to intermediate

Early Bird: €549 · Regular: €649

The post Modular Synths Workshop — 4-Day Intensive / Edition 1: Jul 14–17 appeared first on Berlin School of Sound.