Finally, something this week for our Windows readers (lest you think my PC was eaten by a Tiger): the bargain-basement guitar amp software continues this week with GXStack, which includes 6 amp models with reverb, delay, and timbral controls for an intro price of US$39.99. The sound samples sound terrific and they promise it’s easy […]

Based on the spec list for GURU, due at the end of May, it sounds like the folks at FXpansion may have heard our drum machine wish list: Integrated, advanced step sequencer Automatically (or manually) slice and map audio to extract kick, snare, hat, etc. out of audio Full audio (WAV/AIFF/REX) and MIDI loop import […]

All work and no play makes Pro Tools a very dull boy. Digidesign appears to be wooing musicians who want some creative toys with new bundles and a new instrument and, while it wouldn’t sway me to Pro Tools from another system, there are some nice tools for current users. LE/M-Powered Users: Digi’s new bundles […]

Using piezo-electric sensors or specialized drum pads, you can turn acoustic drums into triggers, then convert that signal to MIDI. But why stop there, when your legs are just waiting to be slapped? To use your legs as a trigger, you’ll want a fairly sensitive sensor — standard drum triggers would require you to hit […]

The folks at Elektron have some incredible pattern-based synths/percussion generators (see full product line), if you can afford them (US$1350-1950 list). They’re working on a new Machinedrum, the SPS-1. It’s not a true sampler, but you can load samples onto it via MIDI and soon USB, so as the creators put it “finally you can […]

Details have leaked out about a prototype Numark DJ mixer that can mix two iPods. I know what you're thinking: Wow, what a scoop! Where are the lawyers? Is it a fake? In fact, in a gesture of spectacularly poor industrial secrecy, it seems Numark showed off an early prototype at the Musikmesse show in […]

Okay, hard-core DJs disappointed by Numark's new iPod DJ prototype: Numark isn't just about Pod-weilding newbies. They've got the tricked-out mixer for the die-hard in you, too. The new 5000FX, also shown at Musikmesse, is an analog-digital hybrid: 5-channel analog mixing meets digital effects and sampling: 35-second sampler Trigger, loop, pitch-bend, crossfade, reverse your sounds […]

What could you do with Numark's prototype iPod mixer, if it were actually built? (photo nabbed by German site WebBeatz) Here are some ideas: Charge and load: With dock connectors, you could power your iPod through the night Sample, scratch: Numark's use of short-length samplers (as on the shipping 5000FX) will demand new chops for […]

Straight from the files of "Looks-like-an-April-Fool's-but-it's-real": From owlProject: The Log1k and iLog are instruments built from logs. (via near near future) The Log1k is a log with a gearbox motor that spins wooden disks to produce rhythmic noises, complete with "touch-sensitive switches" — wait, as opposed to non touch-sensitive switches? Don't forget the flat panel […]

Off-topic, but this is just too cool to pass up — and there's a CDM tie-in, too. Regular reader Cris 'Atariboy,' the musician/graphic designer who did the UI for music software like Rax, Zebra, and Bidule, has been busy. Via plasq, the folks who brought us the Musolomo live sampler instrument, comes Comic Life, a […]