Here’s one for the benders & DIY’rs: Highly Liquid is offering MIDISpeak Module – Version 2, a talking toy MIDI retrofit for the Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math. Features: Adds a standard MIDI IN port to your Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math. Non-English versions also… Read More Add MIDI to a Speak and Spell
Babes, guns and MP3s appear to be a winning combination for British audiobook publisher AudioBooksForFree. They are using “a winning trio of Russian glamour models” to market their unusual AK-MP3, a portable MP3 player build into the ammunition clip of a Kalashnikov automatic rifle. According to ex-rock-star-turn-advertising-tycoon Andrey Koltakov, “100 top Russian models competed in… Read More Guns, Babes, MP3s
Start the new year off right with a visit to ZProd, the home of electronic artist Paul Granjon. Granjon creates unique machines, some of which are part robot, part musical instrument, and part performance art. Techno Inferno is a miniature electro-mechanical drum machine that produces a 3-minute long techno track. A streaming film demonstrates how… Read More Robot Skull Techno Drum Machine
UK readers – ever wonder why music gear costs so much? One reason may be all the people that play Stairway to Heaven, La Grange and (keyboardists) the Lucky Man synth solo when they go to music stores. According to the BBC, music stores in the UK have to pay a fee to cover for… Read More The Real Reason Gear Cost So Much in the UK – Smoke on the Water?
The Eowave Persephone is a ribbon-controlled analog instrument that recalls the first electric keyboards from the 1950s. Its ribbon virtual keyboard allows the kinds of glissando a Theremin or les Ondes Martenot would allow. The Persephone sound, created by a 100 % analog oscillator, is also inspired from these instruments and oscillates from human voices… Read More Eowave Persephone Ribbon-Controlled Electronic Instrument
ElectroKraft has introduced the Sonar*Axe, an “experimental sci-fi MIDI controller using a sonar sensor to detect hand position (generating notes), and a photocell to generate changes in note octave.” The Sonar*Axe can be used to control any MIDI-compatible device. ElectroKraft specializes in machines “designed to alter, change and morph the standard canned sounds of any… Read More ElectroKraft Intros Sonar*Axe Sci-Fi Instrument
Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer Space site has added a new synth DIY project, the Weird Sound Generator. As Wilson describes it, “Whether you need weird sounds for a movie, performance art, neighbor annoyance, or you just like making weird sounds in the woods this circuit is for you. You could put this on a… Read More Music From Outer Space Weird Sound Generator.
iPods seem to be showing up everywhere, but this seems to be a first. Not the half-naked guy playing air-guitar, but underwear for music fans. Play Underwear has introduced the iBoxer – iPod-ready underwear. The Play iBoxer is a cotton/spandex blend button fly boxer, with a discreet front pocket which is perfect for holding an… Read More iPod Boxers Fill Your Pants with Music
An updated version of Nanoloop has been announced, version 1.3. Nanoloop is a cartridge for Game Boys that lets them be used for creating sequenced music. Nanoloop 2.0 is available, but “some users miss the unique rough sound of the old Game Boy models and the simplicity of the old nanoloop versions.” To meet the… Read More New Version of Classic Nanoloop Game Boy Sequencer Introduced
Yamaha has announced a recall of its S90 ES Synthesizer. The synthesizer may “emit loud white noise when turned off and turned on again under high temperature conditions, which could possibly damage a consumer’s hearing.” While some manufacturers might consider painful noise emissions a feature, Yamaha is recalling the $2,599 instruments. Yamaha will arrange for… Read More Yamaha Recalls Synth – May Emit Dangerously Painful Noises
