Radio Music
Tom Whitwell
November 2-6, 2025
Field recording from the ether
Arrival: Sunday 2nd November, 4pm
Departure: Friday 7th November by, 11am.
The Basics
- Five nights accommodation in Cornwall.
- Four full days of teaching, workshops, discussions and activities.
- All inclusive - breakfast, lunch, and a local & seasonal two course dinner in Housel Bay Hotel’s restuarant.
- All dietary requirements catered for.
The Highlights
- Work and learn with Tom Whitwell in Cornwall.
- Create your own work in response to the Cornish landscape and with support and guidance from Tom.
- Optional outings to walk & explore the Cornish coastline and discover the areas rich communications history.
Radio is a kind of invisible weather, a drifting archive of voices, music, static and signal that passes constantly through us. It is global, nostalgic, unpredictable and alive.
In this residency, we’ll be working at Housel Bay on the Lizard Peninsula, a place deeply connected to the earliest days of broadcast history. This is where radio began, where Marconi’s first transmissions crossed the sea and changed the way sound could travel. A century later, we will tune in to the same air and use it to create music.
Radio Music is a hands-on residency for musicians and soundmakers of all kinds. Whether you are writing songs, working with synthesisers, collecting field recordings or making abstract sound pieces, this is an opportunity to explore radio as both a source of sound and a creative method, a way of listening, composing and collaborating that invites surprise and unpredictability.
You will listen to live broadcasts and archival recordings, picking up fragments of music, speech, noise and silence, then use those discoveries to shape new pieces, individually and in collaboration with others. Some of these will be simple sketches. Others may grow into layered compositions or collective performances.
Over the course of the residency, you will use:
You will explore methods such as:
Throughout, the goal is to connect with sound in a different way, to use limitation and chance as creative allies. Like in Sound Maps, this workshop is about building confidence by working with whatever is available. The static, the signal dropouts, the unexpected phrase, all of it becomes material for your own musical language.
Your work might lean into ambient sound, storytelling, songwriting or experiment. Some pieces will be made alone, others together, responding to shared broadcasts or building multi-layered compositions as a group. It does not have to be polished or intricate. It just has to be finished, made in a place where radio once began, and where it still fills the air.
No technical knowledge is needed. Just curiosity, open ears, and whatever you already use to make music.
In this residency, we’ll be working at Housel Bay on the Lizard Peninsula, a place deeply connected to the earliest days of broadcast history. This is where radio began, where Marconi’s first transmissions crossed the sea and changed the way sound could travel. A century later, we will tune in to the same air and use it to create music.
Radio Music is a hands-on residency for musicians and soundmakers of all kinds. Whether you are writing songs, working with synthesisers, collecting field recordings or making abstract sound pieces, this is an opportunity to explore radio as both a source of sound and a creative method, a way of listening, composing and collaborating that invites surprise and unpredictability.
You will listen to live broadcasts and archival recordings, picking up fragments of music, speech, noise and silence, then use those discoveries to shape new pieces, individually and in collaboration with others. Some of these will be simple sketches. Others may grow into layered compositions or collective performances.
Over the course of the residency, you will use:
-
Shortwave, AM and FM radios, including portable and modified sets
- Low-power transmitters, broadcasting across a single room
- Lunchbox modular synthesisers and lo-fi playback tools
- Recordings of broadcasts, international stations and found tapes
- Online WebSDR streams and signals from radio telescopes, capturing transmissions far beyond the local airwaves
You will explore methods such as:
- Sampling and looping fragments from the dial
- Improvising with spirit radio and found textures
- Layering voices and static into new works
- Writing songs shaped by atmosphere, not genre
- Chance-based and radio-responsive structures, like Cage’s Imaginary Landscape No. 4
Throughout, the goal is to connect with sound in a different way, to use limitation and chance as creative allies. Like in Sound Maps, this workshop is about building confidence by working with whatever is available. The static, the signal dropouts, the unexpected phrase, all of it becomes material for your own musical language.
Your work might lean into ambient sound, storytelling, songwriting or experiment. Some pieces will be made alone, others together, responding to shared broadcasts or building multi-layered compositions as a group. It does not have to be polished or intricate. It just has to be finished, made in a place where radio once began, and where it still fills the air.
No technical knowledge is needed. Just curiosity, open ears, and whatever you already use to make music.
Residency Lead
Tom Whitwell: A former journalist and magazine editor (Mixmag & The Face), Tom designs open source music electronics as Music Thing Modular and is and is objectively interesting (according to the book Do Interesting - Notice. Collect. Share). Tom also writes fascinating lists on the internet: 52 things Tom Learned in 2024
︎︎︎ musicthing.co.uk
︎ musicthingmodular
︎ tomwhitwell
Important: When you sign up for a course, you're agreeing to the terms and conditions.
Room Types
All rooms have comfy beds and ensuite bathrooms.
£1350 for a shared room (twin)
And a range of private room options:
Cosy double - £1650
Country View (double) - £1700 Beautiful views of the Cornish countryside.
Ocean View - £1950These rooms are cosy, and have a traditional style.They offer endless sea views, and overlook our beautiful garden and the South West Coastal path.
Panoramic View - £2100
The most spacious rooms, and all feature a seating area in front of the bay windows, with uninterrupted, wall to wall views of the sea and Cornish coastline.
Grants
We have two grants designed to assist those who may need financial support to attend. One grant is available to Cornwall residents, and the other is open to anyone else.
To apply for a free place, first make sure you are following Dyski on Instagram and/or subscribe to our mailing list. Then, email us with a short statement (no more than 300 words) explaining why you would like to attend and make sure to mention which residency you are applying for. Please include how taking part in the workshop will benefit you personally and what you hope to gain from the experience.
︎︎︎ EMAIL US to apply
GRANT DEADLINE August 1st, 2025.
Dyski
Pronounced [dɪski], a Cornish Verb which means to learn, or to teach.
Creative residential workshops in Cornwall with a focus on immersive, experimental & place-based learning.
Pronounced [dɪski], a Cornish Verb which means to learn, or to teach.
Creative residential workshops in Cornwall with a focus on immersive, experimental & place-based learning.
Grants
We offer cutting-edge immersive workshops that nurture creativity, emphasising community support and giving back. Each Dyski workshop includes two grants, designed to assist those who may need financial support to attend. One grant is available to Cornwall residents, and the other is open to anyone else.
We offer cutting-edge immersive workshops that nurture creativity, emphasising community support and giving back. Each Dyski workshop includes two grants, designed to assist those who may need financial support to attend. One grant is available to Cornwall residents, and the other is open to anyone else.