Absolutely everyone dreams of making music -- it is in our soul, but only a small number of us are truly gifted.  That is where Beamz comes in, because this little device can make asbolutely anyone musical, because the melodies are already preprogrammed and all you have to do is "conduct" the musicians.

When I was a child, I was in the marching band, the orchestra, and the guitar club.  Quickly, however, I learned that while I could technically learn to play any instrument, I was simply NOT gifted.  My teachers and band leaders didn't need to tell me -- it was obvious.  I would play a piece flawlessly, and then another student with much less experience but who had "the gift" would play the same piece and it would speak to my soul.

Over my life, I revisted the piano maybe a half-dozen times, hoping that the music was somehow deep inside of me waiting to get out, and while I could use a keyboard to play any musical piece or even any instrument, there simply was no music there.

Then along comes Beamz, a musical instrument that makes me a musical conductor.  Programmed into each of the six beamz of light is a different melody for each stanza for a different musical instrument.  If I block the beam during the entire stanza the melody plays through quicksly.  But, if my fingers dance through the beamz, I control the pace and rhythm of the melody, orchestrating beautiful music in a way that speaks to me.  I can flutter my fingers and create a syncopated rhythm, or just dance with the background rhythm and allow my hands to roam freely through the beamz.  What I end up creating is an original piece of music that uses the same melodies as the original, but which emenates from my soul.

Next step -- bring the Beamz to a party.  First a MUCH more talented musician takes a stab, and he tweaks the program a bit, and then begins to use Beamz to create entirely new piece of music.  Then, a self-described "musical misfit" starts to play, and after about one minute of discovery, the rhythm inside takes over and "music" comes out of the Beamz machine.  Finally, a child, someone who knows know boundaries, decides to prove that it is indeed possible to create musical discord, and so he randomly and non-rhythmically runs his hands up and down both sets of beams as quickly as possible -- it is obnoxious, and brings a smile to his face, but makes the rest of us who had a successful experience feel like we actually did create music.

Beamz is an amazingly simple device, just six laser beams, three for each hand, and when you break the beam, it creates a musical note.  The next time you break the beam, a melodically correct note is played next.  What you add is rhythym and pace.  You can break the beam methodically with one finger four times a second, or you can dance through the beams like they are piano keys with all of your fingers.

About 20 or so proprogrammed songs come with beamz, each with a background rhythm section, and 12 instruments with pre-programmed melodies that change with each stanza.  Additional songs can be purchased from the website for a few dollars as the company creates them.

The cost for Beamz is a bit high considering that it is just six door chime beams connected to a USB port, but the value of being able to create music is immeasurable.