Music

If you’re living impaired or a vampire who likes a bit of musical accompaniment as you wile away the long hours inside your coffin then the CataCoffin from Swedish company Pause could be just what you need. The customized coffin packs a CataCombo Sound System that features a custom built 2.1 amplifier and includes a pair of 2-way speakers, tweeters with external cooling, and an 8-inch subwoofer tuned to the coffin’s acoustic space.  Read More

Music streaming service Spotify announced this week that it now has an impressive one million paid subscribers in the United States alone, a significant milestone for the company. A number of improvements to the service were also announced, including the new Discover tab and expanded social features.  Read More

Decommissioned weapons are usually destroyed, but a Mexican artist decided to do something more creative and life-affirming with a stockpile given to him. Earlier this year, Pedro Reyes recycled 6,700 confiscated guns into musical instruments for a project called Imagine. Revolvers, shotguns and machine guns previously used to kill became 50 wind, percussion and string instruments. They are currently on display at the Istanbul Design Biennal as part of Adhocracy exhibit.  Read More

Home audio developer, NYNE, has revealed an all-in-one docking tower for iPods and iPads that promises to play music from a wide variety of sources and includes a convenient new feature for musicians. Aside from connecting to other devices using the typical Bluetooth, USB, and 3.5-mm connections, the NH-6500 speaker also converts into a functional guitar amp with the addition of a guitar control.  Read More

The 58-key mini piano with which Dooley Wilson performed As Time Goes By in the classic movie Casablanca is going on the auction block on December 14, 2012, at Sotheby's in New York. Last sold at auction to a Japanese collector in 1988 for US$154,000, the auction estimate now ranges from $800,000 to $1.2 million.  Read More

Purveyor of geek-friendly toys and gadgets ThinkGeek is now offering the Theremin Mini Kit, a miniature assemble-it-yourself theremin which is marketed toward those looking to get started with the instrument.  Read More

Though there may be no shortage of free and subscription-based music services, London-based startup Bloom.fm is counting on there being room for one more. It has a trick up its sleeve: a mobile-first approach to market. Not beholden to translating desktop functionality and UI features to the smartphone, Bloom.fm has delivered a distinct take on the mobile music experience. Out today for iOS in the UK, Gizmag takes the first look at the app, and talks to the team hoping to take on the big guns.  Read More

One of my most painful (but at the same time wickedly amusing) memories relating to the Guitar Hero and Rock Band gaming boom a few years ago was when a high-scoring king of the button/paddle guitar controller tried to show me how easy it was to play a real guitar. He soon learned that playing a real instrument can be very tough at the beginning, so much so that many would-be axe gods give up before the calluses have even had a chance to form. GuitarBots from Ovelin is a new online learning system that combines challenge and reward computer-based gaming and a real instrument to take string pickers from the tentative first steps right through to more advanced soloing and rhythm play ... and it looks like a whole lot of fun, too.  Read More

John D'Angelico is regarded by many as the greatest archtop guitar maker of all time. Prized for their smooth, mellow tone and excellent sustain, it's said that only around 1,200 instruments were made during his career in the Lower East Side of New York. This year, the first D'Angelico reissues have been selling faster than they can be made. Fueled by this success, the iconic brand is being relaunched with a new very limited edition USA Masterbuilt version of the 1942 D'Angelico Excel and three standard models.  Read More