music toys

Steppers are an interesting music controller designed for 5-year olds:

As a group, we hoped to make a toy that not only encouraged physical activity, but that also acted a clear and direct musical interface.

Steppers transform walking, dancing, running, and jumping into a unique and dynamic activity, allowing the user to express themselves audibly through their movements.

The shoes contain force sensors, which communicate with a MAX/MSP program.

Here’s video of the Steppers in use:

Miniorgan is a fun site that features cool vintage music toys, mostly of the 70’s and 80’s.

First videos of the Chimera Synthesis BC16 miniature synth in action.

The bC16 miniature patch synthesizer wraps up a VCO, LFO, 24dB VCF, VCA, envelope generator, noise source, ring modulator and headphone amplifier all in a round, white acrylic housing the same diameter as compact disc.

Powered by six AAA batteries, the bC16 can be used on it’s own, with the in-built MIDI converter, driven from the SM16 (sequencer) or attached to other bC16’s.

Note, there have been complaints about this company not being able to deliver the synths, so buyer beware.

Chimera BC16 Demo Part 2

Chimera BC16 Demo Part 3

Chimera BC16 Demo Part 4

Wired.com has a review of the Tonium Pacemaker Portable DJ Machine, and decides it’s cool, but an expensive toy:

The Tonium Pacemaker may be modeled after the idiot-proof iPod, but taking advantage of all the features on the Pacemaker requires an inordinate amount of button pushing. Fiddling around with it while sober requires a certain amount of dexterity — it’s easy to tap the wrong track. Tough to imagine trying to queue up and mix in bar lighting after a few drinks.

Ultimately, it’s a cool toy to play around with but not exactly the life of the party.

WIRED Beautifully engineered; looks like the gorgeous byproduct of a mind-meld between Jonathan Ive and Walter de’Silva. 120 GB memory. Battery holds enough juice for five hours of mix-and-play time.

TIRED Doesn’t act like an iPod. Complicated menu and mixing options make the device not very a practical instrument. $800 could buy you a round-trip ticket to Spain, Berlin or some other hotbed of electronic music.

Have you given the Pacemaker a spin yet? If so, let me know what you think in the comments.

Dreamtargets has posted an iPhone 808 image at Flickr.

Real? Fake? Photoshop? Just a picture on his iPhone?

Let me know what you think!

Full size image here.