Welcome to Wayne&Wax.org! This site is, unfortunately, a little out of date at the moment, since Wayne has been focusing on his dissertation. But at one time (and perhaps again in the future) this site served as a central forum for the many participants in Wayne's digital music classes. Here you can hear some of the products of the workshops, featuring music from Roxbury and Dorchester, MA and Kingston, JA.

The digital music program began in Roxbury, Massachusetts in the summer of 2002, and continues at the Neighborhood Technology Center under the skilled tutelage of Byron Logan.  With the vision and support of Thaddeus Miles, who oversees several community-based computer labs, the digital music program fits into a larger initiative to draw youth into technology through creative expression, spurring the production of local media and encouraging the development of new imaginations and representations  of self and community. Thaddeus's newest project is called MassIMPACT. One of its major goals is to facilitate the creation of digital stories--using computers to combine visual art, music, and spoken narratives--in community centers across the state of Massachusetts.

In January 2003, Wayne and Rebecca moved to Kingston, Jamaica to conduct a series of workshops in Jamaican schools, community centers, and prisons, combining digital music and web-design. They posted a regular weblog, or blog, of their experiences, including plenty of music and photos. Wayne and Becca conducted workshops at a number of schools in Kingston, including the St. Andrew High School for Girls, Camper Down, and Tivoli Gardens High School. They also became regular visitors to Innswood High School in nearby Spanish Town and at South Camp Rehabilitation Centre. Check the Kingston users-page to hear some music from the workshops in Jamaica. While in Kingston, Wayne also collaborated with local hip-hop and dancehall artists and conducted research for his dissertation on the relationship between dancehall and hip-hop, tentatively titled, "Routes, Rap, Reggae: A Hidden History of Hip-hop." Wayne and Rebecca moved back to Cambridge at the end of June 2003.

In the summer of 2003, Wayne conducted a series of digital music workshops at Washington Heights in Dorchester, MA. Check out some beats from the summer session here. Wayne has also offered workshops at UTEC in Lowell, MA, where a vibrant digital music scene now thrives. On the users page, you can hear music from other individuals and institutions participating in the project. You can also find a set of lessons, based on Wayne's introductory workshops, intended to aid newcomers in making digital music using a program called FruityLoops. You might get acquainted with sound-sequencing first, or just have some fun, with Becca's Sheep Beats. Please poke around.