Archive for Musical Instruments

Roll up synthesizer piano saves space

Posted in Musical Instruments, music by Conner Flynn on December 19th, 2007

Roll up synthesizer piano saves space

I’m not proficient at any musical instruments myself, but if I was I would be into this cool roll-up synthesizer. It’s completely flexible with a super compact design for storage and for moving. Which is probably why it looks like a Fax Machine spitting out Piano keys. With 61 standard layout piano keys, 128 different synthesized tones, 100 different rhythms to play with, you won’t get bored. It also has MIDI and Speaker OUT as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.

It might look like just a gadget, but it’s not. All of these features make the portable piano synthesizer comparable to many high end digital pianos. But at a fraction of the price. The fact that it will save you some valuable space, makes it practical, since many of us don’t have room for a large Piano.

The Jay Turser shark guitar

Posted in Musical Instruments, music by Conner Flynn on December 6th, 2007

The Jay Turser shark guitar

You’ve heard of card sharks and loan sharks.(Hopefully you don’t know the latter very well.) How about a Guitar Shark? The Jay Turser Shark Guitar is a fairly unique hand painted shark shaped guitar that would make any amateur want to play. It would even be perfect and maybe way over the top to have a shark guitar if you play your gigs on a beach.

It’s designed for young players of course and includes a strap and gig bag. This shark measures 37-3/4″ in length. A unique instrument like this is a great way to start that future rocker’s career. Years down the road, you’ll be wondering why his songs all seem to all involve fish. The amp is powered by a 9V battery so the guitar can be played anywhere.

“Rock Band” sales strong despite PS3 problems

Posted in Games, Musical Instruments, News, music by Chetz on November 29th, 2007

Rock Band SalesHarmonix and Viacom’s “Rock Band” has made an impression at stores and stood guitar fret-to-fret with Activision’s rival franchise and latest entry “Guitar Hero III”. However we don’t know exactly how well the rhythm game is doing in sales. The only thing we have to go on are the enthusiastic reports on gaming message boards and what a representative of MTV Networks, owners of the game, said that the game has been “flying off the shelves” during the first week of sales.

“Downloads are going great, rockband.com is going great with people logging on and downloading stuff from there,” said Mika Salmi, a rep for MTV’s digital division. “It’s got a lot of legs, we’re in it for the long term.”

The Gibson Les Paul robot guitar

Posted in Musical Instruments, Robots, music by Conner Flynn on November 13th, 2007

Gibson Les Paul robot guitar

Music and robotics have had a strange relationship. I have seen bands with robot singers, robots playing instruments and more. Now Gibson is taking robotics and applying them to the guitar. Thanks to integrated electronics and motorized mechanics, this instrument can automatically tune itself in various configurations.

This is big news for performers. With something like this they only need to carry one guitar with them instead of several differently-tuned instruments. They plan a limited first run, only available in select stores.

Retro Pac-Man guitar for the arcade rocker

Posted in Musical Instruments, Pac Man, music by Conner Flynn on November 8th, 2007

Retro Pac-Man guitar

If you could get your hands on this sweet guitar, you could really jam out a great version of “Pac-Man Fever”. It was designed by Specimen Custom Guitars and it not only looks retro-cool, but it also has some cool features. Like the blinking headstock and a variable-speed knob located on the eyeball that can synchronize the blinker to the beat.

Sadly you or I will never EVER get to touch it as it is one of a kind, but it does make our inner geeks very happy in a dot-munching sort of way. Come to think of it, it looks more like a Pac-Banjo then a guitar, but I still want it.

Spin MP3 tunes with Mini-KP KAOSS PAD

Posted in Korg, Musical Instruments by Nino Marchetti on October 26th, 2007

Korg Mini-KP KAOSS PADThink you have what it takes to spin the tunes at a party? Korg, a manufacturer of musical gear, wants to help you find out with its new portable music mixing device. The Korg Mini-KP KAOSS PAD is priced at around $250.

The Korg Mini-KP KAOSS PAD is a shirt pocket-sized music mixer. It’s battery operated, running for about five hours on AA batteries. You can plug a MP3 player or other audio source into it and “tap or drag your finger on its touch pad to rhythmically affect the music by morphing it with new sounds and effects.”

Yamaha pianos play streaming MIDI radio tunes

Posted in Musical Instruments, Yamaha by Nino Marchetti on October 15th, 2007

Yamaha Disklavier player piano lets you stream music to it and play it livePlayer pianos aren’t the first things you think of when you consider Internet enabled devices. Yamaha is betting you’ll soon consider its Yamaha Disklavier line of pianos though as cutting edge music technology.

The Yamaha Disklavier pianos can now work with a Yamaha service called DisklavierRadio, which lets you stream music directly to the piano for it to play live. This MIDI music is accompanied by specially recorded ensemble parts and lets one choose from a variety of music stations including Broadway, jazz and piano solos. Music can also be downloaded to the piano’s built-in 80GB hard drive for later playback.


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