Music

The i-Sing MP3 player encourages singing along wherever you are

By Loz Blain

July 18, 2007 Ancient Zimbabwean wisdom suggests "if you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing" though we're sure it is also true that if you can hold a note, carry a tune and belt out something relatively pleasant to the ear, everyone has more fun. There is currently a renaissance of music sweeping the world. More people are listening to more music thanks to the low cost high convenience MP3 player, and advances in user-friendly software and devices mean more people are beginning to explore not just listening to music but making it. One such device is the i-Sing, an MP3 player with the ability to digitally cancel out the original artist's vocals on any track, display song lyrics and record the user's own vocals over the instrumental tracks at the touch of a button. Bound to be popular with fans of the (insert country here) Idol TV phenomenon, the i-Sing harnesses some very cool technology and combines it with childproof ease of use. Read More

Two New USB Turntables

By Mike Hanlon

July 17, 2007 A recent Gizmag survey found that everyone in the world has at least two large boxes of old records in the garage that they can’t play but also can’t bear to throw away (it was a small sampling). Two new USB turntables from Ion Audio will go some way to unleashing all that music, as they represent the latest generation of vinyl-to-MP3 devices. The US$150 iTTUSB05 and US$250 iTTUSB10 turntables are the next generation of the iTTUSB first released in 2006, and come with EZ Vinyl Converter software, a new program by MixMeister that quickly converts vinyl tracks directly to iTunes. Other new features include a dust cover to protect the record; built-in pre-amps eliminating the need for an audio receiver with phono-in jack; integrated RCA cables; and 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM playback speeds. Read More

The great newspaper giveaway ... and why the music industry is still brain-dead

By Mike Hanlon

July 1, 2007 We admire people who have the consistent ability to think outside the square and the artist formerly known as Prince has a history of innovation, in not just his music. His latest stroke of business model remodelling genius is priceless because despite being guaranteed massive sales of his next album, he has decided to give the entire album away FREE inside a British Sunday newspaper, severely upsetting the music industry. The industry has only just begun to acknowledge how counter-productive its greed and lack of vision (e.g. suing its customers) has been, so it’s remarkable they cannot see the benefits of this incredibly savvy move. Read More

Pacemaker puts a DJ rig in your pocket

By Tim Hanlon

June 5, 2007 We've seen iPod DJ solutions like the Numark iDJ before, but now the next logical step has arrived. The Pacemaker is a 120 GB portable music player that doubles as a fully functional DJ setup, giving it the somewhat bizarre title of the world's first pocket-sized DJ rig. Read More

AVLabs releases new high-end wireless Bluetooth speakers

By Loz Blain

May 30, 2007 Wires are rubbish - and yet most of us still have great tangles of cords and cables sticking out of the backs of our PCs. This beautiful set of high-end Bluetooth speakers gets rid of one more wire from your rig - and you don't have to have a bluetooth-enabled PC to enjoy their silky wireless tones. Read More

digiwax = DRM-free MP3 + Vinyl

By Tim Hanlon

May 16, 2007 Vinyl records, for all their wonderous qualities, are such impractical things. You have to store them correctly, take care to ensure your turntable isn't destroying them, and even if you have the equipment to rip them to digital formats at high-quality (USB turntables don't count), you're left with a recording of a recording that was mastered specifically for the qualities (and limitations) of the vinyl format. Well aware of the dilemmas facing record collectors with iPods or digital DJ rigs, U.K. based First Word Records have released their first "digiwax" vinyl record, which includes a code allowing purchasers to download DRM-free 320kbit MP3's of the album. Read More

Guitar Hero 2 Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

April 30, 2007 As you might imagine, we're surrounded with technology at the Gizmag office...and we thought we'd learned to do a pretty good job of soldiering on despite all the distractions the wired lifestyle brings. Alas, those times are over now, and we refer to the period as BG (Before Guitar Hero). For the uninitiated, Guitar Hero is rock and roll condensed into a video game, complete with plastic guitar controller and a drummer who always turns up to practice on time (and doesn't hit on your girlfriend). The original Playstation 2 game sold over one million units in its first year, and the sequel sold over 1.3 million units in 2006 - 800,000 in December alone - and it's hooked everyone from the neighbors seven-year-old to members of the prog-rock super-group Tool. Now it's here on the Xbox 360 in crisp 720p resolution with 10 additional tracks - if you've listened to guitar music at all in the last thirty years, read on for the full review, video and track list. Read More

Piano Wizard integrates the video game and piano lesson

By Tim Hanlon

March 3, 2007 - Parents rejoice! Finally a video game that you can give to your kids with no immediate hesitation or eventual regrets. The results of long hours spent in front of the game aren't just honed reflexes and hand-to-eye coordination, but the gift of fluency in the most beautiful and timeless language of all...music. Read More

The UAD-Xpander - Universal Audio's UAD-1 finally goes mobile

By Tim Hanlon

March 3, 2007 - Universal Audio launched the UAD-1 back in January 2004, and it quickly became the DSP system of choice for a staggering amount of music producers. It wasn't the fact the UAD-1 cards took the processing load off the CPU that made the system so essential - it was the Universal Audio plugins, meticulously modelled after vintage compressors and equalisers, that once heard, immediately justify the price tag, and once used in your own mixes, simply cannot be lived without. Obviously tired of seeing so many of their users spending big bucks on a Magma external PCI chassis in order to use their UAD-1 cards on the road, Universal Audio have finally released the UAD-Xpander - an external UAD-1 solution which connects via ExpressCard, the now ubiquitous laptop expansion bus that offers six times the bandwidth of FireWire 400. Read More

Turn your Nintendo DS into an acoustic guitar

By Tim Hanlon

February 6, 2007 While music games have typically been geared towards vicarious rock-stars, and not garnering much interest from those who can already play an instrument as a result, Plato's Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 for the Nintendo DS turns the genre on it's head. Essentially an acoustic guitar simulator, you're obviously not going to be able to belt out the riff for Ironman in its full glory - but if you're looking to further your knowledge of music theory (or show off your real skills on the weirdest acoustic guitar on the planet) this is a great deal more likely to tickle your fancy than games like Guitar Hero. Read More

Turn your Nintendo DS into a wireless MIDI controller

By Tim Hanlon

November 28, 2006 Music on the DS has just taken a giant leap beyond musical games like Electroplankton, thanks to the efforts of German programmer and musician Tob. Previously, using MIDI with the DS required getting geeky with a soldering iron - now the DS's internal WiFi card can be used to wirelessly send/receive MIDI to and from a "server" running on a PC. Read More

Reactable - modular (audio) synthesis for everyone (at once!)

By Tim Hanlon

October 30, 2006 Reactable is a collaborative, tabletop, modular synthesizer developed at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. The team set out to develop an instrument that was intuitive enough for beginners to jump in without a manual, yet deep enough for musicians to use on stage. Ambitiously, they included the ability for multiple users to play the device simultaneously (both in person and remotely). The result just oozes the "I want one" factor, and has to be seen to be believed. The pictures simply cannot do this justice - check out the amazing videos of the device in use. Read More

Ms Pinky gives digital DJ's the tactile feel of vinyl

By Tim Hanlon

October 19, 2006 There's a steadily growing number of digital DJ's out there, and after scouring the resultant mass of dedicated MIDI controllers and digital turntables targeted at the market, we think we've found the sexiest solution yet - especially so for people who already own turntables. The oddly named Ms Pinky's even oddlier named "Interdimensional Wrecked System" claims to be the most realistic virtual vinyl system out there. Read More

Akai's battery-powered, ultra-portable MPC 500

By Tim Hanlon

September 21, 2006 Whether it's the pads, the swing, the workflow, or just the countless hours clocked up with one in a dark room, Akai's 'Music Production Center' (MPC) family holds a special place in the heart of beat makers and samplists the world over. The newest addition to the line up is the battery powered, ultra portable MPC-500. Combined with a microphone and a set of headphones it's a field recording and portable studio setup that fits in a backpack with room to spare - a dream come true for musicians on the go. Read More

Novation ReMOTE SL - the dawn of intelligent MIDI control

By Mike Hanlon

March 2, 2006 Music producers in 2006 truly are spoilt. Apart from gamers, they're the only mob that has a healthy variety of computer input devices available to them. In a sea of competition, Novation's recent release of the ReMOTE SL looks like it has solved the problem of almost an entire market of increasingly inappropriate controllers for complex audio projects. They're calling it the first intelligent MIDI controller - and it's set to improve the workflow of anyone using current digital audio software, and liberate laptop musicians from their mice. Read More

The Gypsy MIDI controller turns the human body into a musical instrument

By Mike Hanlon

January 26, 2006 Dance and music go together. Intuitively, we know they have common elements, and while we cannot even begin to understand what they are or how they so perfectly complement one another, it is clear that both are an expression of something deep and fundamental within all human beings. Both express things that words cannot – beyond intellect, they are perhaps two of the fundamental building blocks of human expression, common to the souls of all people. Which is why when we saw this machine which links the two, we knew there was something special brewing. The GypsyMIDI is a unique instrument for motion-capture midi control – a machine that enables a human being to become a musical instrument - well, a musical instrument controller to be exact, or a bunch of other things depending on your imagination. Most importantly, the entire package is commercially available with extensive customisation features so that you can decide what each movement triggers – a colour, a sound, or perhaps something else again – anything that can be controlled by a digital interface. The set-up and operation is simple, intuitive and quick and the possibilities for performance art and musical applications are … landmark. One arm costs UKP480 (US$855), the whole MIDI suit costs UKP940 (US$1675), and the whole shebang (MIDI Suit, Wireless Interface, Tripod Stand, interface software, Manuals & Videos CD) goes for UKP1240 (US$2210) … that’s the total price for beginning work in a new dimension. Like we said … landmark Read More

KORE Universal Sound Platform offers new ways to work with software instruments

By Mike Hanlon

January 24, 2006 The primary interface for the operation of software instruments both in the studio and on stage is evolving rapidly, and this week’s announcement from computer-based audio production pioneer Native Instruments might well prove to be a significant landmark. KORE, is heralded by Native Instruments as “the world’s first Universal Sound Platform” and was created to unify all the elements of sound production – “one solution that finally makes everything come together.” Native Instruments’s founder Stephan Schmitt believes KORE will be “a significant step forward for musicians and producers in many ways, and that it will make their individual process of creating and performing music much more efficient, convenient and fun.” KORE won’t be available for another three or four months, and there’s not enough information available yet to substantiate those claims, though its release will be watched closely by all performers and producers who work with software instruments and effects. KORE includes a next-generation hardware controller offering hands-on control with what is claimed to be an unprecedented analog feel, finally turning today’s software synthesizers and samplers from applications into true instruments. Read More

Scion unveils the xB mobile DJ vehicle

By Gizmag Team

November 8, 2004

The rise of specialist automobiles for niche markets continues with a showing of the Scion xB DJ vehicle at the SEMA conference in Las Vegas recently. The Scion xB DJ is a concept car packed to the brim with audio/video and navigation equipment from Pioneer Electronics and aimed at the hip and booming dance music crowd. Read More

The Pioneer DVJ-X1 DVD Turntable turns DJs into VJs

By Mike Hanlon

A significant new release in the audio-video market from Pioneer looks set to bring audio and video even closer together, paving the way for a new breed of performer: the DVJ. The mega-powerful Pioneer DVJ-X1 allows synchronised digital audio and video to be manipulated and played back like never before, and equally as significantly, EXACTLY like the old DJ did 'scratching' a vinyl disk. Read More