2005 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 164-174
In this paper, we propose a system "The Music Table" that allows children to compose and play their own musical patterns through trying and selecting, even with no previous experience of playing a musical instrument. Recently, it is possible to make notes and play an individual work with the aid of computer technology. However, the user who uses conventional music software has to have at least some pre-conceived idea of the musical pattern they want to make before they enter it into the software. The Music Table enables a player to compose musical patterns by arranging cubes on a tabletop. The cubes are a physical representation of musical notes. Once the user puts a cube on the tabletop, a repeated sound is heard with pitch and timing corresponding to its position on the table. These sounds prompt the children to compose musical patterns by freely arranging these cubes as "building blocks". In an experiment with the system, all 17 children (including one still in kindergarten) were able to quickly make their own musical patterns. Moreover, they made many adjustments by manipulating the cubes until they were satisfied with the musical result. These results show that The Music Table has value as an "edutainment" system that can give children a direct experience of composing music, and can prompt them to physically tackle their individual expression.
