OneBeat is a program created in partnership between Bang on a Can the U.S. State Department and Found Sound Nation (FSN), the social engagement wing of Bang on a Can. FSN is a collective of musicians and artists who leverage the unique power of creative sound-making to help build strong, just, healthy communities. Working with people across the globe, FSN projects give voice to underrepresented communities, unlock the creative potential of at-risk youth, and build bridges between communities separated by cultures, economic disparities, and geography. The work of FSN emphasizes a mobile, accessible, collaborative way of recording and producing professional quality music, a technique developed by combining the innovative art music traditions of Bang on a Can with traditions of musique concréte, hip hop, and contemporary composition. Our method is highly adaptable to different environments; it draws its strength from working and recording in different spaces, drawing upon the musicians from the local scene, and the sounds of the local atmosphere.
FSN began in 2007 with one classroom-based studio in a failing school in the Bronx in 2007, and has since expanded the scope of its programming to include international projects, all of which utilize the transformative power of music to effect positive change locally and globally. Currently FSN is partnering with the U.S. Department of State to produce OneBeat and the Dosti Music Project, two incubators for arts-based social innovation where musicians from around the world collaboratively create original music and develop strategies for arts-based social engagement. Other FSN projects include: running street studios at music festivals in Zimbabwe, Switzerland, NYC and Maine; remixing a mediation lesson in India; developing a film scoring curriculum in Haiti; documenting youth music movements in Indonesia; amplifying the work of youth activists in New Orleans; facilitating music composition/production workshops with incarcerated youth in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and more.