Sound Maps, Toronto
with Tom Whitwell
March 2–6, 2026
An Album in One Week: Graphic Scores on Toronto Island
Hosted by RE/Lab with support from DSF and BAMM and Toronto Metropolitan University
The Basics
- Five-seven nights accommodation at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts on Toronto Island
- Four full days of teaching, workshops, discussions and activities
- All inclusive with breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks provided
- All dietary requirements catered for
- A short ferry ride or water taxi from downtown Toronto provides access, followed by a peaceful, distraction free environment for focused creative work
The guided residency runs from Monday to Saturday morning (five nights). The formal programme ends after breakfast on Saturday, but participants are welcome to stay through the weekend for self-directed or collaborative work until Monday morning. Tom and Dion will also be on-site, though the weekend time is informal and unstructured.
The Highlights
- A rare, one-off chance to work with Tom in North America and spend extended time with the creator of Music Thing Modular
- Make new work shaped directly by the island’s sound world, with Tom’s guidance and support throughout the week
- Explore the shoreline, wooded areas and open spaces, gathering sounds and ideas to weave into your scores
- Enjoy the time and space to focus fully in a dedicated arts centre surrounded by parkland and Lake Ontario, yet only minutes from downtown Toronto by ferry/water taxi
This event has been made possible with funding support from the Responsive Ecologies Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, Designing Sound Futures at York University and Building Access in Music Making at Western University.
Now in its third iteration, Sound Maps is crossing the Atlantic. After two successful editions in Cornwall, UK, we have been invited by the Responsive Ecologies Lab (RE/Lab) research facility at Toronto Metropolitan University to deliver the residency in Toronto, Canada. RE/Lab is the official host of this edition which will take place on Toronto Island, with support from DSF (Designing Sound Futures), BAMM (Building Access in Music Making), and the Faculty of Community Services, TMU. The move carries the project’s focus on collaboration, experimental scoring and rapid album making into a completely new landscape.
Join Tom Whitwell for a week of exploring graphic and text based scores, improvisation, modular synths and other sound making devices. The residency is grounded in place based making, so the work produced will grow from the island’s own conditions and sound world, with scores and recordings shaped directly by Toronto Island.
Graphic scores sit at the heart of this residency. We will work with computer generated indeterminate scores alongside other approaches to experimental notation, all shaped by conditions on the island. Each participant will customise these shared structures and develop a personal score that carries the imprint of its location. The aim is simple: to let the island’s environment lead the work so that local conditions and atmosphere become integral to the compositions.
Gibraltar Point is an ideal site for this work. The island is close to the city yet feels set apart, offering stillness without isolation and a landscape that supports focused listening. Its mix of shoreline, parkland and wooded areas provides a varied environment for field recording and reflection, and its separation from downtown creates the conditions for uninterrupted work.
Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts is central to the residency. Located on the island’s south western tip, it is a longstanding arts centre with forty six acres of surrounding parkland and direct access to Lake Ontario. It offers a rare combination of accessibility and complete concentration. The centre’s calm, spacious setting has hosted artists from around the world for decades, making it well suited to the immersive nature of Sound Maps Toronto.
Throughout the week we will look to artists such as John Cage, Bob Cobbing, David Tudor and Pauline Oliveros. Activities will include field recording sessions across the island, collecting sonic textures that feed directly into our score work. You are welcome to bring compact sound making devices that fit inside a shoebox. Tom will also bring modular systems for shared experimentation.
By the end of the residency, participants will have created a personal graphic score shaped by place, developed new approaches to sound processing through Eurorack modular synthesis, and contributed to a collaboratively crafted album made on the island. Sound Maps, Toronto welcomes both experienced modular users and those new to the medium. It offers time to explore graphic notation, to create work rooted in environment and to learn through shared making.
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Join Tom Whitwell for a week of exploring graphic and text based scores, improvisation, modular synths and other sound making devices. The residency is grounded in place based making, so the work produced will grow from the island’s own conditions and sound world, with scores and recordings shaped directly by Toronto Island.
Graphic scores sit at the heart of this residency. We will work with computer generated indeterminate scores alongside other approaches to experimental notation, all shaped by conditions on the island. Each participant will customise these shared structures and develop a personal score that carries the imprint of its location. The aim is simple: to let the island’s environment lead the work so that local conditions and atmosphere become integral to the compositions.
Gibraltar Point is an ideal site for this work. The island is close to the city yet feels set apart, offering stillness without isolation and a landscape that supports focused listening. Its mix of shoreline, parkland and wooded areas provides a varied environment for field recording and reflection, and its separation from downtown creates the conditions for uninterrupted work.
Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts is central to the residency. Located on the island’s south western tip, it is a longstanding arts centre with forty six acres of surrounding parkland and direct access to Lake Ontario. It offers a rare combination of accessibility and complete concentration. The centre’s calm, spacious setting has hosted artists from around the world for decades, making it well suited to the immersive nature of Sound Maps Toronto.
Throughout the week we will look to artists such as John Cage, Bob Cobbing, David Tudor and Pauline Oliveros. Activities will include field recording sessions across the island, collecting sonic textures that feed directly into our score work. You are welcome to bring compact sound making devices that fit inside a shoebox. Tom will also bring modular systems for shared experimentation.
By the end of the residency, participants will have created a personal graphic score shaped by place, developed new approaches to sound processing through Eurorack modular synthesis, and contributed to a collaboratively crafted album made on the island. Sound Maps, Toronto welcomes both experienced modular users and those new to the medium. It offers time to explore graphic notation, to create work rooted in environment and to learn through shared making.
Residency Lead:
Tom Whitwell is a designer, writer and educator best known for Music Thing Modular, the open-source DIY instrument series that includes the influential Turing Machine sequencer, now a modern Eurorack classic. His designs have been used by artists such as James Blake, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Chris Carter and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and are built by a global community of musicians and makers.
Tom’s most recent and largest scale project is the Workshop System, a compact modular and coding platform designed for the Dyski Sound Maps Residency in April 2024 and used in residencies and education programmes across the UK. A former journalist at The Times, The Face and Mixmag, he is also the author of the widely shared annual series 52 Things I Learned, featured by Freakonomics and NPR.
︎︎︎ musicthing.co.uk
︎ tomwhitwell
Residency Support :
Dyski founder Dion Star, a writer and musician who develops and hosts the Dyski residency programme and works across experimental sound, creative process and collaborative practice.
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︎︎︎ dionstar.co.uk
︎ dionstar
Previous Editions:
Tom Whitwell is a designer, writer and educator best known for Music Thing Modular, the open-source DIY instrument series that includes the influential Turing Machine sequencer, now a modern Eurorack classic. His designs have been used by artists such as James Blake, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Chris Carter and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and are built by a global community of musicians and makers.
Tom’s most recent and largest scale project is the Workshop System, a compact modular and coding platform designed for the Dyski Sound Maps Residency in April 2024 and used in residencies and education programmes across the UK. A former journalist at The Times, The Face and Mixmag, he is also the author of the widely shared annual series 52 Things I Learned, featured by Freakonomics and NPR.
︎︎︎ musicthing.co.uk
︎ tomwhitwell
Residency Support :
Dyski founder Dion Star, a writer and musician who develops and hosts the Dyski residency programme and works across experimental sound, creative process and collaborative practice.
︎︎︎ dionstar.co.uk
︎ dionstar
Previous Editions:
And at the 2nd edition in 2025, 13 wonderful tracks came together for Port Navas Sessions: Sound Maps Two.
What are people saying about Dyski & Sound Maps?
Book now
Every paricipant will receive a private room at the Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts.
£1,500 — Private room
£1,650 — Private en-suite room
Places are limited.
Workshop Systems
The Music Thing Modular Workshop System is a compact and open-ended modular instrument that is easy to learn and rewarding to explore. It is patchable, adaptable and works with whatever you already use, from a phone or laptop to pedals or a drum machine.
These systems are available for everyone to use throughout the residency.
Dyski Grants
We offer grants to support those who may need financial assistance to attend.
To apply for a free place, please make sure you are following Dyski on Instagram or subscribed to the mailing list. Then submit a short statement, no more than 300 words, explaining why you would like to attend. It helps to include how taking part would benefit you personally and what you hope to gain from the experience.
These grants fully cover your residency, including accommodation and meals, but travel expenses are not included.
Grant deadline: Feb 1st, 2026.
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.
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.