Noisy Table

Location: FACT Connects Space

Cost: FREE

Noisy Table is the first project and the launch of the FACT Connects programme, which is committed to reaching out to local artists, musicians, organisations and independent businesses, allowing their presence to be felt in the FACT building.

Created by artist Will Nash, Noisy Table is programmed with a library of digital
instruments and samples. The vibrations created when the ball hits the table are turned into sounds, which are then broadcast live back into the game. Buttons at either end of the table allow players to scroll through the library and change the sounds.

Nash describes Noisy Table as "an alter-table-tennis experience" that breaks down traditional barriers of art. He says: "People can feel intimidated when they are asked to join in by an artist, but they don't even think about that with table tennis. They just pick up the bat and start playing."

It will launch on December 6 with live music and DJs, and a 'battle of the bands' ping pong tournament will run while the table is in situ. In association with Bido Lito! magazine, eight local bands will take part in customising the table and competing against each other.

Noisy Table will be at FACT from 12pm to 6pm daily (11am to 6pm on Saturdays). Outside of these times, it can still be used if players bring their own bats and balls.

Hack the Table!

Local makers, musicians and artists are invited to alter the soundscape created by play on the table at its very source. In several planned hackspaces, local bands, creative collectives, artists and technological makers will invited to play with the coding which controls the soundscape, patching in their own audio samples and encouraging the public to join in with their twist on Nash's work.

Liverpool artist Ross Dalziel will assist would-be hackers in accessing the software for Noisy Table, which can be patched with open-source software, making the possibilities for customisation endless: Illuminate the front window of FACT as games are played, use the sounds as a trigger for other activity, or simply make the table sing your own song…

So whether you just want to play a game, hack a work of art, or find out what an Arduino is and what it does, come get connected with FACT!

Noisy Table is supported by Dunlop Table Tennis and funded by Arts Council England. It will remain in the foyer for the duration of the Winter Sparks exhibition, until February 23.

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We are inviting local makers, musicians and artists to alter the soundscape created by play on the table at its very source.

In several planned hackspaces, local bands and technological makers are invited to play with the coding which controls the soundscape- patching in their own audio samples, and encouraging the public to join in with their twist on Nash's work. Noisy Table can be patched with open-source software, making the possibilities for customisation endless: illuminate the front window of FACT as games are played, use the sounds as a trigger for other activity, or simply make the table sing your own song…

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6 December
MIDI Instruments
Ross Dalziel alongside artist WIll Nash will lead the event to hack the table with MIDI instruments
12pm onwards

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14 December
Ross Dalziel's Battleships Hack
Turning Noisy Table into a whole new sort of game!
12pm onwards

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22 December
Adrian McEwan's BellHack
Adrian from DoES Liverpool will hack the table to produce bell sounds, and programming the software to animate a physical bell in the building
12pm onwards


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24 January
School Hack
FACT's Schools and Learning Coordinator Anna Kronenburg, Ross Dalziel and Jon Couch lead a workshop in using LOGIC for a school group, who will then be able to hack the table.

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TableHack Co-cordinator - Ross Dalziel

Engineer - Jason Hotchkiss 

Pure Data Design - Martin Gritton 

Interactive artwork Noisy Table, an augmented ping pong table that will make music and sounds as games are played, arrives in FACT on December 6; and who better to test it out than some of the city's best-loved bands?

As part of a special opening event, FACT will be launching Noisy Table with the start of a ping pong challenge with some of the most exciting names on Liverpool's music scene, including Clinic, Loved Ones, Afternaut, Organ Freeman, All We Are, Alpha Male Tea Party, Ninetails and Dogshow, in association with Bido Lito! Magazine.

Clinic will take on Loved Ones for the first match of the tournament at 6pm on Thursday, December 6, before hanging around for a DJ set. Afternaut will perform live, and all bands involved in the ping pong challenge will be taking part in a round robin match.

The second match featuring Afternaut and Organ Freeman will take place Tuesday December 18 at 6pm.

Check out Bido Lito's photo gallery from the Noisy table launch featuring all 8 bands in the round the world Ping Pong explosion! 

Listen live to the Noisy Table on Mixlr. Please note that sometimes the stream may be offline, and other times it may be quiet if nobody is playing.