Business editor LAURA KNOWLSON speaks to former York St John student David Young about tuning into the world of business with his Theremin Bollards invention. He has attracted major interest from museums after freeing sound from touch.

AFTER three years of studies David Young not only found himself with an MA in Composition, but a product that has captured the imagination of museum curators across the country.

Mr Young created Theremin Bollards as part of his masters degree, producing a free standing structure that can produce sound without touch. Unbeknown to him at the time, he had composed the basics for a new interactive sound sculpture, that is now making its way into the music therapy and museum installation markets.

Having already exhibited at the Natural History Museum and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Mr Young recently won a prize package worth almost £10,000 through York St John University’s SEED Competition, held as part of the city’s technology exhibition Venturefest.

The win comes as Mr Young prepares to work on a new collaboration with the National Science Museum on a proposed ten year installation.

Mr Young said: “The Theremin Bollards were never meant to be a product, or anything to sell, it was simply an idea to present my compositions in an alternative way.

“As soon as we designed the first prototype it was clear there was a lot more about it.”

Now based at York St John’s Phoenix Centre, an incubation hub for start-up businesses, Mr Young is preparing to commercialise his venture. He is in talks with companies about licensing and production, and is looking to re-brand the bollards for their targeted markets.

He said: “The Venturefest experience was unbelievable. I have since been approached by various companies wanting to work with me, it has been wonderful.

“Now I have got some professional companies involved, who are helping me get it to where I want it to be.

“The amount of work that goes into getting a product to market it enormous, but the whole experience has really opened my eyes to where I can go with it.

“It has been brilliant that so many people have talked so highly about it and encouraged me to carry on.

“I’m now looking to work with various companies to manufacture them. I’ve been speaking to a company in Knaresborough that wants to licence it and produce it. It’s all been really positive.

“I’ve also been working with Rebel Technologies in London. They are designing some hardware for it.

“I’ll be changing the name too. Theremin Bollards was always a working title. The next three years will see a re-brand as we’re looking to soften the name for the music therapy market.”

Mr Young is targeting the product towards three main areas of its potential market. He explained: “It fits really well with the museum installation market. There’s potential for New York, Madrid, and Hong Kong. We are looking at that and music therapy.

“There are other markets but we are just concentrating on creating a family of three products – high end museum, affordable music therapy and a customisable option reaching both budget and high end requirements.”

Mr Young created his first Theremin Bollards with friend and metal worker Jon Wood, producing a free standing structure that only makes a sound when a person’s magnetic energy breaks into its field. The concept eliminates the need for touch, allowing it to be played by anyone, irrelevant of skill or musical ability or movement control.

But after three years studying, and exhibitions at the Natural History Museum and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the venture was facing the prospect of a diminuendo.

Mr Young said: “I finished my MA, I’d got a distinction based on the Theremin Bollard project, but I was so tired after three years, so I decided to take a break from it. I wanted to see if I was still passionate about it, and what I wanted to do with it.

“Then in January this year I got an email from the National Science Museum and that just sparked me off again.

“If one of the biggest museums in the world is interested in installing my work for ten years that says a lot about it.

“It directed the decision to become more business like with the concept. I moved into an office in the Phoenix Centre at York St John as I felt the continued support from the university was good and they have been brilliant. It was a natural progressive step.

“Then the SEED competition and Venturefest came along. These kind of things can only give you confidence and belief in what you are doing. I had never pitched in front of anyone before. I didn’t need to say a great deal though; the Theremin Bollards speak for themselves.”