Soundlab by Squire
Reimagine music learning as a sensory spatial journey
Tools
● Rhino3ds ● Twinmotion ● Adobe Suite ●
Involve
Lee Kaien, Zane
Danikh Aqib bin Mohd Nizam
Info
I’ve always believed that the hardest part of learning something new is not the learning itself, it’s starting.
Over 13 weeks, together with my partner Danikh, we set out to understand why music, despite being so universally loved, still feels intimidating to begin. Using the Squier Stratocaster as our starting point, we visited music stores, observed spaces of learning and performance, and explored how sound could be experienced beyond the instrument itself.
What emerged was SoundLab: a sensory spatial experience designed to lower fear, spark curiosity, and make beginning feel exciting rather than intimidating. At its core, the project transforms hesitation into confidence through experience rather than instruction proving that learning begins not with mastery, but with simply trying.
Problem
Learning music should feel exciting, yet for many beginners, the first step feels intimidating. Between high-skill performance culture and disengaged retail experiences, there is often little space for people to explore music freely, making hesitation, rather than curiosity.
Opportunity
Wanting to understand how space influences the way people begin music, we explored Yamaha, Swee Lee, and Active Garden, each offering a distinct emotional experience, from professional aspiration to social comfort and playful discovery. This revealed an opportunity to design a new kind of musical space.
A changing point…
This insight reshaped how we designed SoundLab. Instead of introducing music through technique and instruction, we integrated the instrument into the space itself… creating an environment that invites beginners to first feel, explore, and play.By making sound intuitive and experiential, the act of beginning becomes less about getting it right—and more about discovering the joy of trying.
From Concept to feeling the Sound (Demo day)
During Demo Day, we prototyped a live interactive slice of SoundLab allowing users to experience sound through touch, feedback, and spatial immersion. This small-scale activation captured the emotional essence of the larger concept, showing how learning can begin not through instruction, but through exploration, feeling, and simply trying.
