Alright, follow these instructions carefully.
Turn up the volume on your computer, grab your headphones, and make sure your boss isn’t looking – because this is the craziest fun you’ll have with your computer all day. Click into the little grey box below (or simply head here) and begin tapping away on your keyboard (or prodding your screen if you’re on phone or tablet).
You are now experiencing the interactive musical toy known as Patatap.
Described as a “portable animation and sound kit,” by its creator Jono Brandel, the awesome interactive program was inspired by the designer’s fascination with synesthesia, the unique neurological condition where people experience multiple senses at once (such as ‘hearing’ colours or ‘tasting’ sounds).
“Certain sounds from songs I listen to jump out at me,” Brandel explains to Co.Create. “It’s fleeting, but when a sound pops back into my head I’ll try to draw it. Then I’ll use that as a point of reference when creating an animation.” “It would be amazing and hilarious to see or hear Patatap in a professional setting, say a Beyoncé concert.”
Working in collaboration with musical composers Lullatone, Brandel worked about mapping each letter of the alphabet to a unique sound and animation, leading to the fascinating and slickly designed program. Whether it helps exorcise your fantasies of being an electronic producer, or simply helps you while away a few minutes as a novelty, Patatap is rife with potential, even beyond those intended by its creator.
“I didn’t expect people would use Patatap to type their name out,” Brandel says. “It would be amazing and hilarious to see or hear Patatap in a professional setting, say a Beyoncé concert.”
You can set about preparing your own audio-visual feast by pressing any key from A to Z. Holding down a letter loops that particular trigger, playing several keys at once results in combined layers, and if you get bored with your current palette – hit spacebar to cycle through a whole different set of sounds and visuals to toy with.
Tinkle with the embedded version below, or head to patatap.com for the full-screen experience. But be warned: it’s a total time-sink.
