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Quadrocopter plays the piano, wishes us a happy and complacent holiday (video)
Our worst frienemies, the quadrocopters, have decided to act cute for the holidays and play us a merry little jingle. Yes, the guys and gals behind the Flying Machine Arena have put together an airborne robot sophisticated enough to lay down a few seasonal notes on a Yamaha electronic keyboard. And we're still sitting around debating inconsequential topics like net neutrality -- all of human civilization is at stake here, people! Be a good citizen and watch the video after the break to scout out any weak points to this most imminent threat to humanity's survival.
Kinect hack lets you reenact Big piano scene (video)
The only limit to the applications Kinect can be put to is imagination. The more of it you have, the more things you can use the peerless Xbox 360 peripheral to achieve. To wit, some eager chaps have put together the Keyboard Anywhere hack, which employs a little Python and the libfreenect library to offer up a piano keyboard on any flat surface of almost any size. You can practice your Mozart concertos on a desk, or, as they so ably demonstrate, imagine yourself as a young Tom Hanks skipping along on the FAO Schwarz floor piano in the movie Big. It's all up to you.
Pianist Pro 1.5 for the iPad adds MIDI Mobilizer support from Line 6
From MooCowMusic comes the latest iteration of their renowned iPad app, Pianist Pro 1.5 (£5.99). Most notably, Pianist Pro now incorporates the MIDI Mobilizer technology from Line 6, enabling Pianist Pro on your iPad, with the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer adapter (£45) or wirelessly over Wi-Fi, to be used as a MIDI controller as well as connecting with your existing MIDI devices and your DAW. Pianist Pro has been extended further to work seamlessly with MIDI. Two of Its best features, the programmable arpeggiator and the Scale Piano (allowing for scales to be soloed with the swipe of a finger), are both now MIDI compatible, making the functionality of these features applicable to other MIDI devices. Pianist Pro becomes more than just a passive keyboard. The built-in sampled sounds can also be used with an external MIDI hardware device or DAW, allowing Pianist Pro to become a sound source in itself (taking full advantage of its 88 key professionally-sampled virtual piano as well as the sampled organ, synth sounds and guitars). And let's not forget the drum machine, too. Another of Pianist Pro's features is recording and overdubbing. Now, being MIDI compatible, you can do some composing / performing on the road, save it, and when you're ready, export it in a Standard Midi File (SMF) for use with other compatible MIDI devices or your favorite DAW. And don't worry, Piano Pro 1.5 imports SMFs, too. MooCowMusic describes Piano Pro as a "a musical scratchpad or live performance tool." Now with built-in MIDI support, thanks to Line 6's MIDI Mobilizer adapter, it's that, but to a whole new level! Check out the demo video after the break.
Rock Band 3 purportedly gaining keytar peripheral, infinite amounts of our love
Look, we've no qualms with keyboards -- Elton John is permanently embedded in our playlists, it'll be the first instrument we teach our robotic children, and it's easily the most underrated part of Justin Bieber's spectacularness. But there's no arguing that having a keytar peripheral is far, far more awesome in the grand scheme of things. According to the same mole on ArsTechnica that has correctly nailed a new PS3 bundle, the PSP go and Xbox 360 price cuts, Rock Band 3 will feature a new keytar peripheral, which will undoubtedly destroy our productivity for an indefinite amount of time. We're also told that Mad Catz will be taking over the production of RB hardware, leaving Harmonix only responsible for touching up the software. There's still no indication of when this mythical device will be hitting your local Game Stop, but it's certainly safe to slide your pre-order alert system to Orange.
Easy Piano for Nintendo DS shipping now for little Tchaikovskys
Mention piano lessons to kids and watch them cringe. Mention playing really awesome games on the Nintendo DS and watch them get all excited. Now, mention piano lessons on the Nintendo DS and watch them squirm in confusion, a definite improved reaction that's all thanks to Easy Piano, which is now shipping to retail. It's a $40 game (of sorts) plus 13 key mini-piano that, if you're lucky, your children might confuse for the Guitar Hero: On Tour controller. Upon it gamers can learn to tickle the (plastic) ivories and even compose their own tunes of up to three minutes in length. That's not enough for a proper concerto, but plenty for your little wunderkind to get an early taste of chiptuning.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
Noteput music table plays the notes as you lay them down (video)
Finally we get the chance to literally lay a track down. The Noteput interactive music table was concocted by a pair of German design students back in October of last year, but watching it in action is still a mesmerizing experience. Employing a simple camera beneath the surface, the table can tell what notes you're placing upon it and play them back -- individually when you position them or as a group once you hit the big play button. The coolest feature for us is the ability to loop playback and replace notes on the fly. It's like being a really old school kind of a DJ. Click past the break to see what we mean.
CES Watch: The good, the bad, the ugly
CES wrapped up in Las Vegas on Saturday, so here's our third and final wrapup of iPhone and Mac-related accessories from the show. Enjoy! Posimotion introduced a Helix gaming grip for the iPhone -- like the Wii wheel, only for Apple's device. $20, which seems pricey to me. Don't even bother looking at these high-heeled speakers. This actually has nothing to do with iPods or Mac, but I just thought it was awesome: A mechanical autotuning system for your guitar. I want one! Here's a twirling battery concept that could charge your iPhone in a pinch and let you work on that finger strength. Cydle is a South Korean company that's planning to release this digital broadcast TV tuner for the iPhone for $150 in March. Kind of an old-school solution (in 2010, we stream video, not receive it), but it could be cool. The Fingerist is... well, it's a guitar adapter for the iPhone. Go see for yourself. Engadget tried out the Mophie TV adapter, VIZIO's iPhone remote app, and the ION iType keyboard and iDiscover piano adapter. Altec Lansing has some good-looking speaker systems and headphones. And finally, Macworld has an overview of the iLounge pavilion itself and how it reflects the market in general. Whew! We weren't even at CES this year, and I'm still feeling the conference hangover. There were definitely a lot of interesting bits of technology introduced, but we have a feeling that the most interesting gadget of the year will actually be revealed later this month.
Easy Piano bringing keys to the DS Lite in 'early 2010'
We've got a sneaking suspicion that the DS Lite will be old ancient news by the time Easy Piano hit the market, but those who've learned to be content in life (and have somehow managed to resist the urge to snap up a DSi in place of their older handheld), have probably been hunting for this date. Valcon Games has just announced that its piano-teaching title (and the highly comical / interesting 13-key accessory) will be landing in North America in "early 2010," but it didn't go so far as to fess up to an MSRP. Not like it matters -- you know you're totally lining up to snag this during a midnight launch, regardless of how many heirlooms are forced onto Craigslist.
Easy Piano easing into North America next year
Band Hero's reign as the DS music game with the silliest peripheral in America will soon be over. Valcon Games has announced that it will release Easy Piano, the piano teaching game with the 13-key keyboard attachment, in North America. It'll join the piles and piles of other games coming out in early 2010, but then those don't have keyboards. Easy Piano includes a piano teaching system -- a mini Miracle Keyboard, essentially -- but also allows players to record four three-minute long performances, and includes a piano-based rhythm game. What it doesn't include, for obvious reasons, is DSi compatibility. Maybe the company will make a version for the DSi XL that connects wirelessly to one of those floor pianos from Big. Also, we've changed our minds -- Band Hero is still the silliest.
Finger Piano Share plays your Disklavier via WiFi (video)
Developers at Yamaha seem to be having plenty of fun with their iPhones -- at least, that's the impression they've made this year at CEATEC. Not only have we seen an app that lets you boss around a robotic chanteuse, but they've also put together a little something called Finger Piano Share. Don't let the video fool you, folks -- this is more than just a MIDI controller. Supporting up to ten users at once, this guy not only lets you remotely play your MIDI-enabled Disklavier via Wi-Fi, but you can record your little jam sessions (using the location-aware augmented reality app Sekai Camera) for playback whenever someone goes to the site of the original performance. Sounds like a recipe for a disastrous conceptual art piece if we ever heard one! Video after the break.
Mechanical piano hacked to talk, says nothing you'd be interested in
It's not exactly the Baroque Vocoder we were hoping for, but an Austrian composer has hacked a mechanical piano to recite text -- and recite text it does (even if you need subtitles and some prompting from the voice-over to understand what it's saying). The video itself is a little skint on technical details -- even if the "wow!" factor remains pretty consistent -- but apparently composer Peter Ablinger took a recording of a child reading the Proclamation of the European Environmental Criminal Court and converted the frequency spectrum to MIDI, which he was then able to play back using the chordophone pictured above. The gang at Hack A Day seems to think that the actual conversion was done in the Pure Data software package, and who are we to argue? We're just wondering how Black Moth Super Rainbow will ever fit this thing onto their tour van. See for yourself after the break. [Via Hack A Day]
World of WarCrafts: Music to our ears
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.Despite its name, World of WarCrafts isn't only about crafts. We feature all sorts of creative endeavors fueled by your passion for the World of Warcraft. This week, we hope to inspire all you WoW-playing musicians out there (hey! send us your stuff!) by sharing three of our older favorite fan performances of WoW music on the web today.The Stormwind theme above is played by ObsidianLord, a Hungarian pianist who interprets with obvious passion and depth. Join us after the break for another popular (from 2007) but moving rendition of Song of Elune.
Video: Concert Hands teaches you to play piano, whether you want it to or not
Look, we're all for accelerated learning, but somehow the idea of strapping our limbs into the Concert Hands setup is a wee bit disconcerting. Locked at the wrists onto a sliding mechanical bar, the apparatus guides our paws to the proper keys, while pulses are sent to your fingers to tell you what keys to press. Intimidating? Sure, but honestly, we're more worried about what our idle hands might learn if this thing was hooked up to the wrong AI... okay, probably just a Chopin piece, but you never know. See for yourself and imagine the horrors after the break. [Via Engadget German]
Easy Piano title lets DS Lite users tickle the ivory
We know that DSi of yours is all the rage, but you did hang on to that DS / DS Lite, didn't you? Phew. Starting this November in Europe and other PAL regions, you'll have a remarkably good excuse to bust that unit back out, as this new peripheral looks to require that all-but-forgotten GBA slot. At any rate, the title (which goes by Easy Piano in case you glossed over the headline) will allow players to bang out masterpieces such as Bittersweet Symphony, Every Breath You Take and Pachelbel's Canon on the 8-note, full-octave keyboard accessory. All told, 40 songs will be made available, and there's even a "creation mode" that enables owners to record up to four 3-minute-long jams. Now, if only we had a North American price and release date to pencil in, we'd be all set.[Via Joystiq]
Easy Piano brings keyboard peripheral to DS Lite
Almost two years ago, Ubisoft dropped a virtual guitar simulator on the DS, titled "Jam Sessions" -- and that's just great, if you picked up the six-stringed instrument during your collegiate career in an attempt to woo Damien Rice-obsessed co-eds. Some of us, however, prefer the ivories. And by "prefer", we mean "we were forced to spend our childhood summers hunched over a beaten-up Steinway, pursuing our parents' feverish artistic dreams as our peers actually enjoyed their lives."Fortunately for us, a Namco Bandai press release just revealed a Jam Sessions-esque title for the DS titled -- what else -- Easy Piano. The game comes with the keyboard peripheral you see above, so we hope interested parties have held onto their GBA slot-equipped DS Lites. With a lesson mode, a play-along mode and even a song creaion mode, it sounds like a neat offering for piano enthusiasts. We won't be sure until we try out that tiny, tiny keyboard, though.
Sting, Sarah McLachlan are hiding in your Garage(band)
Apple has added new "Learn to Play" lessons to the latest version of GarageBand, including two lessons by Sting and the first one by Sarah McLachlan. Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting, so named by his friends when he wore a shirt with black and yellow stripes) will teach you how to play "Message in a Bottle" and "Fragile" (in my humble opinion, one of the lesser-known but more amazing Sting songs), and Sarah McLachlan, who really likes ice cream, will teach you how to play her "Angel." I miss Sarah McLachlan -- it's hard to believe we had someone that was even more bland than Norah Jones.But excuse my musical snobbery -- all three lessons are now available in the GarageBand Lesson Store for the low low price of $4.99. And lest you think I am anti-McLachlan in any way, think again: I too owned a copy of Surfacing. If you wanted to hang out with girls in my high school, you pretty much had to have a copy around at any given time. That, and Crash. Ah, how young we were.
You can play piano on your DSi, kinda
Has your long-held habit of carrying a baby grand piano with you everywhere you go begun to cause irreversible damage to your easily pliable spinal cord? The Monday Night Crew gang discovered an easier way to tickle ivories touchscreens on the go by using a neat trick in the "Graffiti Mode" on your DSi. Basically, the music note stamp in graffiti mode makes a sound that changes pitch depending on where you place it on the screen. By placing these stamps over a cleverly crafted grid, you can wow your friends with MIDI renditions of your favorite songs. It's a neat trick, and far less damaging on the ol' sacroiliac. Check out a video demonstration after the jump!
Yamaha's "hybrid" Avant Grand piano replicates the real thing, still ain't cheap
Yamaha's forthcoming "hybrid" Avant Grand may not set you back quite as far as, say, a Hamburg Steinway Model D-274, but it still ain't priced for amateur budgets. The piece was engineered to be around half the size and a third of the weight of a real-deal nine foot acoustic grand piano, all while maintaining the same heralded feel and sound. Dubbed a "hybrid" grand, this thing not only has four speakers that envelope the player in audio, but even the keys trigger a hammer that strikes a bar in order to replicate the feel of slamming a chord on one of the world's most prized instruments. The good news is that you can get 99 percent of a grand in your home for just $20,000. The bad news, coincidentally enough, is that you can get 99 percent of a grand in your home for a staggering $20,000. A video demonstration is in the read link.[Via CNET]
Wearable toy piano makes music, looks good doing it
Now here's a concept. A musical shirt with enough transistors to make even the hardest of hardcore nerd blush, and a long-sleeve garment fashionable enough to make even the world-class design student stop and admire. Mashed into one. The Musical toy piano shirt is that very piece, which was constructed to wow onlookers at the Electronic Textile workshop held this month in Switzerland. Packing removable batteries, speakers and circuitry, the shirt enables the wearer to emit eight different notes from Do to Do, and we hear there's nothing quite as cute as playing a song on yourself. See what we mean in the vid hosted just after the break. [Via Coolest-Gadgets]
