Just load up greySox String Trio, choose a bit of classical music, and press “play”. The music loads in and plays based on the strokes of the virtual “bow” that is your iPhone or iPod Touch. String Trio uses the motion sensor in your iPhone to detect the angle and length of your strokes, and adjusts the playback of the music accordingly. You can either choose automatic accompaniment (hence the “trio” part of the name), or perform a solo without any backing instruments. The video below should give you a pretty good idea of how it works.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I don’t know about you, but that Beethoven demo track sort of sounded like the theme from Fawlty Towers to me. They really should add that one to the app and they’d sell a lot more copies. For now, you’ll have to settle for one of the over 20 included classical and folks songs bundled with the App. greySox is also offering in-app downloads of two additional 10-track collections, priced at 99 cents each.

String Trio is available now over at the iTunes App Store for $1.99 (USD).

Using the electronic ruler is as simple as using its analog ancestor. Press the power/reset button on the ruler and the LEDs light up, waiting for your input. The wooden cover conceals what the pencil in the image above is touching: a line of metal points jutting out from the inner edge of the ruler. The ruler uses the change in voltage induced by touching one of these points to calculate the distance.

Because of the LEDs and the ruler’s memory, you don’t have to memorize the length or distance of what you’re measuring even if it’s beyond the ruler’s length because the recorded length stays displayed as long as you don’t press the reset button.The ruler can also be set to remember a relative zero point; just touch the point you wish to be recognized as zero as soon as you press the reset button. And if you touch two points while pressing the reset button, the ruler will use the distance between those two points as one unit.

The functions and ease of use of Shafranek’s concept are certainly noteworthy, but I think its the wooden cover that really makes the electronic ruler awesome. I hope someone helps mass produce this. Check out Shafranek’s website for more details.

[via freshome]

The genius of this particular mod (beyond the fact that it’s a guitar) lies in the way the guitar is utilized. Not only does the conversion not affect (much) the guitar’s primary use–you can still play it–but when used as a controller, it operates in much the same way as the actual controller. Press the frets on one, press the frets on the other.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There are plans to expand the project further, as though this isn’t cool enough.

[OpenChord via hackaday]

Seung yi Lee’s Drum Meister lets you use your fingertips to play drum sounds on little tiny pads that look just like their real-world counterparts. The app includes sampled sounds of a variety of snares, cymbals, a tom and a nice kick drum for that extra thump – 10 drums in all, and all on screen at the same time. The drums support multi-touch and you can slide your fingers across multiple drums to quickly play a riff. And since it’s a true polyphonic sampled drum kit, you can pound on ‘em all you want without the sounds cutting off.

One of the coolest things that Drum Meister lets you do is rearrange the position of the drums to suit your personal style and finger positions – plus the positions of the drums actually influences the position of the sounds with a 3D surround effect. It’s really slick if you’re listening through a pair of headphones or plugged into an amplifier.

You can even set one of the cymbals or the kick drum to be activated by a shake of your iPhone. Drum Meister also supports live recording of sessions and comes loaded with a 25 pre-recorded tracks for your enjoyment. No word on any online-sharing of tracks, but hopefully that’ll come in the near future as many iPhone music apps now have this feature.

But enough of my yakkin’. Here’s a video clip of this awesome application in action:

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Drum Meister is available now over at the iTunes App Store for $1.99 (USD), a whole lot cheaper than an actual set of drums – and a whole lot quieter, especially if you play them through headphones.

Smule’s new iPhone app, Ocarina turns your iPhone into a fully-functional musical wind instrument. This amazing little application works very much like the real deal, combining touch, tilt, gestures and human breath to create ethereal sounds which bring out your inner Zelda.

Just place your fingers over four virtual “holes” on the multi-touch screen, and blow into your iPhone’s microphone. What’s really cool about the software is that none of the sounds are pre-generated, rather they’re built in real-time based on your exact gestures and movements.

Check out the performance videos below to see and hear Ocarina in action. First, a solo:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now, a full orchestra of iPhone Ocarinas playing a little Led Zeppelin:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you play, you can share your performances live with other Ocarina users across the globe (and let them rate your musicianship), thanks to Smule’s Sonic Network technology. Smule has even provided a nifty online score generator which makes it easy to play just about any tune you want.

Sound cool? What are you waiting for? You can get Ocarina today over at the iTunes App Store for just 99 cents.

Aria’s Sinsonido series of guitars and basses somewhat resemble “normal” string instruments, but they’ve done away with the bulky wood body and replaced it with a lightweight rubber-coated aluminum frame.

The body can be broken down to fit easily into a carrying bag for transportaion, and the entire guitar weighs in at about 4 pounds. Even though it’s lightweight, the fretboard is built from durable mahogany wood, making it feel much more substantial than it looks.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

A built-in custom stereo condenser microphone picks up the audio and relays it to an internal pre-amp and a headphone jack for portability. Sinsonido guitars and basses can be found over at Adirondack Guitars starting around $400 a piece.

Now all I need is a version that works with Rock Band, and I’ll be all set.

Firestix drum sticks contain internal LED illumination which light up when you first start to bang on your drums with them. As an added bonus, Firestix are made out of durable Lexan, so they’re not likely to snap in two like the cheap wood sticks that ship with the game.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you can see from the video clip, they look really cool when played in a dark room. Firestix are available in both red and blue versions, and you can find them over on Amazon for about $25 a pair.

Created Long Beach, CA textile artist FunkieFresh, the set of handmade covers ties around each of the game’s four drums and helps them keep them down to a dull roar. I’ve seen other solutions to this problem (like some boring adhesive foam discs), but none which were so artfully crafted.

As an added bonus, each pad is crocheted using colors that properly match the original drum hues, so if you’re used to playing by color, not drum position, you’re totally in luck.

You can pick up a full set of Rock Band drum cozies on her Etsy shop for $40.

As a result, the trusty C64 has become a popular platform for “circuit bending”, which is hardware hackers’ terminology for taking old technology, applying circuit modifications to output audio or video effects that the original device wasn’t necessarily designed to produce.

Now you can own your own circuit bent C64, without any electronic know-how. The circuit bending wizards from Bighead Electronics have made this extremely limited edition pre-modded C64, appropriately called the Bent64.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The system comes completely loaded Paul Slocum’s Cynthcart, a custom program which helps the heavily modded Commodore produce a wild cacophony of retro noise as you press keys on the keyboard.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The Bent64 is a ready-to-go electronic musical instrument, capable of cranking out 3-note polyphonic analog sounds, applying effects with a “whammy” tuning knob, and even stereo support if you can wrangle a second sound chip and install it in the provided socket. The Bent64 can even output a psychedelic light show through a composite video output, so you’re ready to rave out of the box.

Oh yeah, it’s still fully functional as a standard C64 with the flip of a switch before you boot up. So you’d better brush up on your Commodore BASIC.

[eBay Auction Page]

Bonus: twelve blinking lights in the headstock controlled by a variable switch in the eyeball!

Now I want to see someone strap this thing on and crush a cover of Shadows of the Night.

Be sure to check Specimen’s website to see their other cool custom guitar, amp and audio horn designs.

[via Make]

The Enrico accordion case mod project took an old squeezebox, gutted it out and loaded it with a Linux server, designed to store the builders’ digital music collection. Thanks to a Micro-ITX motherboard, they were able to cram the entire system inside the instrument without too much complaint.

While I’m hoping they have stored more than Oom-pah music on the RAID drive array, I wouldn’t count on it.

[Wired Gadget Lab via Gizmowatch]

Once folded in two, the keyboard measures in at just 23.3″ (w) x 14.5″ (l), which should fall below the FAA regulation carry-on size, assuming it’s less than about 7-inches thick when it’s in its carrying bag. The Vax 77 weighs in at about 25 pounds, which should make it a bit easier to haul around than other keyboards, which usually weigh around twice as much.

The keyboard features 76 weighted keys and can control any MIDI or USB connected synthesizer module. The keyboard can pass all kinds of detailed data about key presses to a sound module including pressure, attack and release velocity. It even offers what’s considered a holy grail in electronic keyboards, polyphonic aftertouch.

Once released, each Vax 77 will be custom made to order, and buyers can choose from several colors as well as the weighting of your keys. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but the makers of the keyboard hope to keep the price in reach for working musicians, whatever that means.

If they figure out how to fold up a baby grand piano, I’ll buy one.

[via Music Thing]

The new Disklavier Radio system allows the pianos to play live music broadcasts, including accompaniments to streamed, pre-recorded performances. The new digital radio stations will include music across a variety of genres including Broadway, Classical, Country, Great Piano Solos, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Soundtracks and Standards. In addition to playing live streams, many additional tracks can purchased through Yamaha’s new DisklavierMusic Store, and saved directly to the piano for later playback.

The streaming service works with Yamaha’s Disklavier Mark IV pianos, running software version 2.0 or later. It’s available on a subscription basis for $19.95 monthly or $199.50 per year.

[via SlipperyBrick]

The system is made from 3 individual cabinets which can be disassembled in case he wants to taking the show on tour. Gaming is powered by a PlayStation 2, preloaded with all of the Guitar Hero games on the hard drive.

The top cabinet has the left and right speakers as well as a cool backlit GH marquee, while the middle tier houses a heavyweight 27-inch Toshiba CRT.

The bottom cabinet contains a Logitech Z2300 subwoofer for some serious low-end, as well as the PS2 system that powers the whole rig. Rock on with your bad self!

[ArcadeControls via SlashGear via Digg]

I was over on Amazon earlier today and came across this product listing:

Listing a November 20th release date, the $199 “Rock Band Collection” for the Xbox 360 and PS3 looks like it’s a complete set that includes the game and all of the instruments.

If I’m doing my math right, the bundle should save you about $50 bucks, since the unbundled controllers and game add up to about $250. Purchased separately, the wireless guitar and drum kit are each listed at $79.99, the microphone $29.99, and the game $59.99.

While Rock Band isn’t gonna be the cheapest game to get up and running with, it sure looks like a lot of fun.

[Order this item from Amazon]

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Soon, you’ll be able to get your own miniature Theremin to put on your desktop.

Japanese science kit maker Gakken has created this miniature replica of the weird instrument that’s just about 3″ wide by 5″ tall. It runs on batteries and cranks out the same science fiction wails as the original.

For some reason, I can’t get the Star Trek theme out of my head now.

First up, there’s the Mini Drumpad, which features a bunch of percussion sounds as well as rhythm an tempo settings to keep the sounds on beat. Keyboard fans will dig the Mini Keyz and its tiny 8-key interface. Then there’s the Mini Lixx, which plays guitar riffs and chords, and features a unique strumming interface. Finally, there’s the Mini Mixer, which lets you add DJ effects to music from portable music players.

Each of the MiJam Minis retails for about 20 bucks. They can be used as standalone musical instruments, or plugged into your current MP3 player and mixed together to accompany your music.

[via iLounge]