In the drummer's seat

Picture yourself as the drummer of your favorite band, holding the drum sticks and ready to kick off the gig.

Imagine that the pace at which you play the drums controls various loops of music and syncs them with you. It's now up to you to keep the appropriate tempo. The computer will follow your every move. This is the research topic of Andrew Robertson, who devised the B-Keeper software to do just that. By listening to the kick and snare drum, the software makes the music respond to you as a player, so that when you speed up, the music speeds up with you. The trouble with electronic music of the past is that the computer starts to take over. B-Keeper puts you back in charge when playing with loops and samples. Now anyone can experience what it is like to have a band playing with them.