Technology
In conversation with DIY pioneer Kavita Arora
Founder of the Bangalore Makespace and Open Source Creativity, Kavita Arora gets real about building new makerspaces and the future of the DIY audio movement.
Tell us a little about your background. Did you always have an interest and inclination towards technology?
As far as I remember, I was always a science nut. Playing with toy chemistry and electronics kits encouraged my interest in technology and persuaded me to apply for an engineering education. I was lucky enough to be accepted to Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) to study for a Bachelors of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering. During my course, I found myself opting for more electives on the lines of Analog Electronics and Signals/Semiconductor devices. This empowered me to understand how crucial the study of Analog Electronics was to creating beautiful (digital and analog) musical instruments! I was so enamoured by electronics and computing research, I stuck around at CMU and worked as a research associate with the Robotics and Language Technology Institutes at the School of Computer Science, finishing an MS in Information Technology while I was at it.
What first led you to delve into the maker movement? How easy or difficult was it to find people that shared your interest?
I had just returned from a business trip to the UK, where I had come across the London Hackspace and decided that I needed to be a part of the global maker movement. Surely something like this could be re-created in Bangalore, where I resided. I created a Facebook group called Bangalore Makespace and Open Source Creativity in the hope of finding like-minded enthusiasts to work on technology-inspired projects with a strong community feel. I was lucky to attract many members, 10 people became 100 people, which further became 1000, 5000, and suddenly we got to over 22,000 people! We are now Asia's largest (projected) network of Makers, Hackers and DIY enthusiasts on a digital medium -- and we continue to grow!
Even though we are blessed to find lots of awesome people who share our motto of "making and doing", getting funds to run our activities, purchase equipment for our ongoing workshops, and finding conducive spaces to host our meetups has been nothing short of stressful and chaotic. Even though, in my opinion, India is a land of makers, it is not very "maker-friendly" and one has to go above and beyond their comfort level to procure high-quality components/equipment at a pocket-friendly rate -- and if that has been achieved somehow, the lack of empowerment and support from institutions and corporate bodies to encourage actual skill-building at a grass-roots level is disappointing, to say the least.
Kavita Arora with her maker community
© Courtesy of Kavita Arora
In a way, movements like yours are addressing the lack of manufacturing and innovating skills that we should have learned at an early age. How differently do you view adult learning?
I'm all about adult learning. Most of my workshops, events and outreach work involve influencing adult learners to break out of their shell and try working on projects they've not had any prior experience or exposure to. It's not just about being adept at new technologies, rather it is a way to change the way one thinks about emerging trends and what they mean to one's day to day existence.
I feel adult learners need to take stock of the fact that what they learnt in school/college may not be relevant or applicable to the world today. Even now, there is a huge gap between what is taught academically compared to the skills required by Industry. People who are self-driven learners are motivated to continue their education and pick up industry-relevant skills along the way, which may or may not intersect with their own personal interests or hobbies.
However, there a lot of others, who would like to learn new skills but lack the motivation or resources needed to proceed. There are times when people need to be nudged and encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and learn new skills. Reinforcing that learning by "making and doing" is exactly what our makespace community provides - an avenue for folks to express themselves and adapt to changing surroundings while collaborating with their fellow makers and learners.
How do you see your activities converge with the Sound Synthesis and DIY movement? Tell us about some of the work you have done in this realm or would like to.
As Makers, we're always interested in building things that can interact with the world around us. When it comes to involving the physical senses, playing with and manipulating sound can be one of the most gratifying activities one can indulge in. The joy of hearing how a few knob tweaks to a synth or effects pedal can completely change the texture of a sound is a thrill in itself! Sound Synthesis is one of those modalities under Audio Engineering that has already captured the interest of plenty of musicians and sound artists -- but it is so wide in scope, that most beginners do not understand how to approach it. Software or Hardware? The choices available to us in the field of DIY Audio and Sound Synthesis are mind-boggling!
Most artists who are interested in sound synthesis may not necessarily be proficient in Electronics, so they are likely to noodle with DAWs and soft-synth plugins just to whet their appetite and learn the basic concepts. It also depends on what goals or objectives one has in mind when approaching Sound Synthesis - if one is interested in building sound-generative or audio-reactive devices/patches or if one wants to produce music with the synth they built, etc.
Bangalore has tons of bedroom DJs and producers where the majority are likely to get themselves a 2-octave MIDI keyboard and hook it up to Ableton to create the kind of "sound" they are after, for starters! In my experience, most newbie FL and Ableton producers land up sounding similar to each other (genre not withstanding) for the simple reason that they use the very same sound/MIDI libraries and plugins that come packaged with these DAWs. If they were to learn the concepts behind synthesis first, it may help them to truly shape and consciously create the sound they're looking to achieve, and in doing so, develop their own unique sound signature. Either way, learning synthesis can only benefit both musicians and artists alike, irrespective of what their end goals are.
As for us, Bangalore Makespace has already run a couple of workshops on DIY Audio and Live Coding, where we assisted enthusiasts of Music Tech about Gibber and Sonic Pi. Roughly two years ago we created the "DIY Audio - Maker Study Group" in an attempt to guide newbies and beginner sound enthusiasts to this vast, ever growing, world of Music Technology and DIY Music culture. Ideally, a complete hands-on practical approach to building your own synthesizer would be one of the best things a DIY Audio nerd could ask for. In the near future, we plan to hold a couple of workshops, first on the 'Basics of Synthesis', followed by a slightly more advanced Synth-building workshop. Our study group leader and champion synth-maker John Alex has already design a simple DIY 'dirty/noise synth' and as soon as we have finalised the PCB design, we intend to use it in our Synth-building workshop so as to encourage people interested in DIY Audio to build their own synths
Work in progress
© Courtesy of Kavita Arora
Given an opportunity, how do you envision the two movements (sound synthesis and DIY movement) coming closer, and working symbiotically?
As mentioned earlier, at Makespace, we love to bring makers and learners with common interests together. Drawing in DIY Audio artists and musicians to come together (sorry, couldn't resist the Beatles reference there) is a natural extension of that objective. One thing we notice is that most self-driven makers tend to work either by themselves or in small groups. At Makespace, when we draw them out to learn or collectively build, there is a natural synergy that manifests as a result of the shared passion for the topic at hand. This applies all the more to DIY Audio/Synthesis hackers. With Audio, there is always the immediate element of tactile engagement and instant gratification while playing scratch-built devices or even soft-synths that have been patched together.
Furthermore, convening together also helps makers introduce their own work or personal projects to others who have similar interests in that specific area of DIY Audio or Music Production. There is a natural drive from DIY Audio hackers to constantly improve and push the limits of their builds/devices (circuit bending is an extreme example of this). Learning from others not only drives further innovation in DIY Audio, but concepts and techniques can be used in other fields as well! That's how both movements can symbiotically feed off and benefit each other. There is a constant flow of ideas and creativity that is sometimes almost electric and palpable - and as a Makespace facilitator, that's what I live for!
We are seeing things like microcomputers (raspberry pi, for example) and Arduino drive a lot of new innovation in the sound synthesis scene. What are the other new or upcoming technologies that you find exciting?
From the point of view of Music Production, one of the current technologies that would appeal to musicians is potentially combining real-time gesture recognition with synthesizers and loopers. This allows musicians to only use gestures to create music on the fly without needing to or imposing on the standard approach to music composition. An awesome example of this would be Imogen Heap's Mi Mu gloves.
Nowadays, we have plenty of mobile device apps that make Synthesis and Music Production more accessible. Most hardware-synthesizer companies have realized the potential of such apps and have released soft-synth apps, which emulate their own flagship synthesizers. There are also more "alternative" music apps that encourage a simple, tactile based approach to synthesis and production, again while keeping the process of music composition completely open-ended without constraining it to the usual classical approach. Some of the more popular projects are Radiohead's PolyFauna app as well as Bjork's Biophilia.
In emerging synthesis technologies, we have a combination of gesture-based synthesis within Virtual Reality environments and even Augmented Reality. So imagine you have an entire VR synthesizer at your disposal and you could play with it almost like you would a regular synthesizer or keyboard. And those are not the only instruments you are limited to. Also, combining such AR/VR synthesis techniques with 3D Audio projection are the latest trends we are aware of and it’s currently the hottest field of audio exploration and innovation in this domain.
As for future music/synthesis technologies, honestly what I foresee is technology advancing to the point that it leads to a drastic reduction in the complexity of the user-interface needed to create music. Your next synthesizer could be a wearable, or it could simply be a headset that reads your mind and creates music accordingly. This is something that our DIY Audio study group leader John Alex is currently experimenting with i.e. Music composition using Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI).
Bangalore's DIY Pioneer, Kavita Arora
© Courtesy of Kavita Arora
One of the traditional challenges facing an Indian DIY'er was lack of locally manufactured parts. Do you see this improving? What are some sources you recommend?
I've been into DIY electronics for the last 4-5 years now, so I've luckily managed to build up a decent collection of components and audio modules with the help of local electronics stores that just happen to be in Bangalore itself. I try not to order online unless it's absolutely necessary, as most of my trusted sources are lined up along SP Road!
On SP Road, I head over to OM Electronics, Vishal Electronics and Sri Lakshmi Electronics for most of my basic component needs. Pooja Electronics is my destination for most audio-related components, amps, etc. as well as a few visits to Amar Radio Corporation serves worthwhile when trying to source interesting knobs and switches. Golcha Electronics is a place where high-end (and expensive) audio equipment is available. Some of our DIY Audio members have also resorted to eBay to purchase components such as Audio Delay Lines that they might never find in India, let alone Bangalore!
Do you see any encouragement, in the form of tangible support from any government, corporate or institutional sources? What is the kind of support you wish for?
To be very honest, I'd have to say no. Although there are a bunch of schemes and programmes offered by certain entities, it is unfortunate that most of them are simply social media campaigns to attract momentary buzz among consumer audiences. Institutions serve primarily as profit-making bodies, not taking into consideration the experimental or whimsical side of music technology which is more Art than it is Science and may not produce immediate payouts. Although there is a strong push by the DIY community to prepare for performances there is very little knowledge creation being instantiated to bridge the gaps between music technology and music appreciation, and this lack of attention to research and development is one of the reasons that DIY culture cannot progress beyond a few simple instrument build sessions and jams.
What is desperately needed, is strong support by major brands (in the music instruments domain as well as others) to spearhead co-creation by Makers and Hackers, in the form of grants for research projects, funding and sponsorship for music tech events and conferences, in addition to a commitment to educating, not just selling, Music Tech and DIY influenced ideas and products.
How does it feel to be a solitary woman of science in a field dominated by men?
Again, if I were to be completely honest, I'd have to say it's rather depressing to be one of the few women in the room among the vast sea of men. I've been lucky to be surrounded by some very supportive men who have freely shared their knowledge with me from time to time but the lack of women who have an interest in DIY-related technology-inspired initiatives is a huge drawback to the overall industry/field progressing in India. Until we can collectively find a way to gauge and attract the interest of smart and talented Indian women to participate in Technology-focused DIY/Maker activities, we will soon hit a plateau with respect to innovation, ideas and progress our country has to offer.
However, I do have hope. The number of makers and self-motivated learners is continuing to rise, whether they are coming into the fold due to increasing pressure to develop new skills, or if they simply want to try novel initiatives that will help them develop future relationships with like-minded people. Each day that we encourage women (of any age) to participate in such initiatives, we hopefully inspire them to explore their own learning paths in DIY culture -- and the better our collective future looks to be!
You conduct an extraordinary number of workshops and activities. What’s driving your passion?
I love bringing people together around a shared interest. I have to give credit to the awesome team of volunteers and community instructors that step up to host all those workshops and events! It can't be done without the collaboration of the member community. I am simply a curator that steps in, in an attempt to tie all the wonderful thoughts and ideas that the community brainstorms together so that we can offer workshops and activities to our vast membership. The fact that there is so much enthusiasm to attend these workshops and be part of them is what really drives me to never stop. If I had to share my utopian vision -- I hope that one day we find enough funds and infrastructure support to host community-driven workshops on as many maker-influenced topics as possible.
Apart from the Maker Workshops, what are some exciting things you are working on right now?
Apart from Maker Workshops and organising regular meetups/events for the Maker Community in Bangalore, I have a couple of pet projects I'm working on -- one is a simple DIY electronics kit for "lights and sounds" targeted at beginner makers who are interested in "physical computing". This project is still in its development phase so I don't have too much to share. Another project that I'm testing right now, which may or may not affect Bangalore Makespace's long-term growth, is a "space-independent makerspace". It reinforces the fact that you don't need a permanent physical location to create a makerspace. The model instead depends on the right people who have the right intentions to create several pop-up makerspaces which could be situated all over the city, country, world. It is an experiment towards a "community as a service" which needs a decentralized governance structure as well as the appropriate channels for like-minded folks to meet up in real time, regardless of geographic location. I'm still figuring this one out. More updates to come soon, I hope.