Music Technology for Special Needs
DisCoTech is the first-ever event dedicated to creation of music technology for people with special needs, which I produced in collaboration with the Israeli NPO Imagine and my own company, Shift.
Working together for 4 months, we assembled teams of designers, makers and developers around 4 musicians with 4 different disabilities. By forming the groups in advance and helping them to define their needs and goals, we made sure that everyone came prepared.
Recruiting sponsors and partners such as Stratasys and the Tel Aviv Municipality, we equipped all 4 floors of Mazeh 9 with 3D printers, electronics and assistive technology, which enabled the teams to create 4 different working prototypes during the hackathon’s 48 hours – and demo them live at its closing event.
Following the event’s success, I went on tour speaking about music technology and special needs on stages such as Microsoft Think Next, TEDx Jerusalem and MTF Scandinavia, giving interviews to Israeli radio and newspapers and spreading the word.
But this is only the beginning. We have already started producing the next event, and plan to grow and branch outside of Israel – bringing the message and values of DisCoTech to as many countries and people as possible.
If you’d like to organise a DisCoTech event in your own country, please feel free to contact me.
Video Credits
Directed by Matan Berkowitz / Produced by Shift / Filmed by Nitai Shalom and Yakir Benveniste / Edited by Julian Feder / Music by Yahav Moore / Mix by Itamar Eshpar / After by Ido Carasso
