The World's First LEGO Band Plays Original Music & Covers

What could be better to brighten your day today than watching a robotic LEGO band with LEGO musicians playing tiny instruments via an Arduino Uno and Clavia Nordbeat (MIDI sequencer app for iPad)? If you are a LEGO lover and a geek, this is going to make you smile. I thought we had featured some pretty amazing things built with LEGO blocks over the years, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. It’s the perfect combination of LEGO blocks and technology. The band is called “Toa Mata Band,” and it’s a quartet.

Creator Giuseppe Acito created quite an elaborate system to make this LEGO band work properly. The people are made from LEGO Bionicle parts, and their arms are controlled with an intricate rubber band and pulley system which allows them to play their instruments. They can either play pre-programmed music, or someone can be there to add commands to the MIDI sequence, which means they can play original real-time music also.

Looking at these pictures is so much fun, and if you look closely, you’ll see all kind of tiny gadgets incorporated into this “build.” These little guys can play different synthesizers, drum machines and other vintage equipment (Do I see a Nintendo DS in there?). He only made one of these of course, so unfortunately, we can’t buy a kit to make this ourselves. For now, we’ll just have to watch this LEGO band from afar.

These LEGO band members are so cute, and they remind me of the LEGO robotics in the MindStorms series. If you haven’t seen the latest generation of those robotics yet, they are incredible! You can see them at LEGO Shows Off Their Newest Generation Of LEGO Robotics. I wonder if this band takes requests. If so, I’ve got a few in mind.