JoyTunes and its recorder game: music learning that listens
JoyTunes was an Israeli start-up whose first game taught children the recorder by listening to the real instrument through the computer's microphone. Its old address now forwards to the site of the Simply music apps.
Updated
What JoyTunes built
JoyTunes was established in 2009 in Tel Aviv with the aim of changing musical interaction through computer games controlled by an instrument. On October 14, 2010 it released its first educational game, which teaches children to play the soprano recorder.
The child plays a real recorder. The software analyzes the sound to move objects in the game and recognizes common mistakes, so feedback arrives in real time. The company said the engine coped with background noise, cheap instruments and inexpensive microphones, and it described the technology as patent-pending.
Each level is a musical exercise on one skill: tone production, tone stability, finger technique or basic ear training. Players could also download sheet music for songs from the game to practice note reading, so children also learn to read notes. The recorder was meant as the first instrument in a series, chosen as an introduction to music because it is simple and easy to use. A team of recorder teachers, signal analysis experts, developers, designers, psychologists and musicians built it.
Music-learning games of this kind belong in a serious games directory because the game is the practice session. The score and the progress come from the instrument, not from a controller.
Launch details
The 2010 version was described as web-based, with no special download or installation. It needed a soprano recorder, a computer with a microphone and speakers, Windows or Mac, an internet connection and at least 512 MB of RAM. Buyers could take a single-user license delivered by email or a gift pack with a game CD, a recorder and a microphone.
At launch the company reported a Parents' Choice Award for software and a place among the Top 100 finalists for most innovative start-up in the MassChallenge competition of 2010, with a panel of judges due to pick the winner on October 15. A Parents' Choice review quoted in the launch announcement said the testers were impressed by how much the game encouraged them to practice and by how much they learned.
What is true today
The address joytunes.com forwards to hellosimply.com, the site of Simply, which presents the apps Simply Piano, Simply Guitar, Simply Sing, Simply Tune and Simply Draw. The old teachers address forwards to a Simply for teachers page that describes Piano Maestro, a piano practice tool, as recommended and used by more than 28,000 teachers worldwide.
The pages do not mention the recorder game, and the games directory lists it as unconfirmed.
Questions about JoyTunes
What did the first JoyTunes game teach?
The soprano recorder. Levels covered tone production, tone stability, finger technique and basic ear training.
Did the game need special hardware?
No. A recorder and a computer microphone were enough, and the company said it worked with inexpensive equipment.
Where does joytunes.com lead now?
It forwards to hellosimply.com, the site of the Simply apps for piano, guitar, singing, tuning and drawing.