Online
Online workshop: Connecting to Ancestry Through Electronic Music
28th July 2026
7-9 pm BST
£10 or free for Saffron Members
Saffron in collaboration with Ableton is delighted to present the July instalment of its ‘Saffron Members Club‘ online workshop programme. For women, trans, and non-binary people worldwide.
CONNECTING TO ANCESTRY THROUGH ELECTRONIC MUSIC
How can music production function as a tool for connecting with your cultural heritage? How can we explore these influences mindfully, whilst also embracing creativity?
In this two-hour workshop, we welcome Maggie Tra to share her process weaving traditional instruments from Cambodia and Vietnam into her music. She’ll talk about how she’s crafted a sound that respects culture, whilst also bringing diaspora together through community projects such as Hanoi Community Radio and Pho the Girls.
Through a mixture of presentation and discussion we’ll explore:
- Why bring culture into music?
- How to pay homage to ancestors whilst also celebrating culture
- Why building community through culture matters if you’re making music with traditional instruments
- How to implement traditional sounds into DAWs mindfully
- Alternative tuning in Ableton Live
About Maggie Tra
Maggie Tra is an electronic Producer, DJ, label head and musical polymath. The Australian born Vietnamese/Cambodian artist brings finesse and flair to the dance-floor by embracing the culture of the land she’s in with wholeness and conviction. A weaver of musical fibres, her creations as a music producer entwine melody, genres and tempos to create her own tapestries coupled with Asian influences.
Grounded and full of hope to see more diversity in the music industry, Maggie founded Pho The Girls. A label and collective that supports women & non-binary people in the music industry. The organisation runs DJ and music production workshops which is now a community of over 100 female & non-binary DJs based in London, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia. More recently she founded Hà Nội Community Radio. As a DJ she’s graced the decks in Europe, India, Asia and Australia.
ACCESS
This workshop will be delivered via Saffron’s digital members platform, but non-members who are women, trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming may also purchase a ticket. Saffron Membership starts from less than £6 per month and provides access to regular online workshops, an online community space, video masterclasses, free music tech tools, discounts and much more.
This workshop is open to people worldwide, but will be running at 7.00 pm BST, so please bear time zone differences in mind. If you purchase a ticket but are unable to attend live, you will automatically be emailed a recording of the workshop after the event.
We are committed to making our online events as accessible as possible. We have created a guidance document about this. Alternatively, please email us with any access requirements you may have.
GENDER POLICY
The gender imbalance in the music technology industry is well-recognised. While we are absolutely not ‘anti-men’, we see that a shorter-term solution is to provide fellowship and learning environments that are not dominated by the cisgender male perspective. Therefore, these workshops are intended for women, non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming people to attend. While we do not ban cisgender men from attending, we hope that they will respect that this event is not intended for them.
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