Music

A collaboration between the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has resulted in a mid-air gestural tone and beat controller called the GripBeats.

Astell&Kern released the first portable audio player with dual DACs in 2013, and it's the design of the AK120 that has informed the overall look of A&K's latest offering, the SA700.

Fender has officially announced the American Ultra Series electric guitars and basses. With the release, the iconic brand is aiming to set "a new industry standard for precision, performance and feel."

Originally announced in January, and planned for release a month later, the Stylophone Gen R-8 touch analog synthesizer has now finally been released. But only 500 will be made.

The Spark amp from Positive Grid is paired with a voice-activated mobile app that opens the door to real-time practice and learning tools, and allows players to jam along to tracks from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

Back in 2016, Tim Jacobs of mixtela managed to cram a MIDI synthesizer into a MIDI plug. He's now revisited that project, teamed up with H-Pi Instruments and created the much more capable Flash "mini-poly-MIDI-micro-synth."

Whiskey has inspired much creativity among musicians over the years, and now Big D Guitars is cementing that relationship with a Telecaster-shaped instrument built from barrels once home to Jim Beam and Wild Turkey.

Skoog Music is all about making music easy and fun. Five years ago the company launched a touchy-feely cube on Indiegogo that could be picked up and played in minutes. Now a new big-buttoned melody maker has been announced called the Skwitch.

Vinyl is back in our living rooms, which is great news for consumers but for gigging musicians not signed to a major label, getting in on the vinyl action could be out of their budgets. That's where Phonocut's Home Vinyl Recorder comes in.

After showing off a pre-production prototype at NAMM 2019, Waldorf Music has announced the availability of the Kyra virtual analog (VA) synthesizer.

The THR desktop amps were already pretty good, but they didn't have any wireless capabilities. Yamaha has now put that right with the THR-II range.

About four years ago two friends looked at the range of travel guitars available and, not seeing anything suitable, decided to make their own.