Skip to main content

These connected rings let you tap out sounds on any surface

These connected rings let you tap out sounds on any surface

/

You can choose from keyboards, synths, drum kits, and other effects

Share this story

Do you find yourself mindlessly tapping away sometimes? How cool would it be if you could tap any physical object and produce different sounds? That’s the aim of a set of wearable rings named Specdrums (currently raising money on Kickstarter) which connect to your smartphone and let you make music by tapping the world around you. The rings can recognize different colors as different sounds, so work with pretty much anything you can touch — from your clothes to your furniture to the objects on your desk.

The Specdrums app is compatible with both iOS and Android, and connects up to 10 rings at a time. Users can select the types of instrument the ring uses when tapped, and offers a range of choices including keyboards, synths, drum kits, sound effects, or even your own recordings. Specific sounds can be customized to match specific colors, and the rings can also connect to other music making apps like GarageBand.

“Growing up as a drummer, I would tap on everything whenever I was away from the drum set,” said Steven Dourmashkin, founder of Specdrums and a graduate engineer from Cornell in a statement. “I was determined to create the most portable drumming machine, capable of turning my taps into real percussion sounds.”

The rings are available for an early bird price of $34 each, or $74 for two on Kickstarter, with shipping expected to start in January 2018.