range Music Electronic Company, the award-winning organisation behind the legendary Orange Amplifier, has significantly improved its landmark product that’s set to revolutionise the way that Music Theory is taught in the classroom.
A global first in the field of music education, the Orange MUSICBOARD2® is the only classroom Whiteboard that allows students and teachers to hear the notes they have written. It is built partly as a practical response to OFSTED concerns about the teaching of music theory in British schools.
A wall or mobile stand mounted unit with innovative, patented technology, the Orange MUSICBOARD2® will make teaching easier for educators, allowing their students to genuinely engage with theory improving their wider music education.
The Orange MUSICBOARD2® will retail at £1,950 in UK.
Having been showcased to great acclaim across the USA and Europe, Orange Education’s improved version of its MUSICBOARD® includes the following innovations based around the needs of teachers in the UK and USA: –
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 to the MUSICBOARD2® via improved BLUETOOTH link from Smartphone or media device
Other hardware functions include:
Switchable microphone for voice / acoustic instrument tuning
Headphone Jack
Stereo power amplifier and speakers giving high quality reproduction
On / off switch
For years, the teaching of music theory has proved the most challenging aspect of a musical education for many students. Understandably keen to be ‘hands on’ with their instruments, many focus instead more on the practical side, leaving the theory element far down on their list of educational priorities.
The Orange MUSICBOARD2® will make music theory as engaging as all other aspects of a rounded musical education. Furthermore, it’s the perfect solution to key issues raised in a recent OFSTED report (November 2013) entitled Music in schools: What hubs must do. The report states that one of the key hurdles in music education lies in an inability to genuinely engage pupils in key aspects of music theory such as notation, time signatures, scales, melody shape, chords and key signatures. The Orange MUSICBOARD2® addresses this academic issue head on.
The Orange MUSICBOARD2® is the product of three years of initial research with additional input based on the professional experience of music teachers from all across Europe.
Cliff Cooper, creator of the Orange MUSICBOARD2® says, “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,” he says, “many teachers have commented on how it makes teaching much more fun for them too, giving them more energy and enthusiasm to teach theory”.
Developed by Orange Music, the people behind the world famous amplifier, the Orange MUSICBOARD2® is built with the same attention to detail that has made Orange Amplifiers famous since 1968. A single unit with no additional parts other than a bespoke wand it can ‘plug and play’ in any class room. Orange Music will offer an after care service to make sure it’s always functioning as intended.