I saw iDaft today and think it rocks! You play the samples by typing the corresponding keys on your keyboard. Not surprising technically, its just Flash. But it makes me think about combining fun, music, and literacy. What could we do with music and samples like this to make fun and even educational games for kids with disabilities?
How about putting the samples on the 16 pads you get with 2 DDR pads? Then we could have a game that was something like Guitar Hero where you put the samples in the right places. DJ Hero? Or maybe DJ Revolution? I think our blind visitors would have a ton of fun on Maze Day trying to “sing” along with Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by stepping on the DDR pads. Think Daft Hands or Daft Bodies on the DDR pad.
Or how about making an AAC device more fun by changing the pitch of the voice like this? Or somehow linking a “word wall” to music so when you put words together in appropriate ways they go with the music?
Suppose you could provide a list of words or word combinations to a web site and it would automagically assign them musical pitches like this. What cool games could we make where students play with words while making music? How could we integrate reading into it? Perhaps the “score” (the words to be spoken) is presented something like the Guitar Hero notes so you have to at least recognize the words to know which to play.
How do we make such a game switch accessible?
I’m thinking out loud here. Help me out folks, some of you have to be more musical and creative than I am. Post a comment.
9 comments
It’s not an answer – but these might be of interest for switch accessible sample players…
http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/4/MUSIC/Tony-B/Tony-B.htm
http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/4/MUSIC/FastFinger/4Noah-Shred.htm
I’m sitting on a one-switch sample player right now – but just need time to get it up on-line. Can play a fixed individual sample – step through a list of samples one at a time – or play them randomly.
Thanks for the pointers and I’d love to see that new sample player. Sounds great.
[...] finding iDaft and then the YouTube video on Tar Heel Reader, I’m thinking about music games in a new way. [...]
thats an innovative idea, how would you syncronize something like that to work. Guitar hero has a set system which is very basic maybe keeping it simple is the way to go.
I’m not sure you’d have to synchronize it. Could be fun to just play the sounds to some back ground loop.
In our game Move to the Music, we use aubiotrack to detect the beat of music you provide and then we reward stepping to the beat. Perhaps we could reward playing the words on the beat in a similar way.
hmm that seems like a viable solution, maybe you can use words on screen with corresponding arrows as the words of the song come up or are sung, they hover over the arrows, each arrow corresponds to the panels an the ddr pad. you follow the rythm of the music by basically using your body to sing the song onscreen. I think your on to something big my friend.
well.. let us work on that then
I’ve got that one-switch sample player up on-line alongside some other bits that may be of interest to those into switch accessible music:
http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/4/MUSIC/index.htm
Be great to learn of anything else out there that I’ve missed.
I just programmed the needed letters into an overlay for the Intellikeys keyboard, and away we jam. I have also programed a couple of online drum sets into overlays.
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