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Soundbrenner wearable metronome vibrates beat onto skin to improve your playing

The Soundbrenner Pulse is a wearable, connected device for musicians that acts as a metronome to help you directly feel the beat.
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

As an aspiring musician, anything that will help me improve my playing gets my vote.

Soundbrenner wearable metronome vibrates beat onto skin to improve your playing ZDNet
Soundbrenna

Engineered in Berlin, Germany, the Soundbrenner Pulse is a wearable, connected device which can be used as a vibrational metronome, alone or in synchronization with your entire band.

Founded in 2014 by three entrepreneurial musicians, the company is backed by Hong Kong-based IoT accelerator Brinc.

Slightly larger than a sports watch, the device is strapped around the arm or leg and operated via the device itself or an app. Set the beats per minute (BPM) up to 300 BPM onto the device. Use the BPM wheel on the face of the device to increase or decrease until the beat is correct.
Soundbrenner wearable metronome vibrates beat onto skin to improve your playing ZDNet
Soundbrenner

The device vibrates to help you literally feel the beat, stay on it, and ultimately improve your sound. It is like a wearable metronome. You can also control the beats through a smartphone app available from iTunes or Google Play.

The companion app will include a smart music coach, and will control up to ten devices.

You will also be able to store rhythm patterns for entire set lists, set practice reminders, record your achievements and set challenges.

The Pulse is designed for use with any instrument by musicians of all skill levels, from beginners to professionals.

Its design means it can be worn around your arm or leg, depending on your instrument of choice.

There is an option to add sound and light that pulses to the beat. A circle of LED lights, which can be set to any colour, surrounds the face of the device.

Multiple players can sync to the same beat via their individual devices, with one person's smartphone serving as the Bluetooth hub.

As you switch from song to song you can change to the new beat. Tap the desired tempo on the surface of the device. This activates the capacitive touch sensor built into the device.

Taps are translated by an algorithm into the beat, and convey haptic feedback via strong vibrations to the user, giving a "tactile representation of the beat".

The company claims that vibrations are crisp, punctual and three to five times stronger than those used in other smart devices.

And just in case you were concerned about the vibrations thrashing the battery on the device - it is rechargeable. The battery lasts about five hours.

Its crowdfunding campaign has just launched on Indigogo and is available to pre order at $129

"Following the beat is fundamental to playing great music. It is difficult for beginners and even for the most accomplished musicians who are aiming to achieve perfection.

"When you wear the Soundbrenner Pulse against your skin, you can literally feel and internalize the beat you want to follow, and it becomes the most natural feeling in the world," said Florian Simmendinger,co-founder and CEO of Soundbrenner, and a pianist.

Soundbrenner licences a patented haptic driver to control an eccentric rotation mass vibration motor that has a vibration amplitude of 6G (G is the unit that measures acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface).This is around three to six times stronger than smartphones and devices.

The smart music coach app learns the musicians practice behaviour and gives motivational challenges to practice. You can also set your own goals to develop a better sense or rhythm or improve your accuracy and speed

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