The first of the C21MP ‘Research Challenges’ took place at the University of West London’s Townshend Studio – Pete Townshend’s unique collection of synthesisers and electronic musical instruments on loan to UWL. The Call for Participation stated:

• Come and spend a day and a half exploring this unique collection of instruments by working in a small group (up to 4 people) to address a particular research challenge. Your practice in the studio will be live-streamed on social media.
• We will invite participants to retrospectively edit the video to create a narrative that illuminates the research challenge and which will be published retrospectively.
• We have suggested two research challenges (see below) but you can also suggest your own – either as an individual or as a group.
• For the first day and a half of the ‘Research Challenge’ event (16^th – 17^th Oct 2025), participants will have access to the entire collection (subject to any maintenance issues) – although obviously we will need to organise a timetable of shared usage.
• On the second afternoon, engage in a ‘post-challenge’ public date which will form part of a unique Practice Research output combining peer discussion and review with documentation and analysis of the practical work.

Participants will have to commit to being present for both days of the event.

There are five proposed challenges:

1. Reconstruction and Recontextualization: Consider possible avenues & methods in which pioneering twentieth-century electronic musical instruments may be re-interpreted, re-configured, manupulated, re-conducted conducted & otherwise interconnected so as to generate a distinctly contemporary sonic architecture of composition. What theoretical and practical approaches might be most appropriate to undertake such experiments? This group is now full
2. Developing a 21^st century approach to musical creativity based on Roy Ascott’s Groundcourse and the way his ideas about cybernetics and feedback loops can be used with these instruments. This group is now full
3. Ab/using the performative design features, resulting gestural imperfections, and sonic signatures of early polysynths in the context of sample-based Hip Hop – particularly the Yamaha GX-1, Yamaha CS-80, and Prophet-10 polysynths
4. Exploring ideas from electroacoustic composition using commercial electronic synthesisers from the Townshend collection
5. Exploring how covers or re-creations of contemporary tunes (originals or covers) could be done with the vintage synths instead of software instruments

Send your proposals to simon.zagorski-thomas@uwl.ac.uk before 9 a.m. (UK time) on Monday 8^th September 2025 stating which of the challenges you are interested in (you can select more than one but will only participate in one)

We will aim to invite successful applicants by mid-September so that groups can engage in some pre-production planning via email, Teams or Zoom and hit the ground running on the first day of the challenge. There will be technical assistance available for those that need guidance with the instruments.

* A few of the instruments are 21^st Century re-makes or re-interpretations of 20^th century originals. See the Townshend Studio website for details.