I’m not exactly musically inclined, but I just created my own band, complete with drums, bass, melodies and vocals. And all I had to do was place a few colorful toy characters on a miniature stage.
It’s all thanks to a new toy called Loops Lab, which combines collectible characters with a music-making system. Think of it as DJing, but instead of turntables and complicated software, you’re mixing music by moving little characters around.
Each character has its own name, personality and musical role. Some play drums, others handle bass, melodies or vocals. They’re even color-coded to make it easy to figure out who’s who. Orange characters are drummers, for example, while yellow ones are singers.
Place a character on the interactive stage and it starts contributing to your song. Tap it to switch between up to six different sounds. Add another character and suddenly you’ve got a beat going. Keep experimenting and you can build an entire song.
The technology behind it is NFC, the same type of wireless communication used for tap-to-pay systems like Apple Pay. Each character has a chip that lets the stage recognize it and trigger the appropriate sounds.
You do need a tablet and companion app to get everything set up, but once you’re connected, you can put the screen aside and focus on making music. The app also lets you learn more about the characters and record your creations.
I got to try Loops Lab myself, and what I liked most was how easy it was to experiment. I could add a drummer, change the vocals, bring in a melody and completely change the sound just by tapping a few characters.
There’s something fun about creating music this way, especially when you don’t have any musical training. It’s also a nice change from toys that require kids to stare at a screen the entire time.
Of course, it’s not cheap. The Loops Lab starter set costs $139, and additional bands cost $70. That’s a significant investment for a toy, especially if you want to expand your collection.
FYI - The drummer character Sammy Disco seemed to be the fan favorite among the people I interviewed.
I can see this being a fun way for kids to explore music, especially those who love collecting characters and experimenting with different sounds. And after spending some time with it, I have to admit, DJ Rich on Tech has a pretty nice ring to it.