THIS BUTTON COULD HELP YOU FINISH YOUR TRACKS

We have all been in a position where we have a deadline to meet but find ourselves being distracted. In this digital world, the distractions have become even harder to avoid. When you have a remix or a track that has to be finished, you really shouldn’t be reaching for Facebook or Beatport, but lets be honest, it is hard to resist.

A new hardware and software solution called Saent, is currently crowdfunding on Indigogo and is aiming to help you ‘be less distracted’.

Tapping the device launches a focussed work session, blocking any apps or websites that are distracting you, and allowing you to get back to the work that is important - like finishing that remix!

The story behind Saent will be particularly interesting to dance music fans as it is run by Tim Metz, the former Managing Director of Dance Trippin’ TV.

We caught up with Tim in his new home of Beijing to find out more...

Hi Tim, thanks for talking to us. So can the Saent device and software block any app or website or are there restrictions?

“There are no restrictions. In the case of sites, it can just block top level domains, like Facebook, or more granular subdomains but not a specific Facebook page. The software comes preloaded with a large database of apps, sites and their categorisations, with different settings for different professions (and this database is constantly updated). But you caneasily personalise and “teach” Saent as you go throughout your day.”

We think this could be great for music producers getting distracted whilst on deadlines for remixes. Facebook chat is a well known distraction that can extend studio sessions far longer than needed! Had you considered this use case at all?

“After spending over a decade in dance music myself [most recently as MD at Dance Trippin’ TV], this was actually my first endeavour where I didn’t specifically think about parties and DJs. But one user group we considered from the outset was creative people in general (designers, video editors, etc.). The product works especially well if you spend longer sessions in a few specific applications, so it can definitely work well for music producers in studio sessions.”

And the hardware can be programmed with gestures too. Can these be mapped to any software? Say Ableton, for instance?

“Yes, the touchpad and gesture sensor in the device can be connected and used for any applications. So while we envisioned them for use with productivity apps, they can also be used to control other applications and even specific functionalities within those applications. We’ll also create an API for the button, so that pressing the button can also trigger actions within other applications, besides just starting a focused work session.”

Sounds great. So how is the crowdfunding going?

“It’s quite the rollercoaster, I must say (I just wrote an article about experiencing the first week). On the one hand, we still have quite a way to go to our $100k goal, so that’s proving a tough challenge. But all this other unexpected stuff has come up including mentions in mainstream media outlets, endorsements from authors and other experts, interest in large volume orders post-campaign from companies and even investment offers. So it actually puts us in a great position after the campaign to further build the company and roll-out the product. Regardless of whether we make the target, I’m really happy with how things are turning out.”

Tell us about your target and your next steps for Saent?

"The target for the crowdfunding basically is to hit our minimum order volume to start mass manufacturing, but it seems we’ll get there one way or the other through the interest and response the campaign has already generated. After that, our main focus will of course first be to deliver everyone a great product. But from there onwards our goal is to keep developing the software together with the user community and roll out API and partnerships so other productivity apps can use functionality from the device in their software.

Saent is available to pre order or back now via the Saent Indiegogo page