While there are plenty of dedicated music-making apps for the iPad, the Akai MPC Fly Pad Controller for iPad 2 is an interesting addition to any musician’s arsenal, since it adds tactile pads, while taking advantage of the iPad 2′s powerful brains. It’s especially cool if you want to you to create music on the go.

The controller/case features a double hinge which docks with the iPad, allowing it to sit upright, lie flat, or close – clamshell-style, protecting your iPad for travel.

It features 16 MPC pads and works with the accompanying MPC app, which has a 4-track mixer that comes preloaded with samples and drums. It allows for sampling and composing with sounds using the iPad’s mike, line-in, or from your iTunes library. The app even allows for Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud sharing. Users will also be able to export tracks onto their computers.

The controller is also compatible with pretty much any Core MIDI app, and acts as a charging dock for your iPad when plugged in. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability, but I’m hopeful it will be reasonably priced.

The TabStrummer uses an Atmel microcontroller, a MIDI output and an audio-out jack. The 12 memory buttons can be programmed with any chord/tab that can be played on a 12 fret guitar, and all the buttons can be programmed into any of the 300 memory SONG locations of TabStrummer’s internal memory. To listen to the TabStrummer, you can use headphones or connect it to your sound system or TV.

Geeky musicians would certainly love to get their hands on this instrument. To hear the TabStrummer in action, check out the video below. It sounds pleasant enough.

[via Hack-a-Day via Geeky-Gadgets]

The QuNeo is a multitouch controller, designed by Keith McMillen Instruments, who has been a pioneer in the electronic music world for over 30 years, so this isn’t just some fly-by-night project either. The controller is loaded with input methods, including 16 square pads, 2 rotary sensors, 9 sliders, and 17 switches. But the really cool thing is that the pads are capable of sensing velocity and position of your fingertips. The square triggers sense 127 levels of velocity, X/Y location, and pressure. Each rotary sensor can detect angle, pressure and distance from its center. The sliders support multitouch, so you can set a bottom and top range. This means that each input trigger can provide an insane amount of nuance and creative control.

Underneath the pads are 251 individual multi-color LEDs, which can provide visual feedback as you play. It’s compatible with MIDI, USB and OSC protocols, and can be used with popular music software like Ableton Live. Plus, there’s an open source SDK for the QuNeo, so you can use its sensor date to control just about anything you want – heck, you could even use it as a game or a robotics controller if you’re clever with software development.

Another cool thing is that they designed it to be the same dimensions as an iPad 2, so many iPad stands and mounts work to hold it. And while you might wonder if you could do the same thing on the screen on an iPad itself, there’s still nothing better than actual tactile feedback when playing an instrument. Just like typing on a touchscreen, playing music on one isn’t the most natural thing to do.

The QuNeo is currently raising funds over on Kickstarter to ramp up production, and has already blown through its initial $15,000 goal by over 400%. So it’s definitely being funded. A pledge of $200(USD) will get you one of the first QuNeo controllers, and $240 will get you a QuNeo along with a MIDI expander box if you need to connect it to 5-pin MIDI DIN inputs.

The MIDI-Moov is a new device from TangibleFX. Currently in the prototyping stages, it’s a small box you can attach to your body or musical instrument to detect motions and use them to control effects. The wireless device acts as a full MIDI controller, allowing you to attach an effect to each X, Y and Z axes of movement. So for instance, leaning forward or backwards could trigger an increase or decrease in the intensity of an effect or sound. The transmitter would then send these signals directly to a remote computer running software like Logic Pro, Cubase or Ableton Live to manipulate sounds in real time. Here’s a demo video of the current prototype in action:

Currently, the guys at TangibleFX are in the early stages of fundraising over on IndieGoGo for production of the MIDI-Moov, but haven’t really nailed down retail pricing for the gadget at this point. A $500 contribution will get you a handmade beta unit, but that seems like a whole lot of coin – especially on a musician’s budget. Still, the idea is cool, and I hope they figure out a way to get the costs down or to apply the same idea to an iOS or Android app at some point.

Fortunately, this isn’t an arcade controller, but a MIDI sequencer controller built with 64 arcade buttons. The controller was built by Travis Chen of Aristomatic, and features authentic HAPP arcade buttons set into a wooden cabinet, along with the circuitry needed to use it as a MIDI controller for music applications.

It’ll also work as a drop-in replacement for a Monome controller, and ships with a Max/Msp patch which lets the MIDI messages work with Monome’s OSC protocol.

The individual buttons offer bright green LED backlighting which illuminate when sequences are played, as shown in the video below:

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If you’re into electronic music and classic arcade games, you should definitely check out this controller over on Aristomatic’s Etsy shop, where you can buy one for $425 (USD).

The hats themselves are made from wool felt embedded with steel wool to create pressure sensors. These in turn allow the manipulation of sound. The hats use a Lilypad Arduino that was programmed with MAX/MSP software to use them as MIDI controllers. The funny, colorful balls control volume and speed. The LEDs were added mainly for theatrical reasons. Once they are illuminated, it means that the hat is ready to play.

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Watching this made me smile, even though the whole idea seems completely silly.

[Fashioning Tech via DVice]

Pro Mode allows you to actually play the tunes on real strings, which is really cool. The YouRock Guitar can already control five button music games like Guitar Hero and older Rock Band Versions. The needed firmware for Pro Mode support is 1.2, which can be downloaded now.

Players will also need the Mad Cats Rock Band 3 MIDI-Pro Adapter and a standard 5-pin MIDI cable. The new firmware retains all the other features of the YouRock Guitar like integrated sounds and more.

Developed by CreateDigitalMusic and Reflex, the open-source MeeBlip comes in kit form, but since all the parts are pre-soldered onto the board, it only takes a few minutes to assemble. Once put together, you can connect it to a MIDI keyboard or other controller, and crank out bleeps, beeps and beats.

The synthesizer is digital and supports virtual analog modeling too. But it is monophonic, meaning you can only play one note at a time. While that might be a limitation for using it as a stand-alone instrument, you certainly can create some interesting sounds for use in backing tracks and basslines if you’re creative. And the guys have open sourced the entire thing, so you’re encouraged to rip it apart, make modifications, and even release your own version if you want (assuming you give credit to the original project, of course).

Here are a couple of demo clips produced with the MeeBlip:

From those sounds, if DEVO is working on a new album, they might want to pick up a few of these for the studio. If you’re interested in grabbing a MeeBlip for yourself, head on over to their website where you can order one for $129 (USD). Full specs can be found here.

Under the hood, the Kitara is a powerful polyphonic synthesizer, controlled by a multitouch screen that can be used for multiple types of interactions with the instrument. The 8-inch screen and fret buttons act as a controller for the on-board synth.

The embedded electric guitar software lets you either “pluck” strings by touching them, or strum multiple strings just like a real guitar. But you can assign just about any sound you’d like to the strings. Individual strings can have unique sounds attached, and there are over 100 built-in sounds to start with. You can also use the Kitara as a MIDI controller for an external synth of your choice.

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As you can see from the video clip, you don’t have to use strings either. You can use X/Y movements on screen to influence individual sounds and effects, adding to the creative performance possibilities of the instrument.

While you can certainly pull off some similar things with some of the iPad apps out there, the fact that the Kitara comes wrapped in a guitar body, and offers tactile frets, it seems like a much more guitar-like playing experience to me. Heck, I’d probably drop my iPad if I tried to strum it.

The standard, molded black ABS polymer Kitara will sell for $849 (USD), while the solid-aluminum limited-edition sells for $2499. You can find much more about the Kitara over at the Misa Digital website, and you can pre-order one here.

[via Gadget Review]

Just plug in your instrument via the built-in USB cable, and the game will recognize it as a Pro instrument. The best part? The adapter sells for just about $40 (USD). As of this writing only the PS3 version is available at Amazon, but the Xbox 360 and Wii versions are incoming.

[via GameFront via OhGizmo!]

Spruce Deuce gets his rhythm by using a set of arm and wrist servos, controlled by a Highly Liquid MD24 MIDI servo controller.

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While he doesn’t rock out like, say, this guy, the robot drummer is still pretty impressive in my book. Perhaps he should get together and do a concert with Toyota’s robot trumpet player and robot violin player.

[via Synthopia]

The faderTouch 3.0 isn’t just your run-of-the-mill sequencer. Nope, the unique portable device features an innovative rear-projection system that allows not only VJ, but his audience to watch the on-screen action. By installing a bright projector inside a briefcase, and aiming it at an angular projection screen, the display can be viewed from either side.

In addition to the projector, the screen has an infrared touch panel overlay which allows him to interact with his custom performance interface which was programmed using Processing, and acts as a MIDI controller for Ableton Live. Here’s a couple of videos showing off the system in action:

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And if you check out the next clip, you can see the faderTouch being used in a live performance at the recent Wham Bam Thank You NAMM show- very cool indeed.

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Like what you saw and heard? You can check out a whole bunch of VJ Fader’s performances over on his YouTube page.

What is it exactly? The Misa Digital Guitar is a pressure-sensitive touchscreen MIDI controller that’s been built into a guitar body.

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No word on pricing for the Misa, but if you’re interested in buying one, you can contact them here.

[via Make:]

That’s what synth hacker Denkitribe did when he rewired an old Famicom/NES Power Glove to control an Arduino-based controller circuit. The Arduino translates finger movements into MIDI CC messages, which in turn control a digital synthesizer. Want to hear what it sounds like? Then check out this video clip…

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The initial prototype still uses the old-school ultrasonic microphone sensors from the original Power Glove, but Denkitribe plans on eventually upgrading the glove to use modern accelerometer technology. But once he does that, I doubt he’ll be able to play any more Super Glove Ball or Bad Street Brawler anymore. Oh, the things we do in the name of hacking.

Tom Hobson taps his feet, but now, thanks to the magic of an Arduino controller, he can do it with honest-to-goodness drum sounds. From a distance, this seems awesome. If I was in the same room… well, I’m not, so everybody wins.

Friendly and helpful fellow that he is, Tom wants you to be able to rock out at all times, too, so there’s a helpful how-to on his site. Go forth, tappers, and make your own Beat Sneaks. But check out this video first.

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[Beat Sneaks via MAKE]

AudioCubes are designed to be played in live performances, and let you control sounds by manipulating the position, angles and relationships between the palm-sized cubes.

Not to be confused with gadget shop with the same name, Percussa’s AudioCubes are actually cubes. Designed as a reinvention of other devices like trigger pads, knobs, and other sound manipulation controllers, these colorful little boxes can actually pass a ton of control information to your computer or other MIDI device.

Each 3-inch cube uses infrared sensors to both influence its own sounds and to transmit data wirelessly between each other. While you can make music with just one cube, to 100 cubes can work in harmony if you really want to go crazy.

The cubes ship with a collection of software from Percussa that makes it easy to use them as MIDI controllers, and to control VST plug-ins, letting you use them with popular digital audio workstations like Abelton Live and Steinberg Cubase.

And if you’re interested in going off the beaten path, each AudioCube actually has it’s own sound generator built-in, which lets you connect them directly to a mixer, and push out some truly odd machine-generated sounds.

This introductory video gives you a really good idea of how these little guys work:

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Or if you just want to cut past the mind-numbing instructional video and see and hear the cubes in action:

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Prices for AudioCubes start at €219 (appx. $299 USD), but there are substantial discounts for purchasing multiples. You can find info more over at the Percussa shop.

[via Core77 via The Awesomer]

For starters, there’s the nanoKEY, which offers a 25-key velocity-sensitive piano keyboard, that can control your music creation software. There’s even the ability to quickly switch between octaves, so you can access the entire range of a full-size keyboard if you want.

Next up is the nanoPAD, which is great for playing digital percussion or other sound effects. The nanoPAD has a dozen trigger pads, each of which can send up to eight notes or MIDI control messages. There’s also an X/Y touchpad which can use for pitch-bending or other MIDI control messages. You can even set up individual pads to trigger chords.

Last, but certainly not least is the nanoKONTROL, which lets you easily control your mixing board software, providing 9 faders, 9 knobs, 18 switches, playback and recording controls.

The entire Nano series is available over at ProSound and Stage Lighting, with the nanoKEY selling for $49.99 (USD), and the nanoPAD and nanoKONTROL retailing for $59.99.

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If you have any interest in electronic music, you owe it to yourself to check out these mini-marvels.

Airheads work as a standard MIDI controller, you can connect them to most synthesizers or even a drum machine, so you can play some serious air drums. (Assuming you don’t mind gesticulating wildly when you’re playing your tunes.)

Each Airheads controller uses an array of LEDs paired up with infrared sensors to work its auditory magic.

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A starter kit (soldering and assembly required), including a single Airheads controller and all necessary parts and cables is available from MakerSHED for $99.95 (USD). You can check out more videos of Airheads in action over on Flickr.

Modder subatomicglue’s MidiboxSID may have started life as a C64, but now it’s nearly unrecognizable thanks to a serious synth rehab. I especially love the backlit reddish-orange potentiometers and LED illumination throughout the box, making this retro synth perfect for cranking out beeps and blips out in a darkened nightclub or concert gig.

This isn’t any old stock C64 either. Subatomicglue embedded 8 SID chips under the covers of this puppy, which lets it generate 4 stereo pairs of sound, and 4 synthesizer “voices” at the same time. The controls expose plenty of flexibility to tune and tweak every nuance of the system’s 8-bit chip sounds, and of course, it can be MIDI controlled for sequencing purposes.

The cool thing is that the specs for building Midibox SID are available for anyone cares to make one for themselves. As a matter of fact, the one featured in this article is based on a reference design by Midibox SID originator “TK” (Thorsten Klose). Here’s a video of TK’s original in action.

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Check out the full worklog to see how it all came together, and learn about building your own C64 Midibox here.

The Tonal Plexus series of keyboards is a micro-tonal input device featuring rows and rows of buttons which generate tones with far more precision than an 88-key piano can handle.

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Created by H-Pi Intstruments, the Tonal Plexus comes in variants from a compact 2-octave, 422 key controller, all the way up to a gigantic 8-octave keyboard with a whopping 1688 keys.

The keyboard layout is based on a traditional piano keyboard pattern of 7 white and 5 black keys, but each key gets a bunch of additional variants, including 7 naturals, 7 sharps, 7 flats, 7 double-sharps, 7 double flats, 6 triple-sharps and 6 triple-flats.

In case you’re keeping count, that’s 211 unique keys per octave. For some reason, I don’t think that you’ll ever run out of notes on this keyboard.

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Prices range from about $1300 to $3800, depending on the number of keys and whether or not you choose to include the optional synthesizer/amplifier module, or you just need a MIDI controller. You can check out the complete catalog here.

[via DeviantSynth]