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Many of us may take for granted the ability to do certain things, like play an instrument. But not everyone can do so.

A few years ago, a Scotia based company set out to give everyone the ability to make music and with the help of some local resources, it's doing just that.

Some say music can cure just about anything.

"You see the impact that it has on people, there's no doubt." That holds true for David Whalen who has an endless love for music. But playing it is a challenge. “I always wanted to play music, but I wasn't able to,” said Whalen.

“The only real instrument that he could have success with was a harmonica,” said Mike DiCesare, My Music Machines Inc. President.

Whalen is a quadriplegic, who can only create music with his mouth. Whalen and his friend, Mike DiCesare teamed up to find a solution. “There was a need for it. There was definitely a lack of accessible musical instruments for the disabled community. We wanted to fill that gap.”

What they came up with was Jamboxx. “Instead of just playing a harmonica sound now you can play a saxophone, flute, guitar, violin, anything,anything you can imagine.”

Jamboxx is a device that resembles a harmonica that lets users play and compose music with the control of their breath. Music to ones ears, but it took nearly two years and dozens of people to perfect it, including students at SUNY Poly CNSE.

“We decided to start from scratch and developed an optically-based sensing system rather than a physical contact based component,” said Dr. Jim Castracane of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

The team at CNSE helped drastically lower Jamboxx's cost, and it's now ready for mass production. “We came here with an initial idea of what we wanted and they made it a reality.”

They even realized through the process, the technology within the Jamboxx can be used elsewhere. “It's not simply the music market but the basic component and the interface that they built as a product can impact multiple different possible commercial opportunities,” said Castracane.

But for now, it's about anyone and everyone making music. “It's just really fun to learn about music and having a way to do it with a controller has been really incredibly fun and interesting,” said Whalen.

“Playing it is a different experience and being being able to express yourself in that capacity, we just wanted to have everybody have that opportunity,” said DiCesare. Because music is the best type of medicine.