Silver Toys, Games and Hobby Products Design · 2023
Dudo Synthetic Music Enlightenment Toys
by Hsin Chen Lin and Zi Yun Hsu
- A' Design Award 2023 Silver Winner in Toys, Games and Hobby Products Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: Dudo
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 76,193
- Verification code 5F18635F15 · Verify this award
About Dudo Synthetic Music Enlightenment Toys
Dudo is a modular synthesizer toy designed for children aged four to twelve. Dudo joins sound and light effects so that basic music theory can be learned through play. Five simple modules cover sequencing, wave change, filtering, rhythm and amplification, and nine connection methods allow expanded functions and multiplayer use. The difficulty level can be raised as children grow older. Capacitive sensing triggers drum sounds when the drum module is tapped. Non-toxic plastic is used, and the size follows the ergonomics of children.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Dudo is an auditory and visual synthesizer designed for children aged 4-12 to learn music through playful, hands-on experience. Its difficulty level can increase with age, while its different connection methods allow for expanded functions and multiplayer mode. Dudo teaches basic music theory and synthesizer knowledge to stimulate children's creativity and imagination.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Sequencer:176x266x54
Wave change:67x154x82
Filter:82x93x142
Hub:58x188x32
Drum:91x91x81
Amplifier:95x112x94 - Tags
- music, toy, education, synth, kids
- Production Technology
- In terms of product size, it refers to children's human factors engineering and adjusts it to a size suitable for children's operation.
In the way of using drums, we choose to use capacitive sensing to trigger drum sounds through beating.
In terms of material, non-toxic plastic suitable for children is used. - Design Challenge
- During the design process, we not only spent a lot of effort on making the function, language, and music theory of Eurorack Modular Synthesizer into a range that children can understand but also thought about making it easier for children to operate and more tempting to them. As age grows, the difficulty level can be increased. The purpose is to make this combination of synthesizer toys accompany the children in their growth, so that synthesized music can be widely used for children to operate and play.
- Project Duration
- The project started in September 2022 and is still ongoing today. It is expected to be exhibited at the Young Designers' Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan in May 2023.
- Operation Flow
- We have taken advantage of the free assembly of Eurorack Modular Synthesizer, allowing children to connect 9 different connection methods.
First, connect sequencer to hub and then to amplifier to create a melody with the sine wave.
Secondly, connect wave change and filter to switch between three different wave timbres and adjust the frequency of the cutoff to create your exclusive timbre.
Thirdly, connect drum to add rhythm to the melody that had been created.
Finally, you can choose to connect to MIDI output port of hub and input into the music editing software, so that the music you create can be upgraded and more advanced. - Research
- This project conducts field research to examine children's exposure to music and proposes a new interactive model centered on "playing" to create a new way of musical enlightenment for children. We combines music learning experiences with today's children's needs for sound and light effects to create musical toy products that are novel and sensory-stimulating.We simplified the module interface into five basic modules. The project has a MIDI output for more advanced editing in the future.
- Inspiration
- Synthetic music has flourished in recent years. We found out that there is a lack of entry-level synthetic music tools on the market, so we want to design a toy that can be used as an enlightenment for children to synthesize music and can accompany children to grow up.