With wearable tech still in its infancy, we're bound to see all kinds of unexpected firsts that change the way we relate to these evolving gadgets. Soundbrenner is definitely paving some trail with the Soundbrenner Pulse, which expands our idea of what a smartwatch can be by making it a hyper-focused niche item — a tricked-out smartwatch built just for musicians.
Soundbrenner's debut piece is truly one of a kind, centered around rhythm, the pounding heartbeat of virtually every musician's craft. While a traditional metronome emits its audible click-clack as it sets the time signature to allow musicians to stay on beat, the Pulse moves that function right to the musician's wrist.
With a couple of quick taps, the Pulse bursts to life, its minimalistic black circular body vibrating to the steady tempo set by the player's taps. Initial vibrations usually pulse at around 120 BPM, but using the device's outer dial, a wearer can ram up or down to best fit the music.
While that's all pretty cool in itself, the Pulse's extra features really come out to play when it's synced to the Android or iOS app. There, users can not only adjust tempo, but also vary up the Pulse's time signature, note subdivisions, vibration intensity, and the beat duration. They can even adjust the color of the Pulse's pulses, so their wrist can flash a fiery red, an eerie green, or even a tranquil violet depending on their mood.
As for the vibrations themselves, they're calibrated so a musician can feel them while playing the haptic driver throws out a reverberation that's seven times stronger than the vibration of a standard smartwatch.
In case you don't want the Pulse on your wrist, it comes with a pair of bands: one that looks like a traditional watch band, while the other is larger, crafted to fit around the user's arm, their leg, or even their waist or torso for the positioning that works best for each user.
Not only can the Pulse sync with you to five other devices in a multiplayer mode to keep the whole band on beat, but it also works with all the major Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) via USB MIDI, including Ableton, Logic, and Pro Tools.
The Soundbrenner Pulse is a brilliant gift for any musician, from drummers to guitarists to keyboard players. Regularly $99, you can save $20 off the price of the Pulse by using the code PULSE20 during checkout, dropping your final price to just $79.
Prices subject to change.
