The Beamz is a laser-based invention that is connected to a computer via USB. This allows you to play hundreds of musical instruments in a true Jean Michel Jarre style by breaking the laser beams with your hands.

The beamz system has a “W” shape, with six laser beams spanning the two sections; connect via USB to your PC or laptop, and hook up some speakers. The simple, intuitive computer interface makes it easy to choose any of 30 included songs in 19 musical genres for laying down a complementary rhythm track. The beamz library includes original works in jazz, bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, reggae, heavy metal and more.

Breaking the laser beams with your hands automatically generates pre-authored pulses, streams, riffs or loops of musical notes or sounds from an incredible variety of instruments from around the world — guitars, steel guitar, strings of all types, percussion, keyboards, winds.even cowbell. Sophisticated high-fidelity sounds seem to pour from your fingertips like magic!

The Beamz Music Performance System stands 19 inches tall and is available from The Sharper Image for $599.95 (software and USB cable is included).

This is great (and quite annoying for some), now you can do your breakfast table paradiddles and get the right kind of sound to go with it.

Design your own personal drum table with durable, interchangeable and rearrangeable percussion inserts.

Here’s a video clip of the drum table in action:

Choose from four different sized tables to suit your musical and space needs. The smallest table accepts four of the smaller instruments and the largest accepts sixteen.

The Musical Furnishings Musical Rumba Series drum tables range in price from $800 for a 2×2 configuration up to $2,900 for the 4×4 one.

(Via OhGizmo)