If you have to ask, you probably don’t need it. But if you’re a hardcore audio engineer, odds are you already love SpectraFoo for its insanely powerful metering and analysis options. And you may still be booting an old PowerBook into Mac OS 9 just to run it, because SpectraFoo — until last week — […]

Here’s a truly “retro” device from the folks at Moog — the PianoBar is a device that retrofits your acoustic piano as a MIDI instrument, without the nasty installation process that usually entails. The device is actually the brainchild of synth legend Don Buchla, not Bob Moog as you might assume. The design is relatively […]

Hey kids, know what time it is? It’s Moog time — and that means it’s time to put tacky, geeky wall clocks with glowing blue neon on your wall. Truly kitschy enough that I might be willing to part with US$219. Moog Music Wall Clock Check out the Moogwear section of the site for still […]

Nintendo has done it again with its wireless control for the upcoming Revolution console: it’s a design that’s different, exciting, and, well, potentially confusing at the same time. I’ll steer clear of what this means for gaming, but it does show some clear promise as a glimpse of the future of digital musical instruments: Wireless: […]

Pointing and hand gestures: they’re powerful means of interracting, and make sense for music. The only problem is having to be tied to a desk in a performance, as with a mouse. Nintendo’s upcoming controller shows promise for what interractions could be like in the not-too-distant future (if other tech companies follow their lead). But […]

Software alone is a painful way to VJ, without something to trigger and control clips and effects. Livid’s Tactic hardware had the right idea, with buttons for clips, faders and knobs for layering and effects, and even a built-in LCD — plus a lovely polished-wood case. (No cheap plastic here.) But it also had a […]

“For me, it’s like a music video,” says Holly. “What I do has more to do with go-go dancing than a DJ. I am the video equivalent of a go-go dancer.” My story on NYC VJ Holly Daggers (of Eyewash fame) is now available online from Keyboard Magazine: VJ Holly Daggers: Go-Go Music Videos Go […]

Let’s talk about vintage keys. No, not Minimoogs and Roland Junos. I mean really vintage keys: 17th and 18th Century clavichords. Assuming you don’t work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, why not turn to our friends at Post Musical Instruments (PMI) for some sample libraries: PMI Clavichords (New from PMI; US$55) PMI Historic Keyboards […]

While on the subject of Post Musical Instruments and Post Pianos, here’s a glimpse of Post’s custom Post Piano, a piano-computer hybrid. Now pretty much anyone can prop a Tablet PC on their keyboard controller and go to town with samples, and Michel Post admits to CDM that “the PostPiano was never a commercial success, […]

Music thing gets the scoop on a particularly interesting eBay find. Remember the giant piano keyboard from the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big? Now that the movie has been made into a musical, it’s given blokes in the UK an excuse to build their own giant keyboard. Despite the Music thing mention, the eBay auction […]