Good Skills: New Madlab courses in making your own synth, bid writing & more

Madlab is Manchester’s learning studio where you can get to grips with technology and be creative, thanks to a hands-on approach to learning. Women are welcome, technology is accessible. And while some courses require taking an earlier module, essentially, they are designed so that you can get the most out of them wherever you are coming from. From electronics and story writing to coding and taxidermy, the courses are powered by world-class tutors, small groups and real-life experimentation. Plus, you’ll meet like-minded people AND get to study in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Book now for the following: –

1. A Practical Introduction to The Internet of Things
Things are talking to things these days – and this course will get you hands-on with building connected devices using the open source Spark developers’ toolkit. Learn to prototype electronic products which can talk to smartphones, the web and the world. You need a basic understanding of electronics prototyping (e.g. Arduino) and programming to take this course. If you like the sound of it, but aren’t quite there, look out for the next Introducing Arduino & Physical Computing course.
Sat 21 Feb, 10am-5pm, prices vary, www.madlab.org.uk

2. Advanced WordPress with WordPress Co-Founder, Mike Little
Help yourself and others to build world-class websites with this behind-the-scenes look at WordPress. This advanced course is ideal for those who are already comfortable building WordPress sites but are looking to work in the field professionally – perhaps wanting to make a living building WordPress sites or creating more sophisticated WordPress sites. Course tutor Mike Little is the co-founder of WordPress. He’s also the founder and CEO of WordPress consultancy zed1.com and has a portfolio of  prominent government sites to his name.
Thu 12 & Fri 13 Mar (Advanced WP), Thu 16 & Fri 17 Apr (Beginners WP), 10am-4.30pm, Thu 18 & Fri 19 Jun (Advanced WP), £400, www.madlab.org.uk

3. Raise cash with a Bid Writing course
Learn how to raise money the professional way, with Madlab’s bid writing course. Equip yourself to win by working on an existing application or a new one at the extremely reasonable one-day session. By the end, you’ll be able to identify funds and deliver a winning bid as well as understanding the wider strategic and policy contexts. Perfect for individuals and small-to-medium enterprises aiming to raise funds for projects or operations. The course is suitable both for those who have not been through the bid-writing process and those who have some experience and wish to improve their skills or increase the scale of their applications.
Tue 17 Mar, 10am-4.30pm, £100, www.madlab.org.uk

4. Sounds unique: Build your own embedded computer synthesiser, with superstar tech musician, Alexandros Drymonitis
Come along and learn how to create your own synthesiser using embedded computing devices such as the Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, Udoo, or Odroid, the ‘Pure Data” visual programming environment and an Arduino. Aimed at musicians and enthusiasts, the goal of this workshop is to learn how to create a personalised synthesiser. This could be made from potentiometers, a patchbay matrix, or a more classical clavier synthesiser or drum machine. The goal of this workshop, other than the creation of electronic musical instruments, is to introduce the world of embedded computing and teach the processes and the necessary tools for creating customised synthesisers.
Sat 28 Feb – Tue 3 Mar, 10am-4pm, £150 (in total!), www.madlab.org.uk

Madlab, 36-40 Edge Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1HN. Tel: 0161 839 6324, www.madlab.org.uk

A Manchester Wire partnership post.