world's first location aware album

 What happens when you combine the idea of a concept album with the localized interactive innovation of trackdropper? Bluebrain's new album, The National Mall.

Bluebrain has come up with a really neat concept album about the national mall in Washington, that can ONLY be listened to when you're at the national mall. In fact, each song has a specific location around the mall, and you have to physically go there with an iphone to be able to listen to the songs:

"'The National Mall’ works by tracking a users location via the iPhones built-in GPS capabilities. Hundreds of zones within the Mall are tagged and alter the sound based on where the listener is located in proximity to them. Zones overlap and interact in dynamic ways that, while far from random, will yield a unique experience with each listen. The proprietary design that is the engine behind the app will stay hidden from view as the melodies, rhythms, instrumentation and pace of the music vary based on the listeners’ chosen path. ‘The National Mall’ is an ambitious project that will allow users to listen to and interact with a work of music in a way that’s never been possible before."

The part that really excites me are the overlapping zones - it will be really neat to see what they've done.

Awesome!! I would probably combine it with a regular downloadable release, but the idea is definitely something that pushes interactivity to a new level.

The Invisible Instrument

On this blog I've talked about Music Hack Day here, and here in the past. Seriously, this is a concept/conference that just keeps giving!

For those who aren't familiar with it - Put together music nerds with computer nerds, give them 24 hours to hack together a music related application/program, and you have... Music Hack Day.

The winner of the top prize for Music Hack Day NYC is really mind blowing (okay, I said that about other Music Hack Day creations, but it's all so true!), and it's called The Invisible Instrument. Created by Tim Soo, it combines the responsiveness of real instruments, the programmability and portability of digital instruments, and the fun factor of air guitar! Just watch the video, and you will want to try it yourself. The program is in development though, so if you like what he is doing, help fund the project by going here!

Shoes as an Instrument #2

Awhile ago, I posted a blog about a shoe that Nike made (purely for promotional purposes, not for production) - in which a set of shoes were fitted with MIDI triggers on the soles. That blog post his here.

Adidas has now come up with something very similar - but this time it's wireless and a little bit more collaborative. Check it out below!