Between 2003 and 2005 The Tapestry Partnership engaged in extensive consultation at a grass roots level, and identified music as a tool for improving learning engagement in children with profound physical and learning challenges. In collaboration with NESTA and The University of Edinburgh the decision was taken to design and create a new musical instrument with 3 main objectives, entirely new to music and lifelong learning:

  1. a universal interface to sense fine or limited movements of the body, to make the instrument available to people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities.
  2. a way of understanding and interpreting the musical meaning and expressivity of movement.
  3. a way of communicating this meaning and expressivity to a new, flexible and beautiful source of musical sound, offering the opportunity for learning, progression and profound creativity.

Skoogmusic™ is the result.