For the last month, we’ve looked at how innovation is changing (the) music (industry). Some fantastic examples have come forth out of the world of artificial intelligence: can you determine whether the piece is written by a human or generated by a computer? How does AI make creative decisions on melody and harmony? And what about adding Blockchain technology to the industry? The vision is that in the near future, you’ll be able to track the provenance of every track, buy concert tickets without having to worry about fraud and know for a fact that your favorite artists get the royalties they deserve. All made possible by Blockchain. However, in this TIS Picks I want to zoom on innovations that enhance the experience of (making) music.
1. Add soundtracks to books
Although authors often only need words to set the mood, Booktrack Studio now offers the possibility to add sound to your digital book. This way authors can decide to enhance the reading experience by adding ambient sounds to specific moments in the book.
2. A wearable subwoofer
The watch-size Basslet is a wearable subwoofer that brings music and its beat straight to your body, instead of your ears. You can literally feel the bass of the music. And the cool thing is, people around you cannot sense it, so you can enjoy your guilty pleasure without disturbing anyone.
3. Bring your drums everywhere you go
Swedish startup Freedrum has created a virtual drum kit that allows practicing drumming anywhere without disturbing anyone. The standard kit contains two sensors that can be attached to the drumsticks, the flow of natural movement is synchronized with the sound in the Garageband or similar apps on your iPhone.
4. Upload and play
The Dutch Chordify offers an amazing service for musicians. It can actually transfer a tune into the chords on paper, so you can immediately start practicing your favorite songs. Just select and YouTube link or upload a song, and go. They claim it to be ‘the karaoke for fingers’!
5. Compose music with gloves
British artist and song writer Imogen Heap is always experiencing with music. She founded Mycelia4music which helps artists protect their copyright with Blockchain. But she’s also the inventor of these Mu.Mi. gloves which serve as a new interface for music based on gestures.
