Blog

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Workshops at The Wee Hub and Spartans!

Over the past few months we have been exploring the fun of making games in all forms with children and young people!
 
Each month in February, March and April we setup a drop-in games workshop upstairs with our pals at The Wee Hub, where in just short fast-paced sessions we have explored making all sorts of digital and physical card games, using a mix of computing, games design and crafts. Results have included designing colourful, challenging platform games, and a certain pocket-monster-inspired battle card game…!
 
We also absolutely loved visiting the STEM club at Spartans Community Football Academy on 6th February, where we explored the creative sides of technology by building a wacky digital game collaboratively with the group. Together we brainstormed games design ideas to improve the experience, and made new handdrawn character, background and object artwork to decorate it! A big thanks to Spartans for welcoming us and for such a fun workshop.
 
You can see and play a selection of the games we’ve made across our workshops and more regular Games Clubs here!
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Traditional Scottish Hip Hop

We had a fantastic time working with amazing YMI Borders Tutors on a Traditional Scottish Hip Hop training day. The idea came when Sara Alakus who is newly in post as YMI Creative Learning Officer in the Borders got in touch to ask about Tinderbox helping organise a Hip Hop project in a Borders primary school.


Sara explained that she was really keen to get some Hip Hop into the work that they are doing in the borders but was aware that it wasn’t exactly the genre of choice for the current tutors on the team. When she mentioned that the team are quite strong on Trad music Jed remembered a project he had seen recently at the Highland YMI day in Inverness. Jack Hughes and …. had been running a project that took a fiddle tune and used it as a basis of a track for writing rap.


The basic idea of the project was to put a Hip Hop beat under a traditional Scottish tune, teach a class to play the harmony chords and have the class write rap or spoken word to perform over it.

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Jed asked Sara if she could go back to the team and ask if there was a suitable Borders tune that has a decent story associated with it that we could use as a subject for writing rap or spoken word about.

The team came back with the perfect tune, Tam Lin. It’s an epic borders ballad and with a cracking tune.

For the training we spent the morning working with tutors on techniques for helping pupils write rap and planning the afternoon session. In the afternoon we went to deliver our project in Newtown Primary School.

The whole thing went to plan with the pupils getting totally into the story and writing some brilliant words. They joined in on percussion, tuned percussion, keyboards and Ukeleles. We finished the day with a full performance of the finished piece. Check out the video below.

Everyone had an absolute blast!

 

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Lab Guest Artist Workshops

We’ve been getting busy down at the Tinderbox Lab specialist creative technologies workshops! 
 
We were visited by the DOBA Studio team and their impressive machinery, who taught us all about their innovative approaches to recycling efforts through shredding, melting and reforming plastics – and as part of the workshop everyone got to try the equipment, and make their very own recycled plastic coasters, containers, and turtle-shaped keyrings! 
 
Then we also hosted sound artist, Lab Member and Tinderbox Orchestra pal Sonia Killmann who shared her approach to creative sound making through field and foley recording, which included a fantastic collaborative sound jam!
 
Thanks a lot to everyone who came along!
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Room to Play – Exhibitions at The Wee Hub

The Room to Play artists have been working tirelessly building these beautiful installations! You can visit the exhibit next at Hidden Door 2023! 31st May – 4th June
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Over the last few months, the 2023 Room to Play group of musicians, sound designers, visual & projection artists, filmmakers, lighting designers, and performance artists have come together to experiment with technology in their creative approaches to celebrate the power of play, and collaborate on a new audiovisual exhibition of playful, nature-inspired sculptures.
 
In March the installation had its very first outing and public exhibition as part of the first floor of The Wee Hub, where the pieces were on display for people to explore and enjoy. The exhibits then made another appearance as part of our Orchestra and Dance Showcase on the ground floor of The Wee Hub, with the sound of the Room to Play sculptures kicking off a live, experimental music and dance performance piece that gradually weaved the audience into the Pianodrome venue for a concert performance with the Tinderbox Orchestra.  
 
The installation is a gentle, playful, and beautiful meadow of responsive sound-making sculptures, that uses recycled and upcycled materials as the structural foundation of the work. It aims to evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity, and respect for the natural world, and invites us to reflect on our relationship with nature, the impact of our actions on the environment, and the urgent need to protect and preserve it.
 
The Room to Play exhibition is continuing to develop and will be appearing at other venues throughout the year, including Hidden Door 2023, Inspace, and Sierra Metro, so watch this space to catch it in action again! 

Room to Play was designed by Abby Carter, Ink Asher Hemp, Antony Lucchesi, Jessica McIntosh, Shawn Mark Nayar, Kenneth Nuelan, Chandi Petro, Mark Sandford, Saffron Slater, Lingli Wang, Maria Cecilie Wrang-Rasmussen and Zxy Dust, with Boris Allenou and Luci Holland.
 
Find out more about Room to Play and the artists here:
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Saturday Games Club

Our Saturday Games Club is currently in full swing with only two sessions to go (no session on June 3rd)! We’re excited to show what the club has been working on, but for now check out last term’s game and check out this blog about it from Lead Tutor Mel!

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“Last term our Saturday Games Club met for five sessions from Feb to March, on Saturday mornings between 11am and 12.30pm, in the Tinderbox Lab space as part of The Wee Hub (Ocean Terminal). This term was full of electronics, fish, 3D printing and underwater worlds. We continued working on our digital game Ruins of the Deep, adding new characters, obstacles and game mechanics. We also began to explore adding new physical elements to this game, creating a scavenger hunt-style challenge that took you out of the game space, into the real world, and back into the game again.

To create this scavenger hunt challenge, we played a scavenger hunt, we explored electronics, including makey makeys (where we made some fruit into keyboards), and we learnt how to use a 3D printer. Each session was brimming with ideas, passion and creativity, as groups worked on digital game design, visual design, and physical game design, always fuelled by biscuits, oranges and glasses of squash.

Over the term we developed an adapted version of Ruins of the Deep, with a new level which invites you into an installation in the physical world. Our final session was a celebration where we played the game together, exploring the digital world designed and coded by the group, and exploring a physical installation too, to find hidden 3D printed coins and copper tape buttons.

You can play our game here…

And find out more/register for the current Games Clubs here!

Mel (Lead Tutor)”

Sign ups for the Saturday Games Club are now full but you can register your interest by contacting admin@tinderboxcollective.org
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Tinderbox at Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children

Over the past few months we ran a residency programme in collaboration with ECHC for the first time where Rhys worked with young people in the hospital to create a piece of music for the Tinderbox Orchestra. The piece was created through music workshops in the hospital’s ‘Jess Mackie Music Garden’. The final piece titled ‘Seeds of Sound’ was performed in the hospital on the 4th of December and was said to have been one of the best attended events in the hospital this year! 
 
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Rhys & Kieran jamming at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh.

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One of the great things about having a weekly workshop in RHCYP is that we have the opportunity to work with young people throughout their stay. Rhys met Kieran when he was 16 years old and he had never written a song before. Kieran was in for a long stay, which ended up being around 6 months, on and off, and had his guitar with him for the duration. Through the weekly workshops and lessons, he quickly started to write songs and perform for the nurses who visited him. Fast forward to now, a year later, Kieran has continued to partake in Tinderbox workshops, has written an album’s worth of material, performed 2 of his songs live with the Tinderbox Orchestra and performed at 4 concerts. 

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Kieran & Rhys performing at the Edinburgh Children's Hospitals Charity's All Wrapped up Event at the Central Hall, Edinburgh.

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“Meeting Rhys was a breath of fresh air. I had my guitar in the hospital and when Rhys came in with his, we immediately started jamming. Rhys taught me a few new songs and gave me some good advice about writing my own music. I played my guitar more than ever during my hospital stays, sometimes for more than 6 hours a day so my technique improved at a fast pace!” – Kieran

We would like to say a huge thank you to our hospitals team Rhys, Claire, Shea, and Jamie for the wonderful work they do with the children & young people there, and to Edinburgh Children’s Hospitals Charity for having us as part of their Arts Programme all year. 

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Tinderbox Sparks + Dynamic Earth

Tinderbox SPARKS is an alternative youth orchestra for young people aged S1- S6 who are Grade 1 and above on ANY instrument. 

Last term, Tinderbox SPARKS teamed up with Dynamic Earth to improvise, compose and perform a piece of music for Dynamic Earth’s new Summer Show at the Planetarium! 

It was a 6 week long project that ran on Monday nights throughout May and June and besides from being SO MUCH fun also gave us the chance to play together as a big band and create our own piece of music- something a lot of the group had never done before!

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We kicked off the project with everyone coming together and having a tour of dynamic earth. WHICH WAS SO COOL(!) We went into the planetarium and were shown the Spring planetarium show along with the video that we would be writing our piece of music for. (Created by the amazing Ali from Dynamic Earth)

The theme of our composition was the Sun and pictures taken from a telescope that showed the sun in different states with different colourings.

It truly was an AMAZING 6 weeks and we can’t wait to be back at Dynamic Earth again for Tinderbox SPARKS round two of making more original music together!

Claire Doherty – Lead Tutor

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Dnipro Kids Music Project

In August 2022, we started a Music Project for 11–18-year-old Ukrainian
refugees at Milton Campus, Edinburgh college.

The project consisted of 9 guitar sessions over the period of one month. The project was focused on guitar, but also included 5 drum clinics and flexibility to teach more instruments. 

The group of young people we got involved with are coming from a Ukrainian orphanage supported by the Scottish charity “Dnipro Kids Appeal”. The charity helped them to get to Scotland from their city “Dnipropetrovsk”, after the war in Ukraine started. We were aware that these young people have been in traumatic situations way before the war started, so we took extra care in our teaching and youth work approach.

 

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The attendance was great with almost 20 kids interested in attending the lessons more or less regularly. The young people were split into groups of a maximum of 5 people according to their past experience. There were complete beginners and quite advanced players who have attended music courses in Ukraine. The lessons covered various concepts and the young people were welcome to request certain topics or songs to be learnt. The lessons were thought in Ukrainian; however, English terminology knowledge was encouraged, and the material provided was written in both Ukrainian and English to facilitate their later transition into school and to help them with English. 

During the first week of the project, we assessed each participant’s abilities on guitar and settled on certain topics and goals for the term. Tinderbox also pupil each participant with a guitar to practice, both electric and acoustic depending on their preference. Although the project lasted one month, the guitars were available to them for two months to encourage practice and self-study afterwards. The young people were very involved in the lessons and had questions and the will to learn certain songs and techniques. The tutor Alina gave them guitar tablatures and scores for a few songs and each pupil was free to learn which one they preferred and then play it in the next lessons for the group, if they felt comfortable doing so. A run-down over the essentials on guitar was also offered to all the pupils, to make sure there were no gaps in knowledge before going forwards. A similar approach was taken by the drums tutor who assessed the pupils abilities with drumming techniques and decided on the content of his next cliniques. There were two to three people in their drums group more or less regularly. 



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The last week of the lessons was focused on clearing any gaps or doubts about what was covered during the term. The musical repertoire learnt over the term was also consolidated so that the pupils could perform it at their “Ukrainian Independence Day Celebration Exhibition”. A small private concert was organized by their community in the halls of Edinburgh College. This offered an amazing occasion to show off the knowledge and skills that they gained over the past month. On the last lesson, the tutor made sure to offer direction and support for the pupils’ self-study after the end of the project. The students expressed their enjoyment for the project and even wrote cards with a personalized thank you note. 

Overall, the project was a success and offered the refugees a creative escape from their recent traumatic events. Their musicality was also developed and maintained thanks to the availability of guitars and drums to practice on. Moreover, some students had the opportunity to explore both electric and acoustic guitars and changed their mind about the complete “separation” of the classical and contemporary approach on the instrument. For example, some classical guitarists were not engaging with electric guitars or the use of plectrum in the first lesson considering it was something that did not relate to their musical experience. At the end of the lesson, after seeing some of their peers playing they requested to have an electric guitar even if they already had their own classic guitar. The tutor was pleased to see that the group of young people got more united, and everyone’s musical experience was enriched. 

A few weeks after the project’s end, the tutor Alina was offered to play a concert for Ukrainian refugees in Stirling. The participants were encouraged to join in and take the opportunity to perform in front of a bigger and new audience. Three of the participants agreed to perform, this really benefited their confidence and musicality on their instruments. We are looking forward to being able to provide more music lessons for Ukrainian young people to support them in a moment of need and make sure that their passion for music is encouraged. 


By Alina Levanova

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Tinderbox Orchestra Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Fringe – the biggest arts festival in the world!  The city is filled with 10s of 1000s of different performers, and it is the perfect opportunity for performers to showcase themselves and perform to international audiences. 

We thought about what our show would look like and how long a run we thought we could manage. In true Tinderbox style, we decided to GO FOR IT and decided on a 13 show run over the first three weeks of August with 10 different collaborators and a catalogue of brand new compositions. We were lucky enough that our friends at the Pianodrome were taking over the Old Royal High for the summer (including the fringe) and gave us the opportunity to take over the Grand Hall – a room once intended to be the debating chamber for the Scottish Parliament.

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Our collaborators for the fringe were a huge mix of artists that we have worked with before, members of the collective who have their own music projects and some brand new collaborations too. 

We had Chinese alternative folk-punk artist Song Yuzhe in the opening weekend. Followed Trad-inspired indie folk singer ‘Housekind’, Edinburgh based psychedelic rock band ‘Duke Duncan and the Hurricanes’, Electro-pop Artist PINLIGHT and Indie singer songwriter Brave Little Note. And in the final week, we finished things off alt- folk duo Jellyman’s Daughter, rap and poetry collective ‘ Culture Clan’ and improvisational trio (and also Pianodrome’s creative directors) S!nk. 

We were also joined with drummers and puppeteers from Kathputli Colony an extraordinary community of traditional artists in Delhi that we met and collaborated with online through a project called The Samata Sessions which you can read more about here.

After lots of work from our marketing team (Somya and Leo – you wonderfully talented humans!) and selling the show to EVERYONE we knew- it was SHOWTIME. 

I can really put into words adequately, the feeling I had on the opening day of our show. ‘WAS THIS A GOOD IDEA?’, ‘ARE PEOPLE GOING TO COME?’ ‘HAVE WE REHEARSED ENOUGH’? I wasn’t sure at all. However, I did know that I was surrounded by incredible musicians who had worked really hard to create an exciting and unique showcase of wonderful music. And even if we had a small audience or made a few mistakes- it wouldn’t REALLY matter because we were doing something exciting and new AND we were getting to do it together.

The doors were open and the audience started piling in, I kept waiting for the queue to die down but it didn’t and very quickly the room filled up. Our first show and an audience of 130 people came along to support us. The music started and the energy in the room was electric. The set flew by and what felt like a minute later was the end of our first show and the audience were on their feet to meet us with a standing ovation. I looked around the room in amazement as pure pride and joy waved over me. We had done it! The first show was a success.

From then on, our show was met with standing ovations and sold-out crowds. Friends, family, colleagues, young people from our youth projects and their families all came to support along with new audiences- people who had seen us busking during the day or people who had read about us or seen us play at a festival over the summer. It was exhausting and a huge amount of work but more importantly, it was inspiring, exciting and also gave us this unique opportunity to hang out together all month- socialising, making music and having FUN. 

A friend of mine who came to see the show said ‘I just kept crying because I’ve never seen so many people on stage performing together who just look like they all love it and each other so much’ and that’s exactly what it was like. I think about it constantly- how lucky I am that I get to stand on stage and perform such amazing music with such a wonderful group of people.

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1 Week to go! – Instrument Libraries Crowdfunder

It’s  the last week of our Instrument Library crowdfunder – we’re at just under 75% of our target and need to raise another £1300k.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped support the project so far!

If you would like to help us reach our target and support the project, all donations are a huge help, and greatly appreciated!

donate here

We Make Music Instrument Libraries is a brand new initiative to get musical instruments into public libraries across Scotland, so people will be able to borrow them for free, just like taking out a book! The programme is launching with nine libraries in Fife, North Ayrshire and Edinburgh, with the intention that it spreads further across Scotland in future.

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We want to fill these libraries with as many musical instruments and learning resources as we can.  All money will go towards buying, repairing and servicing donated instruments and getting them into the libraries in good condition. We also want to buy music software and midi keyboards so people can start making music on library computers. Once the instruments are in the libraries, we want to offer music workshops and introductory lessons, develop online resources, and organise live music events in and around the libraries. The more money we raise and the more instruments people donate, the more music libraries we can open up around Scotland!

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Tinderbox Lab – New Studio Announcement!

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New makerspace for creative technology, games, interactive media and more at The Wee Hub, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh!

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We are thrilled to announce that the Tinderbox Lab has a new home as part of the Wee Hub in the old Debenhams shop, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh!

Pre-pandemic the Lab lived at Custom House, where we would run regular Open Studios, talks, workshops, and more for those interested in digital arts, creative technology, electronics, gaming, coding, interactive media and more.

The newly moved Lab is in an early stage of development, but we hope to continue to build it into an exciting & innovative space!

We are delighted to be opening up the Lab in a physical format again, and will be setting up & developing a range of programmes for people to get involved in:

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  • Lab Open Studio – visit us on these days & times to check out the Lab, work on a project, ask questions or get advice, and more! Bring your own work, join in with a collaborative project, or come along to just take a look and meet the team. Any level welcome from complete beginner to expert.

Lab Open Studio times:
Mondays & Tuesdays 2 – 6pm

Starting Monday 6th June 2022!

  • Lab Membership – apply for a membership for access to a workspace, tools & support in the Lab for your own projects. Email us at lab@tinderboxcollective.org to register interest.

  • Lab Events – talks, workshops, installations & other events for a range of ages & levels.

  • Lab Youth Programme – for community groups, organisations and schools interested in visiting the Lab for a digital arts, electronics, or gaming workshop.

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Contact:

If you are interested in any of these opportunities or would like to find out more about the Tinderbox Lab and our programmes, please get in touch with us: lab@tinderboxcollective.org

And join our Lab Newsletter here.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Lab! 

Address & Directions:

The Lab is part of the The Wee Hub community space (managed by The Living Memory Association).

We are located on the Ground Floor of the old Debenhams shop (blue car park side of Ocean Terminal).

Access the Lab through the Ground Floor Debenhams shop entrance.

If the shop shutters are down – ring the Lab buzzer for access and someone will come to let you in!

Tinderbox Lab
The Wee Hub, Ground Floor
Ocean Terminal 
74 Ocean Dr
Leith, Edinburgh
EH6 6JJ

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Tinderbox Games Club – Games Library!

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Our Tinderbox Games Clubs have been hard at work making amazing games over the last year and more!

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We’ve collected all of their games here together for you to check out and play – we hope you enjoy!

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Games:

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Play more games by Tinderbox here

If you are interested in finding out more about the Tinderbox Games Club or the Tinderbox Lab, please get in touch with us: lab@tinderboxcollective.org

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Well done and thank you to all of the Tinderbox Online Games Club!

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Celtic Connections – Tinderbox Orchestra & Kathryn Joseph

Celtic Connections is Glasgow’s annual folk, roots and world music festival that takes place every January- it was also Tinderbox Orchestra’s first gig of 2022! After the release of our Kathryn Joseph EP (Here is the link if you haven’t had the chance to listen yet: ), we were lucky enough to share the stage with Kathryn at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on the 29th January. 

In the lead up to the gig, the orchestra rehearsed every Sunday and had a set of rehearsals the week of – which was quite tricky due to COVID restrictions. We were lucky enough that North Edinburgh Arts and The Pear Tree let us use their spaces.

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We worked on our own hour-long set along with the three beautiful Kathryn Joseph pieces that we recorded for our EP- The Blood, The Weight and The Weary. In addition to our usual orchestra line-up we were also lucky enough to be joined by a small singing ensemble that was made up of tutors from our community projects. 

On the day of the gig, bursting with excitement and nerves, we piled into cars and drove over to Glasgow early for our set up and sound check. A quick rehearsal, some dinner and a big group warm-up later, we were ready to go on and perform our set.

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We started our set with Tinderbox classic ‘Bethany Lane’ and instantly felt an energy and warmth from the audience. The set flew by and before we knew it we were finishing in true celtic style with ‘Cas Na Caora’, a piece arranged by our cello player Graham Coe. It was then time for our collaboration with Kathryn- a project started in 2019 with the EP which we were only just able to perform together in front of an audience. The three pieces- orchestrated so wonderfully by Sam Irvine, Luci Holland and Jack Nissan captivated the audience, bringing tears to many (including Kathryn’s eyes). A huge congratulations to all the musicians and team who worked so tirelessly to make the collaboration so beautiful and successful. Celtic Connections with Kathryn Joseph in 2022 will forever be a highlight for Tinderbox Orchestra.

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Tinderbox Makerbox Series 2

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 TINDERBOX MAKERBOX Series 2

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In March 2022 we launched our second series of Makerbox kit second series of electronic crafty kits for children & young people!

The Tinderbox Makerbox kits are exciting and creative ways to explore the basics of electronics and make something fun in the process!

Lead Artists Liam Dempsey and Dominika Jackowska worked with Consultant Artist Yann Seznec to design & development two new kits:

  • Motor Music Maker (build an electronic instrument using motors and elastic bands!)

  • Build-A-Buzzer Game (experiment with electronic components like LEDs, resistors, and buzzers to make your own nosiy wire loop game!)

Series 2 Kits

Motor Music Maker Instructions

Motor Music Maker Instructions

Motor Music Maker
Build an electronic instrument using motors and elastic bands!
Age range: 10+
Time to complete: 1 – 2 hours

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Build-A-Buzzer Instructions

Build-A-Buzzer Game
Experiment with electronic components like LEDs, resistors, and buzzers to make your own nosiy wire loop game! 
Age range: 10+
Time to complete: 1 – 2 hours

Workshops

We were also delighted to bring the first finished kits to run workshops with Craigroyston Community High School 1st and 2nd years too.

And we were also very pleased to join the very first North Edinburgh Community Festival on Sat 7th May too, with a Makerbox stall, where young people joined us to build kits and learn about electronics during the afternoon!

Some quotes from the workshops included:

“I’m going to go home and take this apart so I can build it from scratch again!”

“This is so cool!”

Thank you to everyone who joined in!

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As part of the Motor Music Maker we also needed a bespoke 3D printed part, and thankfully Mark Kobine and the Institute of Design Informatics and Creative Informatics were happy to help – supporting us to design this custom printed plastic mount & base to hold the motor in the right place. 

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More Info

If you are interested in finding out more or exploring the circuits yourself at home, we have a list of components, instructions and videos available here.

A huge thank you to all of the team, partners and supporters who made the Makerbox Series 2 kits possible.

Watch this space for more Makerbox fun!

The Makerbox kits are part of our Tinderbox Lab programme, which explores digital arts, creative technology, gaming, interactive media and more. Get in touch with lab@tinderboxcollective.org to find out more.

Series Two:
Supported by The Institute for Design Informatics, Creative Informatics, & Creative Scotland

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Bridgend Farmhouse – Tinderbox Orchestra & Shooglenifty!

A gorgeous sunny, spring day at Bridgend Farmhouse. Tinderbox Orchestra kicking the day off with some classic tunes before Shooglenifty took the stage. LOTS AND LOTS OF DANCING. Can you imagine a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in March? 

As part of Shooglenifty’s community tour, we were asked if we wanted to join them at Bridgend Farmhouse in mid December 2021 but due to covid restrictions the gig was postponed until – what actually, was the perfect day for it- Saturday 26th March.

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The whole day was filled with joy, incredible music and a real sense of community. Children, Adults and everyone in between were on their feet dancing for the entirety of Shooglenifty’s set and when the gig was over, we all packed up with a huge smile on our faces. 

 A huge thank you to Shooglenifty, Joe Peat (Sound Engineer), Bridgend Farmhouse and to the Tinderbox Team who helped make everything happen!



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Tinderbox PlayAway Games Festival 2021

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GAMES – ARTS – CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY – EDUCATION – WELLBEING

Looking to the games sector for inspiration in an online world

Mon 22nd Feb – Fri 5th Mar 2021

Join our newsletter to get updates about the festival
Or follow us on facebook, twitter or instagram

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About Tinderbox PlayAway!

At a time when so many people are moving online, we wanted to turn to the Games industry for inspiration – to ask how games are adapting and responding to the pandemic, and to explore what role they could play looking ahead.
What are the most interesting ways of playing and interacting both online and offline at the moment? Are there possibilities for new connections, learning & collaborations between gaming worlds and other sectors? And how can we build a more playful and creative way forward for us all in the future?
Over 2 weeks, from 22nd Feb to 5th March, we showcased and celebrated the creativity, diversity, innovation, and imagination in games and interactive media through PlayAway, an online two-week festival. Over 30 game designers, artists, musicians, researchers and others involved in games got together through a series of panel discussions, workshops, demos, live music performances, virtual play sessions and game jams joined by close to 1000 attendees and participants.
As well as a festival for people involved in games, we wanted to invite and involve people from other sectors and different artforms too. A range of speakers and events looked at some of the cross-sections between gaming and education, music, health, wellbeing, theatre and other areas, and during the festival we filmed a series of Conversations opening up discussion and space for new ideas and collaborations.
The festival was run on a donations-based model – to keep it free & accessible for anyone to attend, while paying our speakers and performers fairly. 
Take a look at our Videos, Conversations and Programme where you can see what was on and watch the events back!
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Festival Home Page
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Conversations
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Event Recordings

Recordings from the live events during the festival
Note: We are editing these videos as quickly as we can and will add them here as soon as we can!

Games, the Pandemic & the Future
with Jane McGonigal
Fireside Conversation with Q&A

Gaming for Health, Education and Wellbeing
with Brian Baglow, Game Doctor, Yaldi Games, Civic Digits and Glitchers

Live Coding Music Patterns with TidalCycles
with Alex McLean

Games Composer Panel
with Jenny Nelson (Scala Radio), Nainita Desai (Telling Lies), Guy Jackson (Sea of Solitude), Tess Tyler (PLAYNE: The Meditation Game)

Game Design Panel
with Shay Thompson (BBC Sounds), Jon McKellan (No Code), Dan Pinchbeck (The Chinese Room), Malath Abbas (Biome Collective)

Virtual Reality (VR) Mini Talks
with Jung In Jung, Paul Blackham, Brian Allen (Bearharmmer Games), Thomas Kildren (Fletcher Studios), Andy Antoniou (Furry Tail Dragon)

Beyond Parasocial Interaction: Speed Dating for Ghosts
Presentation & Let’s Play with Gabriel Elvery

Zine-making & Interactive Art Workshop
with James Morwood

Artificial Images: An Introduction to Art and Machine Learning
with Derrick Schultz & Lia Coleman

Paths to Games Research
with William Kavanagh, Robin Sloan, Dr David Farrell, Dr Romana Ramzan

Postgraduate Research Panel
With Dr Matthew Barr, Lauren Watson, Francis Butterworth-Parr, William Kavanagh, Kirsty Dunlop, Monica Vazquez

Game Studies in the Wild: Practical Applications of Games Research
with Ruth EJ Booth, Gabriel Elvery, Charly Harbord, and Arthur Ehlinger 

Intro to Bitsy Workshop
with Claire Morwood

Zoom Obscura Works in Progress
with Ilsa Pouwels, Michael Baldwin, Bea Wijshijer, Paul O’Neill, Martin Disley

Mixed Realities: Virtual and Physical Interaction
with Yann Seznec, Mona Bozdog, FoxDog Studios and Laura E Hall

Games & Empathy Mini Talks
with Marina Diez (3 of Cups Games), Alastair Low (Lowtek Games), Natalie Schmidt, Nida Ahmad

Intro to Pure Data & Interactive Sound Workshop
with Yann Seznec

Fostering an Engaged Community Virtually and Beyond (SGDA)
with Jamie Cross (SGDA), Susie Buchan (Arcadia Fest), Beverley McMillan (BAFTA Scotland) & Jed Milroy (Tinderbox Collective)

Live Music Show + PlayAway Party!
with Jed Milroy & Jo Jeffries, The False Economy, Jellyman’s Daughter, John “Slide20XX” Smith and The Gamba Geek

PlayAway Conversations

A series of pre-recorded conversations with people working outside of the games sector about games, creativity and the crossovers between real-world and online environments. 

Note: Videos from these conversations are being edited and will be shared over the festival.

Games, Theatre & Hybrid Environments
A Conversation with Dougie Irvine from Visible Fictions

Games, Creative Ageing & Festivals
A Conversation with Dominic Campbell from Creative Ageing International

Gaming & Music in Secondary School
A Conversation with four music teachers across Scotland through Music Education Partnership Group.

Gaming and Youth Theatre
A Conversation with Shauna Macdonald from Edinburgh Youth Theatre

Games, Arts & Community
A Conversation with Kate Wimpress & Genevieve Kay-Gourley, from North Edinburgh Arts

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Games Made at PlayAway

Escape the Labyrinth of the King

Escape the Labyrinth of the King

Introduction to Game Design and Reimagining History! Youth Workshop

Bitsy Game Jam entries

Bitsy Game Jam entries

Bitsy One-Day Game Jam! & Let’s Play with Zoë Sams

Tinderbox PlayAway Zines

Tinderbox PlayAway Zines

Zine-making & Interactive Art Workshop

PlayAway Team Awards

PlayAway Team Awards

Live Music Show + PlayAway Party

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Audience Feedback

Thank you for joining us for our first PlayAway!

If you attended the festival we’d love to know what you think – our feedback form is now closed, but please feel free to contact us at playaway@tinderboxcollective.org with feedback or questions directly.

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Festival Highlights

Keynote – Jane McGonigal

Jane McGonigal Keynote: Fireside Conversation & Q&A
Mon 22 Feb, 18:00 GMT

Jane McGonigal, PhD, is the Director of Game Research + Development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She is the author of two New York Times bestselling books: Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully. Her TED talks on how games can make a better world have more than 15 million views.

More info here

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GAME DESIGN

Shay Thompson

Games Design Panel 
No Code, The Chinese Room and Biome Collective
Chaired by: Shay Thompson
Mon 22 Feb, 19:15 – 20:00 (GMT)
More info

Bitsy One-Day Game Jam!
Join us and making some games using Bitsy
Livestream with Zoë Sams
Tue 2nd Mar, 9:00 – 19:00 (GMT)
More info

More Game Design
Click here

GAMES & MUSIC

JMD

 Live Music Show & Party
Fri 5 Mar, 19:15 – 21:30 (GMT)
More info

Games Composer Panel
Nainita Desai, Guy Jackson, Tess Tyler
Chaired by: Jenny Nelson
Fri 5 Mar, 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT)
More info

More Games & Music
Click here

WORKSHOPS

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Zine-Making Workshop
with Biome Collective
Wed 24 Feb, 13:00 – 16:00 (GMT)
£10 / £5 (conc)
More info

Introduction to Bitsy:
Making Games with Small Tools
Workshop with Claire Morwood (Biome Collective)
Tue 2nd March, 09:30 – 12:30 (GMT) 
Price £10 / £5 (conc)
More info

More Workshops
Click here

GAMES, HEALTH & WELLBEING

Brian Baglow

Gaming for Health, Education & Wellbeing
Game Doctor, Yaldi Games, Civic Digits, Glitchers
Chaired by: Brian Baglow
Tue 23rd Feb, 13:00 – 14:00 (GMT)
More info

Games & Empathy Mini-Talks
Marina Diez (3 of Cups Games),
Alastair Low (Lowtek Games), Natalie Schmidt
Thu 4th Mar, 13:00 – 14:00 (GMT)
More info

More Games & Wellbeing
Click here

GAMES CAREERS AND RESEARCH

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Games Research with
University of Glasgow Games & Gaming Lab
Various Panel Talks
11:30 – 15:15 (GMT)
More info

UK Games Industry Internships,
Graduate Schemes and Traineeships 
Games Jobs Live with Into Games
Thu 25th Feb, 16:00 – 18:00 (GMT)
More info

More Research & Careers
Click here

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY & MIXED REALITIES

Foxdog Studios

Mixed Realities: Virtual and Physical Interaction
Mona Bozdog, Foxdog Studios, Laura E Hall
Chaired by: Yann Seznec
Tue 23rd Feb, 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT)
More info

Virtual Reality (VR) Mini Talks
Jung In Jung & Paul Blackham, Brian Allen (Bearharmmer Games), Andy Antoniou, Thomas Kildren
Wed 3rd Mar, 13:00 – 13:45 (GMT)
More info

More Creative Tech
Click here

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Registration

Click on the registration link for each event to book a place for that event.

Most panels, talks & events take place over Zoom, but some may be held elsewhere, like Twitch and YouTube.

Some workshops and events are hosted by other other groups and will have links to book separately.

Explore the Tinderbox PlayAway programme to find an event for you:

Full Festival Programme
Category/Topic
Speaker

Donations / Pricing

The festival is being run on a donations-based model.  We want it to be free & accessible for anyone to attend, but we also want to pay our speakers and performers fairly. If you are able to make a donation this would be a big help.

All panel-discussions, talks and demos are free/by donation.
Some of the workshops are managed separately and have a fixed fee as places are limited.

More info and suggested donations here

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PRESS & MEDIA

Click to view our Press Release and email playaway@tinderboxcollective.org for more information

A BIG thanks to our Partners & Sponsors

Scala Radio
Scala Radio
Scottish Games Network
Scottish Games Network
UKIE
UKIE
University of Glasgow Games and Gaming Lab
University of Glasgow Games and Gaming Lab
Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland
Games Jobs Live
Games Jobs Live
Scottish Game Developers Association
Scottish Game Developers Association
Creative Informatics
Creative Informatics
Codebase
Codebase
Game Music Connect
Game Music Connect
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Festival Home Page
Festival Home Page
Programme
Programme
Conversations
Conversations
Videos
Videos
Topic / Category
Topic / Category
Speakers
Speakers & Artists
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gloves
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Tinderbox Makerbox

Tinderbox Makerbox logo

We’re thrilled to announce our TINDERBOX MAKERBOX series of electronic crafty kits for children & young people!

We are delighted to share that we have two new Makerbox kit designs in development and on the way! 

These will hopefully be made available for families and organisations based in Edinburgh around February/March 2022.

The exact content is still to be determined but the kits will ideally be appropriate for ages roughly 10 – 16.

We will also be offering workshop visits to teach the kits too – if your school or organisation would be interested in organising these please get in touch. 

Watch this space for more info soon!

The Tinderbox Makerbox kits are exciting and creative ways to explore the basics of electronics and make something fun in the process!

Available to youth & community organisations to use & give to children & young people aged 18 or younger, completely free of charge, while our stocks last.

Get in touch with lab@tinderboxcollective.org to find out more and join a mailing list for new kit updates.

Makerbox Series 2 Kits: 

Tinderbox Makerbox Reindeer Bauble Decoration

Jingle Baubells Instructions

  • Jingle Baubells
    Make your own noisy electronic festive decorative bauble, that rings a bell when switched on!
    Age range: 8+
    Time to complete: 1 – 2 hours

Click here to see more about this kit and view online instructions!

WARNINGS – kit contains:

CHOKING HAZARDS – Small, detachable and sharp parts.
COIN CELL BATTERY – Keep out of reach of young children. Swallowing may lead to serious injury or death.
UNLOCKABLE COIN CELL HOLDER – Be aware that battery is easy to insert and remove.

Not suitable for children under 3 years.
Keep parts clean and dry – do not get wet.
Use with adult supervision only.

Makerbox Series 1 Kits: 

Tinderbox Makerbox Reindeer Bauble Decoration

Jingle Baubells Instructions

  • Jingle Baubells
    Make your own noisy electronic festive decorative bauble, that rings a bell when switched on!
    Age range: 8+
    Time to complete: 1 – 2 hours

Click here to see more about this kit and view online instructions!

WARNINGS – kit contains:

CHOKING HAZARDS – Small, detachable and sharp parts.
COIN CELL BATTERY – Keep out of reach of young children. Swallowing may lead to serious injury or death.
UNLOCKABLE COIN CELL HOLDER – Be aware that battery is easy to insert and remove.

Not suitable for children under 3 years.
Keep parts clean and dry – do not get wet.
Use with adult supervision only.

gloves
Tinderbox Makerbox Logo With Light Up Gloves

Glowed Up Gloves Instructions

  • Glowed Up Gloves
    Turn a pair of gloves into an interactive light using conductive thread!
    Age range: 12+
    Time to complete: 2 – 3 hours

Click here to see more about this kit and view online instructions!

WARNINGS – kit contains:

CHOKING HAZARDS – Small, detachable and sharp parts.
COIN CELL BATTERY – Keep out of reach of young children. Swallowing may lead to serious injury or death.
UNLOCKABLE COIN CELL HOLDER – Be aware that battery is easy to insert and remove.

Not suitable for children under 3 years.
Keep parts clean and dry – do not get wet.
Use with adult supervision only.

The kits come with instructions explaining everything you need to know to build the crafty project.

You can also read our digital instructions online as you go too.

If you’re unsure about any of the instructions please contact us at lab@tinderboxcollective.org or admin@tinderboxcollective.org and we’ll be happy to help! 

Tinderbox Makerbox Kit Contents

Workshops

Tinderbox Makerbox Kit Contents Laid Out

We also offer tutorial and support workshops where you can build the kit with the artists who designed them, and ask any questions that come up along the way.

Currently we are organising these as online sessions, held via a Tinderbox zoom account and led by a team of tutors and apprentices.

If you or the organisation you work for are interested in a workshop session or have questions about the kit, please email us at lab@tinderboxcollective.org or admin@tinderboxcollective.org to find out more.

Partners & Supporters

This project is supported by:

  • The University of Edinburgh Local Community Grants Scheme
  • Creative Scotland
  • North Edinburgh Arts
  • Amazing Harmonies
Making Of Tinderbox Makerbox Logo At Narture Ayr

Design Team

Tinderbox Makerbox Team Working At Desks

These kits have been designed by our amazing team of apprentices at the Tinderbox Lab:

  • Rhona Sword
  • Dominika Jackowska
  • Liam Dempsey
  • Saskia Singer

With special thanks to Helen Leigh and Yann Seznec for consulation and support of the kits.

 

The University of Edinburgh Logo
Creative Scotland Logo
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Tuesday Hub at North Edinburgh Arts

It’s been the biggest ever term we’ve had of our Tuesday Hub at North Edinburgh Arts! Thanks to everyone who’s come along to share their enthusiasm and creativity this term and thanks to the brilliant team at NEA for all their support. 

We’d usually have a term of 8 or 9 sessions but we were so keen to get back while restrictions allowed that we’ve run 15 sessions this term. Before term started our biggest worry was that we wouldn’t be able to get young people back out after being locked down for so long. After only 2 weeks our biggest worry was that we wouldn’t have room for everyone who wanted to come!

There have been so many highlights. One of the big ones was meeting young people who we had been working with at the online music school in real life for the first time.

Another one was welcoming Robert back to us who came all the way through from Glasgow to see us. It’s amazing to see his progress.

It was also great to have a visit from the Scottish Culture Minister, Jenny Gilruth.

We’re really looking forward to getting started in our new venue at Muirhouse Millenium Centre next term while North Edinburgh Arts undergoes a huge refurbishment and development.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has been involved this term and have a wonderful holiday!

craigroyston tuesday outside

Craigroyston Community High School S1 Bands

We love Craigroyston Community High School! It’s such an important part of the success of our work in North Edinburgh that we have a strong partnership with our closest neighbourhood school and you couldn’t ask for a better partner.

This term we were overjoyed to get back to face to face work in the school with our S1 bands project. 

Every S1 class formed as a band with pupils being given the choice of playing drum kit, guitar, keyboard or singing. We asked classes to choose what song they would like to work on and then spent the whole term working up the material.

We have seen so much talent and enthusiasm especially on the back of such difficult time with absolutely no singing and hardly any instrumental tuition for so long we weren’t sure what to expect, but the pupils did themselves proud.

Teachers reported that the project has really helped give a post-covid lift and helped re-engage some pupils who had stopped joining in with music.

Really looking forward to getting started with the S2s next year!

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Victoria Primary School

‘The oldest school in Edinburgh is moving across the road, we take it with us all the way, it’s not a heavy load’

This year’s songwriting project with Victoria Primary School was unusual to say the least.

When we started the project we were planning to have a Tinderbox tutor leading over Microsoft Teams to pupils on their iPads in the classroom. Sadly the school wifi wasn’t able to cope and we ended up falling back to our more familiar approach of having the tutor on the smart board in the classroom. Happily, by the end of the project, restrictions had started to lift and we were able to get into school to finish off the song, rehearse it and record it. At the last minute we spontaneously did a bit of filming to make a quick music video. Sometimes things just fall into place!

The pupils were incredibly thoughtful and creative in writing their song to commemorate the closure of current school site and the move across the road to the new building which is going to be happening very soon. Once again it shows how well the community of Newhaven keeps their heritage alive in the hearts and minds of the young people of Victoria Primary.

 

 

 

Tinderbox Collective worked with pupils at Victoria Primary School in Edinburgh to write and record a song to commemorate the moving of Victoria Primary school from it’s current site to a new site nearby. The school has stood on the current site for 176 years making it the oldest school in Edinburgh.

Thanks to:

The pupils at Victoria Primary School – Vocals and Songwriting

The Wee Museum – Photos and Images

Tinderbox Collective musicians –

Max Lamprecht – String Arrangement

Claire Docherty – Vocals

Erin McGonigle – Violin

Anna Fraser – Drums

Jed Milroy – Guitar

Liam Dempsey – Production

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Tinderbox Collective is a community of young people, musicians, artists and youth workers, based in Scotland.  We are a registered Scottish charity, under the name Tinderbox Project, no. SC042825.


Contact us

Email
admin@tinderboxcollective.org

Address
Tinderbox Project
North Edinburgh Arts Centre
15a Pennywell Road
Edinburgh EH4 4TZ

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Copyright 2020 Tinderbox Collective