What do you really want from a recording tool on a computer? The Digital Audio Workstation answer to that question has for years been on giving you a generalized set of tools that try to anticipate every possible need. The “workstation” approach puts a whole bunch of functionality in one place, in particular adding features like plug-in hosting for supporting third-party effects and instruments, video editing and scoring, and music notation.

Record is a different animal: it’s a specialized tool focused on making music with audio, instead of a generalized tool. Reason has focused on synths, with a distinctive set of hardware-styled modules in a virtual rack. Record focuses on sound, with a distinctive set of hardware-styled modules in a virtual rack. Get it?

What’s left out is important. There’s no plug-in support, but by limiting use to the internal sound modules, Record is entirely agnostic about things like sample rate and can be far more flexible with modular audio routing and fluid tempo changes. (There’s also no MIDI out support, but if you’re looking to sequence external hardware, I might look elsewhere, anyway – especially with gems like Numerology out there.) Record also supports ReWire and has various export features, so the assumption is that – as with Reason – when you really want plug-ins, you can use your existing environment of choice.

Maybe you can call the results a DAW, if you really want to. But the one thing that isn’t debatable: Record is Reason for sound.

CDM was first with the official story from Propellerhead over the weekend, talking about the philosophy behind Record. Now we can talk about the specifics inside – and I have a test version here I’ve been working with while on the road.

Basically, Record combines comp-based recording with Reason-style racks and a whole load of goodies for processing and mixing your sound, including Line 6 guitar effects and an emulated SSL mixing desk. Why am I excited to begin working with it? Basically, it’s what happens when you flip the Record interface around. The most important screenshot (see any of these shots bigger by clicking on them):

Here’s what you get:

• All about “Record”ing – with comps: As the name implies, the real soul of Record is recording. Comping is built in from the beginning so that you get a take you want, and each track even includes an integrated tuner by default. This is really a tool that assumes you’re actually one person plugging in an instrument and playing.
• Music and tempo-based sound: “Tempo-independent” audio is almost the reverse of what this is. When you record sound, the idea is that you always have some musical information in mind – beats and bars. Record lets you then change the tempo of that audio fluidly, without ever having to think about warping or slicing or markers or loops or anything like that. Propellerhead says they’re especially proud of the audio quality of the stretching algorithm working behind the scenes to make these changes sound good, which is what we’re already hearing (unofficially, of course) from beta testers in comments and elsewhere.
• Tempo changes: Unlike other tools that have focused on DJ-style or electronica-style master tempo, Record assumes fluid changes in tempo from version 1.0. There’s always a “conductor” track, a main tempo lane, which can have subtle, curved tempo changes (accel./rit.). When you export your audio, that information is exported as MIDI, so this musical information travels with you to other tools.
• An integrated recording/mixing/arrangement environment: This is the one DAW-like part of Record, though it still feels more like Reason than anything else. Each track gets three things: a channel routed into the mixer, an individual device module you can insert into the rack (as in Reason), and a sequencing lane for MIDI and audio.
• Sequencing: This is the most traditional part of Record – you do get conventional sequencer lanes. Clips can arbitrarily contain audio, MIDI, and automation data. The important thing to note is that, because Record doesn’t support plug-ins, you can count on consistent integration of automation – if there’s a knob in a module, you can automate it in the sequencer, just as in Reason.
• Hardware-style mixing: No software-style mixer here: the mixer inside Record is a direct simulation of hardware, not a loosely-inspired emulation. The Record mixer is modeled after an SSL 9000k analog mixing desk, so that it intends to look, work, and sound like the real thing. (SSL was not officially involved, so you’ll just have to count the Propellerheads as SSL fans.)
• Reason-style effects: In addition to the mixer, you get Reason-style modules for EQ, dynamics, and other effects.
• Line 6 guitar effects: Line 6’s virtual POD is built in, so you get their guitar amps and cabinets built in. I’m guessing those should be quite nice with keyboards, too.

Arrangement: Looking at the birds-eye view, Record does admittedly look like a DAW. But dig in a little bit to how these modules work, and there’s more Reason DNA than anything else. It’ll be interesting to work with these modules over the coming months. Also, most important to recognize is that when you see audio in Record, it will always obey tempo changes you make, including gradual speed increases and decreases – no warping or slicing required. When you do want to slice up audio, you could, say, drop Record as a ReWire client into an Ableton Live set, or even export your audio with tempo changes from Record as one track and put your sliced audio in a different rack.

The mixing desk:

The thing is, it’s not so much what Record does as what it does in a Reason-style way. So while this is a preview, not a review, here’s what makes Record more like Reason:

For Reason users, this one image pretty much sums everything up. The workflow is still essentially a Reason workflow – if you love that, you’re likely already salivating. If not, it’ll likely take more convincing from the other aspects of the tool.

• Every track is a rack: Each time you create a track, you get a modular rack, which translates to the inserts you see in the mixer. For advanced users, this means you can do anything with routing you want. You get a full-blown rack on each track, with all the usual goodies for routing. For beginners, it means you can call up easy presets for whatever you’re doing, and the parameters show up as plain-English knobs in the mixer. You don’t have to think about routing or what everything represents; you just focus on sound. For beginners and advanced users, the ability to “see” all of this routing with virtual cables and such means sophisticated mixing and routing setups aren’t quite so abstract.
• It’s a Reason interface: Everything looks and feels like Reason, even with a much more involved UI. All the new views continue on the theme of adjustable navigation panes. These views either get combined into a single-window interface, or can be detached if you’d prefer. But there are almost no dialog boxes, with one notable exception:
• You get Reason patches and patch browsing, for audio: Reason users will feel right at home, as Record extends the patch browsing metaphor from Reason. And because track effects inserts use what are essentially Combinators, those inserts just feel like Reason devices inside a mixer.
• Reason + Record: If you have Reason, you have access to all your Reason modules. And since Record has a big Reason rack – well, you get the idea. Instead of recording inside Reason, what Reason users get is Reason inside a bigger version of Reason that understands not only recording, but mixing and audio arrangement, and treats audio like music, with tempo.
• ReWire: Record is a ReWire client (slave), not a host (master). That should be your first clue Propellerhead aren’t trying to replace Pro Tools, Live, and Logic. But it does mean you could easily use, say, Record for recording purposes on your own, then drop it into a Pro Tools session in the studio, or Record to do some song-writing that you then bring into an Ableton live PA or remix set.
• Reason-style automation and control. Most notably, this is the first audio production tool I’ve seen that was set up from the beginning to be used with keyboards, as Reason was. It’s funny: right now, M-Audio are pitching using a keyboard to control Pro Tools with their Axiom Pro / HyperControl product. This essentially goes the other way: like Reason, Record uses the “Remote” protocol, which was effectively the first to “automap” your keyboard controller and control surface to the software. That means you can comfortably produce an entire work from your keyboard, while adding guitar or vocals as an audio recording.
• Oh yeah, it’ll be fun even if you only use synths: In case you haven’t guessed already, for Reason users, this means mixing and processing and arrangement tools that weren’t available before, so even if you never hook up a mic to Record, I imagine you could use almost all of these tools. (Only the tuner and audio comps become redundant.)

It’s really the relationship of the device rack to the mixer and tracks in Record that make it unique, and will be fun to explore over the coming months. When you create devices and Combinators, you can easily see them in the mixer and track sections. Sends are named as the actual sound parameter, too. Because it doesn’t support plug-ins, that also means you never have to worry about the way parameter names are handled in formats like VST, though you can always return to your favorite host when you do want plug-ins since Record is also a ReWire client.

Line6 guitar and bass amps are available out of the box as insertable modules. This is all you need for the interface: it’s aggressively simple.

The patch window will look familiar to Reason users. But if you’re new to this, what it means is that you can easily surf through, say, Line 6 guitar presets and hear immediately what they sound like.

So, what does the music sound like? Josh Mobley via Twitter tells us about his official demo song, “Push Me Down,” made in Record for Propellerhead. All the songs in the embedded player below were made in Record, with the exception of “Narrow Escape,” the demo for Reason 4.

About that Dongle

The other bit of news – and the one item that’s likely to be most divisive – is that Propellerhead is changing the authorization scheme in Record, as explained here:

Ignition Key

The good news: “demo” mode / non-authorized mode is actually only “open”-disabled. You can even save files in the demo; you just can’t open existing files. The Ignition Key comes free with the tool rather than being a separate purchase as with some iLok products, and if you lose or break it, a replacement is available for a nominal fee. (Some manufacturers actually have the gall to charge for the full purchase price of the product or close to it, which is utterly ridiculous.) Also, if you don’t want to use the key, there is an Internet authorization.

The bad news: it is still a dongle. Internet authorization requires a consistent connection while you’re working; the moment that’s dropped, the software reverts to demo mode. I would personally much rather have seen one-time Internet authorization as is available from Ableton and Native Instruments, among others, especially as Record would be fun to use on a bus or train without plugging in a dongle. Propellerhead say they’ve put some thought into this and wanted to do copy protection right, but I expect they’ll hear about it anyway.

The one upside I do see is for people who use a lot of machines (like myself, for one). You can use just the dongle without any other authorization, and you can use it on as many machines as you want. So that means you can move from a studio to a Mac laptop to a PC laptop to a netbook just by moving your dongle around, and never have to fill out a registration form or worry about if you’ve run out of authorizations.

Also, I’d suggest that people use this as an opportunity to freely try the demo without any annoying limitations and decide if you like the tool before you buy it.

Availability / pricing

Beta testing is starting now, today – sign-up at the site below.

September 9, 2009 is the official release date.

Suggested retail: US$299, EUR299. No word yet on what bundles will be available for existing or new Reason users, but Propellerhead says that it will have special bundle pricing of some kind.

Videos and more info at:

www.record-you.com

It’s been a long, long wait for side-by-side Reason and audio racks and recording in Reason, but there’s no question that this is a big announcement.

Since many of you will be beta-testing this alongside me, I look forward to hearing your opinions of the tool and any tips or techniques you discover.

Today is set to be an orgy of computer music-y, Abletronic, drum machine-loaded, Max-patching news, so let’s throw one out to the guitarists. IK Multimedia has two new announcements today that are actually quite cool. The StealthPedal is a Wah pedal that’s actually an audio interface, sort of like a James Bond pen that’s also a gun. And IK also landed the only official Fender-endorsed software amp emulation.

Here’s a quick look at the specs. By the way, I’ve consulted everyone I know (especially as I’m not a guitarist), and basically what we’ve come up with is that a whole bunch of the guitar emulations out there (Apple, IK, NI, and Waves) are pretty damned good. Apple recently upgraded their own guitar emulations, meaning even what you get in GarageBand ‘09 is a big leap forward (and I have it on good authority that they sound terrific). NI has a guitar announcement coming later today, too. I’d choose based on taste, basically; each has a unique personality.

AmpliTube Fender

• 12 Fender guitar amps (Twin Reverb, ‘59 Bassman LTD, Super-Sonic, Metalhead)
• 12 matching cabinets
• 9 microphones
• 6 stomp effects, 6 rack effects (tape echo, Fender reverb, fuzz/wah, triangle flanger, wah, the works)
• Digital tuner, stomp pedal board, amp head, cabinet plus mic, rack effects. (Here’s one point of differentiation: NI, for instance, has more toys here; IK plays it a little more conventionally; that’s a matter of taste.)
• SpeedTrainer, RiffWorks T4 recording included
• “Certified” by Fender
• US$229.99 for the full set, or get the LE (4 amps, 5 cabinets, 2 stomp, 2 mic, 2 rack FX) with the StealthPlug USB audio interface for US$139.99
• Available late February

It’s a pretty stunning deal if you’re a Fender fan.

http://www.amplitube.com/fender

Stealth Pedal

• Looks like a wah pedal – same form factor
• Works as a controller (it’s basically an assignable expression pedal)
• Comes with a double foot switch, and you can optionally add a second expression pedal via a foot input
• Also a USB audio interface (24-bit, 44.1/48)
• “Low-noise” input stage
• Headphone out, volume control, LEDs for use as a tuner or level indicator
• ASIO PC, Core Audio Mac drivers
• Software bundle
• US$269.99
• Available late April

This looks just incredibly functional for someone wanting something compact. There have been controller/audio interface bundles before from IK, NI, and others, but this you can throw easily in your case.

http://www.stealthpedal.com

Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig Hero video contest winners were unveiled today. At the top of the charts, players not surprisingly demonstrated fine craft, sharp execution, great playing, and so on. But let’s skip straight to the oddities in the bunch. Like the girl with the violin on a pogo stick. And there is an appearance by the NS/Stick, which earns stringed-geek cred the more-predictable entries lack.

Now, normally I’m not so interested in the online contests various developers produce. But these entries stand out enough to have a good look here. Word of warning: you may be less inclined to buy a boxed copy of Guitar Rig as to buy yourself a nice, new pogo stick. (I could use the exercise… hmmm… Santa?)

The Pogo. Yes, the self-dubbed “Pogo Girl” is a very young girl playing violin and Guitar Rig in her living room. For some reason, the embittered YouTube world has savaged her in comments and given her a 2.5-star rating. I think she deserves far better. You know what I was doing at her age? Playing the piano. Sitting down. Now, granted, today I’d probably make a much more entertaining YouTube video on a pogo stick, but that’s because it’d include extended slow-motion footage of me falling off said pogo stick. And that’s even before I try to play an instrument at the same time. So, Pogo Girl, we salute you.

By the way, novelty of this aside, guitar amp emulators can sound fantastic with instruments like violin or even sitars. I’m sorry to see more alternative instruments didn’t make their way into the NI contest results. And to Pogo Girl, I have two words for you: contact mics. Feed the sound of pogo stick through Guitar Rig, too, and you’ll have a real hit on your hands.

The Preset Cliche Man. This brilliant entry had the brainstorm of dressing up as the stereotypical players most associated with each of the presets. Lesson learned: don’t use presets. (Well, that’s the lesson I take away, anyway.) Now, on some level, this is actually a parody of Guitar Rig. I think. It’s actually possible these presets are so powerful, they will transform you into these dudes when you play them. Since I’m about as good with frets as I am performing open heart surgery, I can’t tell you – I leave that to you to find out.

Just be careful. I’ve seen Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Once you transform, you may not change back.

The NS/Stick. The most interesting entry musically to me was this extended composition on the eight-string NS/stick [wikipedia], as performed by “eccentric master” Sekiguchi Takao. Yep, leave it to the Japanese dude to do something musically inventive. (Tokyo readers, and you know who you are, I’m totally ready to come tour to your fine town. Just say the word.)

The instrument itself here is as interesting as the software: it’s a tapping instrument designed by Emmett Chapman (of Chapman Stick fame) and Ned Steinberger (of Steinberger instruments and Spector bass fame). The NS/Stick is a cross-breed between the two. It combines two awesome things into a perfect fusion, kind of like waffles and fried chicken. In fact, I’d wager that musically speaking you don’t get much closer to waffles and fried chicken than the NS/Stick itself.

So, did any CDM readers get into the top ten list?

I’m genuinely a big fan of Guitar Rig; it’s my personal favorite of the amp simulators and I’ve used it in a number of my own pieces. But I imagine this contest may prompt someone to say “ha! I’ll go use the 14-stringed microtonal instrument to record a composition with Pd and SuperCollider.” If that’s you, do send us the results. (Did any CDMers ultimately enter the NI contest, out of curiosity?)

NI Guitar Rig Contest Winners

We’re doing things a little differently: picking out entirely random stuff that managed to reach for the sublime — including the sublimely absurd. Bad is better than boring. We’ve seen strange things that simply failed, or at least substantially creeped us out.

Now, those moments of victory, of supreme revelation, of –

Yeah, that’s Roger Linn, the LM-1 and former MPC designer without whom drum machines as we know them today wouldn’t exist, holding the “Drum Machines Have No Soul” bumper sticker he acquired. That’s why we were in Anaheim.

We’re still waiting on Barry Wood’s legendary NAMM Oddities, so we’ll focus on our own sense of the exceptional.

Other standout moments and products for reflection:

Vox DA5 Portable Digital Amp as Mobile Show Floor Boombox @ Korg: Why have booth babes wander your booth when you can have entire amps doing the same? The Korg Kaossilator, all-in-one synth + effects box (and capable of producing entire albums), plus this portable amp, costs $340 street. Neither product is new — yet they still overshadow some other news from the show, so much show that they started showing up in “new products” roundups. WIN.

Side note: I want the pink one, so I can then play the raunchiest, glitchiest sounds through it I can muster.

The Least Marketing Hype Award: CME, the brilliant Chinese music manufacturer, had set up this display for an upgrade board for their UF keyboard line. Topping that, it was difficult for anyone to tell us in English any of the details of the board. And yet, with show booths with giant BOSS pedals you can walk into (hello, Roland) and other gimmicks, we couldn’t be more pleased. WIN.

Access Going Glitch: German synth maker Access is known for pristine, virtual-analog sound and brilliant synths. But then something magical happened: granular oscillators. Richard Devine set up shop in the Access booth for the whole show and wowed crowds with the music pouring out of the minimal white boxes. Access told us the Virus Ti’s new grungy sounds were so popular, some visitors apparently missed the fact that it’s just a small part of the Virus. Glitch is in, and you have an all-white, THX-1138-style booth? That counts as a Triple WIN. 

Thankfully, unlike last year’s NAMM show for Richard, this one was completely without brushes with death — seriously. More on that in our upcoming interview. I was a little nervous when we went to a particularly sketchy Anaheim IHOP with him that NAMM might again prove mortally dangerous for one of us, but we escaped unscathed. Everyone we care about, living through NAMM: WIN.

“Live. Play. Play.” Cordoba Guitars reminds us with this booth campaign and slogan that you probably don’t want to be playing post-coital keytar. We FAIL. They WIN. Darned guitarists.

Side note: if you find a significant other who wants to listen to the granular oscillators on your new Virus | TI Snow in bed, keep him/her.

Hanukkah: Proof positive you can exhibit anything in a NAMM booth. As the NAMM slogan goes, “Believe in Music.” And believe in Hannukah. In … January. With a dove of peace bringing a dreidel to the world. WIN.

Booth Mounties: Okay, just one , um, soldier of some kind (see comments for evidence about why I shouldn’t be running a blog on military uniform, though it’s cool whether I know what it is or not). And we’re not totally sure what it has to do with BeatHive.com, a community for musicians to buy and sell loops. But it easily out-cools the various trashy girl-with-miniskirt look in all the guitar booths. WIN.

The LinnDrum II, in the flesh — sorta: Finally, we got our hands on the LinnDrum II, the drum machine / synth from Dave Smith and Roger Linn we’re dreaming about every night (formerly known as BoomChik). We could touch it, feel it … smell it. The one thing we couldn’t do was hear it, because a fully-functioning prototype isn’t ready yet. But the lights work.

Here’s the funny part: the LinnDrum II came up again and again as one of the top picks of the show from everyone we talked to, even if it couldn’t make sound. Never mind that Akai had a fully-functioning MPC5000 with hard disk recording. It gets handily beaten by a LinnDrum before the latter even makes a noise. That counts as FAIL for Akai, I’m afraid — and gives Dave Smith Instruments an indisputable WIN.

Best Non-Functional Prototype of the Show Award: Despite the LinnDrum II’s success, Yamaha easily beats it. I mean, have a look at this. It’s incredibly thin. Steve Jobs, MacBook AIR — eat your heart out. And it goes on a keychain. WIN.

Wait, what’s that? Oh, okay, Yamaha did actually bring a working unit to Anaheim, and Sonic State filmed a detailed demo. But that’s what separates CDM from other media outlets. We take the time to take photos of, uh, cardboard keychains.

Guitar + Sitar = Crazy Delicious. Okay, maybe it’s an invitation to make terribly cheesy world music, but the instrument from Mid-East Manufacturing sounds great, if not wholly sitarful. And so long as instruments continue to cross-breed, the future is bright. You know, via evolution. WIN.

Most underrated item at the show: Moog Music’s Minimoog Voyager Old School got all the love — and attracted all the haters along with it. But sitting next to the new Moog synth was the first real dedicated controller device in Moog’s history, the MP-201 Multi-Pedal. It’s really beautiful, and sends not only MIDI (over both standard MIDI and USB) but control voltage, too. It even has tap tempo and internal oscillators. It could be the best device for your feet ever. WIN.

Best Swag of the Show Award: Our friend Amanda Whiting scored one of these from the Ableton booth. They were apparently hidden, like in a secret bonus cavern or something. Sure, some anti-Ableton DJs might take the “evil” message literally — but no matter. We want one. And, darnit, Amanda beat us to it. WIN.

Silver Surfer + guitars: Okay, yes, I should have observed that this isn’t just any silver surfing man, it’s the surfer from Joe Satriani’s “Surfing With The Alien”. And, believe it or not, but if I didn’t sit behind my computer blogging and making digital music all day, this would be what my physique would look like. I think that means, for me, FAIL. For the Ibanez Silver Surfer: WIN.

Roland’s Digital Harpsichord: For the record, I’ve spent a reasonable amount of time (let’s say, more than the average person) playing real harpsichords. And this sounds and feels like the real thing — even the action is right, though it’s far more forgiving than the original. But it’s the fact that Roland kept going, that they staged a fake Baroque setting for their instrument in the midst of an otherwise generic NAMM booth, complete with real curtains, added faux stained glass to the sides, provide optional, interchangeable decoration… it’s just so beautiful. There are multiple tunings, including 415 Hz and 392 Hz (though fully-adjustable tunings would have been nice), and there are five types of temperaments.

And then, when they were done, they gave it a name. You or I might call it the Harpsitron or the Digichord. Roland called it the C-30. WIN. (Tom at Music Thing thinks so, too.)

I want a C-30 and a new church gig.

And Roland, by boldly employ 21st Century digital technology to produce an 18th-Century sound in a case that looks unmistakably like a 17th-Century virginal, then giving it a product identifier that sounds like a 20th-Century military cargo plane, you win the Greatest Anomaly of NAMM 2008 Award.

Thanks to my colleague Quantazelle for her editorial and research assistance, and photographizing.

Standalone + plug-in, with Mac Intel and Windows Vista compatibility included. Promotion details over at IK Multimedia’s site.

Even as software continues to flourish, there’s still a great argument for a hardware box that does what you need — especially when that box has extensive feature sets, MIDI support, comes from Roger Linn, and costs US$375. Roger himself writes to let us know about the release of the AdrenaLinn III:

AndrenaLinn III Product Page

Like the models that came before it, the AdrenaLinn III is a guitar amp modeler with modulation and effects. The effects section is what really sets it apart: delays, filter sequences, and modulation are all synced to either the built-in drum machine or external MIDI. MIDI sync, of course, means you could easily integrate this with a software setup with tools like Ableton Live, Reason, or Cakewalk Project5. But it’s also little wonder that Linn, creator of various breakthrough drum machines, would turn a guitar effects unit into a drum machine.

The AdrenaLinn III incorporates myriad improvements over its predecessors, generally making this a more well-rounded unit, with enough effects that it could be an all-in-one solution:

• New effects: Reverb, compression, tuner, enhanced modulation
• New amp models, for a total of 40, Linn Design also says the improved models have better presence/tube saturation/tonal accuracy
• Better MIDI control, now letting you get to nearly all settings from MIDI foot switches and expression pedals, with assignable foot switch functions
• More presets, more drum beats

I look forward to hearing one in person. And this sounds too nice, anyway, to let the guitarists have all the fun — this sounds promising on many other instruments, too. Roger tells us his wife uses her AdrenaLinn with a cello.

Since this really is software running in a box, if you have an existing AdrenaLinn, you can upgrade to the latest model for US$99, which sounds well worth it. We’ve predicted before that more affordable, capable hardware would continue to advance external gear at the same time as computer software develops, and this is another example of how the two can nicely coexist in your setup.

Other gear watching…

I’m more in the AdrenaLinn vein than Line 6 Pods, but if the latter interest you, Music thing gets the scoop on leaked specs on a new model.

Meanwhile, what many are really eager to see from Roger Linn is the collaboration with Dave Smith, the BoomChik. We expect that’s a ways off yet. Okay by me: more time to save the pennies.

I find kalimbas beautiful and delicate to begin with. Throw in some faux fur and Korg KAOSS Pad effects, and they take on a whole new life:

Other designs add all-new functionality, like the Sampimer, a “self-sampling” thumb piano with integrated 20-second voice recorder, a speaker covered by a lens cap, and a body made out of a jewelry caddy:

I asked Bob a bit more about the designs, and out came still more ingenious re-adaptations of the lowly kalimba. He explains how he got started with this series in the first place:

Partly it flowed from an interest in making found object assemblage sculpture. I had owned and played kalimbas, I had made stringed instruments and percussion instruments. After I eventually made my own thumb piano, I found that a lot of the found object materials I encountered lent themselves most readily to an exploration of the thumb piano concept.

… There is an interplay between “what will this sound like?” and “what will this look like?” The shape of a component — like
soundboard or resonator — can limit how the instrument is held and played, and this can influence the optimal tuning.
At a basic level it is about vibrating materials and how applied structures affect the sound. When you add audio fx into the equation, the thumb piano can be viewed as a controller for percussive effects. I see people using their Blackberry’s or text messaging on their cell phones and it looks like they are playing a thumb piano. Someone with the skills should design a MIDI version. There is something about the responsiveness of a vibrating tine that seems to have a great deal of potential.

[The inspiration from] … cell phones is not only about the use of thumbs to run a controller, but also the idea of a portable pocket size interface.

So far the most functional integrated unit I’ve made is the camera piano:

Fits in the pocket and the tuning is protected.

This one is near the limit of playability, requiring a backing board to be able to play:

This is the smallest with an internal 1/8″ jack:

Anything smaller or thinner would need an external bracket to mount a 1/8″ jack. Another direction related to this is “what is the smallest size kalimba that retains playability with an externally mounted 1/4″ jack?”

Along with exploring the limits of size (scalability?), there is also a give and take between minimalism and complexity. This is an example of a lamellaphone that technically uses no hardware (such as machine screws etc.):

The parts of the unit are all held in place by a large magnet, making things easily adjustable.

Bob also sends along a prototype of the amberCan, which integrates an amp and speaker:

Via the Flickr description:

…in this instance with a Smokey Amp and added rheostat. The Smokey amp has no output control so the rheostat was added to provide volume control.

At low volume the instrument sounds normally electrified but at mid and hi volume the thumb piano becomes a feedback unit as the vibrations of the speaker are cycled into the piezo. Interestingly, at that point the pitch and tone can be altered by gently applying and varying finger pressure on the tines and lid rather than plucking.

For more on that instrument:
amerpCan shot
Exterior shot showing base and lid
Interior shot showing innards

And to hear what all of these instruments sound like, there’s a whole set of recorded tracks:
RP Collier Thumb Piano Project [SoundClick MP3s/streams]

Thanks for these gorgeous designs and insight into instrument-building, Bob. (All photos come by way of his seemingly-endless Flickr photo set of kalimbas, where you’ll find many more designs.)

Thumb piano set @ Flickr, with lots o’ links and more videos, etc.

I’m curious if any one else has approached kalimba amplification or construction, though it would be tough to top these. One tutorial on making thumb pianos:
instructables: Thumb Piano, via MAKE:Blog

Multiple amp models: Clean, crunch, overdrive, whatever you need — in one hardware amp.

11 digital effects: Multiple effects, and even tap tempo for modulation/delay time. Included effects: wah, chorus, compressor, delay, reverb, phaser, and combinations.

Multiple inputs: Guitar in, yes, but also an aux in (for an MP3 player, computer, etc.) and even a mic in.

Portable, powered: Runs on an AC adapter or six C batteries, and weighs under 8 pounds. How, you ask? The speaker is a tiny 6.5″.

Line, headphone outs: Plug in headphones and you defeat the speaker. Yep, this works well as a practice amp.

There you have it: you can leave your laptop or heavy amps at home and practice anywhere you like. Don’t expect any big sound out of the speaker, but having different amp models and effects could make practicing more fun.

Street price: US$140. Better add that to our Holiday Shopping List! And what’s more hilarious than using an amp as a stocking stuffer?

In other amp news, it seems to be amp week over on Harmony Central: Vox also has a traditional (non-digital) amp with a “classic British tone,” bass players can drop $2800 on a bass amp, and best of all, the Hottie toaster amp with a custom auto paint job is going to be available this month. That’s the toaster you use for breakfast, not some kind of special “guitar amp” lingo — see CDM: Advances in Toaster Music Technology

Thank God for press releases. Without them, how would we know about some of the least-interesting product announcements being made at shows like the huge NAMM music conference?

Here are just a few of the most-useless product announcements made in the last few days. And why do I have a sinking suspicion I’ll have part II coming soon?

Taylor’s Limited-Edition Guitars: You’ve gotta love a press release that begins with the words “Acoustic guitar players love wood.” And Taylor delivers: with guitars made out of exotic rainforest wood. Now that can’t be good for the environment, can it?

John Mayer-signature Stratocaster. I was hoping for a John Mayer signature keyboard since John regularly makes fun of his own keyboard skills, but I’ll have to settle for this.

Griffin iPod Cases: Stop the presses! A custom case — for the iPod? Whodathunkit. But what’s newsworthy here is clearly the watermelon pattern with which you can adorn your Apple player.

Evans Utility Key: Sure, having a drum key handy is nice, but what about when you need to open your next bottle o’ Miller Lite? Evans has your answer. Absolutely worthy of a press release, maybe even a demo video? (Flash animation?)

Jack Daniel’s Amp: Peavey has my absolute favorite of these: a Jack Daniel’s-branded guitar amp. (I’m not making this up.) It’s “a U.S.A.-made guitar amplifier inspired by the common American heritage shared by Peavey and Jack Daniel’s.” That heritage being — drunk guitar players?

Truly, a mark of excellence.

Okay, get back to whatever you were doing — I’ve got to get back to my Wild Turkey-edition Casio keyboard and L.S.D.-edition Moog Modular.

Who doesn’t have a kink for vinyl?

If you’re plugging in a turntable, you’re going to want to amplify it properly. Unless you want a $500 tube amp, something like the US$60 ART DJ Pre II should fit the bill. Aside from the new name (its predecessor was called the “Phono MicroPRE” but I guess kids don’t know what phonographs are), this box includes other enhancements and plenty of hi-fi audiophile features for tweaking your sound.

Just want to plug directly into your computer? ART has a USB model, the USB Phono Plus (US$119). Phono “Plus”, indeed: line and digital ins are provided, as well, making this an ideal portable interface for switching between turntables and other inputs.

ART’s pre’s have traditionally sounded great without having high-end prices, so this looks like good news. Both products become available in August.