Music to your dancing, Touch Tune & Melody

Talbot Campus was awash with creative, cutting edge production projects this week as showcased by Media School students at Launch.

Some of the highlights included an interactive musical instrument projection called Melody, a touch screen music maker called Touch Tune and an installation that creates beats and a visual projection to match the user’s body movement.

Associate Dean for Production in the Media School Fiona Cownie said: “Launch provides students with the opportunity to showcase their final year work to peers, academics, and industry practitioners. We’re delighted that several students have secured job interviews as a direct result of their engagement at Launch. The exhibition has also provided first and second year students with an opportunity to see the work their final year peers have produced with the hope that this will act as an inspiration to their studies.”

The work on show comprised of projects from Television Production, Interactive Media, Radio Production and Scriptwriting courses.

But what was the motivation behind the students’ inspired creations? Peter Gibbons, creator of Melody explained his: “My sister-in-law is a music teacher and she explained that children often come to school without having the music knowledge they should have. This is partly due to teachers not having that knowledge. They can use Melody as an aid to help them teach.”

He continued: “The system is set up to sense the child’s movement. As he or she walks across the piano it tracks the movement and plays the corresponding note. With Melody children can stand on the piano, play the different keys, learn about chords and sheet music and play piano, trumpet, drums or whichever instrument they choose.”

Visiting Professor Anthony Lilley, who gave a keynote at Launch, also commended the excellent work of the students. The BAFTA winner and CEO of Magic Lantern production company said: “Students are aware of what it means to do a great piece of work that works for users. It’s all very well creating something you think is cool but there’s been a strong emphasis at Launch on how this is going to work in practice. That’s what sets out the difference between people who are going to succeed in the business. It’s got to be in front of real people really quickly and it’s got to work first time.”

This is the first year the Launch event has taken place and, following its success, Fiona and the team plan to run it again next year with more of the high quality work we’ve come to expect from Media School students.

• More about Launch
• Anthony Lilley and Magic Lantern
• Interactive Media Production BA (Hons)
• Radio Production BA (Hons)
• Scriptwriting for Film and Television BA (Hons)
• Television Production BA (Hons)