Want to compose from the palm of your hand?
The Exploratorium’s new free Sound Rebound app, which launches today, is a playful and delightful way to use the sensors in your phone to make music. While we think it’s perfect for exploring sound and motion anytime, there’s no denying it’ll come in handy during holiday travel time.
The app allows you to pick from a variety of balls and shapes, in four different colors—each corresponding to a different type of sound—and then send these music makers pinging and ponging their way through an animated design you create.
You can choose to let gravity do the work by setting the balls on a free fall through the shapes, or turn your device into a boundless play zone that responds to every twist and turn of your hand. Either way, you’ll be able to delight in the sounds of your own compositions while learning how things connect as you creatively rig up a Rube Goldberg-like music machine.
The app comes pre-loaded with more than a dozen configurations of shapes and balls that get you exploring right away. Start there and then use the helpful tutorials to build from a blank slate. The app, which is available for iOS devices, is inspired by our PinBell exhibit.
