Music

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

Back in July, we brought news of the rebirth of two VOX legends as travel guitars. Next month, the Apache Series six-string models are joined by equally gorgeous bass guitar versions.  Read More

The turntable continues to be relevant in a market dominated by digital media, as little can compare with a good slab of vinyl in the minds of many music aficionados. However, the Dyskograf by arts collective Avoka takes this venerable format and injects a modern twist, producing a turntable installation which enables you to draw your own beats in real time.  Read More

The name McIntosh Labs has been synonymous with outstanding audio quality for more than 60 years and its iconic MC275 tube amp certainly left its mark on me when I first encountered one many moons ago. Hot on the heels of the MX121 audio/video control center featuring Apple's AirPlay wireless technology released earlier this year, the company has launched the McAire free-standing personal music system that allows a new generation of discriminating consumers to stream audio from an iTunes library on a Mac or PC - or music from an iDevice - over an existing home network.  Read More