Yes, it’s that gift-y time of year again, which naturally means among lovers of music technology, thoughts turn to gear wishes and dreams of new hardware. We’ve asked in the past what readers want in their stockings and presents – and, just as interestingly, what they’d give to others. And you’ve come up with fascinating ideas.

This year, I’ll frame the question a bit differently: what, beyond the usual suspects, would you love to have? Books or music collections? Handmade or boutique items? Unique tools and toys that’d help you be creative? And what would you give to others – perhaps out of the gifts you’ve given yourself this year? (Music lessons, for instance?)

We’ll again pull together those ideas for next week. And we’re also looking through the best music of the year. Given the lavish presentation music itself often now has – far from disposable digital downloads, gorgeous vinyl records and limited-edition prints and books and design objects – I imagine those two questions might well merge.

Nor does this has to be raw consumerism: the best gifts, to me, can start a life-long love of music or be an object that embodies a connection to another person. If ever we, the music tech press, may just encourage endless throwaway purchases, I think it’s also our obligation as journalists to find the tools (free or pricey) that will make you musically productive and that you’ll value over a long time. (If you think that we lack that motivation, by the way, you’ve never been buried under a stack of review hardware. Ahem.)

But before I open my own mouth, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking – or what gap we might fill. Fire away.

And if this seems like “filler,” on the contrary, I know from past experience sometimes it’s what gets written in comments that I enjoy the most.

We users may sometimes gripe, but music technology gives us an impossibly wide variety for which to be thankful. From free (as in beer, as in freedom) to high-end and spendy, from software plug-in to acoustic instrument to solid-state electronics to toy, you’d run out of time and money long before you ran out of exceptional, music-inspiring choices. I think the passion people feel for music is the cause: economics and logic be damned, we’re all glad to make music part of our life, both as makers and consumers. Tools aren’t everything – it can be hugely helpful to do more with less, to impose restrictions. But that means the tools we do choose can be invaluable.

Now, normally “gift guides” tend to pick items you’d rarely buy as a gift. So, speaking of restrictions, this year I’m imposing a price limit: $200 maximum, meaning the kinds of things you actually would buy as gifts. (There are many worthy items above $200, but I’m assuming anyone spending more than that already has made up their minds.) And, we went to you, the readers, to tip us off on the items that mattered. Pulling those together with some of my own selections, here are a few current tools that have some real musical value, whether you’re giving or receiving.

There’s plenty that didn’t make the cut in this lineup, including some products we talk about a lot. Think of this as a tightly-curated list, one on which I tried to leave things out. We even get some great picks under twenty bucks, and a few surprises. Have a look…

Software

Reaper

Cockos
reaper.fm
US$60 ($150 commercial); $40 limited-time deal gets upgrades through 4.99 if you purchase this month
Recommended by: John Townsend

Also consider: “light” versions of tools like Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, SONAR, Cubase, etc., if someone on your list has a specific preference

With Windows, Mac, and (WINE) Linux compatibility, no DRM, a clean interface, and a supportive community, Reaper is a general-purpose music production tool you can feel confident giving or receiving. You can even use it to author Rock Band Network content, meaning you can give it to a musician who has everything and they’ll still appreciate it. And the pricing here isn’t a cut-down limited version; it’s the whole enchilada. It’s a gift that’ll keep on giving: buy version 3, get versions 4 (teased last week) through 5.99 free.

Renoise

Eduard Müller (Taktik)
renoise.com
US$77.51
Recommended anonymously

Geeky but approachable, retro-fun but modern and housebroken, extensible — all the stuff we value here on CDM. With support for Mac, Windows, and (native) Linux, Renoise is a good gift to give or receive for someone wanting a different approach to music.

The Mouth

Native Instruments
native-instruments.com
US$79
Recommended by Flick

Mic input and vocals get their due in Tim Exile’s superb Reaktor-based instrument. Whether you use it as a vocoder, a melody generator, a unique effect on percussion, or to perform far-out vocals live, it’s a terrific example of where musical design can go. As contributor Flick puts it, “I could go on, but Mr. Exile does it better than I could.”

Korg Legacy Collection Instruments

Korg
korguser.net/shop/software/
US$49.99 each

So, you’re not winning that eBay bidding war, and there’s no more room for more gear, anyway. Korg’s Legacy Collection Instruments are faithfully-reproduced versions of legendary synths like the Polysix and Mono/Poly. And while the MS-20 has inspired iPad and DS apps, it’s tough to beat the convenience of dropping one of these as a plug-in. At $50, pick out one and install it – any one of them could be a favorite synth. (There are even digital options like the M1 and Wavestation.) In an era of enormous bundles, it’s nice to have instruments you can really spend some time with.

Tattoo

Audio Damage
audiodamage.com
US$79

A darned-near perfect drum instrument, Tattoo has an elegant, clear interface, smart sync modes, X0X-style synthesis or MIDI out to any instrument you want, and integrated sequencing. It’s got deep routing options, but unlike a lot of all-in-one drum machines, it’s not overwhelming – making an ideal gift. And, of course, it runs in any host.

pure:dyne

http://puredyne.org/download.html
EUR23-26 (including shipping, worldwide), or use your own key
Recommended by Kim Cascone

Loaded with free and open source tools, this is about as much software as you can pack into this price or amount of memory. It’s “a USB stick you can boot from that contains all the software anyone would need to make electronic music,” says Kim. If you’re curious about experimenting with free tools, from Processing to Pd to Ardour, this is an easy way to do it without any hassle, on any machine, even if you’re a Linux newcomer. You can get it preloaded onto a USB key, or go out and get some funky USB stick (Mimobot, anyone?) and load it yourself.

Electronics and Gear

monotron

Korg
US$59
korg.com/monotron
Recommended by Andy Foltz

“It’s like a toy, and it’s like a synth. With cool filters,” says Andy. The monotron is an elegant, tiny synth with ribbon input and simplified controls. But it’s not dull: the classic analog Korg filter and spectacular sound make it a pocketable instrument. There’s a modder community out there, but in a way, the fact that it’s so minimal is the appeal. It might even inspire a whole EP.

Nebulophone

Bleep Labs
bleeplabs.com/nebulophone
$55 ($80 built)

The Nebulophone is a great beginner kit / stocking stuffer, a bit like having an Arduino-powered DIY stylophone (complete with stylus control). Nice features like a light-controlled filter, arpeggiator, and multiple waveforms make it good fun to play. There’s also easy-to-read, modifiable Arduino code for those who want it. You can even sync this by infrared. If you don’t mind the lack of a case, that might help the Nebulophone trump the (also excellent) Korg Monotron. And it’s weirder – in a good way.

MeeBlip: The hackable digital synth – SOUND DEMO by cdm

MeeBlip

Reflex Audio and Create Digital Music
meeblip.noisepages.com
$129

I have to put the MeeBlip here, because it’s a project I believe in and have worked on: it’s an open source synth you can modify, hack, and play. We’ll be doing a lot more with this in January and throughout 2011. The quick-build version doesn’t require any soldering or knowledge of code; just plug it in and play. Unfortunately, while the kits should still ship in time if you order now, the quick build we can’t ship before Christmas 2010 (unless you live in Canada, in which case you might well get it in time); estimating shipping by December 17 based on current backorders. (MeeBlip is made in Canada.) Current backorders will ship first, if you’ve already ordered one. But if you’re willing to give yourself a New Years’ Gift / Orthodox Christmas Gift / celebrate my birthday in January, you’re good.

DA5 Amplifier

VOX
voxamps.com/da5/
US$139 street

It’s tiny, easy to lift, and powered by batteries. But the DA5 is also loud and sounds much better than a $140 amp should. It’s the perfect answer to all those times when you wish you had an amp and didn’t. Heck, laptop users could even get two and go stereo. It even comes with some surprisingly-usable effects and plenty of I/O. For would-be buskers or mobile musicians, couple this with an instrument with battery power (yes, even your laptop), and you can make noise anywhere.

Tascam DR, Zoom H Series Mobiles

tascam.com
samsontech.com (Zoom)
Street US$100 and up

All under $200, both Tascam and Zoom have exceptional mobile recorders that have plenty to recommend them. Starting at US$100, you can get a Tascam DR-03 with pitch control and looping to help you transcribe and practice, or a Zoom H1 with broadcast WAV compatibility. Spend a few dollars more for extra features and improved quality. Quick buying advice: for $100, grab the Tascam if you care more about pitch control, the Zoom if you need a tripod stand. For $200, you add a bit more bulk to offerings from each company; choose the Zoom if you want something that doubles as a USB mic. There’s a tie here because they’re all great options and great gifts.

By the way, I like the idea of recording with an iPhone or iPod touch, but there are some serious counts against those options. Mic accessories aren’t guaranteed to be compatible one generation to another, you have your battery to worry about (since it may also be your phone), quality options are more limited, and the price of a mic attachment often rivals the cost of a mobile recorder. And the mobile recorder has removable memory.

Ucreate Music

Mattel (really)
myucreate.com
Street US$20
Suggested by Nate

Would you believe you might want a $20 toy in your studio? Nate explains: “The Ucreate Music is a little effect box/sampler designed for kids in mind, but it has some really killer features and effects that are useful in all genres of music. It has a built-in mic for recording some samples (albeit the sample length is not very long, and only at 8 bit quality), it allows for connection of an external mic or any other sound gear (via a 1/4 inch stereo jack). It has 8 different effects that are controllable by a cool, lit up ball shaped XY controller. These effects are killer, and the real time manipulation it gives you is awesome. It has lowpass filters, delay, flanger, phaser a pitch looper and my favorite a looper with loop time, repeat and forwards or reverse controlled by the xy thingy! You can glitch, stutter and get all your favorite BT-style effects with this little box. It is really affordable (I bought 2 for separate stereo processing) and easily hackable, great for any CDM reader.”

Pedals

Pedals get a special category, because whatever instrument you play, they can be a terrific deal and a perfect gift (when most useful hardware sets you back far more than $200). You can use them as effects with your computer, netbook, iPad, synth, guitar, bass, electric violin – anything. There are loads of fantastic options here, but here are a couple of favorites.

BOSS Pedals

BOSS
bossus.com
Varies; various with street of $200 or less

Even with ridiculously-powerful computer software and phones that can do DSP, sometimes you need to be able to stomp on your tools. (And you probably don’t want to stomp on your iPhone.) Enter BOSS with a number of invaluable tools. The $100 street ST-2 Metal Stack models a Marshall Amp stack. The TU-3 keeps you in tune. And for $150 street, the PS-6 Harmonist adds 3-part harmony and Super Bend. But I might shop around for a deal on the RE-20 Space Echo, which has had street prices as little as US$200 lately. I’ve seen them coupled to laptops, Game Boys, and guitars alike. It’s not quite the same as having a real Space Echo, to be sure, but it does give you the basic utility and design in a compact box that’s absurdly affordable.

Electro-Harmonix Pedals

Electro-Harmonix
ehx.com
Varies; many under $200 (or $100)

Electro-Harmonix makes loads of great-sounding pedals that are a staple of soundmakers the world around. Invariably, when I ask someone about their signal chain, one of these boxes is included, almost by default. This also grants a wish from more than one American-based reader who asked for US-made electronics. Yes, they exist; Electro-Harmonix even makes their stuff inside the five boroughs of New York City. (Wherever you live in the world, supporting local goods is important. That’s not anti-trade or protectionist – even if you’re a free trader, you have to agree, the global marketplace only works when we all make stuff.)

Keyboards and Controllers

Novation Launchpad

Novation
novationmusic.com
$149 street
Suggested by Cândido Almeida

I can’t ignore this hardware, not after reader Cândido Almeida puts it this way: “Well, it’s everything you need in one small square with a lot of botons, especially if you use Ableton.
I have wet dreams with it…” And yes, there’s some especially nice stuff you can do with the Launchpad and Renoise, one of our software picks. (Credit due to the monome that inspired this grid craze – having set the budget for this piece, here’s hoping you were lucky with recent runs of kits and grayscale 128s. And hey, I’ve seen Launchpads and monomes coexist at monome community meetups.)

Midi-Fighter

DJ Tech Tools
techtools.myshopify.com
US$125

Who says music can’t be button mashing? The 4×4 Midi-Fighter matrix is a perfect first DIY controller project – it’s easy to assemble, easy to customize, and gives you satisfying-feeling arcade buttons. There are great pre-mappings if you DJ with tools like Traktor, or you could easily adapt them to Ableton, Renoise, Maschine, and other tools.

Akai LPK-25

Akai Pro
akaipro.com/lpk25
$70 street

Ultra-compact keyboards on the go or in tight spaces are fantastic, and the LPK-25 from Akai might just have the edge. Derek Morton writes: “I know I am bit of an eccentric gear-oholic. I tend to favor instruments or software that is a bit different, innovative or just helpful in some way. This little cheap USB midi keyboard controller is not the perfect controller by any means. It lacks pitch and mod wheels and the keys are quite tiny which makes it difficult to perform anything complex. THE BIG HOWEVER is… this little guy has a super fun built-in arpeggiator and latch. Bring up a drum machine instrument or samples and the fun begins here! I don’t know any MIDI Key controllers that have this feature. You can spend upwards of a half of a grand on ultra-programmable controllers that have knobs, dials, faders and LCD readouts without a basic arpeggiator.”

Alternatively, consider the Korg nanoSERIES microKEY — as reader Greg puts it, “So I can do some sequencing at Starbucks.” Just try not to spill your Gingerbread Spice Latte on it, okay?

Now, it doesn’t have a MIDI DIN port, which brings us to…

Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard

Harmonix / Mad Catz
rockband.com/games/rb3
US$130 street with Rock Band 3 game, $80 for just the keyboard

A keytar for a game may not seem a serious music tool, but make no mistake about it. The Rock Band 3 keyboard works with hardware using standard MIDI DIN output, has a great-feeling keybed for the price, and finally gives you a “keytar” that’s light, ultra-compact, portable, and battery-powered. As a mini keytar, it’s unparalleled. (No word yet on using its wireless Bluetooth features, as works with the Xbox.) Bonus: get the game for fun, and discover something you can actually practice with. That means a serious tool that a musician might game with casually, or a serious game accessory that might convince your friend/family member to explore music production.

Acoustic

Whirly Tube sound hose

stevespanglerscience.com
US$6.95
Suggested by Dan D.

“Gosh, I would love to sample these and make nice, airy pad with it,” says Dan. I’ve got a similar noisemaker (though not under this name); it’s good fun. Can’t beat the $7 price, either.

GL1 Guitalele

Yamaha
uk.yamaha.com
Street EUR60-70
Recommended by Ronban

What happens when you combine a guitar and a ukulele? Maybe just the perfect hybrid instrument – take that, keytar. It’s compact, inexpensive, and shares some of the best sonic characteristics of each. It’s the “ultimate travel and fun guitar,” says Ronban.

Fellow North Americans, I’m not actually clear on whether you can buy the GL1 or not; I can only find UK and Europe availability (no idea for Asia/Pacific/South America, either). I think there are some similar models, though; if you know more than I do, which is very possible, shout out in comments.

Wearables, Accessories, and Design

Ghostly Store

theghostlystore.com

If you could have a gift certificate from anywhere, this might be the place. Gorgeous, music-inspired art. LPs. Digital music. Cool stuff for your desk. It’s probably the worst place to recommend to go shopping for someone else, as you may wind up just gifting a lot of stuff to yourself. Ghostly International was one of the best labels of 2010, but they also are happy to remake your lifestyle and make your walls more artistic and give you inspirational notebooks. It’s so cool, it’s kind of disgusting.

ISO50 Shop

merchline.com/iso50/

Known both as a designer and by musical alterego Tycho, Scott Hansen is a Renaissance man of tasteful sounds and eye candy. His ISO50 shop matches that aesthetic, with beautiful prints and, yes, fashionable MIDI shirts. If you’re a design nerd and music geek, it’s heaven.

Wearables and Swag from KORG, Moog, Ableton, etc.

ableton.com/shop
korg.com/vintagetees
moogmusic.com/moogwear/

Can’t afford to get someone the real deal? Get them a t-shirt instead. (I can wear a Mono/Poly shirt on days when I’m not wearing my Harvard Law School t-shirt or Leer Jet jacket.) Korg has a delightfully-designed set of vintage-inspired t-shirts. Ableton apparel is almost single-handedly responsible for keeping many laptop musicians from freezing, buck naked, and now there’s a clever dance steps t-shirt. (Wear it at your next set to see if someone takes the hint.) Moog Music always has lovely accessories, but this year is special – pick up 40th anniversary pins and apparel to celebrate the Minimoog.

Tracks Headphones

AIAIAI
aiaiai.dk
DKK375, or about EUR50
Available at Dijitalfix, US$65

Copenhagen-based design firm and “lifestyle audio” house AIAIAI makes the TMA-1 headphones. The TMAs are brilliant DJ headphones with minimal design and thoughtful features that lie right at the US$200 cusp. But I’m actually going to recommend the Tracks headphones instead for the gift guide, because they’re easy to give to everyone you know. They’re lightweight but rugged enough to carry with you, and share the minimal design essence of the TMAs. They also sound incredible given their cost and size. A built-in mic also means you can comfortably give them to someone who’s listening on an iPhone, and tell them to please, please throw out those awful earbuds. (The mic also means you can listen to reactive environments in RjDj.) The over-the-ear design also fits when earbuds don’t, perfect for hitting the ellipse machine at the gym without your buds falling out all the time. And boys and girls all like the custom colors. At $70, they’re also a lot easier as an impulse buy. I now alternate between these, the TMAs, and for studio monitoring, studio cans.

What Did Santa Miss?

Got more ideas – particularly those in our modest budget? Let us know in comments.

What’s truly wish-worthy? Is it a manuscript paper notebook? An iPhone app? A glitched-out hardware effect? A DAW? A sample library? A CD or book?

Before we put together some of our own suggestions for this year’s gift guide, we want to hear from you. You can add to your own wish list. You can add something you’ve gotten yourself you think someone else – or even a beginner – might want themselves. If you make something you want people to know about, be you a large vendor or garage maker, you can pitch us here, too.

There’s only one requirement: this year I’m absolutely looking for practicality. Sure, someone leaving a restore Buchla 100 Series modular with a bow on it would be nice, but there are too many terrific affordable choices to fail to focus on those. Be aware I’ll be skimming lots of answers, too, so get your elevator pitch right or find a snappy few words as a headline if you want our attention.

Enter the Google Doc directly, or fill it out here; form below.

For a truly unique and very much last-minute gift for anyone you know, look to CDM’s favorite game of year, the gorgeous, blood pressure-lowering title for Windows and – at long last – Mac. I may personally identify a little too much with the abstract protagonist of this game, as my holiday activities could well be described as floating around the universe, sucking particles into my gravity well as I grow in size. But whether or not I feel literally like an expanding bubble of matter, one of my favorite experiences this year was entering this ingenious physics-based game. It fuses visuals with a sparkling minimal electronic soundtrack by some favorite artists, from Gas to Loscil, and could be a perfect surprise hard drive stuffer for a Mac or Windows user – even if they’d be puzzled by, say, a sophisticated virtual analog instrument.

$10, Mac and Windows, instant download.

Osmos @ Hemisphere Games

I’m not doing this as an advertisement, either – I’m buying it and placing it on the hard drive of someone dear to me, who I’m fairly certain isn’t reading this blog and to whose laptop I have easy access.

Lastly, to help celebrate the holidays, we’ll have treats in the form of free downloads and tips leading from this weekend into the New Year. Among them, I’m pleased to offer the exclusive official Osmos soundtrack as a free CDM Sounds podcast. (I hoped to have that edited in time for today, but expect it by Monday. And yes, it’s the rare soundtrack that you’ll still want to hear after the game is over.)

Best gift I could have received: http://createdigitalmotion.com is back after a screw-up with our domain. It won’t happen again, and we’ll make it up to our visualist readers with extra content starting next week.

Thanks, everyone, and enjoy the season. Winter is, after all, a great time to bunker in and make music.

And nicely enough, there’s a strong emphasis on cheap and DIY projects, meaning these can be ideal even in tough economic times.

SX-150 button mod from Collin Cunningham on Vimeo.

MAKE: Blog > Music Makers’s Gift Guide

Assembled by our friend (and Handmade Music regular) Collin Cunningham, these are the geekiest DIY treasures you can find. I got hands-on with a couple of these recently. The plastic Theremin kit is fun, although you won’t get fantastic results out of it. My favorites: the awesome SX-150 synth kit (above), previously seen only in Japan, and the Thingamakit (which also got mentioned in our holiday guide). They’re both affordable and make some lovely sounds the moment you start using them, with hacks possible later.

For fans of the Arduino electronics/microcontroller platform, see Collin’s separate guide.

The monome didn’t make the guide this year, though it topped our list, but given that you have to basically preorder the moment a run is announced, that’s not exactly a slight.

wire to the ear > Five inexpensive Chistmas gifts for musicians

This small but neat selection is just perfect, I think, from the Moog schematic on a t-shirt (above) to flash memory earrings to Live sound packs from Puremagnetik.

Digital LoFi > The 2nd Annual Digital LoFi Holiday Gift Guide for the Disenfranchised

Digital LoFi has some fantastic selections: buy one, get-one-free offerings from Soniccouture (makers of fantastic Kontakt scripts, by the way), a pay-what-you-will EQ, and wonderful donationware plug-ins. The site also calls out CDM’s own Winter Guide print-on-demand – thanks!

Pt. I
Pt. II
Pt. III
Pt. IV

Honorable mention: The wacky scientists in residence at New York’s Eyebeam research center have introduced Hack Me Elmo. (Thanks, Chris Hahn!) That’s right: it’s a blockbuster holiday toy from years past, hacked into something very odd. Check out our own Mike Una’s how-to on circuit bending if you want to transform a toy into something musical and wonderful, also in our Winter ‘08 guide.

And yes, the rest is here:

If you’re interested in advertising in the guide, your ad will be exposed online in the main site feed for all of our online readers plus will get additional exposure in the online / downloadable / printable version that people will hang onto. We can send you details, but you need to contact us and ads do close end of day Wednesday New York time.

It’s nearly the holiday season, and as CDM has just completed its fourth birthday, I want to give all of us a present. The idea: a holiday guide that’s a bit different.

• The first CDM treeware. We’ll have PDF and print-on demand versions. And part of the reason we’re doing this:
• Something you can share. CDM certainly has its share of (sometimes frighteningly) advanced readers. But we believe in what we’re doing enough to share it with people with less experience. So we’ll include content you can share with nieces, cousins, strangers on the street. And, of course, it’ll be Creative Commons-licensed.
• Gifts of knowledge as well as objects. You’ve seen the countless lists of “stuff to buy” in other holiday guides. But we believe in DIY tech, and that knowledge can be priceless. So we’ll include information from the best of CDM in 2008 and special guides for the occasion.
• Designed by you. This time, we want to know what you would want to receive, what you would give to newcomers, and what you would want to read. So we need your help – fill out the survey below and this will really be a grassroots effort by the CDM community.

It’s a really tough economy out there. But that’s all the more reason to invest in things that really matter, to look for value, and to look for things that can be shared freely with one another. So, in my mind, I could think of no better time to do this. Give the survey a go.

If you complete the survey, you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive another gift: a free copy of the new, cross-platform T-RackS 3 mastering and mixing suite donated by IK Multimedia. (We’ll have one other opportunity to put your name in the hat later this week, too.)

Fill out the survey below or head straight to:
http://cdm.holiday08.sgizmo.com

And watch for the guide by the beginning of December.

Advertisers: We need your support to help bring this guide to CDM readers free of charge. If you’ve got a message you’d like to get out and want to support our community, do get in touch. (We have some creative possibilities to offer, too.) Use the contact form or email ads (at) createdigitalmusic (dot) com.

Mike Una

Michael Una is an informant and writer for CDM on bent circuits, sound art, and electronic goodness; check out his interview last week with Beatrix*Jar and the results of the Circuit Bending Challenge.

Hip fashion for music geeks:

Moogs Not Missiles T-shirt, $20 from Etsy.com (above)

Synthi Blue Green T-shirt, $21.99 from Gear Addict @ Cafe Press

Bootsy Collins T-Shirts, $20.99 from rocktshirtspunk.com

Sun Ra Helios Tee, $15 from mrdwab.com (above)

Generate visuals for while you’re bleeping out:
Critter and Guitari Cellular Automata Video Kit $49.95 direct

Killin’ that hum during the staticky winter months:

Scosche Eso34 Ground Loop Isolator $17.61 from Amazon.com (above)

For turning your pad into the ultimate Space Disco haven:

K12 Audio to Light Modulator $13.25 direct from PAiA Corporation (above)

What’s that?

"This circuit controls the intensity of a light (incandescent bulb only, 200W max, not included) in response to the level of the audio input."

Still not sold?

"This kit should not be built by or for children!"

And the ultimate holiday gift for that person still seeking audio euphoria:

modPod Egg Chair $1899 direct from inmod

It vibrates the chair along with the Hi-Fi stereo output, and has .mp3 input. How can you go wrong?

Liz "Quantazelle" McLean Knight

Liz is a laptopist, producer, and independent businesswoman extraordinaire, as well as CDM’s Marketing Manager. Don’t miss her conversation with alternative controller-making Gustavo Bravetti, or tips on making demo discs and getting gigs.

For all those times you’ve shown up at a gig without the right (xx):

Electronic Musicians’ Emergency Adapters, $65 from FractalSpin

Ed.: I think this means you’re meant to slow down, or apply the emergency brake, or get some earplugs ready for some insane signal processing. Or something.

"Digital Signal Processing Ahead" Tshirt, $25 from FractalSpin.com (available as men’s, women’s, and tank)

This DJ: Does Not Take Requests.

DJ Request Policy T-Shirt, $25 from FractalSpin.com

I love these little things for keeping earbug cables and firewire cable out of jumbled mess:

Cable Turtle, $10 from Amazon.com; see cableturtles.co.uk for the full line and free UK delivery (above)

I love this bag-it has a nice padded laptop sleeve inside that’s removable as well as a padded strap. And there’s a lot of room inside for extra hard drives, a pair of headphones, some demo cds, vinyl if you need analog…etc. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

UDG CourierBag Deluxe, EUR59.99 direct from Ultimate-DJ-Gear.com or $59.99 from DJDeals.com (above)

And here are some nice, inexpensive VSTs. There are so many gems there.

Ohmforce Plug-ins, various, from ohmforce.com (above)

Daevlmakr Plug-ins, $36 from daevlmakr.com (see our previous review)

James Grahame

James Grahame runs the incredible Retro Thing blog, and aside from keeping us up to date on all things hardware did a terrific interview with Solaris creator John Bowen. I’m guessing these wishes are more practical than the DIY satellite, James?

My list is centered around building your own analog synth.

First up, the synthesizers.com ‘module a month’ system. $120 per month gets you a 22 space modular rack case, 8 modules and accessories. Receiving one part every 30 days gives you ample time to assemble and test the beast over the course of a year.

Entry System Purchase Plan, $120/mo from Synthesizers.com

The PAiA Fatman analog monosynth remains an unbeatable value. The kit is offered in rack-mount or table top versions for under $250. It has earned the honor of becoming the world’s most modded synth, and dozens of useful tweaks are available online for intrepid builders, including VCO hard sync and a subharmonic generator.

FatMan Analog MIDI Synth, $200.95 and up from PAiA Corporation

The Sound Lab Mini-Synth is a great bare-bones unit. You can purchase the PC Board for a mere $30, although you’ll need to scrounge up another $70 or so in parts to build your very own cv/gate controlled analog noisemaker.

Sound Lab Mini-Synth, ca. $100 from musicfromouterspace.com and self-bought from vendors

And, on the off chance that I win the lottery, here’s my dream synth for 2008…

John Bowen’s brand new Solaris keyboard synth offers a multitude of sound design possibilities. It’s now available for pre-order at $3399, with delivery starting in early 2008. The Solaris features vector synthesis, multiple filter models (Mini Moog ladder style, Prophet 5 SSM & Curtis emulations, comb filter), looping envelopes, six DADSRs per voice, effects unit, programmable espresso maker and so on. The initial production run will be a mere 100 units.

Solaris, $3399 direct from John Bowen Synth Design

And one more practical software selection…

How about Reaper 2? This little Windows sequencer is beginning to really grow on me. A non-commercial license costs only $50 and it even runs on Linux boxes using wineasio.

Reaper multitrack audio tool, $50 from Cockos Incorporated

W. Brent Latta

Brent does sound and music for games himself, but also stays on top of all things gaming for CDM. See his review of Audiofile Engineering’s Wave Editor, a tool he uses in his own work.

My wishlist, in no particular order…

Whether the $199 upgrade, or the $499 full version, this is bar-none my best value in high-end DAWs right now, and I’m dying to check out that new multi-delay!

Logic Pro Studio 8, $479 from Amazon.com, as seen regularly here on CDM

I wouldn’t have heard about this gizmo without Peter’s coverage, but now I totally want one…or four!

Mandala 2.0 Drum Pad, $349 direct from Synesthesia Corporation

When you want to play guitar without actually having a guitar … Check out the ‘No Surprises’ video on YouTube, shown above!

Jam Sessions, $19.99 from Amazon.com for Nintendo DS

Okay – it isn’t a musical instrument, but with a ‘Blade Runner’ inspired soundtrack, this is going to be one of my favorite games of the year!

Mass Effect, $59.99 from Amazon.com for Xbox 360

Designed by one of my college professors, Terry Setter, I had the chance to check out the TS-1 microphones during an orchestral recording not long ago, and they held their own against a matched pair of vintage B and K microphones. The TS-2 looks like a GREAT vocal mic for the studio.

Chameleon Labs TS-2, $799 list and available from lots of folks

Heck, as long as we’re going BIG: One of the finest audio interfaces available for Mac/Logic users, this thing is dripping with class…

Apogee Ensemble, $1995; various, for Mac only (see previously on CDM)

I’ve wanted a Prophet ever since I found out that it was a primary instrument on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Passion’. Now I can get one at an affordable price, and not have to worry about tracking down the MIDI-mod, or pay through the nose to get a vintage unit brought back to spec.

Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ’08, $1999 (see Prophet coverage on CDM)

Lee Sherman

We haven’t heard from Lee Sherman as recently here on CDM, as he’s been busy with other tech journalism gigs, but he was one of our first contributors and is particularly dedicated to soft synths.

With Bob Moog sadly departed, someone has to fly the flag for analog and who better than co-traveler Dave Smith? It’s not surprising that it sounds amazing and offers tons of hands-on control. But a full-featured poly analog synth at a price comparable to a digital one? Priceless.

Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ’08

As emulations go, this sample collection stands out for its comprehensive collection of Moog sounds, which includes nearly every product ever to bear the Moog moniker, not just lesser known synths like my beloved Rogue but the Moog Vocoder, and Etherwave Theremin, all the way up to the most recent Moog, the Little Phatty, over 1,700 basses, leads, pads and effects.

IK Multimedia SampleMoog, $239 from Amazon.com (see our coverage of the announcement and comparison with Arturia’s offering)

What could be more fun than a battery-powered synth that fits in a pocket and combines the touch interface of the Kaoss Pad with Korg synth sounds and effects? I’ll take this over a Nintendo DS any day. (Ed.: Wait a minute, Lee. Kaossilator is cool, but uh, don’t take away my DS!)

Korg Kaossilator, $235 est. (not yet shipping in the US; video above)

There are other digital emulations that accurately model the lovely tape flutter and crunchy magnetic head saturation of vintage tape echos, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that looks this cool. And the 70s nostalgia goes just far enough. The Space Echo has been reborn as a more stage-worthy pedal.

"Roland Space Echo" on eBay

… and Stylophones

mrMark came up with this groovy montage on Flickr.

Not entirely sure how it got started, but it seems all of us want a classic Dubreq Stylophone, the  vintage miniature, stylus-controlled instrument popularized by the likes of Kraftwerk ("Pocket Calculator") and Bowie ("Space Oddity").

As it happens, there are several ways to get one:

Stylophone.com has reconditioned 60s- and 70s-era Stylophones, though the price is rather steep: GBP55 / USD119.

Firebox.com has the original Stylophone for GBP14.95, though you’ll have to put an IOU in a Christmas box, etc.: they’re sold out until the beginning of 2008. (I’ll wait.)

And there’s always eBay.

"Stylophone" on eBay

Got Wishes of Your Own?

Practical or impractical, we’d love to hear them. Let us know in comments.