NYU Music Experience Design Lab
The NYU Music Experience Design Lab (MusEDLab) is a globally recognized research, design, and learning innovation studio that develops creative technologies and experiences to support music, arts, and cultural learning, creativity, and engagement across the lifespan. Based at NYU Shanghai, the Lab collaborates with educators, students, artists, nonprofits, and industry partners around the world. Its work spans creative app development, immersive educational tools, participatory design, and curriculum innovation, with a focus on accessibility and inclusivity. Through widely used tools like Groove Pizza, Variation Playgrounds, and Play With Your Music, the MusEDLab has reached millions of learners and educators globally, supporting communities in the U.S. & Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia through culturally responsive and research-driven initiatives.
Our Portfolio of Services
- Creative experience, learning, and curriculum design
- Creative web application development (WebAudio, WebMIDI, Interactive visualizations)
- Creative arts workshops for kids and novices of all ages
- Professional development workshops for educators and teaching artists
- Interactive physical/digital product and installations
- Educational website development
- Educational research and evaluation
Contact Us! to learn more and inquire about our services.
The MusEDLab also serves as a creative incubator for student projects across NYU's Global Network of campuses. The MusEDLab was founded in September 2013 by S. Alex Ruthmann. Since 2019, the Lab is housed within the NYU Shanghai Program on Creativity and Innovation.
Learn More
Watch Alex Ruthmann's TEDx talk:
Lowering the Barriers to Creative Musical Expression | Alex Ruthmann | TEDxOaklandUniversity - YouTube
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Lowering the Barriers to Creative Musical Expression | Alex Ruthmann | TEDxOaklandUniversity
Explore the MusEDLab Timeline:
The NYU Music Experience Design Lab (MusEDLab) founded
We research, design and incubate new technologies and experiences for music making, learning and engagement together with industry and community partners.
We support NYU students in developing skills as musicians, educators, designers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and scholars.
Music Ed Hackathon @ Spotify
June 28, 2013 — June 30, 2013
Designing Technologies & Experiences for Music Class 1.0
September — December
The first iteration of our music experience and technology design course ran with 13 students and 7 final projects presented before a final "shark tank" of educators, technology designers and investors from NYC.
PWYM Mix interface launched
October 15, 2013
In preparation for Play With Your Music, the MusEDLab built a music multitrack web mixing and balancing interface.
Play With Your Music 1.0
November — December
Play With Your Music (PWYM) is a research project MOOC providing a 40,000 ft overview of the creative processes of audio engineers and producers.
First Monthly NYC Music Technology Educators Meetup
November 9, 2013
Each month on the second Saturday of the month, NYC area educators, technologists, students and industry members meet as a community to share new ideas and projects, and discuss challenges and issues we face as a community.
Performamatics Interdisciplinary Computing+Music Workshop
January 14, 2014 — January 17, 2014
Performamatics is an NSF-funded project designed to advance the teaching of computational thinking through engaging students and faculty in fundamental concepts that unite computing and music.
Digital Media in Learning Conference: PWYM 1.0 Final Report
March 6, 2014
The first six-week course provided an introduction to critical listening, strategies for learning from recordings, musical uses of audio effects, mixing and remixing.
PWYM: A look inside the creation, facilitating and revision of a creative music production MOOC
March 21, 2014
Presentation at the New Directions in Music Education conference at Michigan State University.
Virtual Piano Interface - Chamber Music Society of Detroit
March 31, 2014
In partnership with Steve Wogaman, Exec. Director of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, the MusEDLab developed an interactive virtual piano duet interface for the web.
Play With Your Music: Graz Keynote
April 5, 2014
Keynote presentation at the 2014 at the iUNIg.at Symposium on Video: Didaktik | Technik | Kunst
Alex Haff & Adam November Introduce DrawMIDI for NYU Science of Music
April 8, 2014
Create your own paper MIDI controller through this Instructable by Alex Haff: www.instructables.com/id/Draw-MIDI/
Play With Your Music 2.0 featuring Peter Gabriel launched.
May 16, 2014
PWYM 2.0 is a collaboration with legendary artist Peter Gabriel and the second iteration of Play With Your Music.
Adam November wins prize in NYU Music Tech Product Design Competition
May 17, 2014
This is bitHarp, a class-compliant, bit-crushable MIDI harp.
Performamatics Interdisciplinary Computing+Music Workshop
June 19, 2014 — June 20, 2014
ICAD Doctoral ThinkTank
June 21, 2014
Designing Meaningful Musical Experiences with Technology Course
June 30, 2014 — July 4, 2014
Summer professional development course at the University of Michigan for in-service music educators enrolled in Michigan's summer masters degree program.
Girls Electronic Music Seminar
June 30, 2014 — July 30, 2014
Julie Ballantyne joins the MusEDLab as a Visiting Scholar.
July 1, 2014
Connecting and Creating Global Music Communities in the Cloud
July 22, 2014
First IMPACT Conference
August 13, 2014 — August 16, 2014
The IMPACT (Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology) Conference brings together students, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs and industry in a series of hands-on interactive workshops and sessions exploring new technologies for arts making and learning.
Ailbhe Kenny joins the MusEDLab as a Visiting Scholar
September 1, 2014
Designing Technologies & Experiences for Music Class 2.0
September — December
The second iteration of our music experience and technology design course ran with 20 students and 11 final projects presented before a final "shark tank" of educators, technology designers and investors from NYC.
International Music Institutions Leaders Forum - China Conservatory, Beijing, China
September 19, 2014 — September 22, 2014
Presentation of Play With Your Music MOOC community design process and platform for music conservatory leaders from across the world and China.
Audio Engineering Society Student Design Competition
October 9, 2014 — October 11, 2014
Facilitated the AES annual student design competition at the AES convention in Los Angeles, CA.
Wayne RESA & CMSD Workshop
November 4, 2014
Teacher workshop on designing technologies and experiences for music making, learning and engagement.
First Monthly Arts Media Maker Hack launched
November 8, 2014
The MusEDLab in partnership with the Leslie Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab) at NYU present a monthly community event bringing together students from across NYU interested in experimenting with, hacking and collaboratively making at the intersection of arts, music, media and technology.
Cultural & Technological Innovation Symposium - Shenzhen University
November 29, 2014 — December 1, 2014
Makey Makey Music Workshop at the Hong Kong Institute of Education
December 2, 2014
Presentation of an interactive Makey Makey music workshop for education students and teachers at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
SmartBomb Kickoff Event
December 3, 2014
A Smartbomb is an innovative use of art and technology developed in Partnership with classroom teachers and the NYU MusEDLab to enhance the ways students learn.
Erica Gruen joins the MusEDLab as Visiting Scholar
January 1, 2015
Eric Rosenbaum joins the MusEDLab as Visiting Scholar
January 1, 2015
NSF I-Corps Workshop: Music Invention Kits
January 11, 2015 — February 25, 2015
The MusEDLab together with Eric Rosenbaum and Erica Gruen participated in a 7 week intensive commercialization workshop utilizing Steve Blank's Lean Launchpad methodology in development of a next generation music invention kit.
Eric Rosenbaum's MK-1 Makey music sampling interface
January 13, 2015
As part of our NSF I-Corps commercialization process, the MusEDLab with Visiting Scholar Eric Rosenbaum ran customer discovery workshops.
Performamatics Interdisciplinary Computing+Music Workshop
January 15, 2015 — January 16, 2015
MusEDLab associate Diana Castro receives Prototyping Fund Award
February 11, 2015
The Greenhouse at the School of Engineering and the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute are pleased to announce the fourth cohort of Prototyping Fund awardees!
MusEDLab associate Fah Daengdej awarded Best Innovation in the "Art and Design" category at Innovator 2015.
March 15, 2015
First MusEDLab conductive ink paper music interface with Squink
March 23, 2015
As part of the MusEDLab's foray into conductive paper music and MIDI interfaces, Visiting Scholar Eric Rosenbaum prints a circular interface.
Visiting Scholar Residency at the University of Western Ontario
March 29, 2015 — March 31, 2015
MusEDLab alum Andre Miranda's $99 Orchestra project raises $62,555 on Kickstarter
March 31, 2015
MusEDLab associate Ethan Hein publishes article on music software interface metaphors
April 1, 2015
Lean Launchpad Educators Training - Santa Cruz, CA
April 6, 2015 — April 8, 2015
AQWERTYON music interface beta web app released
April 8, 2015
The AQWERTYON (QWERTY Accordion) is a collaborative web audio and web MIDI project of the NYU MusEDLab.
Teknodida Educators Conference
April 18, 2015
The NYU MusEDLab Aqwertyon is in the wild at the Little Red School House in NYC
April 23, 2015
MusEDLab alum Julianna Mateyko successfully defends masters thesis
April 27, 2015
Community in the Music Classroom
MusEDLab associate Diana Castro successfully defends masters thesis
May 8, 2015
MusEDLab associate Jason Sigal successfully defends masters thesis
May 11, 2015
MusEDLab alum Toni Williams successfully defends masters thesis
May 15, 2015
MusEDLab associate Fah Daengdej successfully defends senior thesis
May 20, 2015
Concrète is a paper interface DIY kit that aims to foster creative ways of noticing everyday sounds’ musical and narrative potential.
Note: This text continues with more project updates, workshops, and collaborations of the MusEDLab, all aimed at enhancing music education through innovative technologies and artistic engagement.