Musicians Beat Pandemic Blues With Quaver, an Innovative App

Nimikry Music, an innovative music technology start-up, has joined forces with leading UX design firm Creative Navy, to create a new tool for musicians with an app called Quaver.

Whilst social distancing during the Coronavirus pandemic has put most creative musical collaborations on ice, the Quaver app allows ‘orchestra quality’ practice, play and critique through innovative technology and social sharing.

Nimikry has previously pioneered apps for classical music, but this partnership with Creative Navy has focused on a digital experience that means musicians can practice their instrument, playing virtual chamber music and orchestral pieces and sharing that creative production by exchanging with other musicians across a global community.

Nimikry founders Alessandro Baticci, a classical flautist and Rafal Zalech, a viola player, have worked together as performers and composers since 2016. Alessandro says;

“The pandemic destroyed rehearsal, audition and performance as we knew it, but Quaver means musicians can adapt to this changed world and remain at a high standard of playing skill. There’s still the need for hard work but collaboration is now possible with other musicians using Quaver and it’s valuable because you can assess, critique and improve.”

Ultimately Nimikry Music has aspired to create a platform not just to overcome the current challenges faced by musicians, but to bring together musicians to play and to create together via this new app.

The team at Nimikry has addressed the issue of digital copyright by introduced a royalty-based system for content creators inside the platform. Apart from practicing with accompaniments and recording their own practice sessions, users have the possibility to upload their own transcriptions, accompaniments and play-alongs in a dedicated upload area. This is how they can contribute to the App library.

What’s more, all users will benefit from these contributions seeing as, through a price per download system, content creators will receive some payment for their content.

Rafal Zalech said: “Covid19 has created a need for musicians to adapt to a new world, but hard work and collaboration remain key. Music is an essential source of creativity and classical music in particular has inspired us to consider what is meaningful and how it can be reinvented”.

Regarding its audience, Nimikry has an even farther-reaching agenda:
“Music is a universal language…” says Alessandro Baticci. “We want to conceive Quaver as an universal music platform, not necessarily restricted to particular genres. We think that the social approach of Quaver is the genuinely new element of the product and can change the way we make and also consume music in the future.”

The team already has concrete ideas to expand Quaver beyond its original scope, to allow more users apart from musicians to benefit from the App.

Dennis Lenard, CEO and product architect of Creative Navy said: “Nimikry’s take on how musicians can use technology to become better performers is unique and we’re excited to be part of the journey. Our evidence-based approach to design and the experience we have in human-computer interaction has helped create an app with a global appeal”.

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