Let’s face it, school music classes can be really embarrassing and are not motivating. Singing and playing instruments poorly in front of peers can be a negative experience.

Yet given the right tools, modern children can learn and create really impressive creations when it is fun. Unfortunately, many games that children spend hours with don’t always translate into real world learning.

So for my senior thesis, I wanted to seek out a solution to create a music education experience that is both fun and engaging for children while also translating into learning a real world skill.

Based upon research and interviews with music teachers, I started to form and explore some ideas. Below are the four directions in which I explored:

Idea 1: Musical Mat

Idea 2: Inventive Instruments

Idea 3: Musical Motions

Idea 4: Simple Pitch Play

After some design reviews based on the ideation and additional research, I then narrowed down my ideation to the best concepts. I did some additional ideation and exploration of those concepts: 

Concept 1: Music Mitts

Concept 2: Pitch Drums

Concept 3: Bell Choir

After reviewing the concepts, I decided upon which concepts were the best based off their design and feasibility. I wanted to move forward with the mix of a drum set and bell choir.

In this concept, each instrument could be used as its own instrument or combined with a group to make its own set. This idea would be perfect for a classroom with multiple children or could be used by an individual who wanted their own set.

With the combination of foam models and hand size studies, I was able to dial in the correct size for the instruments.

I took my findings and modeled the instruments in Solidworks. 

For the final model, I created a functional electronic drum set with electronic drum triggers. I studied and disassembled an electronic drum set and figured out how to build my own.

The final drum set was made with CNC machined high density foam blocks. They were then painted and assembled.

Pitch Pads are an electronic drum set and computer program for grade school age students. They are an aid for teaching students the basics of music education: a positive foundation for learning music.

Pitch Pads correspond with a computer program, where each drum is like a durable one button wireless controller. Students aim to “hit the targets” on the screen, displayed on a musical staff. This set up can be used with many lessons, games and other downloadable content.

Pitch Pads can be a classroom activity for many children to play together: up to 7 at a time! Pitch Pads can also be a home activity, where one child can take advantage of the entire set. All that Pitch Pads require is a computer, video screen, and a sound system and it’s ready!

Music education should not be a negative experience like it sometimes is. It can be embarrassing and not what children want to do. Pitch Pads is education in a game costume. When teaching is a game, learning will be fun. When learning is fun, the lesson is retained.

When playing Pitch Pads at home, children can play and create their own songs. These songs can be shared with their family and friends over many popular social media platforms.