I want to thank the guys over at the Noise Solution blog for showing me some really cool new DIY tech that makes an excellent substitute for the Soundbeam musical instrument.  For those that don't know a Soundbeam is a very pricey (like $5,000 pricey) device that senses movement and turns it into sound.  It is most often used in music therapy and as a way to help special needs individuals create music when they have limited mobility or dexterity.  To make a long story short, the guys at Noise Solution have rigged up a cool Do It Yourself substitute for this device using around $100 of off the shelf parts and some home brew software.  

The video below shows you what they have accomplished.  They have also done a similar music creation project using Wii remotes that is very impressive as well.  Read on to see the video.

Tales From The Podium

One of the great things about being a writer for Teaching Music is that I get a chance to talk to some great teachers that normally I would never meet or probably even hear of.  This month in preparation for a piece coming out in the April issue I got to meet Steve Park, an Adjunct Horn Professor at Utah State University.  The topic was on trumpet stuff (you'll just have to read the piece in the magazine if you are curious) but along the way he gave me some great tips for helping a few of my floundering trumpet and horn students.  Sometimes it just takes a different point of view to help you see a new way to teach something and teaching it in that new way can make all the difference.  

Tales From The Podium