IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2016 | Page 16

INPERSON

A Measure of
Music
Baldwin native invents device to improve
guitar practice.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK

B

aldwin native Michael Murawski wants to revolutionize the way
beginning guitarists think about practice.
Murawski, a 1995 graduate of Baldwin High School, has been
playing the guitar for about 25 years. One day during a routine practice
session he wondered how many times he’d picked up the guitar, and
was hit with a stroke of inspiration: What if a product existed that could
keep track of a player’s plucks? What if a device existed that could help
players quantify their practice sessions and set and meet goals?
A device like this did not exist, so Murawski took it upon himself to
invent one. The Pickatto was born.
The Pickatto is a Bluetooth-driven guitar pick equipped with a
counting device. It measures every up-and-down stroke taken by a
player during a practice session. Pressure sensors built into the pick
show whether a player is holding the pick too lightly or too forcefully,
both of which can affect playing. All of this information is then
transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone application in live time, so that
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players can keep track of their achievements and link up with other
players who use the device. It also allows instructors to see what their
students have accomplished during practice.
“If a kid is told to practice his guitar for an hour, what does that
mean? If he doesn’t have a number to achieve, he might get distracted
by the TV or by his phone. This device gives [students] a reason to
practice and still lets them be on their phones,” says Murawski, 38,
who graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in business
entertainment and works for Elite Casino Events.
He does not have a technical background, so when first attempting
to develop the device, he called in a friend, Brad Egler, a software
engineer and fellow 1995 Baldwin graduate.
The prototype was built with a board from Mbient Lab and was
customized with force sensors and an ultra-thin battery, says Egler.
“We use a combination of sensors from the board to detect when the
pick is plucked against a guitar string and what direction it is going,” he