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How Casio accidentally started reggae's digital revolution
Looking at the Casio Casiotone MT40, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was an unremarkable keyboard. You may even have owned one just like it. Launched in 1981, the cream machine came with 37 keys, 22 different instrument sounds, six onboard rhythms and a dedicated mini bass keyboard. It cost around $150 or, adjusting for inflation, about $400 if it were on sale today.Beneath that beige plastic, however, the MT40 hid a secret. A "rock" preset that, once discovered, would reverberate in popular music for the next 30 years. The preset would become one of reggae's most famous "riddims," inspire many imitations and force the genre into the digital age. The story of the "sleng teng" riddim (as it is known) in reggae history is well documented, but its origins are based on myth. This is the real story of how Casio's MT40 became the most influential keyboard of its kind.For the uninitiated, this is the three second melody that started it all:
The new stars of reggae are nothing like the old ones
Earthly music just ain't enough for reggae / rock band Echo Movement. In search of extraterrestrial inspiration, they hooked up with researchers at Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab, which specializes in turning ugly numbers into beautiful music. Using data from NASA's Kepler telescope and its search for Earth II, SonLab generated "sequences of sonified musical pitches" from fluctuations in a star's brightness (meet Kepler 4665989). Echo Movement got their loop on and composed a harmony from the sequences, adding a tremolo effect from another star's pattern for a softer sound. Unfortunately, the finished track isn't out til September, but in the meantime you can hear the six-second celestial hook at the source link -- just don't blame us if you get pangs of Nokia-stalgia. Also, if you want to imagine how Echo Movement might use the sample, we've embedded one of their rarer songs -- that doesn't involve Spider-Man's girlfriend -- after the break.
Guitar Hero World Tour Dec. DLC: The Eagles, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins & free reggae rock
Activision has released the December DLC set list for Guitar Hero World Tour featuring four consecutive weeks of releases (that's a certified streak!). And did we mention the reggae rock is free? Let's smoke toast to that! Details below -- music videos after the break. The Smashing Pumpkins Track Pack (Dec. 4th): "G.L.O.W." "1979" "Everlasting Gaze" Nirvana Track Pack (Dec. 11th): "You Know You're Right" "Negative Creep" "Sliver" The Eagles Track Pack (Dec. 18th): "One of These Nights" "Life in the Fast Lane" "Frail Grasp on the Big Picture" (from Long Road out of Eden) Free Reggae Rock Track Pack (Dec. 23rd): "Jimi" - Slightly Stoopid "Your Face" - Pepper "Sacrifice" - Expendables Note: All premium track packs are priced as follows: 440 (XBLM); $5.49 (PSN); not available on Wii. Individual tracks are sold for: 160 (XBLM); $1.99 (PSN); 200 Wii Points.
