Orange is targeting the education section with the launch of a new version of its interactive musical whiteboard, the Musicboard2.
The whiteboard allows students and teachers to hear the notes they have written on it. It was built partly as a practical response to OFSTED concerns about the teaching of music theory in British schools, according to the firm.
Orange CEO, Cliff Cooper, creator of the Orange Musicboard2 said: “The Orange Musicboard2 accelerates the music theory learning process by making it fun and interactive, allowing students to ‘see’ and hear their music. On an immediate level it breaks down psychological barriers to learning by being more fun, but on a deeper level it bridges the gap between ‘dry’ theory and the music that comes from it. We’ve been road testing in schools for the last year or so and it really is having a dramatic effect on our students. Put simply, more engagement breeds better results.
“In addition, many teachers have commented on how it makes teaching much more fun for them too, giving them more energy and enthusiasm to teach theory”.
It will retail at around £1,950 in UK.
Features include:
Command and note activation using unique remote wand
Board sensitivity adjuster – teachers can tailor the board’s sensitivity to the wands
Clef transposition – Each of the three Staves can be allotted to either Treble, Alto, Tenor or Bass Clef
Key transposition – Within each Clef, all notes may be transposed into any Key
Metronome implementation fully programmable via the remote wand
Large display indication for each Stave, indicating current Key signature and Clef; also current display of metronome speed
Physical 61 note fully polyphonic weighted keyboard for physical demonstration of hand playing positions etc.
Polyphonic multi-voice implementation using MIDI control
Guitar input with clean/overdrive facility
Large display instrument/voice tuner
Digital data input allowing audio streaming via improved Bluetooth link from Smartphone or media device
Switchable microphone for voice / acoustic instrument tuning
Headphone Jack
Stereo power amplifier and speakers giving high quality reproduction
