The 4th Annual MusicTech Hackathon

The fourth annual MusicTech Hackathon, a collaboration between Afeka's Ofek Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and Rimon School of Music, has successfully concluded.

Over the course of 23 intense hours, engineering and music students worked together to develop innovative ventures at the intersection of music and technology — from the initial ideation stage through building a working proof of concept, which included material prototyping, coding, and presenting their projects to a panel of judges.

Throughout the event, participants were mentored by leading professionals from the tech and music industries, who provided guidance and insights.

At the conclusion of the hackathon, teams presented their projects to an expert judging panel. Winning projects were announced, and prizes were awarded to the top teams.

🏆 First Place: sBodyBeat — an innovative app that uses sensors to create melodies based on drumming on the body. Each touch on a different body area produces a unique sound, with octaves shifting depending on which hand is used.

The team, composed of Computer Science students (Shani Hilleli and Guy Simai), Software Engineering students (Tom Gurevich, Avishai Haimov, and Omer Asaig), and musicians from Rimon, drew inspiration from the powerful story of Alon Ohel, one of the hostages, who was reported to have played rhythms on his injured body with his wounded fingers to preserve his sanity during captivity, according to testimonies from those who were released.

🥈 Second Place: Melo-Match — an app that recognizes the user's singing and generates a matching playback track. Developed by Computer Science students Omri Peer, Yahav Eliyahu, Ori Katz, and Robert Ifrimov, together with Rimon musicians, the app aims to turn amateur singing into an enjoyable and accessible musical experience, enabling anyone to sing and hear a customized backing track in real time.

🥉 Third Place: Hack-A-Tone — a plugin for music producers that provides insights based on a selected reference track.
Developed by Electrical Engineering students Daniel Erlich and Ido Ketav, alongside Rimon musicians, the plugin allows producers to upload their draft alongside a favorite reference track and receive tailored recommendations on how to match the sonic qualities — for example, how to replicate the drum sound from a particular song within their own production.

The plugin is designed to make music production more accessible, offering technical guidance based on reference tracks that producers admire — helping them achieve a more cohesive and professional result.

Tair Kovalski, Director of Afeka's Ofek Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, summed up the event:
"It was fascinating to see students combine practical skills with musical passion. We were especially moved by the winning project, inspired by the hostages’ stories, and impressed by the commercial potential shown across all ventures."