Young patients at
the renowned children’s hospital are about to get to grips with the viola-clari-banjo-flugelhorn-guitar-drum,
or the Skoog for short.
Invented at the University of Edinburgh the Skoog is soft, spongy,
bright and bouncy. It is a new type of musical instrument quite unlike any
other, not just one instrument but lots of instruments all squeezed into a
multi-coloured box of technology. By pressing, tapping, rolling, twisting,
strumming, tweaking, bashing and beating the Skoog the player produces notes
and chords to create musical sounds; the melodic strum of a guitar, the woody
resonance of a marimba or the breathy swell of a clarinet.
You don’t need to
be a multi-instrumentalist to play it. In fact, the Skoog makes making music
accessible to everyone; from established experimental musicians to children o
fall abilities who struggle to cope with conventional instruments.
Great Ormond StreetHospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH)
has just been presented with a Skoog after its Assistive Technologist, Tom
Griffiths, won a prize draw while attending the BETT showcase for educational
technology in London
earlier this year. "We are delighted to have a Skoog at GOSH and are sure
it will be an invaluable tool in our assessments”, said Tom. “We envisage it
providing a lot of fun for our children and young people, and probably the
staff, too!"
Dr Ben Schögler, one of the instrument’s inventors,
will meet hospital staff on Friday 20 May to help settle their Skoog into its
new surroundings. “Music is fantastic, but to make the most of it you have to
be able to play the instruments. While this can be a barrier for many, the
Skoog empowers anyone to be able to start making music immediately. We are
really looking forward to hearing what the kids at GOSH can do.”
Contact information:
Dr Ben Schögler: ben@skoogmusic.com
/ tel +44 (0)7966733109
GOSH-ICH Press Office:
barbej@gosh.nhs.uk / 020 7239 3125
For genuine and urgent out of hours call speak to switchboard on 020 7405 9200
