Our Story

Craig Ramsell is the inventor of Boomwhackers® Musical Tubes, which are a fun, simple and inexpensive way to make music.  Boomwhackers tubes revolutionized learning music for millions of children in schools around the world, and have been used by hundreds of thousands of people in teambuilding events.  They are also used in musical performances and recordings and have been successfully used in music therapy as well.  The tubes have different colors for different musical notes according to a color scheme that Craig named “Chroma-Notes™.”

Craig has spent the last few years creating the Chroma-Notes™ Composer - Music Composition / Education Software, from designing to directing and assisting in its development.  This revolutionary new software program is great for kids and anyone that wants to play and create music and be able to read music notation!  The program makes it easy to compose your own music, as well as learn about how music notation works, through the use of “virtual” Boomwhackers® Musical Tubes and keyboards combined with Chroma-Notes™ color coding for the musical score.

The playful animations of the instruments make the program fun to use as well as easy and educational.  In addition to its unique features, Chroma-Notes Composer has many of the music notation capabilities of much more expensive music notation programs.  Funding the completion of this software is the primary purpose of this IndieGoGo campaign.  Please view the video to see the software in action.

Craig previously formed and ran Whacky Music, Inc., which sold over 6.7 million of the musical tubes he invented, between the company's formation in 1998 and sale of the company's assets in 2009 to Rhythm Band Instruments.  Craig also created and oversaw the creation of an entire range of accessories and educational materials for Boomwhackers.  (Rhythm Band continues to sell the products and will eventually sell the software, but is not affiliated with this fundraising campaign.)  Another product that Craig developed are the Chroma-Notes™ Stick-Ons (also sold by Rhythm Band), which are removable, reusable stickers colored to the Chroma-Notes color scheme.  The Stick-Ons make it possible to color-code a wide variety of instruments, such as pianos, guitars, xylophones, and marimbas, to the Chroma-Notes colors.  The colored music created by the software then makes it that much easier to play music on that same range of instruments, as well as the Boomwhackers tubes and other Chroma-Notes colored instruments sold by Rhythm Band.

Craig formed Chroma-Notes LLC in 2009 to continue the development of the software and more information about the software and the Stick-Ons can be found at the company website:  www.chroma-notes.com.

Where We Are

This software has the potential to make learning how to read music and compose music easier and more accessible to millions of people, just as Craig’s Boomwhackers tubes have impacted the lives of millions.  Music is an essential part of the human experience and uplifts the spirit and brings people together.  This software will make it possible for many more people to bring creating music into their lives rather than just listening to it.

There will be two versions of the software, a Standard version with a suggested retail of $49.98 and a Premium version at $89.98.  Information about the differences in the features of the two versions is available at the Chroma-Notes website.  It is important also to note that the initial release will be PC only, with a Mac version expected to follow in a few months.

You might be wondering why a successful inventor and entrepreneur who has successfully sold a business is needing to raise capital. Well, the main reason is that the development of this software has taken way more time and money than any of us could have imagined!  We've put over half a million dollars into its development, borrowing from every possible source to get there, and we're just coming up short. 

We have a solid development team through the company we hired to develop the product, Notationware LLC, and while the complexity of the development has surprised all of us, we know we are getting close, as you can see in the demo video.  What remains is mostly clean-up and debugging but it all still has to be paid for.  We also have an excellent musical consultant in Ellen Foncannon, who is a music educator and published composer and previously was the Director of Educational Materials for Whacky Music.

What We Need and How You Can Help

The funding level of $36,000 is set at a minimum projection of what it will take to finish the initial release of the software, and rest assured that with so much money already tied up in this project it is going to get done.
Craig hopes to greatly exceed the funding target, which will make it possible to more quickly do a Mac version and a simpler version for mobile platforms.  He also hopes to retire some of the enormous personal debt that's been incurred bringing the project this far.  There are some really great deals in the perks and the more you contribute the better the value is in proportion to what is contributed.  So please look at the various contribution levels, see which one works best for you and make your contribution to help us finally make this amazing software a reality!

We are inviting you to review all of the perks that are available at the wide range of contribution levels and hope that you are inspired to make a contribution at a level that makes sense for you.  We also invite you to help us get the word out about our funding campaign by sharing with your network of friends and family via email and social media like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and so forth.  Anyone who is interested in learning to read music and in creating music or who teaches such topics to others could be interested in taking advantage of effectively discounted prices of the software.

The Contribution Levels and Perks

In addition to the satisfaction of knowing you helped get this phenomenal software out to the world, you also have the opportunity to be one of the first to get and use the software.  And below are the perks you get for the different contribution categories.  They range from simple acknowledgments to multiple copies and school site licenses of the software, personal consultations with Craig Ramsell, creative designer of the software and inventor of Boomwhackers® Musical Tubes, group facilitations with the musical tubes and more!  And the more you contribute, the value of what you get in return grows even faster!

Please note that in the perk details, "Craig" means of course Craig Ramsell.  The Whack Tracks CD refers to the music CD, Whack Tracks: The Boomwhackers Sessions, created by Craig and renowned guitarist, Ralf Illenberger.  This was the first and may be still the only full length music CD to feature the musical tubes on every track.  Craig will autograph all of these CDs that go out as perks.

The Gadget Nation book refers to paperback version of the book by Steve Greenberg, which is subtitled "A Journey through the Eccentric World of Invention."   The book prominently features Craig and his musical tubes as one of the more successful inventions covered in the book.  Craig will autograph all of these books that go out as perks.

Note that after the Beginner level, items in the perk list that are new or changed from one level to the next are bolded.  The summary below also adds a few more details to the perks than we could fit in the space allotted in the formal listing.  Also, please understand that any references to downloads or licenses in the perks cannot be fulfilled until the software is ready for release in a few months.

Please also note that Craig Ramsell and this funding campaign are not affiliated with Rhythm Band Instruments.

Beginner: $10

Personal thank you email from Craig Ramsell ● Your name listed on the Contributors List on the Chroma-Notes™ LLC website.

Amateur: $20

Personal thank you email and a thank you card from Craig Ramsell ● Your name listed on the Contributors List in the software and on Chroma-Notes LLC website.

Hobbyist: $35

Free download of 1 copy of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Standard Version 1.0 ($50 value) ● Plus Amateur perks.

Semi-Pro: $60

Free download of 1 copy of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($90 value) ● Plus Amateur perks.

Pro: $100

Free download of 2 copies of Chroma-Notes™Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($180 value) ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks.

Soloist: $250

Free download of 5 copies of Chroma-Notes Composer™ Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($450 value) ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks.

Conductor: $500

Free download of 12 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($1,080 value) ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks.

Composer: $1,000

Free school site license of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 for up to 30 computers for 1 school of your choice ($1,950 value) ● Free download of 3 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($270 value) ● A special acknowledgment in the “About” dialog in the software ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig Ramsell ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks. Total value over $2,200.

Maestro: $2,500

Free school site licenses of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 for up to 30 computers (per school) for 2 schools of your choice ($3,900 value) ● Free download of 12 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($1,080 value) ● Up to 3 hours of “pick his brain” phone consultations with Craig ($750 value) ● A special acknowledgment in the “About” dialog in the software and on the Chroma-Notes LLC website home page ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks. Total value over $5,700.

Celebrity: $5,000

Free school site licenses of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 for up to 30 computers (per school) for 3 schools of your choice ($5,850 value) ● Free download of 25 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($2,250 value) ● A free 1-hour Boomwhackers team-building facilitation by Craig for up to 500 people at the organization of your choice in the U.S. at a mutually agreeable time (out of pocket travel costs not included) ($2,500 value) ● Up to 4 hours of “pick his brain” phone consultations with Craig ($1,000 value) ● A special acknowledgment in the “About” dialog in the software and on the Chroma-Notes LLC website home page ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks. Total value over $11,600.

Superstar: $10,000

Free school site licenses of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 for up to 30 computers (per school) for 8 schools of your choice ($15,600 value) ● Free download of 50 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($4,500 value) ● A free 1-hour Boomwhackers team-building facilitation by Craig for up to 500 people at the organization of your choice in the U.S. at a mutually agreeable time, with the tubes given to the participants (out of pocket travel costs not included) ($3,500 value) ● Up to 6 hours of “pick his brain” phone consultations with Craig ($1,500 value) ● A special acknowledgment in the “About” dialog in the software and on the Chroma-Notes LLC website home page ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks. Total value over $25,000.

Archangel: $25,000

Free school district site license of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 for a school district of your choice up to 30 schools (up to $45,000 value) ● Free download of 100 copies of Chroma-Notes™ Composer Software - Premium Version 1.0 ($9,000 value) ● A free 1-hour Boomwhackers team-building facilitation by Craig for up to 2000 people at the organization of your choice in the U.S. at a mutually agreeable time, with the tubes given to the participants (travel costs paid by Craig for 48 contiguous States) (up to $10,000 value) ● Two days of onsite consulting with Craig at the domestic location of your choice (travel expenses paid by Craig for 48 contiguous States) ($6,000 value) ● A donation of $10,000 to the 501(c)(3) non-profit of your choice once the company receives $150,000 in licensing revenues ● A special acknowledgment in the “About” dialog in the software and on the Chroma-Notes LLC website home page ● Gadget Nation book, autographed by Craig ● Whack Tracks CD, autographed by Craig ● Plus Amateur perks. Total value up to $80,000, including donation.