Video: D-Touch drum machine keeps heads, hands bobbing
by Darren Murph 
posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 9:16AM
[Via Engadget German]
drum machine posts
[Via Engadget German]
FielDrum magnetic drummer frees you from the tyranny of learning your instrument
by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jan 28th 2009 at 12:16PM
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]
[Via Make]
GameBoy drum machine hack
by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Jul 23rd 2007 at 12:16AM
[Via Hackaday]
Akai MPC-1000 drum machine drops a beat, plays Pong
by Darren Murph posted Dec 28th 2006 at 6:28PM
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]
Music Thing: Akai's portable MPC-500
by Tom Whitwell posted Sep 22nd 2006 at 7:30PM
Music Thing: Monome Controller
by Ryan Block posted Apr 14th 2006 at 1:47PM
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).
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).
