MIDI

Learning to play piano is a hard slog, and many people – myself included – tend to start well, and then lose momentum before giving up entirely. Roli is hoping to keeping students engaged with a gesture-tracking AI teacher called the Airwave.

UK music hardware company Roli has launched an updated version of the Seaboard Block controller, which "promises to bring infinite expressive possibilities to musicians everywhere, whether at home, in the studio, on the go, or on the stage."

Back in mid-2020, a project out of Taiwan launched on Indiegogo to produce a gorgeous little mechanical music box that could play tunes loaded in using a smartphone app. Now its makers are aiming for double the fun with the Muro Box N40.

Back in 2013, Zivix launched an ultra-portable MIDI guitar designed for noodling on the move. Then six years later the Jamstik was joined by a 24-fret headless bigger brother called the Studio. Now a S-type model rocking a headstock has launched.

The first project from Teenage Engineering was a 2007 art installation comprising 22 wooden dolls that formed a singing ensemble. The absolut choir has now inspired the creation of a smaller collection that can voice a bunch of classic songs.

Canada's this.is.Noise has launched an interesting MIDI controller on Indiegogo called the MIDI Blaster, which brings a new level of gesture control to music creation while also adding a visual element.

Startup Sensy has launched a guitar-shaped electronic instrument featuring a fretboard crammed with follow-me lights designed to get noobs playing tunes quickly, but can also be used by seasoned pros as a MIDI interface or eye-catching melody maker.

German startup the Instruments of Things wants to turn your movement into music with the SOMI-1, wireless motion-tracking sensors that send data to a hub connected to a smartphone running an app, which translates your moves into sounds or effects.

Back at the NAMM 2019 music gear expo, Denmark's Noatronic took Best In Show for a box that allowed players to control stomps on a board directly from an electric guitar. Now the company has teamed up with RTX to take the system wireless.

Frustrated by not being able to practice the saxophone when and where he wanted, Ramon Mañas developed the small and light Travel Sax, which could be played in silence. Now the Travel Sax 2 electronic saxophone has been launched.

Inspired by leaps in the development of electronic music controllers and the visual and tactile appeal of knitted fabrics, MIT's Media Lab has combined the two to create the KnittedKeyboard II, kind of like a Roli Seaboard you can wear.

We've long been admirers of the work of Swedish designer Love Hultén, who has frequently paid tribute to the worlds of retro gaming and classic computing with beautiful hand-crafted creations. Now he's back with the bizarre Voc-25 chatterbox.