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You Rock strums its way into Rock Band 3 Pro mode
Those seeking the upper echelons of virtual guitar wizardry have a third option now -- the You Rock Guitar, which is now compatible with Rock Band 3's Pro mode. So long as you've also got Mad Catz' MIDI-Pro adapter handy, the multi-touch fret board sounds like a solid middle ground between the uber-realistic Squier Stratocaster strings and the tiny toy-like fret keys of the Mustang Pro, and at roughly $200 street it's priced right between the others as well. PR after the break, and find our early impressions of the You Rock here.
AmpliTube Fender for iPhone & iPad set for imminent release
We've just had word from our guy at IK Multimedia that AmpliTube Fender for iPhone and iPad is pending approval at Apple and soon to be available on the iOS App Store. The AmpliTube Fender app is just like the AmpliTube 2 app, but it's all about Fender tone, which has been critically tested and approved by the tone gurus over at Fender. The app is derived from the award-winning desktop version of AmpliTube Fender. The app comes packed with five Fender amp models (the '65 Deluxe Reverb, the Super-Sonic, the '65 Twin Reverb, the '59 Bassman LTD and the Pro Junior) and six Fender Stompbox models (Fender Tape Echo, Compressor, the Fender Blender, Fender Phaser, Overdrive and Noise Filter). The AmpliTube Fender app for iPhone and iPad costs $14.99 / €11.99 and, as previously stated, packs all the recording, practice and play features found in the iOS version of AmpliTube 2. Got AmpliTube 2 already? You can buy the Fender amplifier and stomp box models as bundled or individual in-app purchases for $4.99 / €3.99 per amp, $2.99 / €2.39 per stomp box. Of course, the software works in conjunction with the iRig adapter that enables you to plug your electric guitar into your iPhone / iPad. We're looking forward to taking a closer at AmpliTube Fender soon.
Robo-guitar shocker! Gibson opening Firebird X platform to third party developers, app store imminent
We've seen the future of guitars, and it's an app store. At least that's what Gibson would have us believe, as it announces that it's opening the Pure-Analog Engine and the whole Firebird X platform to third party devs. Didn't know it was a platform, did you? Thought that it was an over-priced guitar with features that we didn't need (and a headstock we didn't particularly care for)? Same here. Apparently the company will soon be unleashing all sorts of Pure-Analog guitars upon the world, at all different price points. We don't know what this means for rock'n'roll, although we are fairly certain that the guy from Muse already owns three of these. Hit the source link for all the awesome deets.
Video demo of the Griffin StompBox
TUAW music blogger Matt Tinsley covered the details of Griffin Technology's StompBox product earlier today, but here's a video we shot at CES to show you how it works when playing guitar. Griffin made the cable especially for the StompBox, designed by a guitarist and called the GuitarConnectCable. It comes with the StompBox. Also, the iShred Live app is thus far the only one set up to work with the StompBox. While that may limit some early adopters, there should be nothing preventing other developers from supporting the StompBox in the future. Also seen in the video holding the iPad is the Mic Stand Mount, which Matt also wrote about earlier.
Griffin StompBox brings guitar effects app to your feet, lets your hands play
With the arrival of virtual guitar effects on portable devices like the iPhone and iPad, many guitarists are re-thinking the way they set up and play their electric guitars. For the average player, an almost endless array of varied tones and effects are now available in high-quality virtual form at a fraction of the cost and weight of their real-world counterparts. It's not surprising that many guitarists are turning to virtual pedal boards for practicing, band rehearsals and the occasional gig, too. One of the biggest problems with virtual effects pedal boards is that they are, well, ... virtual. They're on a screen near your eyes and hands instead of being within reach of your feet as they should be, keeping your hands free to play while your feet manage effects. Thankfully, with four assignable foot switches, a 1/4" effects pedal input jack and a meter long dock connector cable, Griffin (in conjunction with Frontier Design Group) has taken the bold step (no pun intended) of bringing the pedal board back to where it should be with the StompBox pedal controller for iPad / iPhone and iPod touch. The Griffin StompBox will work seamlessly with Frontier Design Group's iShred Live virtual guitar effects app (sold separately), but (from what we understand) the StompBox "... can act as an assignable controller for other foot-switch-compatible applications," according to Griffin's website. However, we doubt the StompBox will have seamless compatibility with other virtual guitar effects apps at this stage. There's no doubt in our minds, though, that some of the other big players will follow suit shortly with their own version of a foot-switch controller. The StompBox is priced at US$99.99 on the Griffin StompBox website and will be available February / March. [Via Engadget, Pocket-lint]
Griffin StompBox pedal board brings authenticity to iPad rocking
Users of the iShred Live iOS app (no relation to this thing) now have a pedal board to do the job of, well, a pedal board. Up until recently, the app allowed players to connect their electric guitars to an iPhone or iPad, and use said device as an amplifier, with a near endless array of pedal effects at their fingertips. Looking for a way to make the experience more authentic, Griffin teamed with the folks at Frontier Design Group to create the StompBox, which, according to Griffin's website, "effectively recreates the experience of an actual pedal board." It features four separate foot switches, which can be assigned particular effects by the user, and connects to the iPad or iPhone with a 1-meter-long dock connector cable -- guitar connection cables are sold separately. Now the future Peter Framptons of the world can scale back on setup time and concentrate on making their guitars talk.
Moog Lap Steel adds infinite analog sustain to the top of your thighs: ears-on at NAMM 2011 (video)
Leave it to Moog to give us one more reason to be jealous of lap steel players. As if their twangy, slidey Hawaiian metallics weren't cool enough in the first place, they've now got the semi-magical ability to magnetically sustain or mute each string via the pickup -- kind of along the lines of previously Moog-enhanced stringed instruments. The legendary synth manufacturer has also thrown in ladder filters and a gaggle of other switchable effects into the beautiful instruments. Orders are just being taken now, and each one will be custom-crafted (pink and purple sparkle starburst with a MIDI pickup, anyone?) by a luthier friend of the manufacturer for a little under $3000. We sat down with Cyril Lance from Moog and one of only four models in existence -- catch video of the new acid-bluegrass sounds after the break.
OMGuitar iPad app lets you strum away on your iPad
This music video of a girl playing Garbage's "Only Happy When it Rains" (embedded in the continuation of this post) is actually an ad for an iPad app called OMGuitar, but that doesn't make it any less impressive -- the app looks pretty good. It allows you to hit a button to choose whatever chord you want to play, and then you strum along on virtual strings to your heart's content. The app also offers up some simple guitar effects to play around with as well. Unfortunately, since you're playing with an iPad, there's no tactile feedback, so I'd imagine you'd have to practice a bit to know exactly where to put your fingers and when. But given a few chords and a little bit of time with the app, it seems like it would be pretty easy to strum out a few of your favorite popular songs this weekend. [via ObamaPacman]
Misa Digital Kitara hands-on preview (video)
Ambidextrous, capacitive, programmable, open source, five simultaneous touch inputs. The Misa Digital Kitara has quite the laundry list of goodies to boast about, but we couldn't let it slide through CES without getting our fingers on it and exploring for ourselves. The first thing that strikes you about this guitar-shaped synthesizer is its weight distribution -- it's no heavier than a good electric guitar, but a lot more of that weight is contained within its neck -- and the second will inevitably be its lightning-quick response to touch. Misa tells us latency is less than 5 milliseconds and it felt like it. There are two main modes of operation: a string mode, as seen above, and a ball mode allowing for even more adjustability. Both modes can then be further tweaked by choosing between the red and blue setting, with the former allowing for the performance of hammer-ons. Sliding your finger around the 8-inch touchscreen can do all sorts of wonderful things as well, such as altering pitch, tempo and volume, while those fearful of having no tactile feedback in string mode can apply a clear sheet over the screen that has tiny little ridges where the strings would usually reside. We say "usually," because you'll be able to configure the distance between the imaginary strings for yourself. The Kitara runs an open source Linux OS, which will be updatable via USB and is already compatible with Mac, PC and, naturally, Linux machines. It also has more than a hundred sound presets and we've been promised the option to customize them and create new ones by playing around with the algorithms in the future. The black Kitara is made out of good old plastic (but it's made very well) and costs $849 whereas the silver one you see in the gallery below is constructed out of a single block of aluminum and will set buyers back $2,899. Pre-orders are going on now through Misa Digital's online store and shipping is set to start on April 3. Video follows below. %Gallery-113409%
Sanyo Eneloop Pedal Juice battery pack preview
It's Christmas Day, which probably means that at least one toy that you received (or gave) won't be fully functional until Monday. Why? Batteries. It's an age-old problem, that "batteries not included" thing, and it's one of the reasons we've fell so in love with Sanyo's Eneloop line. Without question, the Eneloop rechargeable AA batteries are amongst the best and most reliable that money can buy, so whenever another Eneloop product pops out, it obviously catches our eye. Sanyo's branching out pretty severely with its latest device, and being that at least 3.5 members of the Engadget staff have strummed a six-string once or twice, we had to take a closer look at the Pedal Juice when given the chance. For those that missed last month's introduction, this pedal-sized block of energy is designed to provide 9V power to six or seven effects pedals, miniature amplifiers or electric drum pads (amongst other musical doodads). So, does this thing live up to the Eneloop reputation? Find out after the break. %Gallery-111994%
Best Buy nabs exclusive Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster
If you're in the market for a new Rock Band axe, it looks like you'll be heading to Best Buy very, very soon. That's right, the Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster is seemingly a BB exclusive. The $280 peripheral, which requires the MIDI PRO-Adapter to function, will hit shelves on March 1st. Until then, we'll just have to be happy with the Mustang Pro.
Misa Digital's stringless Kitara goes up for pre-order: $849 for a truly unique musical instrument
Remember the Misa Digital Guitar? Well, it's called the Kitara now, it's taken on a fresh lick of paint, and it's ready to be pre-ordered now for an April delivery. The Kitara discards old fashioned strings and has you strumming along on a multitouch display instead, populating the fretboard with a litany of buttons that modify the aural output from your digital input. It has an onboard synthesizer, but the real magic will happen once you plug it into your own audio equipment and start experimenting. Basically, it's like the Kinect of electronic music -- just needs a few inventive souls to harness its potential properly. They'll need fat wallets too, mind you, as turning this invention into a viable product has meant a lofty $849 starting price in the US. See a video demo and the full Kitara press release after the break. %Gallery-110587%
Kinect Hacks: True shredding potential unlocked with Kinect air guitar
Programmer/artist Chris O'Shea has tapped even more of the Kinect's potential as a nerd fantasy-fulfillment device -- using its hand-tracking abilities, he's turned the gadget into an air guitar simulator. Check out the video after the jump to watch his wild gesticulations turn into sweet riffs.
Kinect meets its maker with new air guitar hack (video)
Let's face it, the daddy of all motion-controlled gaming is the humble art of air guitar. There's no question about it, creationists and evolutionists all agree, the genesis of our modern craze for motion sensitivity was your uncle rocking out to Jimmy Page's face-melting solo in Stairway to Heaven. Now that we've got the history lesson out of the way, someone's gone and programmed Kinect to recognize the fine craft of your air strumming and deliver concordant chords in response. Excellent!
Guitar made out of an NES sounds like it's made out of an NES
What to get for the Nintendo fan in your life who already has everything? How about this guitar made out of a Nintendo Entertainment System? GetLoFi.com hacked a working electric guitar together from the body of an NES, and as you can tell from the YouTube video after the break, it sounds ... ok? So it's not great, but then again it's basically a box made out of plastic. The guitar is being sold for $150 on GetLoFi's web shop, and because it's custom made (the neck is a reused oak guitar neck), they've only got one for sale, but they seem game to make more if the demand is there. The NES itself has been hollowed out for all the other electronics, so if you want to play your favorite NES games while strumming their tunes, you'll need your own console for that.
Diago's Little Smasher puts a 5W guitar amp in a tiny carbon steel box (video)
Sure, you can always plug your axe into a computer (or even an iPhone) and make sweet, sweet music with software. But what about those times you need an honest-to-goodness amplifier? Diago's Little Smasher is a full-fledged 5 watt guitar amp head that is only roughly the size of an effects pedal. The thing's quite stripped down -- active bass and treble (which gives you more control of the tone than passive EQs), gain, volume, 4-16 ohm output impedance (should work with any speaker cabinet), and that's pretty much it! We should probably also add that the carbon steel enclosure is a nice touch, and one that will be appreciated when you're fighting off a stage invasion at the next Lilith Fair. But you probably want to hear how it sounds -- and for that, we direct you to the video placed after the break. Available for $250 this January.
TUAW's Holiday Gift Guide: Music gear for the Mac musician
Welcome to the TUAW Holiday Gift Guide! We've sorted the treasure from the junk and are serving up suggestions to make your holiday gift-giving a little easier. Choosing the right gift for an Apple-loving musician can be very tricky. Usually, they've got everything they want already because they can't wait for the latest and greatest -- they just get it for themselves as soon as they can. Or they are so overwhelmed by the choices presented to them that they can't make a decision and therefore obsess about it for months on end. To say the least, it can be very difficult to give the Apple-loving musician the right gift. Ironically, to top it all off, the gift-giver is usually not a musician, nor do they understand the gear and tech that most commonly goes with being a musician. For instance, when I start talking about music tech to a fellow musician in the presence of my wife, she looks at us as if we're speaking an alien language, and try as she might, she can't help but get extremely bored very quickly. So, to help you (the musician / beloved gift-giver) make the right decision, we've gone to the trouble of putting together a list of some of our favorite music apps and pieces of music tech from the last year. You'll definitely find something here that an Apple-loving musician is sure to be pleased with this holiday season.
Mad Catz ships Rock Band 3 MIDI Pro adapter, gives your keyboard and drum set new life
Talk about just in time. With merely weeks to go before Mr. Claus makes his wintry journey 'round the globe, Mad Catz has decided to finally ship a peripheral that was introduced way back in June. Without a doubt, the MIDI Pro adapter is one of the more intriguing music game accessories to hit the open market, enabling Rock Band 3 owners to use most MIDI keyboards and drum sets with the title. The box is shipping as we speak for Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii, and the Xbox 360 variant should be headed to Best Buy in the coming hours. If you'll recall, this guy's also designed to work with the forthcoming Rock Band 3 Squier guitar / controller, and it even features a velocity sensitive adjustment for MIDI drums designed to reduce cross-talk during play. At $39.99, it's a no-brainer for those who already own a MIDI instrument or two, but we just might be more excited about the hacking possibilities than anything else. DIYers, get at it! %Gallery-108753%
The Fingerist makes your iPhone a mini guitar
If you have been looking for an iPhone or iPod touch accessory that enables you to play your music applications as if you are playing them with a guitar, look no further. The Fingerist from EVENNO is here to make your dream of being a (nerdy) rock star come true. One part guitar body and one part speaker, The Fingerist holds your iPhone 4, iPhone 3G/3GS or iPod touch 2G/3G in place for you (with the included strap) like a guitar hung around your neck, making it easier to use those music apps you love so much to make some sweet sounds. Apps like Guitar World Lick of the Day (which teaches you a new guitar move every day) or even the new GarageBand let you make music, and The Fingerist lets you play it loudly. While the built-in speaker runs for 6 hours on 3 AA batteries, The Fingerist comes with a line-out jack to send your songs to your amplifier so that you can share with your entire neighborhood. Info on where you can purchase one isn't found on the EVENNO site, but Engadget spotted it for sale over at Amazon for $150. $150 seems a bit steep for my taste when you can get a cheap used guitar and amp for that price, along with maybe a lesson or two. As a guitar player myself, I say go for the real thing. That said, I can see the appeal of bringing this out when the family gets together over the holidays for some rockin' jam sessions. [via Engadget and iLounge]
The Fingerist turns your iPhone into an iKeytar, available now
Remember The Fingerist, the guitar headstock-themed speaker and case for your iPhone or iPod touch? You know, the one with the shoulder strap for public (and private) performances with all of your favorite music making apps? Well, it seems that it's finally available in the states. Indeed, there has been so little fanfare behind this announcement that the company responsible, Evenno, hasn't even acknowledged it on its site. But don't worry: we found this bad boy for $150 on Amazon. And if that's not enough, iLounge has done a series of hands-on photos (see the More Coverage link, below). Or, if you're like us, you can skip the thing altogether and groove to Rick Wakeman after the break. We do have one more thing to say about the Fingerist, however: at least it's not endorsed by this guy.
