Music

Digital modeling of vintage guitar amps has been getting better and better over the years, but there are folks who swear that the tone emulations just don't sound authentic. Research out of Finland's Aalto University suggests otherwise.

Back in 2014, guitarist Andy Alt launched a Kickstarter for an electric guitar pickup that added a separate drop-octave signal to the instrument's lowest strings, A Little Thunder started shipping mid-2015, and now version two has been released.

If you haven't seen the choreographed Japanese drumming known as Taiko, then you're missing out. It's loud, dynamic and fast-paced fun. Roland is looking to capture some of that traditional fire and bring it to modern percussionists with the Taiko-1.

Back in 2008, Tolgahan Çoğulu developed a guitar that allowed the player to make microtonal adjustments across the whole of the neck. And now he's done it again, this time using Lego and a 3D printer.

Last year, Fender broke into new territory with the launch of the American Acoustasonic Telecaster, which came with the tagline – "acoustic, electric and everything inbetween." The iconic brand has now added a Stratocaster to the lineup.

Fender Custom Shop's Yuriy Shishkov has impressed us before with his stunning one-off creations, including the Master Repeater Tele and the Studioliner. His latest offering for NAMM 2020 is a bejeweled Stratocaster inspired by a Fabergé egg.

Following a leak earlier in the week, Moog has now confirmed its most compact keyboard synthesizer so far with the launch of the Subsequent 25 paraphonic analog synth.

Roland has been in the electronic drum business for a good many years, and most kits released have had a skeletal look compared to their traditional counterparts. Now the company has launched a line of V-Drums that rock a classic acoustic kit vibe.

There can be a huge difference in the tone of an acoustic guitar when played through an amp via a pickup. LR Baggs is looking to narrow the gap with the help of a floor stomp and a smartphone app.

He's previously made music mobile with a synth bike, and built a nightmarish noise-maker called the Furby Organ. Now Sam Battle has tapped into the sonic guts of a Sega Mega Drive and created a monster synth ready to get its music-making game on.

Roland has spent decades making professional-grade digital musical instruments, and put a call out to designers to envision an ambitious digital grand piano. Here it is – the GPX-F1 designed by Jong Chan Kim.

With Winter NAMM looming – the world's largest music industry show – Harmony has announced the Juno, a "perfect grab and go guitar" inspired by the brand's classic compact monster: the mid-1950s H44 Stratotone.