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ProteinDS app enables DJ-style scratching on Nintendo's DS
Not like we haven't seen Nintendo's DS used as a music maker before, but this variant may be the most amazing to date. yarglaaaafr's ProteinDS application is currently in demo mode, but judging by the demonstrative video waiting after the break, it's remarkably solid as-is. C'mon, it's a tool that enables users to scratch up tunes via the handheld's built-in touchscreen -- how could Mario not approve?[Via BoingBoing]
Square Band: the solar-powered wearable synthesizer
Admit it: having a synthesizer in your pocket just isn't enough. No, you need one on your person in order to truly feel whole. If we just rang your bell, you should take a long, insightful look at the Square Band. The latest revision of the wearable synthesizer includes a volume control and a couple of flexible solar panels, the latter of which were added partly for aesthetics. Apparently wearers can simply trigger buttons tucked under their wrist with their fingertips, upon which a superabundance of cacophonic sounds will emerge and completely freak out any nearby bystanders. You have to have one now, don't you?[Via MAKE]
Nintendo's DS Lite doubles as MIDI sequencer (again)
Nintendo's DS Lite tends to find itself intertwined in obscure MIDI projects fairly often, so it's no shock to see yet another enterprise linking the handheld to some fairly swank beats. By utilizing a homegrown DS MIDI apparatus along with dStep software, the DS Lite is able to transform into quite the potent little step sequencer. Of course, anything musically-related digests easier with video, so jump on past the break for a lengthy demonstration (and peep the read link if you're eager to replicate).[Via MAKE]
Gigantic Ambassador controller built to handle Ableton Live
Some fairly fantastic homegrown controllers have graced our eyes before, but seriously, we have no idea how a human brain could actually keep track of all the possibilities on this one. Regrettably, we have no idea how many square inches (feet?) this thing encompasses, but the aptly-dubbed Ambassador was reportedly built with arcade buttons, an aluminum top panel and a wooden case with the sole purpose of controlling Ableton Live music software. Of course, a custom driver had to be created just to take everything in, and quite frankly, we're not too sure this thing was actually hand built as opposed to being ganked from a UFO's control hub.[Via MAKE]
Future Retro's Revolution synthesizer sports circular layout
While certainly not the most bizarre (nor elaborate) musical apparatus we've seen, Future Retro's intriguingly designed Revolution synthesizer still manages to stand out. Apparently, its creators firmly believe that "music is cyclic," and it's definitely practicing what it preaches on said device. The analog monophonic synthesizer is contained in a rugged aluminum chassis and is laid out in a way that makes "dividing a measure of music into equal parts" much easier -- visually, at least. 'Course, this bugger will put a $750 dent in your wallet, but it is shipping now for those simply enamored with the design.[Via BornRich]
Bubblegum Sequencer: music never sounded so sweet
Hot on the heels of one of our favorite music creations of all time comes the Bubblegum Sequencer, which would've certainly claimed top honors (if only momentarily) had it arrived just weeks ago. This homegrown music maker lacks the elegance seen in the BeatBearing project, but gets your body bouncin' all the same. The hole-filled board sits atop a computer-connected webcam, which feeds in signals when a particular opening is plugged with a gumball. From there, the Java-based software translates the data and pumps out whatever beats you can dream of. Ready to take a listen? Check out the video waiting after the jump.[Via The POKE with No Name, thanks Kevin]
BeatBearing project weds ball bearings, elegance to make jams
Rest assured, we've seen a fair amount of totally sexy music makers in our day, but Peter Bennett's BeatBearing has instantly become one of our favorites. The project is described as a "simple tangible user interface that uses ball bearings to program a sequencer," and it enables the user to create a myriad melodies using sounds from the basic components of a drum kit. As with most musical things, this truly is better appreciated through video, so do yourself a favor and click on through to see it in action. And yes, we too are waiting in tense anticipation for this thing to go commercial.[Via Technabob]
Yamaha's Tenori-On music maker gets reviewed
It's been over two years since we first heard of the Tenori-On instrument, and it's just now hitting boutique audio shops and a particular reviewer's hands. For those who have been hyping themselves up over this thing, we don't exactly have oodles of good news to share, and while the negatives did seem to outweigh the positives, here's the gist of it. On the bright side, the music maker is unique, cute and quite intuitive. It also got brownie points for boasting internal speakers and for being able to run on batteries. Unfortunately, it rings up at £599 (around $1,200), and it simply "feels too cheap" to cost so much; additionally, it lacks touch sensitivity and a hardware volume control. Granted, the hardcore fans may still find the issues acceptable, so do yourself a favor and hit the pros and cons list in the read link below before jumping to conclusions.
Homegrown USB-powered calculator synth doubles as pillow
As if the Cushion Control pillows weren't cute enough, here we find a USB-powered, felt-covered calculator synth to ooh and aww over. Artists Kelli Cain and Brian Crabtree were able to conjure up this nifty device at a Felt Circuits workshop held in Los Angeles, and while details are relatively scarce, the creation is essentially a homemade eight- x six-inch calculator constructed from dyed wool that was hand-rubbed into felt. The two also "designed, etched, and populated noise-making circuit boards" which were then put into the contraption, and when connected to a USB port, touching the metal contacts that are sewn on "makes a bunch of noise," which we can causally refer to as abstract music. Unfortunately, there's no sign of these things going on sale, but if you beg the duo hard enough, you might find out if another workshop is in the pipeline.
Beat Blocks melds wood and MIDI in rhythmic harmony
No doubt we've seen quite a few attempts to mesh MIDI with, um, just about everything, but Jess Hoefs' Beat Blocks creation certainly brings back fond memories of our childhood days. Based around basic wooden blocks, colored with blue tape and adorned by bottom-mounted sensors, the system functions when a block is placed into a sensor-laden cube on the board, sending a signal to generate a specific loop. The "tangible interface for a rhythm sequencer" utilizes MIDI and contacts in order to generate sound signals, and by re-arranging the blocks on the fly, users can mix up the beats and create quite the musical masterpiece whilst reliving their days of innocence. Jeff is looking to ramp up two different flavors, with one being of a smaller, more performance-oriented design, and a larger matrix board to accommodate "multiple users." So if you're still curious just how fiddling with toy blocks can actually create musical delight, be sure to hit the read link and surf over to the video demonstration.[Via OhGizmo]
Wii Loop Machine utilizes Wiimote to manipulate beats
It takes a certain level of determination and creativity to shun the smorgasbord of other music-related Wii mods already out there, and to be quite honest, the Wii Loop Machine does a fair job of putting the other alternatives to shame. Taking full advantage of the Wiimote's ability to be used at will with a Bluetooth receiver and the right coding, the music manipulation software allows beat lovers to scroll through loops, twist up the jams, drop the bass, toss in a delay, and pretty much hack up the tunes at will with a combination of button mashes and Wiimote slinging. Currently, the software is only compatible with OS X, but the creator is definitely interested in your contact information if you can port this stuff over on the Windows side of life. So if you've already got a home-based studio set up, and your Mac just isn't getting enough love, be sure to hit the read link and check out the deets, or click on through if you're yearning for lesson in geekified mixing.[Via Joystiq, thanks Andy]
Roland kicks out trio of new audio gear at NAMM
While we certainly had our fun at this year's CES, Roland is off doing its own thang at NAMM this week, and the audio gurus have blessed us with a trio of new gear to tinker with, including a svelte guitar modeler. The VG-99 packs just about every guitar / amp model a player could ever find a use for, gives the owner full control over the dynamic controls, and provides alternate tuning on the fly for even more bizarre riffs. The device even features a guitar-to-MIDI converter for "direct connections to keyboards, sound modules, soft synths, computers, and other MIDI-compatible devices," which means it won't be too long before all these MIDI hacks get a dash of pickin' added to them. The MV-8800 "production studio" allows direct connection of an LCD and mouse for all-in-one mixing and producing action, and even boasts an internal hard drive, optical drive, and support for multitrack mastering / burning. Bringing up the rear is the V-Synth GT Elastic Audio Synthesizes, which looks to pull double-duty as a keyboard when you're creating tones to interact with the extraterrestrial. Although pricing information isn't yet available, all three of these units should be hitting showrooms (and sound rooms) real soon. Click on through for a few more snapshots.Read - Roland VG-99Read - Roland MV-8800Read - Roland V-Synth GT [Via MusicThing]
Akai MPC-1000 drum machine drops a beat, plays Pong
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]
Nintendo DS doubles as wireless MIDI keyboard / controller
Joining the nearly endless amount of Nintendo DS hacks already in the wild is TobW's DS Sampling Keyboard, which "uses the DS's microphone and touchscreen" to interface with a software-based sampling keyboard. A close contender to join our Music Thing series, this wonderous hack takes advantage of the wee machine's excellent X / Y-axis controls as well as its built-in WiFi to beam the MIDI commands wirelessly. The program has been tested with Wifi, GBAMP, and M3, so "it should work on pretty much anything," and provides a much less expensive alternative to those dedicated offerings. While musical gizmos are always more effective when seen heard rather than just heard about, be sure to click on for a front row seat to the YouTube demonstration.[Via MusicThing]
Music Thing: Music and audio gear in Second Life
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: Now, I've never been inside Second Life, but -- inspired by Reuters, which set up a bureau inside the game, which now has over a million players -- I've spent some time trawling the shops for cool music gear. Dissapointingly, I've found no vintage synths, keytars or mountains of old studio gear. I did find a British virtual instrument-maker called Robbie Dingo, who mainly sells slightly ordinary guitars, drum kits, bagpipes, grand pianos and something called a Hyper Flute, which - disappointingly - is completely safe for work, but allows you to compose your own music within Second Life.Robbie sells his instruments at SL Boutique - a steel drum set costs L$120 (40 cents in real money), while a Hyper Flute costs L$3,000 (around $10). Most Second Life instruments are really toys -- they'll play a couple of sound loops and animate with your avatar. Some are slightly more advanced: Robbie's 1965 Fender Stratocaster (L$400/$1.40) "loops a funky pattern that can be transposed via the menu system to any key whilst remaining in time." How many real-world guitarists can say the same?Robbie's greatest claim to fame was creating the guitar used by folk singer Suzanne Vega when she played a gig in Second Life. As far as I can work out, the guitar in this case was just a prop -- she was playing a real guitar into a microphone, whch was beamed into the concert. Other SL gear manufacturers include Neurocam Audio, who produce headphones and microphones, which really confused me. How does a microphone work? It "serves a purpose: It changes your chat to GREEN in the chat window, allowing the event host the ability to be noticed above noisy crowds!"Finally, for just L$1 (1/3rd of a cent), you can buy a Cigar Box Guitar, just like the one featured in Make Magazine, which will play a short clip of cigar box guitar jamming. Virtual cigars not included.
Music Thing: VW's free guitar deal
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: So, VW is giving away a free guitar with (almost) every car sold betweeen October and December as part of a slightly baffling promotion of the iPod-friendly auxillary input in their new car audio system. Yeah, I'm a little confused, too.The guitar is made by First Act, an interesting company who got rich selling children's guitars in Wal-Mart. They're very marketing savvy - with a large custom shop churning out one-offs for bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Franz Ferdinand. The firm was founded by one Bernard Chiu, who made a fortune selling air humidifiers in the '90s.The VW GarageMaster guitar looks ok, if you can excuse the clunky-looking VW logo control knobs. And the cheesy VW gang sign on the headstock. In a world of identical Fender/Gibson clones, it's nice to see a guitar that's part Hagstrom, part Rickenbacker, part Burns, with a scratchplate to match the colour of your car and a VW logo at the 12th fret.The only real innovation in the VW guitar is a built in active analog amp modelling circuit, which I'm guessing works a little like a SansAmp pedal. It means you can plug the guitar straight into your VW car stereo and... well, I'm not exactly sure how you're supposed to play in your car, but that's the idea. Of course, if you like the guitar but don't want to buy the car, expect these things to be all over eBay in a few weeks, and cluttering up lofts for years to come.
Music Thing: Korg's Kaoss Pad 3
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: Yes, it does look like the control panel from a TIE fighter. Yes, it could be a useful part of a Darth Vader Halloween costume. This is the Korg Kaoss Pad 3, announced this week after a leak on Music Thing. Kaoss Pads are fairly cheap digital effects/sampling boxes, but what makes them special is the interface -- a backlit touch-sensitive X-Y pad. When you move your finger over the pad, it changes the sound, tweaking delay time, shifting pitch, scrubbing a sample backwards and forwards. The first Kaoss Pad was introduced in 1999 as a DJ tool (even the new KP3 has only phono ins and outs) and pretty soon it started getting namechecked by the cool kids. Radiohead used them live to recreate studio effects, seen very clearly in this YouTube clip. Meanwhile, Brian Eno was collecting the things: "Kaoss Pads... are a way of taking sounds into the domain of muscular control," he said, as he does. "If you have a few Kaoss Pads in line, like I do, you can really start playing with sound itself, with the physical character of the sound." The KP2 arrived in 2002, with a bit more memory , a few more effects, and a more gig-ready aluminium case. The KP3 is again the same idea, but with still more memory, a USB connection, and SD card so samples can be stored and a crazy pixellated display which can, for no apparent reason, display scrolling text messages. UK Price is £315, and it should be in the shops in October.
Music Thing: Boutique effects pedals
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: About a year ago, I wrote about boutique synthesizers -- fantastically obscure boxes hand-made by freaks (normally Scandinavian). Compared with synths, effects pedals are relatively simple -- sometimes just a handful of components, a switch and a couple of knobs in a steel box -- so there are loads of people experimenting and making great-looking but expensive pedals for guitarists. Most of the pedals mentioned here are in the $350-$500 range. Sure, that would buy you a dozen Chinese-made Behringer pedals, but would that make you happy? Zvex RingtoneDisappointingly, Zachary Vex's new Ringtone pedal won't make your vintage strat sound like the Crazy Frog. Instead, it's a 8-step sequencer driving a ring modulator -- the early sound effect used to make the voice of the Daleks, and built into the Commodore 64's SID sound effects chip. It's pretty hard to understand what the Ringtone does, or why it's cool, without watching Zachary's wonderful demo video. Like all boutique pedals, the Ringtone is crazy expensive at $349, but that gets you a hand-made, hand-painted pedal. After the break: Kitsch Brazilian pedals, butch American pedals, clever English pedals, and a fuzzbox with a joystick...
Music Thing: Roland Micro-BR and Trinity DAW
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: Two new shiny boxes were announced this week. They both run on batteries and can record and edit audio, but they couldn't be more different. In the trashy and corporate corner is the Boss Micro-BR. It's a four-track, with guitar and mic inputs. It's "slightly larger than an iPod," runs on 2 AA batteries, has built in drum sound and effects, and is shinier than a cheap Korean DAP from 2005. This unit is the spiritual offspring of the cassette four-track, which anyone who was in a band in the '80s or early '90s will remember with a mixture of fondness and dread. If for some reason you're recording a demo by yourself, and you can't get to a laptop, it's probably perfect. No price yet, but it won't be much. Meanwhile, in the open source startup corner is the Trinity DAW, a Linux-powered stand alone audio recorder. It's has the professional ins and outs that the Micro-BR so obviously lacks, and is built around a 500mhz processor, 128mb memory, 20gb hard drive and a real screen. It ships with Audacity software which, like most Linux software, is great/cruddy depending who you ask. It can record in stereo with professional microphones that need phantom power, and there's a nifty circular touchpad next to the screen to navigate around the GUI. Unfortunately, there's a whiff of vapour around the project, which currently only exists in rendered form, with an eye-watering price tag of $999. For which price you could probably buy 16 tracks of Micro-BR, or a decent laptop and a pile of software.
Music Thing: Novation's ultra-cheap synth/soundcard/interface
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: Wait! Come back! Stop scrolling! Why should you read about a boring-looking grey synthesizer? I'll tell you why. This week, music geeks have been talking about two things. The first is the Bleep Labs Thingamagoop, the tiny, cute, handmade-in-America noise box with a strobing LED tentacle and surprisingly reasonable $100 price tag. The Thingamagoop represents one end of what's interesting in music gear at the moment -- fun, handmade, not necessarily very practical analog gear put together in garages by Make magazine readers.Then there's this grey plastic synth. It's Novation's new Xio, which represents the other big thing happening in music gear: astonishing value for money. This thing is a USB audio interface, with phantom power and a pre-amp, so you can record using real professional microphones. It's a MIDI controller for racks and soft-synths, with a cool touchpad and joystick and lots of knobs. It's a nice-feeling (if short) semi-weighted keyboard (there's also a 49-key version). And, it's a real stand-alone analog-modelling synth, which you can tweak in your deckchair while it runs off 6 AA batteries. The Xio costs £229 (Maybe $350-$399 retail), significantly cheaper than it's nearest rival, the 3 year-old MicroKorg, which has mini keys and no controller or USB audio features. It's amazing.Chinese manufacturing and cheap DSP chips have revolutionised the music gear business. Sure, this stuff doesn't have much soul, and it probably won't be collectable in 20 years, but it's making the average dorm-room studio a far more exciting place to be. Anyway, you can always invest the change in a small family of Thingamagoops.
