Whether you're into Bach, The Beatles or Bieber, whether you can play an instrument or humming is the height of your musical skill, music is a universal language that inspires, excites and brings joy to people of all walks of life. Technology can add a new spin to old favorites or lead to entirely new instruments with entirely new sounds. Whatever your jam, here's where you'll find the latest technological developments from the world of music.
Indianapolis-based Romanus Records is shaking up boring vinyl with records that contains gun powder and razor blades or shifting sand. The latest envelope-pushing idea from the label is an album that rocks its own light show.
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A whammy bar on a guitar allows players to add vibrato to some chops while picking, and the Vibe Bar from Claude Woodward does the same for MIDI keyboards. It allows music makers to cook in pitch bends and vibrato using the same hand that's playing the notes.
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PopuBand Music's smart ukulele combines app-based smarts with follow-me LED lighting, promising students of the uke that they'll be strumming their first song within 15 minutes. New Atlas has spent the last few weeks getting our four-string groove on.
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The Roadie was essentially a motorized guitar tuner made smart with the help of a paired smartphone or tablet. And it rocked. We loved it. Until we got to meet the second generation robotic tuning machine – smarter, faster and able to work without a smartphone. This really is tuning made easy.
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Rather than bopping your head in time to the music coming through the headphones, what if your headbanging could actually control the beat? Engineer Andrew Lee has developed a system that does exactly that, triggering audio and setting tempo with a nod of the head.
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New York-based Vinci is looking to forge a more independent path for its latest headphones, which pack their own self-contained minicomputer with 3G, Wi-Fi, voice-control, and fitness tracking, all of which means they need no external smartphone to function.
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There's no denying that some synthesizers can be very pricey monsters, but there are quite a few that you can carry around in your pocket. Now the UK's WS Audio has developed a synth in a USB stick, which is claimed to be the world's smallest analog synthesizer.
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The basic idea of an LED learning system is to show students where to put fretting fingers to form chords or play songs, and most importantly – when. We've seen a few concepts come and go, but FretX has actually made it into production. We slid a FretX under some strings and got our strum on.
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The OneManBand technology from OMB Guitars essentially combines aspects of BeatBuddy, DigiTech's Trio stomp and Fishman's TriplePlay into one package, allowing guitarists to play along to a real-time backing band, solo using different instrument sounds or use the six string as a MIDI controller.
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Earlier this year, Dave Auld launched his digital/analog Fusion guitar in the US, after a successful crowdfunding campaign helped bring it into production. France's HyVibe Audio is banking for similar success for its own hybrid, which turns an acoustic dreadnought into a connected smart guitar.
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