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Instrument Inventions Get Kickstart

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Kickstarter has been kicking out all sorts of new, innovative instruments for you to test your musical boundaries.

Remember the Artiphon Instrument 1 Kickstarter? The 'electric keyboard/guitar/flute/sitar/name-your-instrument-download' was only the beginning.

Mogees, short for "Modal Gestural Surface", connects you to your surroundings.

Just hook up your desk, window, teddy bear, whatever, to your phone using the Mogees sensor and app. When you hit the object, it sends the sound to your phone and it comes out as a musical frequency.

Here buds, developed by Doppler Labs, allow you to actively listen and transform what you hear. The wireless ear buds filter sounds heading into your ear, and connect those sounds to a smartphone app where you can remix what you’re hearing.

“Transform the way you hear the world,” boasts their Kickstarter page.

MaKey MaKey is a similar invention to Mogees, using of metal clips, a sensor and your computer.

Connect the clips to anything and your computer becomes responsive to its "sound". fourclops made a fun music video that went viral using MaKey MaKey (even connecting them to cats).

Will these inventions make music creation more accessible, putting it in our everyday pockets, unlike most traditional instruments? Or will they merely augment modern music making?

Rodrigo Sánchez (Rodrigo y Gabriela) Jamming with Mogees (Mogees - YouTube)

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Kickstarter - MaKey MaKey.jpg

Charles Yang & Tessa Lark try Here buds (Here - YouTube)

Objects Hacked to Make Music (fourclops - YouTube)