Music on Touch Screens

When it comes to the art of creating music, musicians use their instruments as an extension of themselves. Amazing musicians can generate music with anything they touch – especially if it’s using touch technology from NextWindow.

Interviews with the musicians and their thoughts on touch technology

To put its technology to the artistic test, NextWindow introduced Megan Slankard and her band to the freedom of creating music using touch screens. With 13 touch screens manufactured by NextWindow – seven 46-inch screens and six All-in-One desktop touch computers – Megan and her band set out to create a music video with a touch of technology they’ve never utilized before.

We replaced half of their traditional instruments with touch screens, including drums, keyboard and bass, then mixed it all on a huge touch-screen mixer. Even though they didn’t have any experience with the virtual instruments, it wasn’t long before the band was jamming to a couple songs. With only a few hours of practice, the band gets up to speed and the song “Sails” is performed from Megan’s album “a little extra sun.” Watch the video to see how comfortable the group is with their new tools.

Using drumsticks and fingers, the band’s drummer Kyle used four different drum applications to recreate his sound including EZdrummer’s® DFH® (Drumkit From Hell), Latin Percussion EZX®, Fingertapps Drums and Cakewalk’s Studio Instruments™ Drums. He quickly adapted to the applications to create a driving beat for the band’s songs.

Bass and keyboards quickly got up to speed with Cakewalk’s Studio Instruments™ Bass, Electric Piano and Fingertapps Piano, which recreated a very realistic sound while engaging with the virtual instruments.

Music video "Sails" by Megan Slankard with NextWindow touch technology

Just as the artists in the NextWindow Art on Touch Screens feature story, Megan and her band quickly embraced the technology to complement their talent in ways never considered. Touch technology can easily become an extension of the artist, even when traditional instruments are not available.

Playing virtual instruments is one way to leverage touch technology, but utilizing a touch screen to control all the tracks and manipulate them brought the experience to a new level. The simple touch-screen controls make audio recording, composing, sequencing and mixing a breeze on FL Studio software. After a few hours of recording, the band’s tracks are captured through the touch-enabled applications and combined to generate the final file.

Sally controlling the bands sound from a NextWindow 2550 Profile Touch, running FL Studio within Windows 7

“I’ve basically taken a sequencing program that I use with creating music, and I actually made it more of a hands on and easier process than using a keyboard and a mouse,” said Danny. “Being able to touch a window, drag it around, grab a mixer, grab a dial – is so much more like using a piece of hardware than using a keyboard and mouse.”

Take a look at Megan and her crew putting together this music video to see just how quickly these touch-technology novices embrace our products as a new extension of their talent. These innovative artists were not only able to recreate the sound of their traditional instruments, but were also able to add a new dimension to their performance through the magic of touch.

Kyle on virtual skins with a 46-inch NextWindow 2700 Touch Overlay

“The touch screen was a lot of fun to play around with,” said drummer Kyle. “I wish I had more time with it to discover its possibilities.”

Michael playing bass on an HP TouchSmart All-in-One PC, featuring NextWindow's 1900 Series Desktop Touch product

“I’m a hands-on kind of person,” said Michael, on bass. “It’s easy for me to remember things that way instead of using a keyboard and a mouse. Having the touch screen really enables me to do things visually, I learn visually.”

Keyboardist Danny running Cakewalk’s Studio Instruments ™ Electric Piano on a NextWindow 2700 Touch Overlay

“We are at such a stage where everything is hands on, especially creating music.” said Danny, on keyboards. “Being able to get away from a keyboard and mouse and get “hands on,” puts you a lot more in touch with what you would be creating on an instrument.”