Most music fans have at some point wanted to create music, but most don't have the theory training or instrument expertise to follow through on that desire. However, a new breed of musical instruments is making it possible for almost anyone, even the very young and the musically untrained, to pick up a touch-sensitive piece of hardware and start jamming.
We recently gave you a look at the future of musical instruments. The iPad app in the video below is a stunning example of where the future is headed.
iPad app Artikulator enables users to create a new kind of music notation — something completely different from notes on staves, something exponentially more intuitive — simply by sliding their fingers across the screen. While traditional sheet music is cryptographic for the uninitiated, Artikulator is as simple to understand as a child's toy. A line that curves upward creates a higher-pitched sound. A line that is bigger makes a louder sound.
Developers Mike Rotondo and Luke Iannini constructed the app in about 24 hours during a Music Hackday, a series of events that combines art and technology with fascinating results. They hope to release their creation in the App Store soon, and they won't be charging for the initial version. We also saw the app running on an iPhone, for those of you who don't have iPads.
And yes, they're aware this demo sounds like "dying cats"; more timbres and sounds will be available.
We think this interface is a wonderful way to teach and learn about music and to express creative urges without getting mired down in the technicalities of making and producing music. What's your take on it: Could you see yourself playing with an "instrument" such as this one?