The first digital handpan, designed and produced by Barcelona company Ovalsound, is positioned as the first great success of the platform on its recently launched Spanish headquarter

Ovalsound presents the testimonies of the artists  Hannah Peel and Silvia Perez Cruz and encourages all the assistants to International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art SÓNAR to approach to its booth to experience first-hand.

! Countdown to enjoy Oval in Sónar + D!

Since our last communication (Friday 5 June), the path of OVAL in Kickstarter has been unstoppable. Fascinating day by day, not only the numbers are remarkable,-! only six days after achieving 100.000€ it was very near to reach the 200.000 euros! -, but it is also the enormous acknowledgment received by the media all around the world who are following the handpan minute by minute.

Today, besides an update of the last data of the campaign, Ovalsound shares the testimonies of the artists Silvia Perez Cruz and Hannah Peel, the firsts to talk about their experience with OVAL.

 

¿WHAT IS OVAL AND WHERE I CAN GET IT?

  • OVAL, is the first digital handpan.
  • Oval altogether with Oval APP for Smartphone is an electronic musical instrument and besides, a midi controller connectable to a smartphone, tablet or computer that allows total freedom to create, and changes sounds.
  • Oval is also a tool focused on learning and musical performance.
  • With Kickstarter, and coinciding with its launch in Spain, Ovalsound releases on the first day in the major platform of funding dedicated to the realization of creative projects worldwide that since 2 June has made available to the Spanish creators the possibility of financing projects in Euros and raise funds from a national bank account. It started its campaign on Kickstarter.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CAMPAIGN:

In out last communication we were commenting that:

  • OVAL, the first digital handpan designed and produced by the Barcelona company Ovalsound, achieved in almost two days and a half 100.000 euros of its first objective and a total of 236 OVAL units reserved.
  • From those 236 OVAL reserved, the 76% had its future outside of Spain.
  • The constant rhythm of units reservation in the first stage was such, that on the first day, Kickstarter publicly acknowledge Ovalsound on its blog and network as «STAFF PICK» (category very difficult to achieve, that the platform gives to the projects that spectacularly advanced in its first hours of campaign, supposing a total support of the community)
  • At the moment, when it achieves the first objective (100.000€), 239 participants have been involved in the funding of the Project and the 70% of those were for the first time in the platform supporting and contributing to make OVAL real.
  • From those 239 participants (or sponsorships as the platform denominates), the ranking of the number of participant in the campaign had origin in the next countries: Spain, USA, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Austria, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland and Singapore.

Since then, almost six days after our last communicate:

  • In only nine days, since its presentation, there are more than 400 units of Oval reserved all over the world and it is almost a month to finish the campaign.
  • Futures homes are added as follows: Andorra, Chipre, Finland, Island, and Taiwan.
  • After completing in two days the first objective of the funding, in almost two days more, Oval achieved the 150.000 € required for the first stretch of the campaign, the Oval App for Android, achieving with this new hit to be compatible both for iOS as Android.
  • That same day it started the next stretch of the campaign: an incredible system of transport and storage designed by each OVAL.

TESTIMONIES:

Meanwhile the campaign continues and Oval encounters the new homes, the Ovalsound family gives the turn to speak to some of the contributors and artists, that with its testimonies declare what it is felt after playing with Oval.

  • The first is the co-founder Ravid Goldschmidt, who tells us how to changes scales on the electronic hangpan.
  • The second is Hannah Peel, mega-talented singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger, who says : “The idea of sampling sounds and sampling my voice and… linking it up to maybe some synths and maybe some analog synths that would use MIDI as triggers…”
  • The third is Silvia Perez Cruz, Composer and Singer, versatile, and with an incredible voice with which interprets traditional Catalan and Spanish songs, jazz songs, and contemporary pop. Silvia highlights of her experience, among others: «it also likes me because you can play with two people «.

 

OVAL IN THE WORLD:

As we commented, the success of the OVAL campaign is not only for the success in the funding, but because of the enormous repercussion in the media.

The same platform Kickstarter has made various mentions on its blog about the creation of Ovalsound and its management of the campaign.

Likewise, among the national media we have echoed that could highlight some as:

  • Diario EL Mundo: Un invento español para tocar música a partir de cualquier sonido

«Si no tienes ni idea de solfeo, no tires la toalla. Aún puedes hacer tu propia música, y expresarte, gracias a Oval, un invento español que te permite elegir cualquier sonido para regalarte (o al menos intentarlo) los oídos. Si eres un profesional, tampoco descartes este invento, que puede conectarse a cualquier aplicación móvil y te ayuda a incorporar a tus creaciones los sonidos más variopintos que se te ocurran. Si luego te gusta el resultado, Oval te permite compartirlas en comunidad.»

  • tk Oval Handpan digitales pone posibilidades sonoras ilimitadas en su regazo

«¿Es un ovni? ¿Es una especie de callejón sin masajear la meditación banco? ¿Es un wok con una cubierta dañada? No, es la handpan digitales ovalada. Instrumento ligero, portátil y duradero fue diseñado para la ergonomía y la jugabilidad de un golpe de tambor, pero con acceso a un mundo de posibilidades sonoras casi ilimitadas.»

  • com EL OVAL LO PETA . EXITAZO DEL INSTRUMENTO DIGITAL MADE IN BARCELONA

«Solo dos días después de iniciarse la campaña en Kickstarter con el objetivo de hacer posible tanto su fabricación a gran escala como su posterior distribución, los responsables del artilugio creado en nuestro país pueden mostrarse más que satisfechos al conseguir la cantidad mínima necesaria de 100.000 euros demandada al inicio de la recaudación. «

  • infocif.es OVAL, el instrumento español que permite tocar cualquier sonido

«FACILITA APRENDER MÚSICA Y COMPARTIR EL RESULTADO(…) OVAL es un instrumento musical español que se conecta con aplicaciones para móviles y tabletas y que otorga al músico, ya sea profesional o aficionado, una completa libertad para crear sonidos, aprender y compartir sus composiciones con la comunidad de creadores.»

Other relevant national media:  thecreatorsproject.vice.com , sonicaworks.com , beatmashmagazine.com , clubbingspain.com , Vjspain.com,…

Among the great quantity of mentions and articles in international media we could highlight:

  • Atmel Blog “The Oval takes the design, ergonomics and musical qualities of handpans to create an electronic instrument that can be as simple for a beginner to start exploring music as a means of expression, and as complex as a professional musician needs it to be for layering samples and real-time looping.”
  • Create Digital Music “Nowadays, things are different. Just a couple of days after launch, the project reached its initial 100,000€ Kickstarter goal. It’s connected to an app, an extension of your mobile gadget (though you can use it via MIDI with software if you like).”

“The case is impressive. That’s not plastic – natural resins and acrylic are combined with “minerals like bauxite, marble, and quartz.” I’m eager to check this thing out in person when I’m in Barcelona for SONAR; the case fabrication is something unique.”

  • Discchord “In a sea of half-assed crowd-funding cash-grabs, Oval stands out immediately in my mind as something genuinely new and exciting.”
  • Gadgetify “The Oval is another fun device that lets you play in a whole new way.”
  • Gizmag “It’s the Oval digital handpan. The light, portable and durable instrument has been designed to have the ergonomics and playability of a hang drum, but with access to a world of almost limitless sonic possibilities.”
  • HDblogIT “È specifico per le esibizioni live, ma ha molte funzionalità che lo rendono uno strumento educativo, per imparare musica e non solo crearla.”
  • Musical Android “Would not normally post something like this as in reality all midi controller can be connected to Android but as it is a beautiful controller/instrument and as the developer wrote me directly telling me that he had used it with Caustic and Heat synthesizer felt that an exception is in order.”
  • Synthopia “The Oval is light, portable, durable, minimal, simple and energetically self-sufficient.”

Otros relevant:  Audiofanzine, Geeky Gadgets, Leiphone, Matrixsynth , Vice.com, Music Radar, Fact Magazine, Sequencer.de, Tech Buzz Ireland

¿ DO YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE IT FIRSTHAND? OVAL IN SÓNAR + D:

Over the next 18, 19 and 20 June, OVAL will be physically present at the space “Made with Kickstarter” that Kickstarter will have in the MarketLab at International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art SÓNAR.

Founders and representatives of the platform will be presenting the Spanish version and moreover will present projects of creative technologies especially interesting and successful cases developed during the last year, besides presenting OVAL as the first national Project make real thanks to the campaign on the platform.

Moreover, Alex Posada, co-founder of Oval, will participate at “From Prototype to Production ” one of the workshops developed by Kickstarter Head of Design, John Dimatos.

You can visit every day from 10 to 20h.

  

Remember the link to the campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2101519704/oval-the-first-digital-handpan

WEB: http://ovalsound.com

You can follow all updates through the FanPage:

https://www.facebook.com/ovalsound

Images & press release: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbintemfqvw22cd/AACJNeZYzbHa16_NwXmfXJJFa?dl=0

Contact Press Pat Quinteiro:

Mail: prensa@patcomunicaciones.com