Beamz Review and Giveaway (BTSC-Day 40)

Today's the last day of the Back to School Carnival and I have to confess I'm a tad bit sad!...But on the positive side, it doesn't mean the end of great giveaways. The Carnival was so much fun and having you resound similar sentiments I thought "Why not carry on?" So carry on, we shall!! (Yippee!)

Anyways, since we're on the last day of my very first Carnival on the blog, I thought we should end with a bang....a finale with a difference! I decided we'd ask my 3 and a half year to serenade you with some classical music. So without any further ado....

Ladies and Gentlemen. I now present to you Bunny girl!!!

Impressed with my dottie's musical skills? Isn't she just great? It actually took her a few seconds to learn that musical piece......

"WHAT???!!!"

I'm not kidding! It was just a matter of a few seconds!! I showed her what to do and voila my little Mozart was on her way!

Want to know my little secret? ......

We got the Beamz!!!


Beamz Shmeanz...what's the actual scoop?

Honestly that's all it is....the Beamz! It's an interactive music system that's the genius invention of Jerry Riopelle.


How does it work? (In the words of the experts themselves)

The Beamz product has six laser triggers and two button-controlled triggers that activate 100+ instruments, chords, music clips, sounds effects and rhythms. Each laser is programmed to trigger these different melodies, sounds or instruments. When a beam is broken,(by passing your hand/finger or any object through a beam) the Beamz player software program releases a musical sound or expression that is always harmonious to the other sounds so the music is always on key and sounds good. (Even if you are tone deaf!)

You can opt to play instrument sounds or play along to pre-programmed songs by opting for the 'Rhythm' option on your Beamz. ANYONE can play the Beamz and sound melodic....I do not lie!!

Click the link to watch a few Beamz videos


What do I need to use a Beamz instrument?

• A Pentium 4 processor.
• A PC running windows XP with Service Pack 2 and .Net 2.0 or Windows Vista.
- A minimum of 512 MB of system memory (one GB or greater preferred).
- Four GB of free hard disk space.
- One free USB port. (The Beamz controller will not function correctly if connected
to a USB hub.)
- A monitor with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels or better.
- A sound card and a speaker system or headphones.


Bunny girl is a 'Beamz-iac' now! She loves the fact that she can actually play great sounding music. There are moments,though, when she does more dancing than cutting the laser beams, especially when the music is upbeat.

Hubby has always wanted to play a musical instrument and felt that learning an instrument was never something 'do-able' but with the Beamz, well it's a whole, different ball game! He likes to sneak in a little musical number or two when Bunny girl steps out of the room.


Beamz must dos.

1. Don't stare directly into the laser beams. With small children the best thing to do is to instruct them to look at the screen while they play especially as they're tempted to study the neat red light zipping across the frames!
2. You shouldn't drop the Beamz frames on the floor. I figure this could affect your instrument's performance. (The frames are very strong and sturdy but why take a chance?)
3. Don't use this outdoors especially with the exposure to direct sunlight. This will affect the functionality.
   

I love our Beamz as we've been having so much fun using it as a family. One thing I'll always remember when I think of us using the Beamz is the amount we've laughed together.
(For instance, Bunny girl's video was taken on the sly. She didn't realize I was filming her moves! I giggle each time I see my little musician 'in action'!!) I think this is a lovely 'family' product that has no age bar whatsoever! (You can even have your parents play this with the little kids!)


Buy it:

You can buy a Beamz interactive music system for 199.95$ at the Beamz store. ( This includes the Beamz instrument, Beamz Player Software, USB cable, 2 Beamz Music CDs, Quick Start Guide and DVD Instructional Video.)
You can download additional songs from the site for 2.99$


Win it:

One reader will win their very own Beamz interactive music system- fun, fun, fun!


Here's how you can win it:

1. Mandatory entry (without this, all other entries will be disqualified)-

Visit the Beamz website and tell me something you learnt/found/discovered.

Additional BTSC entries:

- 2. Subscribe to my blog (remember you need to activate the subscription if you subscribe via email) or Follow my blog & leave a comment stating that you subscribe or follow.

- 3. Blog about this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your blog post)

- 4. Tweet about this giveaway and add the hashtag #ebmr at the end of your tweet.

-5. Add the link to this giveaway on a Mr Linky on a blog giveaway site, forum, carnival. (leave a comment with the link)

-6. Snag my Blog button (the cute little bunny on the right!) and leave a comment with the link

- 7. Snag the Back to School Carnival button (the cute little bunny on the left!) and leave a comment with the link

This giveaway is open to US residents, 18 years and above.

1 winner will be chosen with the random.org generator on September 26 2009 at 10 pm Central time, so enter before that. The winner's name will be posted thereafter. Please note if the winner does not get back to me 48 hours after his/her name has been posted, I will pick a new winner.