Tag: Music

You expect to see robots in Japan, but nowadays even their street performers are animatronic. Now, someone in Osaka has developed his own life-size singing Ray Charles robot. He may have Georgia on his mind, but this Ray lives in Japan.

If you like to make your own music and prefer to use synthesizers over analog musical instruments, you will probably be familiar with the name Korg. The company has announced that it has added a pair of the synthesizers to its Kaoss family.

The violin just got an upgrade, but in all the wrong places. Alex Sobolev’s Triolin is basically three violins in one, and while it might seem like a novel albeit unusual idea to modify the classical string instrument, I don’t think violinists will agree.

Sometimes, songs can speak to you in ways that no mere words ever could. Whether you’re happy, sad, melancholic, in love, or broken-hearted, chances are you’ll find a someone who’s already singing a song about it.

…if you know how to play the piano or any other chordophone you might be thinking, “All keyboards are pressure sensitive!” Which is true: the harder you strike a key on a piano, the louder the sound it makes.

The traditional drum set is one of the least portable musical instruments, which is why beginners are usually left with practice pads while their bandmates are out wooing tone deaf chicks just by showing up with a guitar and unwashed clothes.

There are many products which have been sold as a “party in a box,” but I’ve never heard the term applied to a music player. This audio player is named thusly because it’s completely self-contained, and aims to be the life of your next party – hopefully waking up your neighbors very late at night.

Speakers now come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so it’s quite a feat when someone announces that they’ve developed a speaker that no one else has thought to make before (except maybe these guys).

Early demos of the much-awaited Leap motion sensor mostly showed how it can be used to control graphics programs, browsers and video games. But the motion sensor can also be used to make an audio program, as shown by software developer Adam Somers with his AirHarp demo.

Rumors were circulating earlier this week that Amazon was set to launch a new service called AutoRip. According to those rumors, the service would provide users with digital versions of tracks on physical CD albums that they purchase and no additional cost.

How much money have you put into your band? There is the cost of the instruments, amps and other stage gear for one thing. Might as well spend just a little more and rock out while picking with a coin.

I’ve actually been in a couple of ice hotels, and I know that the frozen stuff is a very interesting material, but I’ve never heard anyone using ice to make a record. This frozen 7-inch promotional record was released by indie band Shout Out Louds.

Tesla coils are one of scientists’ go to tool for making science appealing to kids. As if producing your own lightning wasn’t enough, tesla coils can also be used to produce music by pulsing its sparks at appropriate frequencies.

Tinkerers looking for a way to make their old speakers play nice with Apple’s AirPlay technology can now do so on the cheap, thanks to the Raspberry Pi, a neat hack made by Cambridge Engineering student Jordan Burgess and some free software.

Even though wireless speakers have come a long way, there’s still a need for audio docks. I’m guessing that this spherical dock from Samsung will most likely be announced at CES 2013. It’s already been spotted for sale on Amazon Germany.

A few months ago we saw how a smart guy figured out how to make small 3D printed records that could be played on a toy turntable. Instructables employee Amanda Ghassaei has trumped that hack: she figured out how to 3D printed records that can be played on any turntable, just like an ordinary vinyl record.