Musical Beings is a startup with an interesting founding premise: that music is something most people feel but struggle to express, and that the problem lies with the instruments rather than the people playing them. Their debut product, Tembo, is a step sequencer and drum machine currently running on Kickstarter, and it takes a noticeably different approach to how electronic music tools look, feel and function.
The core concept is tactile and physical. Tembo uses magnetic “Beats” that players place on a grid to trigger sounds, removing the need for screens, menus or prior technical knowledge. Knobs and buttons handle sound manipulation, and the whole thing is built from wood, which is a deliberate choice to make it feel less like studio gear and more like something you might leave out on a table at home. The company says it has tested the instrument with more than 300 people, ranging from children to professional musicians, and the design reflects that research.
Under the hood, Tembo includes a sampler with a built-in microphone, a line-in for an external mic or instrument, adjustable audio effects, and MIDI out. It ships with a library of percussion sounds to get started with, and players can record and add their own samples from there. The combination means it can work as a casual creative tool for beginners and hold its own in more serious production contexts.
The founders come from backgrounds spanning Google, Waves Audio, Wix and Simply, and the project has its roots in co-founder Ayal Rosenberg’s time studying creative technology at NYU. His starting point was the idea, drawn in part from a TEDx talk by five-time Grammy winner Victor Wooten, that people learn music more naturally through direct experience than through formal practice, in the same way children absorb language through conversation rather than grammar exercises.
Tembo launched on Kickstarter on 11 March 2026, with early supporters getting access to the first batch of units. More information is available at musicalbeings.com
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