As anyone in academia can attest, donations are a big part of what helps a large institution run. Of course, that means part of my job is to document where that money goes, so that these big money donors can be sure their money is being well spent.

In this particular case, I was to track down some students in an iOS programming class, where they were programming music apps for the iPad thanks to a large donation from Steinway. These folks were doing some pretty cool things with the medium, and though this was only a work in progress, it would worth keeping an eye on some of these apps.

Here’s a demonstration from an app called “Impact,” which has you draw your own drum pad that generates sounds based on its size and shape. Pretty cool.

04/26/2012- Somerville, Mass. - Nate Harada, E14, demonstrates his in-progress app, "Impact," for the Tufts School of Engineering's "Music Apps for iPad" course with his teammates during class on April 26, 2012.(Kelvin Ma/Tufts University)