An app- and sensory device-based system enabling users to quickly learn music was unveiled by National Applied Research Laboratories under the Ministry of Science and Technology Jan. 23 in Taipei City.
Developed by NARL’s Chip Implementation Center, the system helps users recognize rhythms through analyzing tonal tap-along recordings. The app boasts hundreds of timbre options and presents rhythms visually as in-time marks, while the device can be used on a stand-alone basis or connected to a trumpet.
Huang Chun-ming, a CIC researcher and head of the system’s R&D team, said the innovation is suitable for those unable to read music or unversed in musical instrument playing techniques. For the more proficient, the system can prove useful in advancing a sense of dynamics and tempos, he added.
According to Huang, inspiration for the system came from friends who wanted to learn music and play instruments as a form of stress relief. But the frustrations they experienced caused them even more stress, he said, adding that the system solves this problem and makes music more accessible to adult learners.
The system is expected to perform well at local and international technology competitions, the CIC said. An initial version received a Special Award of the President at iENA, or International Trade Fair Ideas Innovations New Products, during the 2016 edition in Nuremberg, Germany.
Set to go on sale in Taiwan later this year, the system is to be supported by a program of CIC-organized lessons, seminars and workshops aimed at raising awareness and understanding in the marketplace. (CPY-E)
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