Take part in the dualo adventure ! Support the making of a new instrument and help us to write a new page in the history of electronical instrument making.

dualo du-touch

The du-touch dualo is a new musical instrument we have developed for music professionals as well as amateurs and non musicians. It is equipped with a new layout of notes called “the dualo principle”. This most intuitive arrangement allows you to see and understand music in a better way. You don’t have to know notation to play music ! On a dualo keyboard, the notes that sound well together are put next to each other. As a result, you can find notes directly with your fingers and have fun very quickly. As a matter of fact, musical things such as chords or scales are represented by simple shapes easy to remember.

The dualo keyboard is very visual and you can take it in hands in no time. You can play all kinds of music on this keyboard with virtuosity and great ease.

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an intuitive stage instrument

Around this layout of notes, the dualo team built a real musical instrument : the du-touch. Thanks to our experience and our past as musicians, we thought about what could be the ideal instrument and, for that reason, we have interviewed hundreds of musicians and non musicians. That is why the du-touch is light, mobile and self-sufficient. You can put it in a small bag and it is battery-powered. At the forefront of innovation, there are pressure sensors under the keys and movements controllers in order to control sound in an original and spectacular way. The du-touch offers a new touch as well as a new phrasing. You control by touching, stroking and moving it.

to play music and compose

Connect your headphones or your amplifier, switch on and play ! Easy to take in hands, the du-touch is equipped with an internal synthesizer with a soundbank of more than a hundred different sounds.

Thanks to the integrated looper/sequencer, play and record the drums, then the bass, then any other instrument and so on. In this way, you can compose and build up a music piece with several sounds in a more intuitive and faster way than with a computer.

If you are a musician and use already synthesizer software, the dualo-touch will fit perfectly with your environment thanks to its Midi and USB ports and its particular playing modes which will enable you to drive your programs just like Ableton Live, Cubase and some others.

To have a list of all the functionalities of the dualo-touch, click on this link.

and you can learn with a video game

Professional or amateur musicians generally take the dualo in hands within a few minutes.

We have also thought about non musicians, those who have always dreamt of being able to play music. Our music method is playful and interactive : it takes the shape of a video game like “Guitar Hero” and is associated to a luminous device under the keys. This does not require any knowledge of notation and enables you to play a first piece of music within a few minutes. In this way, we encourage beginners to discover the world of music through all kinds of styles thanks to interactive scores that can be downloaded and exchanged from our website.

Our method and our instrument bring quickly the satisfaction to play, compared to almost all of the other instruments.

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The development of this music method has received the support of Ile de France region.

A preview will be presented at Futur En Seine Festival in Paris on June 13-16, 2013.

A new instrument ? What for ?

The Dualo project has a double purpose : firstly, it is intended for professional and amateur musicians willing to develop their creativity thanks to a new practical and original tool offering a new way of playing, a new phrasing and a new touch. We can thus imagine that new musical styles will appear. Secondly, for all those who have desired one day to play music, we want to propose an intuitive instrument easy to take in hands and to learn with fun, because we wish that one day, many more people will be able to play music.

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Where does this mad and ambitious idea come from ?

The project started in 2007 with the invention of the dualo principle by Jules Hotrique, a mathematician and a musician. Jules spent a lot of time reading books about harmony and he noticed that no traditional musical instrument could reflect in a simple way the principles of harmonic theory. The main explanation is that traditional instruments are conceived according to physical and mechanical constraints when, in fact, an instrument based on harmony would make things easier.

Thus appeared the dualo principle, then two prototypes of instruments Jules built in his kitchen by seeking information on internet. Jules scoured rehearsal studios, bars and festivals with the second prototype. He played in numerous concerts putting the instrument in one thousand people’s hands, musicians or not.

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Three years later, in 2010, by dint of hearing “That’s amazing, I want one !”, Jules proposed to his friend Bruno Verbrugghe, who had studied at the IRCAM and specialized in electronical instruments making and musical video games, to bring his instrument to life.

The dualo company was created in 2011 and the dualo team is now composed of 6 people.

In December 2012, after one year of hard work with Frédéric Simon, designer at Nimos Design we produced a first series of functional prototypes: the dualo du-touch β. Forty instruments were built and sold to musicians such as Cyril Atef (Bumcello, -M-, Princess Erika), Fixi (Winston McAnuff, Java) et Khalid K, and to amateurs and non-musicians. Thanks to their remarks, we are able to improve every day the instrument functionalities.

Here is a video showing the assembly of a dualo du-touch β. The music was composed by Denis Renaud with du-touch β sound.

A new dualo du-touch

Today, we are working on a new version of the du-touch, which incorporate all current dualist's wish and which will add new features compared to the du-touch ß :

- a body made of a new material of better quality, nicer, more robust, with a better finish,

- a larger color screen,

- a slightly adjusted design for a better taking in hand,

- a wireless MIDI connection, thanks to a usb key plugged into your computer,

- a larger and of high quality soundbank, made in collaboration with a renowed soundbank maker,

- more accurate motion sensors,

- a louder audio output.

Dualo du-touch will come with a wireless midi USB key, a belt to play upright, a protective cover, a charger, a USB cable, an operating manual and an interactive learning method.

This new version will be released in December 2013, so we are asking your support to help us to realize it.

Rewards

The booklet of thanks : made by our graphic designer “Ancre Noire” which designed our logo (see our website to appreciate their graphic talent, or one of his last creation) . This booklet, shaped as a CD booklet, will include the names of all donators and our warm thanks plus some photos of the project. This beautiful booklet will be sent by mail to your home.

The official invitation to the launching evening : in December 2013, we shall organize a great launching party in Paris. This will be the opportunity for all of us to meet each other around dualisto concerts and dance all night through. Your official invitation will be sent by mail.

The “du-tee”, the dualo t-shirt : 2 models available (male, female). The round-neck male model is available in XS, S, M, L and XL sizes. The V-neck female model is available in XS, S, M, L and XL sizes. These t-shirts are high quality (100% brushed cotton). They are real t-shirts, strong and beautiful, we wear them every day ! Your t-shirt will be sent by mail.

Du-tee

The original dualo screen print : Do you like the design of our website and our logo ? Our graphic designer, “Ancre Noire” will make especially for this event a silkscreen printed poster (28x20 inches) representing a musical and sensual environment. Your poster will be sent by mail.

Here is an example picture of the graphics of dualo.

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A dualo at your home for one or two months : This compensation is only available in France. It is a simple idea. You receive a du-touch by postage, you try it then send it back at the end of the trial. If you like it, you can keep it and you get a discount on the purchase price : 50€ for the pack “du-rehearse” and 100€ for the pack “du-album”. Before sending your du-touch, we shall ask you to send us a deposit check, which will not be debited, and a copy of your identity card and a proof of address. That is to say the usual requirements ! Also we will provide a quick-startup lesson of one hour at your home if you are in the Ile De France area, or by Skype for the rest of France.

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The dualo du-touch : The new version, with all its accessories (wireless midi USB key, belt, protective cover, charger, USB cable, operating manual and interactive learning method) at a special KissKissBankBank price ! The first version, the dualo du-touch β, was normally on sale at 1490€. Exceptionally, we propose the dualo du-touch at 890€ ! Also we will provide a quick-startup lesson of one hour at your home if you are in the Ile-de-France area, or by Skype for the rest of the world. The postage charges in metropolitan France are included. For a postage outside metropolitan France, choose the 940€ compensation.

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The du-band : You want to create a band of dualistos or a dualo class ? This compensation is made for you : let's convince your friends, and we propose 4 dualo du-touch with all their accessories at an even more special price ! Also we will provide a quick-startup lesson of one hour at your home if you are in the Ile-de-France area, or by Skype for the rest of the world.

Trioado

Dualo du-touch, un nouvel instrument de musique

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