The BCD2000 has been somewhat of a contradiction for me since purchase. On one hand the hardware is fantastic; robust and seriously cheap. On the other hand the included software and drivers are absolutely abhorrent, PC only affairs with broken midi implementation. I’ve always hoped that Behringer would update the BCD to have similar (extensive) MIDI configuration options to the BCR and BCF. That hasn’t happened, and almost 2 years after its initial release the BCD is almost in the same position as it started. Almost.

Evinyatar has commented on our early BCD2000 Not Mac Compatible post to announce that he – sick of waiting for Behringer to actually do something useful with their gear – has written and released OSX Universal drivers (MIDI only so far):

My first subject is Behringer’s BCD2000. When it was released about two years ago it was rumored that MacOS X drivers would be released by the end of 2005. Rather than waiting for those to appear (which they probably won’t) I decided to have a go myself. The result is quite good, if I say so myself. It works, which is more than I expected.

Currently only MIDI in and output works. Audio does not. That means you can control Traktor the way you would on a Windows computer, but you won’t hear anything through the BCD2000’s audio ports or record anything trough them. You can still, of course, use other audio outputs, built-in or external, that do work with MacOS X.

Right now the MIDI input and output are should be identical to the Windows driver in B-DJ mode. Which means a reasonable amount of pain is implied when trying to configure Traktor for the BCD2000. Basically, the same hack that works for Windows (using MIDI-Rules and a loopback device, in our case Apple’s built-in IAC) is also required for Mac. I hope to incorporate similar functionality inside the driver in the future, eliminating the need for the hack. For now, this will have to do. A more detailed guide to setting this up will be posted sometime later this week.

CDM’s Lee Sherman has been roving through the massive CES tech show and Macworld Expo over the last two weeks. He files this report on how music (namely, guitar music) is making an impact on consumer gadgets. -Ed.

Guitarists are finally catching up to their keyboard-playing brethren in embracing digital technology due to a spate of recently introduced products, including the RiffWorks guitar jamming software (which includes online collaboration, shown below) and Gibson’s Digital Guitar.

Sometimes the musical instrument industry seems to evolve slowly, but not when it comes to creating wild new guitars. Here’s a quick roundup of just-released technology, the sort of things that get introduced at this week’s NAMM show; hopefully I’ll get up close and personal with these and others on the floor. (See last year’s NAMM Oddities.)

Guitars with optical pickups? Bowed guitars? Weird body-less “frame” electro-acoustics with MIDI? Effects you control with your finger? Why, sure. Read on.

Open Labs’ NeKos are powerful keyboards that pack a full-blown Windows PC, tuned software, and control surfaces into a single musical instrument. They’ve got some heavy-hitting celebrity endorsements, and they’re rugged: one NeKo managed to continue functioning after being being beaten with a baseball bat and set on fire by DJ Richard Devine.

This month, Open Labs unveiled the next-generation NeKo keyboard: sexier looking, more features, and cheaper. Porsche car paint, faster processors (up to a dual core 64-bit AMD CPU), Pro Tools software, and even Borg-like ability to clone your hardware synths and automatically create multisamples. Priced for mortals, too: US$2,295 gets you all the basics, up to US$5,995 for the absolute top-of-the-line. More after the jump.

Gibson has been crowing about a digital Les Paul guitar for a long time. The first I remember reading about it was the breathless January 2004 article in Wired. Their proprietary tech for carrying audio over Ethernet was mysteriously called “Magic.” Sample quote: “Like Sony and Philips with the compact disc 20 years ago, Gibson is making a big bet on Magic, whose success hinges on nothing less than the reinvention of an entire industry.”

Gibson Digital Guitar

The success of the digital Les Paul has turned out not to dependent on reinventing anything, but on Gibson actually shipping the product. Friday at Digital Life Expo here in NYC, they at least provided hands-on experience. (See Gizmodo writeup; more on that in a second.) But the product still isn’t due to ship until early next year, and Gibson has delayed promised ship dates before.

The “Digital Guitar” probably isn’t quite what you think, either. The digital connection out of the guitar has to be converted back to analog before you can use it, because of the way Gibson designed the system . . .