Music for health & safety
TonAlchemy
A self-guided rhythm practice for incarcerated people, using accessible creative tools for emotional regulation, self-expression, learning, and connection inside confinement.
The need
Limited access to creative tools
- Isolation
- Medical neglect
- Mental health challenges
- Few accessible creative outlets
People in prison have extremely limited access to creative tools, mental-health resources, technology, and meaningful ways to regulate stress or express themselves.
TonAlchemy is for people living in confinement: to help them learn rhythm, sound, music-making, and creative practice through accessible lessons designed for them.
The practice
A practice you can carry with you
Music gives us a way to express what words cannot.
Alone, we practice, explore, and find our sound. Together, we listen, learn, and create something larger than ourselves. Passed through generations, music is a shared cultural inheritance — an anchor, a source of renewal, and a rope we hold as we find our way through life.
TonAlchemy is a self-directed music curriculum being developed for incarcerated learners through the Edovo app on prison tablets. It connects rhythm, listening, movement, and cultural history with practical chances to express and reflect. Learners begin with what they already have: attention, breath, body, and curiosity. Activities support independent practice, including silent and low-volume exercises, with shared music-making where it is permitted.
What learners explore
Listening and awareness
Notice sound, silence, pulse, and patterns.
Rhythm and coordination
Build timing through tapping, counting, movement, and repetition.
Personal practice
Develop routines, recognize progress, and reflect on challenges.
Music across cultures
Explore rhythmic traditions and the communities that sustain them.
Expression and connection
Develop musical ideas, create songs, and learn to listen and respond to others.
Inside a lesson
Finding and returning to a steady beat
Your body is the instrument. Everything else is optional. Practice with one hand, both sides of your body, or silent movement. Repetition builds familiarity. There is no rush.
- Try it
- Listen to a metronome at 120 beats per minute. Tap gently with the clicks, then on every other click. Breathe naturally — your breath does not need to match each beat. When your attention wanders or your timing slips, notice, and return.
- Reflect
- What did you notice about your attention, movement, or breathing? Repeat the exercise if you wish, and describe anything that changes.
- Takeaway
- The practice is in returning, not in achieving perfection.
The Commissary Cookbook
Illustrated activities introduce sound, technique, and simple patterns using everyday materials, subject to facility permission. Small choices — where to tap, when to pause, how softly to play — become opportunities for authorship.
- A bowl becomes a tapping surface.
- A wrapper offers a quiet rhythmic texture.
- Two cups give each hand a different voice.
The creator
Meet Will Rice
Known musically as Wax Roof
Will Rice is an Oakland-based producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist with more than 20 years of musicianship. His work includes collaborations with Latto, Murs, Sango, and TOBi, alongside film scoring and live performance.
After developing fibromyalgia and losing the ability to play instruments, Will found healing through sampling and sonic experimentation. He is passionate about using music as a tool for therapy, creativity, and community connection — especially for those most marginalized by displacement and systemic injustice.
TonAlchemy brings that experience into approachable lessons connecting musical skill with curiosity, cultural understanding, and personal expression.
The road ahead
From build to first pilot
A proposed six months from kickoff. The work is in a build phase: the nonprofit is in process, there is no pilot yet, and content production is still pending. The mission is structured sound-based education supporting emotional regulation, cognitive engagement, and personal development.
Days 1–30
Define the pilot
Set a 6–8 week scope, name the learners and setting, and agree on goals with a first partner.
Milestone
Pilot brief and partner shortlist
Days 31–60
Build core content
Adapt the curriculum into tablet modules, film guided instruction, and prepare practice materials.
Milestone
Core modules and filmed content
Days 61–90
Prepare to launch
Secure the pilot partner, review tablet delivery, and shape the funding narrative.
Milestone
Partner, funding brief, and launch plan
Months 4–6
Launch and learn
Launch the pilot, activate the tablet curriculum, and gather feedback for what comes next.
Milestone
Pilot launched; early learning captured
Running alongside the pilot: advancing the nonprofit, opening funding conversations by month six, and a board role that stays strategic — guidance, partnership pathways, and credibility — rather than day-to-day operations. Success at six months looks like a launched pilot, an active tablet curriculum, an established nonprofit, and early funding conversations underway.
How to help
Help build a lasting resource
TonAlchemy brings together curriculum, original audio, musical demonstrations, instructional video, illustrations, and learner activities. Support sustains the skilled work of developing, reviewing, and preparing those materials for independent learning.
- 1,640
- development hours
- 33
- services and deliverables
- $196,950
- estimated professional project value
The estimate covers the full development scope and production resources. It represents project value. The remaining fundraising need will account for work and resources already contributed.
What the budget delivers
Program
Concept, Edovo-specific design, curriculum architecture, writing, and revision.
Activities
Listening, rhythm, breath, self-regulation, reflection, skill-building, and a glossary.
Media
Original instructional audio, demonstrations, scripts, and video lessons.
Materials
Illustration, educational line art, rhythm visual aids, and prepared digital assets.
Review
Correctional and accessibility adaptation, plain language, packaging, and quality review.
Implementation
Project coordination and support for integration.
What completion looks like
A cohesive, reviewed multimedia course: written lessons, participant workbook activities, original instructional audio, video lessons, illustrations, practice routines, and knowledge checks — prepared for Edovo submission and integration. Release depends on platform and partner review.
Bring your resources
Get to know the goal. Get involved. Contribute what you can.
- Funding for the time to write, record, illustrate, edit, and prepare the curriculum
- Musical demonstrations
- Educational review
- Production skills, equipment, or software
- Introductions to aligned supporters
Help make music a lifelong resource for expression, connection, and care.