Soundbeam 6 has been shortlisted for the BETT AWARDS 2024 Best SEND Resource - read more here
READ OUR Autumn 2023 NEWSLETTER HERE
ColdPlay joined on stage by band Punkada and Soundbeam! 22nd may 2023- read more here
14 new soundsets released for soundbeam 6! find out more here
Read our Summer 2023 Newsletter here
Special World MAGAZINE article on Soundbeam 6 read it here
THE SOUNDBEAM PROJECT IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE ARRIVAL OF SOUNDBEAM 6, COMBINING CONTEMPORARY DESIGN WITH A WEALTH OF EXCITING NEW FEATURES
Other news
FREE ONLINE DEMOS AND DISCOUNTED ONLINE TRAINING - SOUNDBEAM STILL TAKING AND SENDING ORDERS READ MORE HERE
Soundbeam and COVID-19 Take your Soundbeam Home - Read more here
New teaching resource for Soundbeam
'Teaching Music with Soundbeam' is a completely new set of seven modules, available in either printed or Free PDF with multimedia-rich content, designed to enable non-specialist teachers and others to deliver inclusive and easy-to-follow classroom activities using any version of Soundbeam. The resource is authored by David Ashworth, one of the UK's leading experts in the field of music and SEN. Find out more >
We are delighted to announce the release of 14 new Soundbeam 6
We released 18 new Soundsets in May 2023. We've expanded the variety of genres and experiences from A Jungle Walk to Pachellebel Cannon. There are some amazing collaborations from renowned composers, musicians and artists. Free to download into your Soundbeam 6 machine. Click here for more information.
November 2017 - WE HAD A WONDERFUL CONCERT FROM GAELYNN LEA. HERE IS A SNIPPET OF GAELYNN MEETING SOUNDBEAM 6 FOR THE FIRST TIME. WE HOPE TO SHE WILL COME TO BRISTOL AGAIN WHEN SHE NEXT TOURS, SUCH A GREAT PLAYER AND SINGER.
SOUNDBEAM wins Music Teacher Award for Excellence
SOUNDBEAM wins Music Teacher Awards for Excellence Best SEN Resource 2015. Read more about our award.
Edward Williams 1921 - 2013
We are sad to announce the death on Sunday 8th of December of Soundbeam originator Edward Williams. Read more.
New Soundbeam5 soundsets
Our exciting and diverse NEW soundsets are going down a storm! There are many new soundsets inspired by musical styles such as rock, reggae, jazz, dub step, flamenco, classical and disco to name a few (we've kept some of the favourites too!). Soundbeam systems purchased and sent out from November 2013 will have all the new material - but don't worry, you can update your Soundbeam 5 with these soundsets FOR FREE! - using software and instructions available on our website.
New Soundbeam 2 backing tracks (CD) available
MusicSpace 'PlayAble' CD for use with Soundbeam (pdf)
25th Anniversary Competition - the Results!
Our judges were delighted and impressed with the number, quality and imaginative diversity of the entries we received. Find out more.
Technophonia at Queen's Hall
This concert celebrating 15 years of Drake Music Scotland - the charity that creates opportunities for people with disabilities to develop musical skills - was an astonishing demonstration of music's power to release expressive creativity where you might least expect it.
Read more >
Soundbeam thrills packed house on London's South Bank.
This sold-out evening hosted by Jarvis Cocker and with Charles Hazlewood conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra, Electronica III at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on June 9th featured an exciting and varied programme of contemporary music, including Soundbeam originator Edward Williams'Life on Earth Suite, with Soundbeam-controlled electronics masterfully performed by Martin Kiszko.
Read more >
Soundbeam 5
It's a Soundbeam, it's a synthesiser, it's a sampler, It's an amplifier, it's a drum machine - hence the '5'! The team at Soundbeam have been listening to their customers over the past twenty years, and this new version of Soundbeam incorporates a host of new features which users have consistently been asking for.
Find out more about Soundbeam 5
Dublin students win prestigious award
The all-Ireland final of the Microsoft 'Imagine Cup' 2010 saw the first prize going to DIT students Nikola Nevin and Marco Castorina for their project 'Imaginote' - an application using Soundbeam technology.
Read more >
More prestigious awards!
17-year old Chelsea King has received the coveted Yes I Can! award from the Council for Exceptional Children in the USA for her work using assistive technology including Soundbeam. Chelsea, from Brooklyn, New York, was introduced to Soundbeam by Dr Kim McCord of Illinois State University.
See the full citation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByF_LdTgtrg
Wonders of the World CD Launch
An album launch party celebrates the completion of “Wonders of the World” by Bryan Newman. The music on the CD has been composed entirely using sound beam technology.
Read more >
Something afoot at Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Liz Johnson and Sound It Out – the Birmingham-based community music organisation - fixed up a series of Soundbeam sessions at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) and the effect was immediate and striking.
Read more >
Music on my mind
Rock star turned teacher David Jackson tells of a life making music with children with PMLD. The article first appeared in SEN Magazine.
Read more >
Drake Music Project Scotland to pioneer Desktop Soundbeam for big band bash
The Drake Music Project Scotland specialise in utilising music technology to create opportunities for disabled people to play, learn and compose music independently. Drake Scotland’s Artistic Director, Brian Cope spoke to us about their project and how the Soundbeam has become their “adopted musical instrument for disabled musicians”.
Read more>
Mainstream school project garners prestigious award
Composer Martin Kiszko, with a long string of tv and film scores to his credit, was commissioned to devise and compose a piece of music and multimedia for students at Bishop Perowne High School in Worcester. The result was “INUA”.
Find out more>
Research
Moving Beyond "That’s All I Can Do": Encouraging Musical Creativity in Children with Learning Disabilities. Read more >
New sounds from Sunderland
The research of Professor Phil Ellis and Dr Lieselotte van Leeuwen at the University of Sunderland is leading to a growing understanding of the inter-relationship between sound, visual stimulus, gesture control and the effects of vibration. Find out more>
Publications: ‘The Soundbeam in Special Education: Movement into Music’ by Pete McPhail/Soundabout
Long awaited – and well worth the wait – this book is a really invaluable resource for Soundbeam users. Read the review>
Hampton House Soundbeam experience
Duncan Mathison writes about the Hampton House Soundbeam Experience - a group of service users from a SCOPE centre in Northampton who perform music using Soundbeam.Read more >
I’m good at this!
Stefan Hasselblad reports on work using Soundbeam with two 7-year old children with quite severe ADHD problems. Find out more>
Sound therapy research widened to include children with autism
13 year old John has been diagnosed as severely autistic. In addition he has severe learning difficulties and developmental delay associated with hypotonic muscles. Sound Therapy appears to have some beneficial effects – it may be a key to open the door, to turn the dimmer switch and provide more illumination which can then lead to further progress. Read more>
Leca-Beam!
Designer Rob Burn has created a special learning environment for autistic children which will incorporate Soundbeam. Find out more>
Beams, bells & … bedazzled!
Limitations in movement gave way to skill and ability as a packed audience of more than 500 fell under the spell of youthful disabled musicians at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank. Read more>
Project Reports: Seasons and Cycles
Pupils and teachers at Leighswood School in Walsall have been music-making with Soundbeam in the first of a series of Elektrodome Pilot Projects to foster ensemble in mainstream Schools. Find out more about this project >
Soundbeam at centre of creative arts project in Barnsley
A collaborative project between Barnsley College Pre-Foundation Studies Department and Corridor Arts has led to the formation of Cloud 9 - a mixed group of students with Physical and / or Learning disabilities. Find out more>
Review: performance
"Frozen White" - Stan Wijnans at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Developed and directed by the Dutch sonic artist, Stan Wijnans, Frozen White takes its inspiration from the strange neurological phenomenon described by Dr Oliver Sacks in "Awakenings". Read the review>
Review: resources
Review of 'Beaming with Pleasure'; Practical activities integrating Soundbeam 2 into the Curriculum. Read the review>
Pure magic
Sue Shortland-Webb writes about the transformative experience of performing with Soundbeam. Read more>