.: | Thumtronics - The new shape of music

Austinite Quotes:

Peter Schwarz, Business Manager for Ray Benson's Asleep at the Wheel, Bismeaux Productions, & Bismeaux Studio, wrote "This is intriguing technology, with obvious potential for a variety of applications in the world of music-making and education. As Ray mentioned, you have done a great job of thinking through these concepts. We'd love to help out in any way that we can."

Grace Newman says that learning to play the Thummer could give Austin's musicians an advantage. "As a VP at BMG’s Windham Hill label, I decided which bands to sponsor, promote, and endorse, from unknown bands to Grammy-winning artists. I looked for musicians that had something new, something different, that would stand out in the market... and so did every other label. The first musicians to master the Thummer will rivet the attention of the entire music industry. If you're looking for a way to break out of the pack, this is it."

Shannon Carter, Founder and CEO of Austin’s Cartis Group, says “As the leader of a brand-building agency for over a decade, I've never seen any Austin-based company that could grow as rapidly as Thumtronics. The Thummer is so simple, powerful, and unique that each Thummer sale will spark friendly demonstrations, blog postings, YouTube videos, live performances, etc., all of which will drive more traffic to Thumtronics' online store. If Thumtronics can keep the Thummer's price within its target market's ‘impulse buy’ range, and establish the Thummer as being ‘cool’ in addition to being simple and powerful, then Thumtronics could grow exponentially.”

Hank Coleman sees Thumtronics' potential. CEO of Austin’s OpenLabs, makers of the award-winning MiKo™ and NeKo® keyboard workstations, he says that “After half an hour with Jim, I definitely ‘got it.’ The Thummer could be the Next Big Thing in the musical instrument industry. Having Thumtronics here in Austin could give our local musicians a unique advantage in the fiercely competitive global music market.”

"Austin's ability to attract innovative foreign companies like Thumtronics highlights the convergence of our creative and technology industries," said Joe Holt, Chair of Opportunity Austin, the Chamber's five year initiative to create 72,000 jobs, and Chairman of JP Morgan Chase Austin. "One of the Chamber’s key initiatives in 2007 is to continue to grow the digital entertainment sector. Thumtronics fits perfectly with that mission."

If anyone can predict Thumtronics' future, it's professional futurist Derek Woodgate, President of Austin's The Futures Lab. "Thumtronics' products are simple, cheap, unique, and powerful. Throughout the history of business, this combination has brought new consumers into a market, allowing the innovator to grow rapidly and redefine the category. It's the kind of breakthrough my Fortune 500 clients are continuously searching for, and so I am especially excited that it is now going to happen right here in Austin."

Dr. Edward Pearsall, Associate Professor of Theory at UT/Austin's School of Music, sees potential in Thumtronics' innovations. "The theoretical implications of these innovations are far-reaching. Thumtronics adds an exciting new dimension to music-making and is certain to have an impact on Austin's thriving music industry."

"We like partnering with our clients. To help Thumtronics get started in the United States, we're providing legal services for equity," said Jim Montgomery, Managing Partner of the Austin office of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest full service commercial law firms. "That's a strong statement of our belief in Thumtronics' potential. DLA Piper has 63 offices in 24 countries, but none of them fit as well for Thumtronics as Austin."

Thumtronics' innovations have the potential to revolutionize music education, too. Dean Smith, President of the Texas Chapter of the Technology Institute for Music Educators, said "The Thummer is a fantastic way to learn music. Its keyboard is like a Periodic Table of the Intervals. I am sure that my students will take to it immediately.”

Marti Dudgeon, Past President of the Austin District Music Teacher's Association and Arts Advocacy and Awareness Chair of the Texas Music Teachers Association, said that "Thumtronics' new musical staff, based on tonic solfa (or "moveable Do"), could be a great way to introduce beginning vocal students to music notation even if they never touch a Thummer. Austin's music teachers can help develop this new approach to vocal music education and lead the world."

Alisha Ring, President of the Austin Technology Council (ATC) said that "I was happy to help introduce Jim to potential partners and investors because I think Thumtronics' blend of technology and music is perfect for Austin, and Austin is perfect for Thumtronics."

Non-Austinite Quotes:

Dr. Diego Bañuelos, holder of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance with a distributed minor in Mathematics and Physics, and currently a violinist with the Frankfurt Opera orchestra, wrote that

"Dynamic Tonality is intensely exciting because it provides the opportunity to compose music that is entirely new, yet rooted in tradition, by expanding the conventional harmonic framework—and performing that music live, in real time. This could spark a true paradigm shift in music composition and performance, producing a new 'common practice' of electronic music. Young academics have the chance to establish a reputation by leading the shift to this new paradigm, and for this reason I am sure that the exploration of Dynamic Tonality will attract the top academics of my generation."

Dan Overholt is a Fulbright Scholar and Lecturer in the Media Arts and Technology program at UCSB. With a degree from the Media Lab at MIT, he has also worked as a consultant in the music industry for companies such as Eventide, E-mu, and Echo Audio. He wrote that

The Thummer is a powerful new interface that allows human gestural inputs to directly drive more detailed expressive elements in a synthesizer, and it has the ability to unlock these static sounds and let more meaningful human elements shine through (as they always have with traditional acoustic instruments such as the saxophone or the cello). The joysticks on the Thummer are powerful inputs that allow simultaneous control of four separate synthesis parameters while playing, and the built-in motion sensors are a fantastic way of capturing the movements of the performer to get more nuance and subtle human expression into the sound. In addition, the isomorphic keyboard layout and the dynamic tuning system are definite breakthroughs that do away with the compromises the western world has dealt with for so long.

On Controllers:

Roger Linn is one of the world's most influential designers of new musical interfaces, whose products are synonymous with 1980s music, early rap, and hip hop.

“Electronic music synthesis has become incredibly realistic and flexible,” said Roger Linn, whose career as a designer of commercially successful electronic musical instruments includes of the first sampled-sound drum machine (the LM-1 in 1979), the first sampler/sequencer/workstations (the Linn 9000, Akai MPC60, and Akai MPC3000), and the AdrenaLinn II drum machine, effects processor, and amp simulator in 2003. “However, the universal use of the keyboard controller interface has limited the expressive potential of electronic music. To unleash its potential, we need new music interfaces that combine the polyphony of the piano keyboard, the fine solo expressivity of the guitar, violin or woodwinds, and are easy to learn. I think Thummer takes a big step in that direction at a surprisingly affordable price."

Dr. Garth Paine, an internationally-recognized leader in the field of "New Interfaces for Musical Expression," wrote that

Of all of the musical interfaces that I have seen, I think that the Thummer has the most potential for broad adoption as an outstandingly expressive instrument.

Dana Massey, 25 year veteran of the music technology industry (including stints at Apple Computer, E-mu Systems, Creative Technologies, and NeXT, in positions ranging from Software Engineer to Director), wrote that

When I first saw the Thummer web page, I was immediately excited by its design and specs. I was exposed to related ‘isomorphic’ keyboard layouts more than 15 years ago. I could immediately tell that if the Thummer met its published specs, it would have a profound impact on music making, for professionals and for beginners. The Thummer is clearly an instrument that will bring large numbers of new people into music. It will be much easier to learn, it will be much more expressive (it is not a toy), and it is small enough to be easily portable. Also, it will be affordable. This appears to be an intrinsic property of the design. It is easy to conceive of expensive and elaborate advanced controllers – it is much harder to conceive of simple and inexpensive controllers!

Scott Wise, noted Australian luthier, has written that

The Thummer lends itself brilliantly to the scale of the human hand and is in effect the most compact and comprehensive musical control surface ever developed.

Dr. Camille Goudeseune, of the USA's Beckman Institute, has written that

The Thummer is groundbreaking. I have never before seen an instrument with the expressive potential of the Thummer, despite extensive academic research in this field.

On Music Education:

Dr. Sam Leong, former Director of Music Education at UWA and Treasurer of the International Society for Music Education, wrote that

Throughout my work in music education for 30 years, I have not seen any innovation with as much potential to revolutionize music education. The Thummer could transform the musical landscape in the 21st century.

William Miles, a major contributor to music curriculum design and assessment for the Australian State of Victoria, has written that

The potential impact of Thumtronics' innovations is hard to overstate. As recently as three weeks ago, I thought that I had seen just about everything that comprises Western music and music education. Now, a new and exciting vista for the teaching and learning of music is opening up ahead of me. Thumtronics' innovations have been a revelation.

On Music Theory:

Carl Lumma, an influential microtonal music theorist, stated that

"Thumtronics' approach to music is a natural, and one would hope inevitable, evolution of Western music since the Renaissance. Of the few companies pursuing similar ideas, Thumtronics is the most serious."

Ron Gorow, based on his 40 years of experience in Hollywood's music industry (as captured in his book "Hearing and Writing Music") has written that

The emergence of the Piano had a huge influence on the course of musical history, and I believe that the Thummer will, too. The Thummer will enable musicians to go far beyond the capabilities of a conventional keyboard in technique, expression, and ease-of-learning. [It is] a dramatic advance in music theory, possibly the most innovative in 300 years, since the introduction of the piano keyboard and equal temperament. It is clear to me that Thumtronics' instrument ...will turn the musical world upside down.

The author of one of Amazon's best-selling books on the deep structure of music theory has stated (on the condition of anonymity)

How incredibly stupid of me not to have thought of this myself.

On Commercial Potential:

Dr. Peter Thomond, of the Brisbane Graduate School of Business at Queensland University of Technology, has written that

My academic and industrial exposure leaves me well placed to identify new ventures with high potential for huge, new-wealth creation. I refer to the sort of ventures that, from humble beginnings, can transform and disrupt existing markets and industries, such as Apple, Virgin, Federal Express, and Google. Thumtronics has the serious potential to transform the music products industry and in doing so it could easily transform itself into a highly profitable global player in the creative industries.

Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup, Australian music legend, wrote that

After over thirty five years as a working musician I thought I had either seen, heard, or knew of just about every imaginable musical instrument. When Jim showed me a video presentation and described the Thummer to me, it made instant sense. This is a cool way for people to make music. This instrument has massive potential for young and old musicians alike.

Graham Hoskins, President of the Australian Music Association, wrote that

I couldn't help but imagine that I just might be participating in the birth of something truly great - like seeing the first Stratocaster model guitar in Leo Fender's workshop, or having Bob Moog show me the first electronic synthesizer! The Thummer just may have the potential to be that influential. I am sure that there is a HUGE potential market for the Thummer.

Dr. David Rooney, of the Business School of the University of Queensland, has written that

Thumtronics Ltd has set itself on a course that has the potential to provide outstanding returns not only for the music technology industry, but also for the education sector and the recorded music industry (which, in turn, has implications for the film, interactive games and television industries).