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Music
Belkin's solution to the iPod shuffle dilemma
By Darren Quick
02:34 July 29, 2009 PDT
The headphones Apple includes with its range of iPods have never been a major selling point. Sure, they do the job, but many people choose to scrap Apple’s trademark-white earbuds in favor of higher quality units. That was why many people cried foul when Apple released the third generation iPod Shuffle, which features controls located on the headphone cable. Belkin has released a new headphone adapter that restores your ability to listen to the Shuffle on headphones of your own choosing. Read More
Bose announces SoundLink wireless music system
By Darren Quick
18:21 July 20, 2009 PDT
The digitization of music has seen many people’s music collections move from the CD rack to the hard drive. Although the computer is a great place to store music, it can limit the listening experience thanks to the less than stellar speakers that are often tied to it. Bose has unveiled its new designed for people who want to listen to music stored on their computer, but don’t necessarily want to be at their computer to enjoy it - the SoundLink wireless music system. Read More
Shockproof speaker lets iPod come to the party
03:35 July 3, 2009 PDT
iPods might be extremely commonplace these days, but that doesn’t stop their owners obsessing about them. Now there’s a rather nifty accessory that’ll let you take your iPod poolside – or even to the beach – without having to constantly worry about it. This Portable iPod Outdoor Speaker is shockproof, water and dust resistant and, potentially, the ultimate party guest. Read More
Zoom's highly portable R16 multi-track recorder
By Tim LeFevre
00:52 June 29, 2009 PDT
Multi-track recorders allow home users to get professional results on a budget and Zoom Corporation takes this a step further with the versatile and truly portable R16. The diminutive R16 rolls a 16 track recorder, audio interface and control surface all into one. Perhaps the most notable feature is the ability to record to an SD memory card (supporting up to 32GB on an SDHC card). Not only does this add to the R16 portability credentials, but also avoids the pitfalls of hard drive crashes and associated problems. Read More
Green guitars: a guide to eco-friendly axes
By Gizmag Team
06:33 June 10, 2009 PDT
We live in environmentally enlightened times. Familiar products have been repackaged and now proudly push their green credentials right in your face. So when looking through the racks of the local guitar shop, why is it that the now familiar “environmentally-friendly” claims are conspicuous by their absence? Given the market advantage that being green seems to offer manufacturers, could it be that no-one in the music industry gives a hoot? Perhaps the world of green awareness hasn't yet reached the world of guitars? Or maybe the kings and queens of tone and resonance are just being a bit less obvious about it? Paul Ridden cuts through the distortion to find out more. Read More
VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Leonard Grigoryan tests Paul Kinny's Stereo Acoustic Guitar
By Loz Blain
01:43 June 3, 2009 PDT
The regular acoustic guitar is such a familiar and effective shape that it's hard to get past the bizarre looks of Paul Kinny's 'Stereo Acoustic' guitar - but rest assured, it's built that way for a good reason. While standard acoustics have a sound hole that faces forward, projecting the sound to a listening audience, the Stereo Acoustic's two sound holes are pointed directly up at the player. That means that it's an instrument you play for yourself, sitting right inside the sound, enjoying a huge dynamic range and the natural stereo and chorus effects it produces. We took the opportunity to put these unique - and remarkably affordable - acoustics in the hands of classical guitar god Leonard Grigoryan for a video review. Then we locked Lenny in a cage of microphones to take some studio recordings and demonstrate the gorgeous sounds these oddball guitars can produce on tape. Read More
The squidolin takes new approach to teaching violin and there's nothing fishy about it
By Paul Best
21:28 June 2, 2009 PDT
“I love the sound of the violin,” explains Carlos Mendez. “Since I was a kid, I wanted to learn how to play it. But born in a poor country such as Nicaragua, my parents couldn't afford lessons.” It was this childhood affection for the stringed instrument that encouraged the young industrial designer to use part of his final project at the Art Center College of Design in Pasedena, California, where he graduated with honors in product design, to come up with an affordable way of learning the violin. So was born the concept of the “squidolin”. Read More
Look no PC: Akai USB turntable digitizes vinyl direct to hard drive
By Darren Quick
03:49 May 19, 2009 PDT
USB turntables provide an easy way to digitize your collection of vinyl. Usually, it requires a PC. However, a new range of USB turntables from Akai includes a model that lets you record from vinyl, directly to a USB hard drive – without the need of a PC. Read More
Genius' $50 noise-cancelling GHP-04NC headphones
By Mick Webb
05:45 April 2, 2009 PDT
As recently reported here at Gizmag, when it comes to headphone quality a growing number of consumers seem to be sacrificing sound for style. Fortunately there are companies out there still looking to cater for aural afficianados and the latest effort from Genius - the GHP-04NC Noise Cancelling headphones - have the added bonus of costing half as much as the company's offering from 18 months ago. Read More
Are iPods killing music perception?
By Tim LeFevre
21:23 March 18, 2009 PDT
It seems that most people are content with the performance they get from their white iPod earbuds – subpar audio in a convenient package. Has the performance of a humble set of headphones been forgotten in favor of something more compact, and to some more fashionable? Yes is the answer according to an informal study by Stanford Professor of Music, Jonathan Berger, and apparently it doesn't end there - young people actually prefer the “sizzle” sound of MP3’s. Read More
Wacom nextbeat: wireless digital DJ controller
By Tim Hanlon
17:29 March 15, 2009 PDT
Wacom has taken an unlikely detour from the digital imaging market to create the nextbeat, a complete digital DJ package with a wireless control unit that can be removed from the base unit, and promises to liberate DJs from the booth - but we're not quite sure how that works when the headphones jack is located on the base unit. Read More
Eco Media Player lets you wind it up for a free charge
By Jamilah Le
20:42 March 12, 2009 PDT
Wind-up devices have seen a boom in the last decade and this new example, the Baylis Eco Media Player revolution, builds on the success of its predecessor the EP-MX71 with a sleeker design and larger screen size backed by the same human-powered wind-up power system. Read More
Silent Drum wins applause
By Darren Quick
22:27 March 10, 2009 PDT
New technology means new ways to create and express music and new types of interfaces that broaden the definition of a "musical instrument" way beyond traditional parameters. Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology seeks to recognize the creators of new musical instruments with the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition. The first winners of the competition include a robotic guitar, SLABS touch pad and a Silent Drum that generates sound by manipulating the elastic spandex head of a drum shell. Read More
For sale: second-hand 1952 Gibson Les Paul Guitar (with history)
By Mike Hanlon
14:26 March 7, 2009 PST
An auction next week in London will see a guitar of quite remarkable lineage go under the hammer. The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was once owned and made famous by cult UK blues legend Duster Bennett, the “One Man Blues Band”. The guitar was given to him by Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac who got it from Eric Clapton. Clapton received it from the blues king BB King, who acquired it from Muddy Waters. Remarkably, the guitar is only expected to sell … Read More
Yamaha's hybrid digital piano - the Avant Grand
By Darren Quick
23:34 March 1, 2009 PST
Yamaha’s new Avant Grand digital piano fuses twenty-first century technology with Yamaha’s more than a century of piano-crafting experience. The result is a digital piano that mimics the touch of an acoustic piano by using the same key, level, and hammer mechanisms of an acoustic piano combined with special embedded speakers to recreate the feel of an acoustic piano's keys to the player's hands. Read More
Less is more (expensive): Gibson's Holy Explorer
By Loz Blain
22:12 February 23, 2009 PST
You can often tell a lot about what a guitarist is about to do just by looking at the axe he's chosen for the gig. If it's a Flying V, he's here to rock, and he doesn't care who knows it. If it's got a big round wooden face with f-holes and a scratch plate, he's here to jazz out with some fruity 13-chords. If it's a seven-string Ibanez with a whammy bar and it looks like it's been dragged backwards through a paint shop, he's gonna shred and finger-tap until somebody's face falls off. But what can you say about a guy who turns up with a Gibson Holy Explorer? Read More
Gizmag road test: Sonoma Wireworks 4-track recorder for iPhone
By Loz Blain
19:58 February 12, 2009 PST
The song you're about to hear will probably never win a Grammy, but it was recorded entirely on an iPhone using only the equipment that came with the phone - and one very nifty application. FourTrack, from Sonoma Wireworks, is a US$10 iPhone app that brings 4-track audio recording capabilities to the iPhone, including the ability to adjust the volume and pan of each track. Each track is recorded to WAV at CD quality and auto-compressed - and once you're done you can WiFi the results straight to your computer. Apart from a couple of niggles, it's a pretty amazing little songwriting tool that lets you flesh out a tune with harmonies or instrumental tracks when you don't have GarageBand handy. Read More
Learn guitar using laser guidance
By Darren Quick
19:56 February 9, 2009 PST
Guitar Hero and Rock Band have allowed masses of people without the time or patience to learn the guitar to become Rock Gods in their own living rooms. For those looking to take the next step and pick up a real guitar, this concept for a guitar learning aid from designer Eugene Cheong promises a faster transistion. The “Maestro” would attach to any guitar and get budding guitarists jamming in record time by using lasers to guide their fingers. Read More
Gibson recreates the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood
By Mike Hanlon
02:39 January 24, 2009 PST
There are as many modified electric guitars in the world as there are guitarists who play them, but rare is the modified “off-the-shelf” guitar that is elevated to iconic status by the artist who played it. Such is the case with Jeff Beck’s “Oxblood” Les Paul, a guitar from the heart of tone history. Gibson has unveiled an accurate recreation of this legendary instrument: the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood. The guitar joins a range of signature Les Paul guitars from the likes of Jimmy Page, Slash and soon, Michael Bloomfield. Read More
Panasonic's Zirconia in-ear headphones for audiophiles
By Darren Quick
22:30 January 22, 2009 PST
Home shoppers have long been aware of the miraculous properties of Zirconia of the cubic variety. Now audiophiles can discover these wonders through Panasonic’s high fidelity in-ear headphones, which promise ultra-clear sound reproduction with virtually no distortion thanks to a sound chamber made of Zirconia, which has less resonance than plastic or aluminum. Read More
BeatBearing: drum sequencing gets touchy feely
20:02 January 22, 2009 PST
Readily accessible electronic platforms have paved the way for some innovative music, but in the process some of the magic of physically interacting with an instrument can be lost. Belfast PhD student Peter Bennett has set out to investigate different ways in which to blend tangible interfaces with new musical instruments, and one of his creations known as the BeatBearing is drumming up a storm on YouTube. Read More
Akai announce APC40 Control Surface for Ableton Live
By Tim Hanlon
14:44 January 16, 2009 PST
Akai has unveiled the APC40 controller, designed in conjunction with Ableton specifically for use with Live 7. The APC40 is the first controller to feature bi-directional communication with Ableton, allowing it to give visual feedback on the state of 40 clips and 16 parameters. Read More
Taylor T3 semi-hollowbody electric guitar
By Mike Hanlon
17:25 January 15, 2009 PST
January 16, 2009 One of the highlights on the first day of the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show yesterday was the release of Taylor Guitars’ first purely electric semi-hollowbody guitar, the T3. Taylor is well known for its ultra-high-end guitars which are used by some of the world’s best known musicians, but it’s the company’s relentless innovation we’re most impressed with. Melding the sleek lines and shape of the T5 into a semi-hollowbody, the T3 will also come in a T3B model with an authentic Bigsby Vibrato (model B70). The T3B incorporates a roller bridge for high performance, allowing the player the independence in setting the intonation of each string and eliminating the "dragging string" sound so commonly found in fixed bridges. Read More
Disney Star Guitarist: Guitar Hero with a real guitar
By Tim Hanlon
13:01 January 14, 2009 PST
US Music Corp., parent company of several music brands including Washburn Guitars, have partnered with Disney to create the Disney Star suite of applications - which unlike console-based music games, will teach children to play a real guitar or piano using familiar songs from Disney franchises like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. Read More
Roland's DT-HD1 drum tutorial software will teach you to play the drums
By Tim Hanlon
22:36 January 10, 2009 PST
While it's awfully easy to sit in front of Guitar Hero or Rock Band for hours on end, having the discipline to practise a real instrument for the long hours required to reach proficiency (and mastery) is much harder. Roland's Drum Tutorial DT-HD1 is the first of many products we've seen at CES 2009 that will help change this. Read More
rob yates
- November 26, 2009 @ 12:49 UTC
