Meet the Makers – Scott Fradkin
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Scott Fradkin. I’m a team lead and developer for a consulting company based in Sun Prairie named Flexion. I teach Scratch programming to kids in my local school district. I also volunteer by leading free programming workshops for a program called Kids GET IT which was created by a local Madison company named Adorable. I create music under my own name and the pseudonym 17.2m and post the occasional live coding videos to YouTube. I also like to give talks and workshops about live coding music, links to which can be found on my website. Getting kids and adults excited about programming is what I like to do and music is a fun way to create that excitement. I’m very slowly creating an application called Snap Music that can be used to teach young kids how to program and create music at the same time.
What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be giving a talk about live coding in general and I will show a few different live coding environments including my Snap Music project. I will also be leading two workshops. One workshop on creating music with Sonic Pi and another on creating music with TidalCycles.
What inspires you to make?
I listen to a lot of music which gives me many ideas of strange music that I want to make. The power of live coding languages allows me to express those ideas. Through my use of Sonic Pi and teaching Sonic Pi workshops, I was inspired to create Snap Music to bring the joy of music and programming to even younger kids.
What is something you’ve made that you are most proud of, and why?
It’s a work in progress, but Snap Music has so much potential. I’m happy to create something that may be able to get kids interested in both making music and coding. I’ve enjoyed making something that will hopefully have a positive effect on the world.
Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
For the longest time I never really considered myself a Maker. I’ve come to realize that even though I’m not making physical or tangible things, the music I create and the applications I write are just as much Making as anything else.
If you plan on attending one of Scott’s workshops (Making Music with Sonic Pi or Making Music with TidalCycles) bring your own laptop so you can follow along and get the most out of it. You can also download and install Sonic Pi and TidalCycles if you want to start exploring on your own.