Who the heck is that guy?? Meet The Doc. He will be leading you through orientation for the newest addition of games to PULSE: Beat Bot! Beat Bot was created to challenge music students and game players knowledge of rhythmic concepts. Players will create these robots, or Beat Bots, by programming beats that fulfill the specific rhythmic requirements of the game.

The Doc has hired you (the player) as an engineer at a robot factory, to build Beat Bots, and to make sure that every part of the robot is functioning as a voice in an electronic drum pattern. Each part of the Beat Bot – the arms, legs and head – is programmed with a different beat sequence in order to fulfill The Doc’s “order form.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The language of Doc’s “order form” is designed to address specific rhythmic principals, while allowing a range of possible answers for any given requirement. Why limit the possibilities?

For example, the first requirement of each robot is to set the time signature. The requirement might read: “Program a simple triple time signature.” The player then chooses from a list of possible solutions. In this case, both 3/4 and 3/8 would be correct.

Another question might read, “Program a pattern in the legs that accents downbeats.” Again the player is given a specific task, but with a number of possible solutions, depending on the context of the time signature, and the player’s personal taste.

The goal of Beat Bot is to make the player think critically about how the different voices in polyrhythms interact. By providing open ended challenges, students are able to combine problem solving and creative taste.

Beat Bot is available on all levels of the Rhythm Unit on PULSE. But wait, there’s more! Lucky for you, The Doc and The PULSE Interactive Team have created a “lite” version that is available to the public! No log-in needed….check it out and share with your friends!

Click here to play Beat Bot!

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