Nathan Webb and Pasquale Totaro want to make music creation accessible to everyone introducing the Oddball, the beat-making ball that you can bounce, hit and toss to create beats kinesthetically. Whether it’s due to lack of space, money, time or skill, playing an instrument can be pretty elitist. In fact, on average only one in ten people picked up an instrument last year. However music is loved universally – everybody listens to music, but not everybody feels like they can really enjoy making music.
With Oddball, making beats is easy, intuitive, fun and can be done wherever you are. It comes in two parts, the ball, and the app. The ball behaves as a percussion instrument. Every time you bounce it o a surface, sensors at the heart of the ball ‘speak’ to the app via Bluetooth to trigger a sound through your phone, headphones or any speakers you connect. Oddball is pressure sensitive, the harder you bounce the ball the more intense the sound, the lighter you bounce it the more delicate.
The Oddball app allows you to have complete control of the sounds you play. With expansive audio libraries, you can choose between traditional drums, electronic, or any other ‘Odd’ sound under the sun. You can loop your beats to make complex, intricate tunes, you can play over your favorite artists and play with multiple balls. Because Oddball is inherently shareable, the app will have it’s own social environment, where you can post your latest beats and share them with your community.
Nathan Webb and Pasquale Totaro are the creators of Oddball. They met at the Royal College of Art. Whilst studying Design Products there, they both discovered a mutual passion for making objects that spark peoples imagination and create a sense of wonder in the everyday.
Pasquale has a background in product design and engineering. He studied Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He also has experience working with some of the most forward thinking companies including Apple. Nathan has a background in visual communication and is a multi award winning Graphic designer, with ten years experience. During his time he has worked with some of the most disruptive companies on the market, including Uber, Apple, and the BBC.
Fully funded in 24 hrs on Kickstarter, the Oddball will be shipping in January 2019 and will cost $112 USD.