Design as form of communication.
In a time where I felt voiceless, unsafe both online and in the world, design became my pathway of reclaiming the agency that had been robbed from me.
As a DJ with my location out, the thought of a zionist finding me and shooting me while performing felt so real, especially after the massive death and rape threats I recieved daily. I had no choice but to go into hiding especially after actors Micheal Rapaport and Brett Gelman, Leo Terrel from Fox News, Canary Mission, Yoav Davis, Adam Starzynski + Stefan Tompson (Visegrád) and other violent zionist advocates/pages furthered the doxxing through their name and shame agenda.
Despite the fear for my safety, I refused to be silent. So I started by simply writing messages on my PCB board. This process is called, “Silkscreen Easter Eggs”.
Hidden messages on circuit boards, known as Silkscreen Easter Eggs, are intentional inscriptions or images concealed within the printed circuit board’s silkscreen layer. Engineers and designers sometimes incorporate these elements for personal or team recognition, offering a unique touch to the hardware.
The messages on this board are the following:
There is a sacred responsibility that comes with your gifts, and that is to use them to liberate and heal humanity. May the sounds you make on this machine help bring more peace.
It also says Free Palestine around the top and bottom border.
It also says Free Palestine around the top and bottom border.
It was my first time designing a PCB board and it was truly a humbling experience. I had multiple boards (3) not work due to silly mistakes most amateurs make and I will be very honest, if it wasn’t for Mason Mann, David Rios and Karl Scholz support/help debugging, I probably would of given up around here. My mental health was in the gutter and with everything going on, it felt impossible to think but I was so determined and I kept going because it felt good to finally have an outlet where I had control.
I did not want to loose time while i was debugging/troubleshooting (shown below) so i I worked on the PCB board and I simultaneously started imagining of ways to connect the language from the board to the design.
So I asked myself more questions.
Can design impact the way a musical device is used?
Can we create the conditions for ethical use through the design?
At the time, I did not have the answers to these questions. All I could think about was Palestine. All I could think about was Gaza.
So, to connect the language from the board to the design, I intentionally decided to use the colors of the Palestinian flag for the User Interface (UI) design.
So, to connect the language from the board to the design, I intentionally decided to use the colors of the Palestinian flag for the User Interface (UI) design.
I decided to use red keycaps for the 8 functionality buttons:
Channel Select, Clear Pattern, Mute Drums, Start and Stop sequence, Octave, Waveforms, Mute Keyboard [bottom 8 keys] and an extra button feature.
I decided to use the white keycaps for the first row [drums] and the second row [synth].
The black knobs are for Volume + BPM
& the green knobs are for the effects (Reverb, Tape Delay, Filter Cutoff, Filter Decay/Attack).
*It was a hard decision for me to make but I ultimately decided that for this specific model, I wasn’t going to incorporate the braille keys I initially had planned. I wanted the design choices to feel cohesive and since I didn’t have a chance to explore accessibillty further, it felt like the right choice to make*
(scan of a page in my journal mapping order)
On my fourth PCB (this time it was black) it finally worked.
On my fourth PCB (this time it was black) it finally worked.
* If you would like the file for the Schematics (below) or PCB layout (KiCad) please email me <3
I am still trying to figure out how to share this more easily? Would love suggestions ! *
I am still trying to figure out how to share this more easily? Would love suggestions ! *
Once I had a functional PCB, the next step was populating the board
After populating, it came time to program the 8x8 neopixel. Since I already knew the colors I was using for the design, I intentionally programmed the neopixel once again with the colors of the Palestinian flag. The neopixel is serving as a visual representation for the sequencing where the active steps are white, active channels green and mute red.
At this time, I still had a 707 Drum Kit in this very pro-palestine machine and although I know the several ways in which Electronic Music has intersected with Palestinian culture and politics, I knew this connection might not be as immediately apparent to others.
It was of utmost importance to not loose the intention behind this instrument, so I connected with Omar Ahmad, A Palestinian DJ, Chemical Engineer, Friend, and Sound Artist, for Sound Design .
Omar's family is from Beit Hanina, a village in East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine.
The reason he grew up in the U.S is because his grandparents were forced to flee the collapsing conditions leading up to what would become the Six Day War (1967) (also known as The Naksa, "the setback").
Nineteen years after the Nakba (1947-1949), Zionist forces, in their mission to create a “Jewish state”, carried out a second wave of expulsions of Palestinians from their homeland during and after the 1967 war. In a matter of six days, Israel seized the remaining Palestinian territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Without hope of return, they were forcibly displaced .
Through my conversations with Omar, he mentioned how he brings his Tabla to protests to help people chant on beat and that sparked the idea to make this instrument with direct sounds from the region. It also sparked the idea to make this instrument battery powered for protests.
(Screenshot of the sounds Omar recorded)
Drums have a long and storied history in protests, embodying the spirit of resistance, resilience, and solidarity. Whether used to assert cultural identity, mobilize communities, or challenge oppressive systems, drums remain powerful symbols of protest, ritual and resistance .
Omar’s input didn’t just change the sounds of this machine—it brought it to life. His collaboration gave the instrument a deeper sense of purpose, filling in the missing piece that made it truly complete.
The sounds he recorded made the drum machine feel alive, and suddenly, I finally had a very human and personal relationship to this machine.
After sound designing, I had a functional machine producing sound, but it was not yet enclosed and was resting on acrylic to protect the PCB from damage (shown below).
*If you want to print the enclosure in acrylic, I recommend using this website*
Knob inspiration
NYU chose to wrongfully sanction me and instead of protecting me, they chose to further isolate me and ban me from every facility on campus. This meant I couldn't make the enclosure I originally had in mind. The rage I felt from feeling like I couldn’t move beyond this point because I had no access to facilities was so consuming and what made me angrier was that I had the privledge of being upset that I didn’t have access to facilites while no universities ceased to exist anymore in Gaza.
There was so much love, care and intention that went behind the design choices for this instrument that leaving it on acrylic felt wrong. Despite feeling defeated, I knew NYU’s end goal (besdies making my life hell) was for me to not gradaute and to not complete my thesis. So, I continued to resist. This time through imagination.
If you can’t do what you imagine, then what is imagination to you?
I wasn't sure how I was going to fabricate the enclosure, so I began by asking myself, "What’s my favorite audio equipment?"
Inspired by stereo gear in the 1970’s, also known as the audiophile golden age (shown below), I started looking up different audio furniture & systems. I also was inspired by The Serge, an analog modular synthesizers based on the designs of Serge Tcherepnin. Tcherepnin, while working at CalArts in the 1970s, developed his unique approach to synthesizer design after meeting with Don Buchla and working with composer Morton Subotnick.
Researching these systems inspired me to keep it simple and use wood. Although i was banned from fabrication spaces like Tandon's Maker Space and LaGuardia Studios, my department had a CNC Metal Lazer Cutter. So I decided to use metal for the faceplate.
I started ideating the faceplate then proceeded to prototype on recycled amazon packaging I would find in my departments trash bin before cutting on metal.
It was my first time working with metal, and through the process, I learned that metal is far less forgiving when it comes to dimensional errors. That’s why it took me 20 tries with cardboard to get the correct sizing for the metal plate.
In my weekly meetings with Phil Caridi, he not only taught me the value of patience throughout this process, but also shared countless important details about fabrication. Without him, there quite literally would be no faceplate.
Right when i was finally ready to cut the metal, I found out our metal lazer cutter broke and once again I had to pivot. I felt so defeated and it felt like I couldn't go past the acrylic but Phil helped me with ordering the faceplate from an online CNC and laser cutting service, specializing in aluminum, steel, and plastics.
As an artist, researcher and technologist, it is pivotal to realize how our work can contribute to the explotation of land and resources. While metal is not biodegradable, stainless steel and aluminum is! Stainless Steel is a green product, and its 100% recyclable. Aluminum is also one of the most environmentally friendly metals on the planet and the recycling process saves 95% of the energy it would cost to produce aluminum. Through this process, I learned the importance of sourcing biodigradable materials and will continue to be commited in making sure the devices I create are ethical in nature and form.
My back panel for MIDI holes and quarter inch jacks were a bit too big so Mat Olson helped me create gaskets for to hold it in place while Henrique Stockler helped me cut into the metal to add screws.
MIDI SOUND TESTING DOCUMENTATION:
After ordering the faceplate and the MIDI panel, it was finally time to put it in its final enclosure and finish wiring the back panel. I locally sourced a carpenter in Brooklyn and thanks to Mark Rogalus, I finally had the outer wooden enclosure.
During this time, I was reading alot over how the Black Panther Party embraced the Palestinian cause as part of their own struggle.
Inspired by the connection between the Palestinian struggle and Black Liberation, I decided to braid the MIDI cables in the color of the Pan-African flag.
Although I am happy this instrument is battery powered, I hope with future funding, I can find a better alternative (solar powered?) than using lithium - as colbalt mining for lithium ion batteries has a high human cost. In a time where all of us use technology, we all must come to terms on how we are enabling modern-day slavery in Congo through the battery economy. This is why the cables for my battery switch are in the color of the Congo flag.
I know that these intentional decision choices might not end the problem or be a “solution” but I hope they start conversations for much needed dialogue about global matters.
and so, to answer the questions from before,
Can design impact the way a musical device is used?
Can we create the conditions for ethical use through the design?
The answer is yes, absolutely.
In a time where we are seeing academic censorship, I wanted people to not only think of Palestine but to also speak about it. So I resisted the only way I knew how. Through music.
Music makes history. Technology distributes it. Humans are the greatest invention ever created and the most significant technology of creation. We are the technology.
Through having a intention and a direct human relation with this instrument, I was able to find a way to create collective awareness through this device before it even generates a sound.