Holiday Gift for the Whole Family
When Christmas rolls around, many people take advantage of the season to splurge on a fun product that the whole family can enjoy. New stereos, computers and gaming systems are all popular choices, but this year I learned about a revolutionary new system that combines music, video and gaming into one unique system that every member of the family will absolutely love. The Beamz Player is the first-ever gaming device to use beams of light to create and control an incredible musical experience. I was thrilled when I was given a chance to review the Beamz Player for myself and see just how the system worked.
When the player arrived, my entire family gathered around to check it out. The Beamz Player is about two feet long with a trident shape and a sleek, modern look. I loved the black and silver design of the unit and couldn’t wait to see it in action. The first step was installing the software using the enclosed installation disc. The Beamz Player has to be installed in a very specific order. First, the Beamz Player software is installed on the computer. Then, the Beamz song library is added. The last (optional) installation is the Shadow Beamz game. And finally, once the software has all been added, the Beamz Player can be plugged into the computer.
Once the installation is complete, the player itself is incredibly easy to start using. It simply plugs into a desktop computer or laptop via a standard USB port. I plugged in the player and used a small pedestal stand to set the Beamz Player in front of me so that I could test it out.
Once the program had loaded, I chose a title from the 50 included songs that come with the system and started “playing the light.” By interrupting the light beam with my hand, I could activate various musical instruments, all of which were designed to blend melodiously with the song that was playing. Each song has twelve different musical options to choose from, which means that using the Beamz Player is a completely unique experience. Two different people could both choose to play the same song, but the result would be completely different!
I decided to play along with Hotel California, because it’s such a beautiful melody and because, like most people, I know it pretty much by heart. The first thing that struck me when I started playing was that the song didn’t have any lyrics. This meant that I didn’t need to constrain my own playing around a vocal performance, so I really went nuts and tried all the different musical options for the song. I loved the way that I could add maracas or other soft rhythm instruments in a constant loop so that the song had that little extra playing all the way through without my help. I also loved the different styles of guitar that the song offered, since they were so different, yet all sounded so perfect with the song.I noticed after playing for a while that certain instruments did sound better at certain times, and I also started experimenting with blending two or even three different musical options together. I loved the way that I could create all of the sounds just by interrupting the light beams and I must admit, I got completely carried away with the fun of waving my hands!
My husband was as fascinated by the Beamz Player as I was, so when I had finished he sat down to try his own song. He has a love of dance music, so he chose an upbeat dance-mix number, and started mixing the beats to create his own song. Soon, both boys were dancing along as my husband added different beats to create his very own dance number!
The Beamz Player comes with songs from every genre from classical to rock to kids’ music. Zackary and Benjamin had a great time playing their own version of Old McDonald (with my help), and sometimes when I want to play with the Beamz Player, I’ll choose one of the children’s songs so that I can play as the two kids dance along. There are even video jams that feature full music videos with lyrics that the user can play along with!
The Shadow Beamz game is a fun way of developing timing and rhythm skills with three different difficulty levels of play. I simply chose a skill level, let the song load, and then activated the various light beams when the game specified and held them for the correct length of time. Starting and stopping the beams at the exact moment indicated was surprisingly challenging and so much fun!
The Beamz Player is the perfect gift for the whole family this Christmas, and a great way to encourage musical appreciation and participation. In fact, it was even featured by Dr. Gadget on CBS’s The Talk! (You can watch the video here.)I can’t wait to pull out the Beamz Player during parties over the holidays, since it’s so easy to use and lets one person play while others enjoy the music. The system also features extra songs that can be purchased off the Beamz website so that everyone can have a song they love to play along with.
I loved the Beamz Player and so did the rest of my family. The fact that anyone can use it regardless of musical experience makes it a great choice for younger children, and adults will love playing along with their favorite songs too! For a completely unique musical gaming experience, check out the Beamz Player for yourself. You’ll be blown away by the music your hands can create!
Buy It: The Beamz Player can be purchased on the official Beamz website or on Amazon.com
Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge by the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view full Terms of Use and Policies
This sounds like so much fun that the whole family can enjoy!
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