The “most offensive gear ad ever” continues to generate contoversy, with mattavene weighing in with this comment: “I am offended by this perverted publicity, the perverted inclination of associating something attractive with Decadance, or, seen from the other way, making the idea of Decadance look beautiful.”

We recently wondered why Minneapolis hates Kraftwerk, after the the Minneapolis Star Tribune panned a concert by the German techno pioneers.

georgesdelatour says, “Brian Eno once suggested that critics should be required to list their five favourite albums as a preface to their review. Obviously this reviewer’s list would be Tom Petty, Counting Crows and Bruce Springsteen…”

We thought the Roland C-30 Digital Harpsichord was sort of stupidtacular, because it disguises a digital keyboard as a retro-styled harpsichord. The C-30 fills an important niche, though, and harpsichordists are passionate about it. 

“The craftsmen in Roland have obviously made a very thorough job in reproducing the touch and voice of an acoustic harpsichord to the most minute detail,” writes Heikkiantila. “The things, that really beats me with C-30 are the small details, that simply do not exist in any other digital instruments; the little rustling sound produced by the dampers, when You release the keys, the fact that when combining the different stops, You can actually hear the different sets of strings plucked a few nanoseconds apart (as mentioned by Christof in the previous message), and even the thumping resonance of the soundboard, if You hit the keys too strongly. Boy, I love that instrument!!!!”

We thought it was crazy the US is using the FBI to arrest music bloggers. Aren’t there more important things that the FBI should be doing?

Some disagreed. 

” I can’t believe how many pirated softwares, disc, movies, etc… there is on the net,” comments samplescience.  ”Some people have simply no respect to others people works! Giving back the control to the creators & workers who makes things happens is just the right thing to do.”

Tim Davilla was impressed by the awesome DJ Mobile saying that it’s “ugly, but i bet it makes your block shake!” 

And thanks to Slainte for offering up the first comment on The Complete Guide To MIDI Bagpipes; Covering Practice Pipes, Robotic Bagpipers & The Frankenpipe. “Thanks for this presentation. I’ve been wavering between electronic pipes and a set of good, old-fashioned practice pipes. I think I’ll go with the non-electronic version, but the MIDI pipes are certainly interesting.” 

If you’re not following the Synthtopia comments, you’re only getting half the story! Check the right-hand side of the page when you visit to see the most recent comments.

If you’re an uber-geek, you can even subscribe to comments using a feed reader, like Google Reader. Here’s the URL:

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DJ Spock is in the house.

I know – this is pretty insanely stupid.

But you know what? It made me blow coffee out of my nose just the same.

Enjoy.

Here’s another source, if the YouTube embed doesn’t work for you:

via Mookie

Check out this preview for Made In Queens, a new documentary directed by Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens, that looks at the frankenbike sound systems of Queens, NY.

Doesn’t this film look insanely fun?

via apc

Jason Bradbury does “Caterpillar Breakdance” on the streets of London.

If this isn’t stupidtacular, I just don’t know what is.

Modd3d decided to add MIDI control to his microwave. You can see the results above.

This could come in handy at gigs. Right before you take a break, you could heat up some snacks and maybe makes some blender drinks with a few discreet notes on your MIDI keyboard, and have fresh drinks and snacks ready for you!

Note: Cooking a corn dog in a microwave can lead to crappy corn dogs with gooey crusts that, nonetheless, burn the back of your throat all the way down to your stomach.

“Mostly I was testing out my new Midify board and wanted to see if you could use it to control home appliances,” says Modd3d. “It turns out you can.”

Give you some ideas? If you want to find out how to do this to your own stuff, check out http://www.division-6.com.

xelent’s Tape Delay Machine uses two Walkman type tape players, a Realistic Stereo Mate and a Memorex XB, to create a tape delay. It’s Frippertronics on the cheap!

A single tape loop runs through two modified cassettes (each which have had one of their left or right sides removed). The players themselves have had there walls (the two in the center, respectively) filed down, so the tape runs fluently.

The tape (which moves counter-clockwise) travels through the left player (Realistic) where its internal microphone records sound, and then travels to the Memorex which plays back the sound about 3 seconds later.

I’ve been getting some criticism lately for calling things stupidtacular.

Some things, like programming Chuck E Cheese robots to sing Miss New Booty, or a $1,000 iPod dock, are just awesomely stupid.

Tesla coil music may fall into the same category.

Joe DiPrima and Oliver Greaves of ArcAttack use “a unique DJ set up of their own creation (an HVDJ set up) to generate an ‘electrifying’ audio visual performance. The HVDJ pumps music through a PA System while two specially designed DRSSTC’s (Dual-Resonant Solid State Tesla Coils) act as separate synchronized instruments.”

These high tech machines produce an electrical arc similar to a continuous lightning bolt which puts out a crisply distorted square wave sound reminiscent of the early days of synthesizers.

Singing Tesla Coil – Bach’s Invention No. 6

Spectacular? Stupid? Or stupidtacular?

Let me know what you think!

This is sort of stupidtacular – Roland has introduced the C-30 Digital Harpsichord. It’s also a sign that the technology is getting cheap and good enough to be irrelevant for a lot of types of instruments, so packaging starts making more of a difference.

Description:

Roland’s “click action” F-scale keyboard provides an authentic harpsichord feel, while two different types of unique harpsichord modes give you an expansive selection of sounds including French-type and Flemish-type harpsichord. Each mode has four stop variations: 8′1, (back), 8′11 (front), 4′, and Lute.

In addition, Roland has added totally new sounds with the “Dynamic Harpsichord”, which can be played with dynamics and with a damper pedal. It also features two positive small-pipe organ sounds and the sound of the early fortepiano.

Available tuning options include baroque pitch (415Hz) and Versailles pitch (392Hz), which can be switched instantly without changing the temperament (classical tuning). A total of five tunings are supported. In addition to equal temperament including: Werckmeister, Kirnberger, Vallotti, and Meantone.

It’s possible to adjust the sound to achieve a proper balance when playing in an ensemble with violin, modern flute, or other comparatively loud instruments. On the other hand, if you want to practice at home late at night, you can turn the volume down. You can also practice using headphones.

The C-30 can be split up into unit and stand. You can easily transport the unit (25 kg) and stand (13 kg) in an ordinary car.

The C-30’s unique keyboard lid and side panels can be customized with a variety of patterns including paintings, and stained-glass inspired artwork.

This is sort of stupidtacular, but at least it can handle the Prodigy.

Here’s how it works:

A hard drive voice coil circuit is hacked to allow it to be directly connected to a stereo output. This allows audio to move the hard drive read write head. Mirrors are positioned on the center of the platter and hinged on the side to allow a way for the laser to be moved in two axis. The read write head is connected to the hinged mirror so that they move together. And finally a laser is mounted to the hard drive pointing at the hinged mirror. Crank up the tunes and have fun!

Check out their cover of Ms. New Booty:

Here’s a little background on what goes into these stupidtacular animatronic shows:

Shanling’s $995 iPod dock/CD Player/Tuner & tube power amp may be stupidtacular, but check out the tubes on the thing!

Here are the details:

The Shanling MC-30 Music Center is a brushed aluminum CD player and tuner with 3 watts per channel, single ended tube amplifier section, fully remote controlled with a built in iPod docking station.

Features:

• The top caps of the front pair of feet are in fact, an input selector and a volume control.
• Combining high quality CD player, tuner, dedicated iPOD input and tube power amplifier in one chassis.
• Philips VAM-12 pick-up mechanism coupled with CD-7II servo system for low jitter tracking
• D/A conversion is accomplished by Burr-Brown PCM1738 DAC chip
• High-quality FM/AM tuning system
• 2×6P1 single-ended tube output stage
• Mini multi-functional lever, concealed input selector and volume control
• All aluminum chassis with cylindrical support and internal screening