One reason why music programs around the country are cutting back is the cost associated with purchasing equipment. Instruments are expensive
and until now, were the only real way to truly engage a student’s musical faculties.
In creating the Mogees Play, UK-based music and technology company Mogees is aiming to bring musical instruction to everyday classrooms and life without needing instruments, controllers, joysticks, or keyboards. How? A small sensor serves as the connection between tablets or smartphones and any object at all — a wall, a book, a table, even another person. Depending on how a user interacts with that object — a bump, a tap, a scratch — Mogees Play reads those vibrations and transforms them into different musical effects. This interface is the foundation of three, educationally-minded apps designed to teach the fundamentals of music. The Pulse app is an addictive rhythm game that teaches the basics of rhythm, timbre, and velocity. Jam is a music creation tool, while Keys (iOS only) allows users to create melodies, arpeggios, and chords. $65 gets backers a Mogees Play by September 2016 should its Kickstarter campaign raise about $53,000 by August 5th, 2016.
2016 has certainly been the year of alternative musical instruments, many of them straddling the line between analog and digital technology. The Mogees Play is a great example of this, blurring the line between physical objects and the technology that adds versatility to the platform, perfect with its open API and educationally-designed setup. Other experimental musical experiences include the motion-based Point Motion, the exercise-centered Motion to Music, and the Remidi T8 MIDI glove.