by Mat Dirjish
Elfenworks Productions, a multimedia production company developing creative educational tools, and partner The Long Island CW Club, an organization dedicated to teaching, promoting, and preserving Morse code for global amateur radio operators, unveil their joint project dubbed Morsebass.com. Described as a free Morse-code learning platform, MorseBass uses music, podcasts, gamification, and, of all things, puppies to make a retro communication technology accessible and fun.
As per the platform creators, Morse code (MC) is a rhythmic form of communication with letters and numbers represented by signals of short and long durations in purposeful patterns. Requiring no special equipment, MC is generatable using light, touch, current, or sound. As an example, the Titanic signaled S-O-S (… — …) as it was sinking. Reportedly, people still use that universally recognizable pattern when in need of assistance when other forms of communication fail. However, Morse code offers more than a lifeline.
Dr. Lauren Speeth, President of Elfenworks Productions, explains, “Advertisers write catchy tunes that stick in your head. We’re doing the same with Morse code, i.e., making it memorable, with catchy electric bass track and real puppies acting out each word.” Dr. Speeth, who is both a musician and amateur radio operator, got the idea for adding puppies when her dogs pawed at her book of Carol Kaye’s basslines. She notes, “The pups are always interrupting my practicing, so why not let them join the fun?”
The platform’s creators cite a study in the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience journal that indicates MC learning leads to the sort of brain changes common to other language learning. A fresh take on a known language may offer a gentler learning curve than a foreign language, especially when tunefully accompanied by the MorseBass puppies. The alternative, structured, rhythm-based framework may also appeal to some neurodivergent learners. Where barriers arise to standard communication, MC can re-open doors and bring renewed hope. Therefore, the team consulted a speech pathologist on key word choices.
For more details, visit the Morsebass, Elfenworks Productions, and The Long Island CW Club websites. You may also want to peruse the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience study titled “Learning Morse Code Alters Microstructural Properties in the Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus.”
