Music

Marking something of a diversion from the company's more familiar analog synths, tonesmiths at Moog Music are in the early prototype stages of a novel technology capable of activating and controlling the natural harmonics and resonant frequencies of the strings of an acoustic instrument, and placing them at the disposal of the player. The LEV-96 sensoriactuator is currently installed at the sound hole of an acoustic guitar for beta testing, and features touch-enabled sliders and buttons for precise sonic tweaking and adjustment.  Read More

Moving around the stage while performing is a whole lot easier with instruments such as the Vortex or Kitara than with something like the mighty JUPITER-80. Innovations like Onyx Ashanti's Beatjazz hands or the Air Piano from Omer Yosha go even further, by making movement a vital part of the music creation process. Such is the case with the Dodecaudion from Polish art and design group panGenerator. When a performer places a hand, foot, head or other part of the body in front of any of its 12 IR-sensor-packing faces, wirelessly-linked processing hardware generates pre-programmed audio or visuals.  Read More

Fender has announced a new addition to its budget-friendly Squier line of guitars, in the form of a Stratocaster with integrated USB connectivity. This feature allows users to record and share tracks without the need of an additional interface. Though the guitar is clearly marketed with Apple’s iOS platform in mind, the company states that it is also compatible with Macs and Windows PCs.  Read More

Composers who want to know what their hand-written sheet music will sound like may soon have a new tool at their disposal. Using a hand-held device hooked up to their tablet or laptop, they could “play” that music in real time, wherever they were – even if a piano or other instrument was nowhere in sight. That’s the idea behind the Gocen, a prototype device being developed by a team from the Tokyo Metropolitan University.  Read More

The latest guitar invention is a capo unlike any other. The CapoSonic can hold down notes directly under the capo, or a fret above or below it, allowing guitarists to quickly and easily arrive at "open tunings" – or new sound configurations – without having to relearn the entire fretboard in the process. Gizmag had a chance to speak to CapoSonic inventor Ben Ryan about his new device.  Read More

DJ's around the world were dismayed a couple years ago when Panasonic announced it was discontinuing its Technics line of turntables, which had become the brand of choice among many professionals since the SL-1200 turntable was released in 1972. Recently though, the company decided to commemorate the iconic SL-1200's 40th anniversary by reintroducing the Technics brand with a new product: the RP-DH1250 Pro DJ headphones. We've been spending some quality time with Panasonic's latest headphones to find out if they live up to the Technics name.  Read More

The Kaleidoloop is a digital audio recorder which is about as far removed from devices like the high-tech compact Olympus LS-100 as it's possible to get – it's an unashamedly lo-fi sound collector, housed in a large aluminum and wood enclosure.  Read More

Surely no working drummer would seriously entertain the use of drum pants or t-shirts to make the burden of transporting and setting up a kit a little easier, but even conventional acoustic skin bashers might give electronic drums a whirl. The e-drumkit takes up much less room in the back of the band's van, is always in tune and can sound just like the real thing, or just about anything else you might want the various pads to sound like. In the case of Roland's new TD-4KP V-Drums Portable, the whole setup can be collapsed down and carried under the arm.  Read More

It would be fair to say that we’re big fans of LEGO here at Gizmag, and so have covered the diminutive plastic bricks being implemented in a variety of cool projects, like the motorized wheelchair and Rolls Royce jet engine. The latest such design to grab our attention is a drum machine sequencer created by Irish computer security engineer and all-round LEGO genius Mark Crosbie, dubbed “SoundMachine.”  Read More