Saturday, April 6, 2013

Tech Tunes

Tech Tunes

volume 3
4.6.13

I am very interested in an upcoming event called Open Make @ The Tech: Music at the Tech Museum in San Jose, California Saturday, April 13.  It says that handrawn images will be instantly transformed into playable musical instruments.  Intel's new product called Sketch it! Play It! will be featured by Intel Maker Jay Silver, as part of their Start Making! initiative.   

On the website, there is a 40 second video that shows pencil doodles being plucked and tapped as corresponding guitar sounds are generated.  It's a trip.  Much like seeing that first guitar app but in the idea phase on paper.  But, this is no guitar...it's sort of a circular band with attached tabs, 'played' like keys on a piano.  There's another example that looks like swirls and circles.  Others look like still-life drawings, trees and flowers.  The fact that the graphite in pencils conducts electricity makes this product simply elegant.  You are literally drawing an electric circuit.  Attach that circuit to the 'jam station' and add the sounds and lights.  Simply cool.

There will be other products like the MaKey MaKey, developed by Makers at Lawrence Livermore Labs that transforms conductive materials into instruments or, the Drawdio, which has the user painting with a conductive paintbrush and transforming the painting into a musical instrument.  Drawdio will also showcase a wearable, conductive, musical jacket.  I imagine dances creating music rather than the other [usual] way around- what about you?

There will be special 'Meet the Makers: Music' presentations with various product designers and special student activities all included with museum admission.  See the Tech Museum website at: 
http://www.thetech.org/open-make-tech/open-make-music?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GS13OpenMakeApril&utm_content=version_A

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