Thummer electronic musical instrument
The Thummer is an electronic musical instrument that comes with 114 keys, and is actually a portable synthesizer that can conjure up some pretty dynamic tunes assuming you have the musical aptitude to use it. Features include a unique input scheme, thumb-controlled joysticks, and buttons located behind the device. You can play the Thummer when it is placed on a stand or a tabletop – alternatively, the Thummer can be used as a handheld keyboard. Musicians will be able to better express themselves as you get 7 degrees of freedom while playing, and with pressure sensitive keys, it is possible to come up with some really soul-stirring tunes. Unfortunately, the Thummer has not gone into production just yet and remains a working prototype. Any investors willing to take up this challenge?
Source: Technabob
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Jim Plamondon Says: December 8, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Actually, the Thummer takes considerably less musical aptitude than most musical instruments, due to its simple and logical note-layout:
http://www.infocybereng.org/imeti2008/website/default.asp?vc=3
The ThumMusic System (a) abstracts the display and control of musical information to the level at which music theory operates — intervals — and (b) anchors this display in the concrete geometry of the Thummer’s keyboard.
http://www.thummer.com/blog/2007/09/thummusic-system.html
The result is to music what the Periodic Table of the Elements is to chemistry. Just as the invention of the Periodic Table led to the discovery of new facts about chemistry, so has the invention of the Thummer led to new discoveries in music. One of these, “tuning invariance,” has recently been described in the cover article of the Winter 2007 edition of MIT Press’ peer-reviewed Computer Music Journal:
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/comj.2007.31.4.15
Tuning invariance, coupled with the expressive power of the Thummer’s thumb-operated joysticks and internal motion sensors, enables the expansion of the frameork of tonal harmony to include wide new frontiers for creative exploration. This expansion is accomplished through novel musical effects — such as polyphonic tuning bends, new chord progressions, and temperament modulations — that deliver entirely new musical possibilities, while retaining the simple diatonic structure demanded by the mainstream marketplace.
Best of all, these new effects are brain-dead simple to control. You just wiggle a joystick, and cool new effects happen. No music theory required. The geometry of the Thummer’s keyboard “knows” music theory, so you don’t have to.
In short, the Thummer is not just another curious new keyboard. It is part of a systematic effort to grow the market by increasing the rate at which novices gain the knowledge and skills needed for music-making.
http://www.thummer.com/blog/2007/10/growing-market.html
Jim Plamondon
CEO, Thumtronics Inc
The New Shape of Music(tm)
http://www.thummer.com