Our idea is simple: everyone should be able to make beats and create music–and open source technology is the way to do it. In Beat Making Lab, we use both the open source software Audacity and an expensive software called Reason 6 to teach students how to make beats. Our aspirations to make the Beat Making Lab a global phenomenon means we need the software we use to be cost effective and easy to share. Reason 6 isn’t an options for most of our international students, so we decided to develop our own software.

When we learned more about the principles of open source and how it is developed and nurtured by a community of codativists (coder/activists – we just made this up), we fell in love. It fit perfectly with the aspirations of Beat Making Lab. We believe you create change in your community by empowering artists, and encouraging innovation. Making beats can do that. It can empower youth, build relationships, broadcast important stories, and heal communities. What better way to nurture innovation than to rally the open source community, to provide folks with the tools they need to improvise and inspire? At the Beat Making Lab, we know it’s not just a good idea – it’s an obligation.

So who’s with us? We need coders, artists, writers, beat makers, marketers, and many others to help make Open Beats successful. If you are interested helping out or you would like more information, send us an email and let’s get started.