MIT’s Tod Machover has developed a set of toys to help teach children how to make music. “Toy Symphony’s toys, developed by the Media Lab’s musician-computer whizzes, enable children to “make music” without having to learn notation or engage in the arduous physical and mental process required to play a musical instrument. Through computers, their users can explore musical concepts that are more sophisticated than their actual knowledge would otherwise permit. Music Shapers, soft cloth balls whose sounds are controlled by squeezing, and Beatbugs, which repeat and subtly alter rhythms that are tapped on them, are improvisatory performance instruments. With Hyperscore, a composition software program, the user creates color-coded musical motifs, draws them onto a grid, and plays the score back. If desired, the program will provide a variety of harmonies and modulations. With a little help from its MIT creators, this graphic “score” can be transcribed into conventional notation for acoustic instruments.”