The Kia Instrument

Meet this fancy add-on!

Science

The science behind the Kia instrument.

The sounds of movement in nature produce what’s known as pink noise. This increases the alpha waves in the brain, inducing the flow state of consciousness, the state in which the brain is at its most creative. These natural sounds were recorded all over the world and used to develop a one-of-a-kind instrument. To induce the flow state further, every composition should be arranged following these 4 neuroscientific parameters:

BPM

120 BPM is the tempo in which synchronization of the heartbeat elicits the positive, calm focus we need to unlock flow. Increasing the song’s speed helps increase this state of focus.

Harmonic Progressions

Harmonic variations are better remembered by the listener and activate certain areas of the brain.

Melodic Intervals

Having melodic intervals creates a sense of movement, establishes a sense of anticipation, and is associated with pleasurable longing, which is often central to inspiration.

Texture

The texture of the composition is created by layering pink noise captured from the sounds of movement in nature.

BPM

120 BPM is the tempo in which synchronization of the heartbeat elicits the positive, calm focus we need to unlock flow. Increasing the song’s speed helps increase this state of focus.

Harmonic Progressions

Harmonic variations are better remembered by the listener and activate certain areas of the brain.

Melodic Intervals

Having melodic intervals creates a sense of movement, establishes a sense of anticipation, and is associated with pleasurable longing, which is often central to inspiration.

Texture

The texture of the composition is created by layering pink noise captured from the sounds of movement in nature.

“We found that people were more creative when they had listened to the songs… you could see increased alpha and theta power, a coherence of brainwaves seen and increased connectivity, particularly connecting the occipital and frontal parts of the brain, where our emotional control center is situated, and the areas connected to increased creativity and flow states.”

Katherine Lewis, Creative Scientist and Futurist

Feature

How to use the Kia instrument

Nature Samples

Recorded all around the world, the sounds of movement found in nature are now at your fingertips. Simply select one of the 8 filter sounds from wind, birds, beach, geyser, forest, water, thunder, and night to get started.

Mixer

Shape your sound and add individual flair to your track using the Mixer section. The Kia instrument offers 4 different mixing dials that give you precise control over the volume of each channel. When the dial is set all the way to the left it means there’s no sound being applied to the music, when it’s set to maximum, we hear the chosen filter at its loudest.

Filter

Having melodic intervals creates a sense of movement, establishes a sense of anticipation, and is associated with pleasurable longing, which is often central to inspiration.

ADSR

Spice up your creative process by manipulating the time of each note being played to your liking. ADSR is the attack, decay, sustain, and release of a sound. Together, they make up the ADSR envelope, which determines how a sound unfolds over time.

Click for Details

VCO

Fine-tune the pitch and mold the sound of the whole instrument by rotating the VCO dial from left to right, with 1 being the standard.

Waveforms

There are 4 different classic synthesizer waveforms that you can choose from: Triangle, Square, Saw, and Sine. Navigate through each one of them by gradually turning the dial to 7 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock and 5 o’clock.

Output

Set the final tone of your track using the ‘Output’ section. Ranging from low to high, making it brighter or darker, “Tone” will adjust the tone of the whole system and the “Output” dial will control the overall volume.

Keyboards

The Kia instrument features a touchpad keyboard so you can play as you go. You can create endless patterns, save your loops, play them back immediately and modulate the sounds with the dials. The key buttons light up when played, which offers a quick visual orientation.

Nature Samples

Recorded all around the world, the sounds of movement found in nature are now at your fingertips. Simply select one of the 8 filter sounds from wind, birds, beach, geyser, forest, water, thunder, and night to get started.

Mixer

Shape your sound and add individual flair to your track using the Mixer section. The Kia instrument offers 4 different mixing dials that give you precise control over the volume of each channel. When the dial is set all the way to the left it means there’s no sound being applied to the music, when it’s set to maximum, we hear the chosen filter at its loudest.

Filter

Having melodic intervals creates a sense of movement, establishes a sense of anticipation, and is associated with pleasurable longing, which is often central to inspiration.

ADSR

Spice up your creative process by manipulating the time of each note being played to your liking. ADSR is the attack, decay, sustain, and release of a sound. Together, they make up the ADSR envelope, which determines how a sound unfolds over time.

Click for Details

VCO

Fine-tune the pitch and mold the sound of the whole instrument by rotating the VCO dial from left to right, with 1 being the standard.

Waveforms

There are 4 different classic synthesizer waveforms that you can choose from: Triangle, Square, Saw, and Sine. Navigate through each one of them by gradually turning the dial to 7 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock and 5 o’clock.

Output

Set the final tone of your track using the ‘Output’ section. Ranging from low to high, making it brighter or darker, “Tone” will adjust the tone of the whole system and the “Output” dial will control the overall volume.

Keyboards

The Kia instrument features a touchpad keyboard so you can play as you go. You can create endless patterns, save your loops, play them back immediately and modulate the sounds with the dials. The key buttons light up when played, which offers a quick visual orientation.

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