Little Monster Makes Big Sound
Cheap Technology May Replace More Expensive Alternatives in the Music Industry |
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As an economic downturn takes hold of the nation, people are being forced to cut costs and scale back on spending. No one is unaffected. Musicians—especially lesser-known, local ones—are among those hardest hit.
While the most common cutbacks involve putting in more hours at their “straight-laced”jobs, conserving gas by touring locally and utilizing social networking sites to publicize gigs, others have turned to more unconventional methods. They have scaled back on their equipment costs. Today, musicians have a wide selection of musical technology at their fingertips. As time has progressed, the costs of some of these technologies, such as music-producing software and hardware, have fallen even as their quality has risen. One such hardware is the Thingamagoop, produced by Bleep Labs in Austin, Texas. The oddly named gadget is a simple analog synthesizer that has the appearance of a small, robotic monster. Founder of Bleep Labs, John Michael Reed, also known as Dr. Bleep, started producing the Thingamagoops in 2005. At the time, Reed was recording bands and making electronic music. “I saw how people would get stuck inside their laptops,” said Reed. “If you have all the options in the world with unlimited choices, it’s consuming.”Reed came up with the idea of limiting the variables offered to musicians by normal synthesizers and digital music-producing software. The Thingamagoop is simple, with fewer knobs and switches than a more sophisticated model. The device also reacts to different types and levels of light. “I wanted to make something that was kind of controllable, but kind of random,” said Reed. “So that was the idea, making something you couldn’t replicate using a computer.”Reed started off making Thingamagoops for his friends, but after a feature in Wired magazine, he brought his invention to a wider market. Today, Thingamagoops are sold for $120 on the Bleep Labs Web site and approximately 30 boutique stores worldwide, including Germany, Japan and England. |
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18 Responses to “Little Monster Makes Big Sound”
Really interesting topic (I’ve never heard of the Thingamagoop)
I definitely learned something new- great job finding a unique and undiscovered technology. Great job!
Cool story idea… love the pictures/ colors. Great job girls! Everything seems to flow really well.
The point of the story isn’t mentioned until several paragraphs in, and it should probably be higher up in the story. I like the “how it works” page.
I like the organization of all the pages, good work girls! It is an interesting topic and you cover it nicely.
thingamagoops are awesome! it’s so amazing that someone created a device like that to be used for musical production. i especially like the way they made up names for the parts of the device. it makes thingamagoops even more out-of-this-world. great job on the layout of the page, article, and media.
thingamagoops had me at “hello”. it’s so awesome that someone created a device like this to be used for music production. and what makes it even cooler is the fact that he made up names for the parts. it makes thiingamagoops seem even more out-of-this-world. great job on the layout, article, and media.
really nice layout. professionally done.
I love this!! The video is informative but still entertaining.
Cool story! “Thingamagoops”… wish I were in your lab for a sticker… ha. Great work, totally unique. Easy navigation among pages!
I now want a “Thingamagoop” for Christmas.
Great idea, I have never heard of this Thingamagoops, but now it makes me want to check it out.
what a great topic! great mix of all the elements.
well done!
Love the video. Also like the organization of the pages and the infographics. One thing: the links to the other segments at the top of the page is a little distracting. Maybe it’s only necessary to have it at the bottom?
Great job and it was a nice touch interviewing Peel.
I really like the headline.
Catchy headline… it really grabbed my interest to see what this topic was about. Great video too. I kind of want one of those things just to have. Awesome job!
These comments speak volumes, so need I say more??? I hope you guys keep up the great work beyond the realm of this class as well.
This was a very creative form of discussing music. I have never heard of this interesting technology, and how it is helping an important part of Austin’s unique culture.
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