LIFT Music launches new interface, features and Android version

Student plays lift music on a tablet

LIFT Music has introduced a redesigned interface, new interactive experiences and Android availability, expanding the ways this ground-breaking movement-controlled music app can be used across education, care and community settings.

Cesture Controlled Music Creation App

TiME Corporate Member LIFT Music has launched a major update, shaped by feedback from users and practitioners to make the platform easier to navigate, more engaging and more flexible in real-world sessions.

At the heart of LIFT is a simple idea: movement can be used to interact with music. The app uses a device’s camera to respond to physical movement, creating opportunities for people to engage with sound and music without needing to play a conventional instrument.

The new version brings together four core interactive experiences: Music Mirror, Sound Bubbles, Orchestra Animation and Mini Studio.

Music Mirror allows students to control musical changes through their movements, creating an immediate relationship between physical action and what they hear.

Slower movements can produce slower musical changes, for example, giving educators opportunities to explore timing, dynamics, musical expression and the relationship between cause and effect.

We love the new Sound Bubbles feature, that combines visual and auditory feedback. Colourful bubbles respond to movement alongside musical sounds, creating a playful multi-sensory environment.

The visual response can be particularly useful for students who are strongly motivated by visual stimuli, while providing an accessible starting point for attention, movement, exploration and musical interaction.

Orchestra Animation adds another visual dimension. Animated musicians respond alongside the student's movements, helping to make the connection between movement, rhythm and musical response visible as well as audible.

It provides a playful way to explore musical interaction and can be used without the physical or technical demands associated with playing a traditional instrument.

Mini Studio takes the experience further into creative music-making, giving users opportunities to explore, customise and control sound.

This opens up scope for greater choice and ownership, allowing musical experiences to become more personal to the individual using the app.

Designed around real-world use

Alongside the new activities, LIFT has introduced practical improvements including landscape mode and out-of-shot indicators, designed to improve visibility and usability across different devices and environments.

Importantly, LIFT Music is also now available on Android for the first time, alongside its existing Apple versions. This significantly increases the range of devices on which the platform can be used and potentially makes it accessible to many more schools, services and community organisations.

Sound Bubbles feature in Lift Music

The simplicity of the interaction remains particularly relevant for SEND settings. Students do not need musical training or fine motor control to begin engaging with the activities, while the combination of movement, music and visual feedback provides educators with different routes into participation, creativity and expression.

The new interface also reflects feedback from practitioners and frontline teams. That focus on what works in actual sessions is important: technology designed for inclusive settings needs to be straightforward to introduce, understandable for the people using it and flexible enough to work with different learners and environments.

The updated LIFT Music is available now, with a free one-month trial available to new users.