It’s not every day that instruments emerge on the musical landscape — the most popular instruments have already been around for hundreds of years — so when they do, it’s a pretty exciting thing. AOL’s Tech Download is focusing on two new instrumental concepts that might just help to usher in a new era of music and inspire dormant musicians to pick up and play.
Lia Chavez is the creator of the Optimum Physical Light and is an artist of human consciousnesses that creates “multi-sensory club experience that is choreographed through your brainwaves.” Yes, that’s a lot of words, but it’s a pretty cool concept that takes a person’s brainwaves and transforms them into a nightclub music and light show.
A headset reads the wearer’s brainwaves and using bluetooth sends the signal to a system that transforms them into unique sounds, lights, smoke machines, and other aspects associated with nightclub culture. So essentially, you can make your own personal nightclub experience using just your brain.
Artiphon is a Nashville-based music startup working on making a technology fueled single multi-instrument that nearly anybody can play. Want to play the violin? It can do that. Guitar? Yep, it does that too. The multi-instrument consists of a force-sensitive fretboard alongside a digital string-like interface and built-in speakers. It’s designed to be played in various ways, mimicking different instrument depending on how it’s held, from strumming it like a guitar to putting it on your lap and using the frets as piano keys.
Traditional instruments aren’t going away anytime soon, but as technology rapidly evolves it’s only natural that it will creep over into music as well.