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Alesis brings a pair of new musician-friendly iPad docks to NAMM

Terrence O'Brien — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:42:00 EST

If there's been one must have accessory at NAMM this year it's been the iPad. That's right, no mixer, instrument or microphone is stealing the show, it's Apple's 9.7-inch slab of touchability that everyone is after. Alesis is just one of many companies creating compelling musical offerings around the iOS tablet with its latest products, the AmpDock and DM Dock. The DM Dock turns your iPad into the thumping, bumping and crashing heart of an electronic drum system. You can tap out rhythms and build drum sets with the touchscreen, but it's when you start plugging triggers into the 13 1/4-inch inputs that it really comes to life. The AmpDock, as you may have guessed, turns that A5 processor's attention towards your axe. There's a standard 1/4-inch jack as well as a combo XLR / 1/4-inch plug for connecting a second guitar or a mic. The AmpDock also has a separate pedalboard that allows you to control some program parameters while keeping the tablet safe from stray stomps. Check out the gallery below, as well as the video after the break.

Gallery: Alesis AmpDock and DM Dock

Continue reading Alesis brings a pair of new musician-friendly iPad docks to NAMM

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ThinkGeek Drum Machine bangs out block-rockin' beats wherever you go (video)

Terrence O'Brien — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:32:00 EST

Here it is -- the final piece in your all fabric New Order cover band. This $30 wearable drum machine brings a much needed edge to ThinkGeeks existing collection of soft-circuit "instruments." You can choose from seven different drum kits, including the ubiquitous 808 and a palette of chip tune effects. The T-shirt's integrated recorder lets you build loops up to three minutes long and endlessly layer on the sounds. Just keep piling 'em on until your old-school hip hop homage has become an impenetrable wall of noise that washes over you as you walk down the street, proclaiming your geekdom in rhythm. And, of course, the included mini amp cranks all the way up to 11. Check out the videos after the break to see MC Lars and Dex Fontaine demo the capabilities of the personal percussion pullover.

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ThinkGeek Drum Machine bangs out block-rockin' beats wherever you go (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maschine Mikro review

Trent Wolbe — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST

Native Instruments' Maschine hardware/software bundle has become a staple in the beat-production market since its debut two years ago. Now at version 1.7, its performative and production capacities have grown to the point where dance pioneers like Underworld rely on it as a standard instrument much the way an electric guitar might be used by a rock band. Maschine Mikro is the first major hardware shift for the production platform: the newly-downsized controller easily fits into a backpack and comes in at $200 less than its bigger brother. What compromises come with the smaller footprint, and what will the price tag mean for people just getting starting in the groove production game? Read on, Lil' Dre, for our macro view of the Mikro.

Gallery: Maschine Mikro

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Maschine Mikro review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinect hack turns your living room into a crazy one-man laser techno dance party (video)

Brian Heater — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:01:00 EST

We've seen it aid surgery, help make smarter robots, and even do some gaming stuff, but honestly, what good is a controller if it can't fuel your crazy techno dance parties? Vimeo user Matt "Namethemachine" Davis posted a video showing a new hack for the peripheral, using its camera-based motion detection, combined with Ableton Live, DMX protocol, and more clever hackery to create a one-man electro-laser light show. It's easy to see this getting a bit out of control real fast in a room packed with overexcited club goers, but if you're looking to recreate the communal experience for you and your cat in your one bedroom apartment, this may be just the ticket.

Continue reading Kinect hack turns your living room into a crazy one-man laser techno dance party (video)

Kinect hack turns your living room into a crazy one-man laser techno dance party (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Synth pioneer Roger Linn shows us his new analog drum machine, Tempest (video)

Trent Wolbe — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:16:00 EST

We were wandering around the crowded, noisy halls of this year's NAMM show when a particularly freaked-out drum pattern struck our eardrums. We followed the sound and encountered a gray-haired, bespectacled gentleman tapping and tweaking knobs so professionally that we couldn't help checking out his name tag. Imagine our delight when we saw it was no less than Roger Linn, designer of the Linndrum and Akai's MPC60. If you're not familiar with those terms, no matter: let's just say that Dr. Dre and any other producer who's banged out a synthetic beat on a box owes this guy their entire career. Mr. Linn has partnered with Dave Smith Instruments to create the Tempest, a 16-pad beauty with enough knobs, buttons, and sequencing muscle to keep you inspired for endless hours in the studio. And the sound on this thing! It does include digital samples like a traditional MPC, but where it really shines is in the analog synthesis and effects department. It takes a lot for a drum machine to feel unique and valuable these days -- especially at the $2000 they'll be asking for it in June -- but the Tempest, from our brief time with it, sounds like it'll be well worth the investment for serious producers. Video of Mr. Linn's demo after the break.

Gallery: Tempest analog drum machine by Roger Linn

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Synth pioneer Roger Linn shows us his new analog drum machine, Tempest (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Drumssette DIY drum machine was once a four track, perfect for your Big Audio Dynamite cover band

Joseph L. Flatley — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:33:00 EST

This is probably the most charming instrument that we've seen in a long time. It looks great, it's analog, and it's useful despite certain limitations (and, as any musician will tell you, sometimes you need limitations to get the creative juices flowing). Designed and built by Mike Walters (aka Mystery Circuits), the Drumssette is a drum machine derived from an old Tascam four track cassette recorder. It features sampled Roland TR-808 drum hits, a sixteen step sequencer, analog echo and digital delay, clock output for controlling the rhythmic phrasing of an external instrument (allowing it to act like an arpeggiator, except that it controls the phrasing of the note, but not the pitch) and more. It's pretty wild! This guy goes into extreme geeky detail as to the inner workings of this device, which you can see at the Source link if you're so inclined. If not, make sure you check out select videos of the thing in action after the break.

Continue reading Drumssette DIY drum machine was once a four track, perfect for your Big Audio Dynamite cover band

Drumssette DIY drum machine was once a four track, perfect for your Big Audio Dynamite cover band originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hacker creates Lego Mindstorms NXT-606 drum kit, just because he can (video)

Tim Stevens — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:36:00 EST

If you've taken your Lego Mindstorms NXT kit to the Nerd Cup, created a 3D scanner to digitize your Precious Moments collection, and trained it to solve a Rubik's Cube, you might think you've run out of things to do. Perhaps this was the problem that Peter Cocteau faced -- or maybe he just wanted to make the most bombastic NXT project yet. He created an 8-bit sample drum machine with 24 sounds controlled entirely by two Lego rotation sensors. He did have to make a few augmentations to get the audio output working (and to add in that bitching DJ-style light to make it more club friendly). He's kindly provided all the source that you'll need to get your little blocks bumpin', but if you want yours to be just like his you'll need to do your own soldering.

Continue reading Hacker creates Lego Mindstorms NXT-606 drum kit, just because he can (video)

Hacker creates Lego Mindstorms NXT-606 drum kit, just because he can (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors

Darren Murph — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:17:00 EST

Roger Linn. Ever heard of him? He's only the man behind the modern day drum machine and the original MPC-60, and he's also the man behind the concept you're inevitably peering at above. For now, Roger's calling this beaut the LinnStrument, and there's quite a back story to go along with it. The design began way back in 2006, with the goal being to create a full-on multitouch instrument with the ability to let one's finger dictate volume, timbre, pitch and pressure. No doubt, many have tried to concoct something similar, but Roger's discovery of TouchCo enabled him to create one sans the limitations of imitators. Unfortunately, Amazon quietly scooped up the startup in January of this year (to have this sort of technology available for the Kindle product line), and in turn, shut down TouchCo's involvement with the outside world. Now, Roger's being forced to reveal his unfinished work in hopes of attracting investors or unearthing another company that could mimic this sort of awesomeness en masse. Jump on past the break and mash play to get a better idea of what the world's missing out on, and be sure to tell Jeff Bezos "thanks" the next time you bump into him.

[Thanks, Peter]

Continue reading LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors

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Video: D-Touch drum machine keeps heads, hands bobbing

Darren Murph — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:16:00 EST

Oh sure, we've seen countless drum machine hacks over the years, but there's just something special about one that's so simple, yet so fulfilling. D-Touch is hailed as a visual markers recognition system "that enables the development of low-cost tangible user interfaces and mixed reality applications," and here, we're seeing it used to create movable sounds. Users simply print out the cubes, fold 'em up, add lentils and arrange them on the highly sophisticated A4 sheet of paper. We get the feeling this one won't cost you much to replicate, so why not hit the read link for more instructions after digging into the vid just beyond the break?

[Via Engadget German]

Continue reading Video: D-Touch drum machine keeps heads, hands bobbing

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Video: D-Touch drum machine keeps heads, hands bobbing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FielDrum magnetic drummer frees you from the tyranny of learning your instrument

Joseph L. Flatley — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:16:00 EST

You've heard the old saw "fake it 'til you make it," right? This is an instrument that takes those words to heart. Developed by the Magnetic Musical Training project, FielDrum sees a pretty standard percussion instrument fitted with a series of electromagnets. Placed beneath the drum head, the magnets can either be told to "attract" or "repel" via-MIDI, creating some kick-ass paradiddles as the new drum student holds his or her sticks over the instrument. Sure, this all sounds like fun, but this is the kind of research that could have serious ramifications: How do people learn things involving "complex physical gestures?" Can people "learn-by-feel?" How does this approach compare to traditional motor training? We're dying to find out the answers -- but mostly we're dying to get out hands on one of these drums for our robot marching band. Video after the break.

[Via Make]

Continue reading FielDrum magnetic drummer frees you from the tyranny of learning your instrument

Filed under: Peripherals

FielDrum magnetic drummer frees you from the tyranny of learning your instrument originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameBoy drum machine hack

Conrad Quilty-Harper — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:16:00 EST

The underground scene of game-created music is really thriving, with the latest example to emerge from under the radar being a drum machine hack for a GameBoy. A bright yellow GameBoy, 1MB of flash memory, a serial interface, and a custom ROM is all that's needed to put out some beats: with a little help from some solenoids and flat surfaces, of course. Putting it all together is the hard part, and half the fun we suspect.

[Via Hackaday]

Filed under: Gaming

GameBoy drum machine hack originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Akai MPC-1000 drum machine drops a beat, plays Pong

Darren Murph — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:28:00 EST

Cram any sort of retro game onto a machine clearly not designed to play it and you'll probably color us impressed, and just as the off the wall Doom installations, MIDI hacks, and Wolfenstein ports have gone down, Japan's own JJ has struck a cord with vintage folk everywhere with his latest tweak. Reportedly, the hacker / entertainer re-wrote the actual operating system for a $999 Akai MPC-1000 drum machine, added a few features from the more expensive MPC-2500, and got the MIDI all setup precisely like he wanted -- all to play a little musical Pong. Aside from the snazzy custom loading screen, the game itself looks to work fairly well, and also triggers samples of your choice to loop in the background while gaming. The good news is that the Pong upgrade will only set you back $30, but the bad news is that would require you to actually already own the Akai machine, and just in case your wallet can't handle anymore abuse whatsoever after this past Monday, just click on through for a (gratis) YouTube demonstration.

[Via Joystiq]

Continue reading Akai MPC-1000 drum machine drops a beat, plays Pong

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming, Portable Audio

Akai MPC-1000 drum machine drops a beat, plays Pong originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Music Thing: Akai's portable MPC-500

Tom Whitwell — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:30:00 EST

Sometimes, vapourware turns out to be real. There have been rumors, complete with stupid photoshop images, that a portable, pocket-sized sampler/drum machine called the MPC-500 was about to be launched by Akai for at least two years. Last week, after a few leaked photos appeared, it was finally announced: a little black box running on 6 AA batteries, with 12 pads, 16mb of memory and a two-line LCD display beamed straight out of a 1985 pocket calculator. Is it the greatest piece of pocketable audio kit since the Walkman iPod, or just an overpriced toy for DJ wannabes? Keep reading for the full scoop...

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Portable Audio

Music Thing: Akai's portable MPC-500 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Music Thing: Monome Controller

Ryan Block — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:47:00 EST

Each week Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights the best of the new music gear that's coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment:

"The wonderful thing about this device is that is doesn't do anything really," say the developers of the Monome, a minimalist-but-clever button-covered box. "It wasn't intended for any specific application. We'll make several applications, and others will make more. We hope to share as many of these as possible. Drum machines, loopers, 1-bit video transformers, physics models, virtual sliders, math games, etc."

Like all the best new interfaces, it's pretty much impossible to describe, but once you watch the demo video, it seems to be surprisingly flexible and fast to use. I can't help thinking that something this (or the similar, but different, Tenori On box developed for Yamaha) has huge commercial potential as a cheap and funky sound toy. At the moment, though, it's a tool for high-end supergeeks, like the wonderful Jazz Mutant Lemur (which is now in production and sells for $2,495).

Continue reading Music Thing: Monome Controller

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Music Thing: Monome Controller originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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