Remix albums are ubiquitous, and sampling has become one of the fundamental techniques of electronic music. But how much do raw materials impact the end result? And given that a sample might simply be a prompt or starting point, why not take on someone else’s samples instead of your own?

Film aficionados routinely trade film – sometimes even double-exposing someone else’s roll, for unexpected results. Here, a group of musicians take on another artist’s samples, starting with 40 minutes of material by Forrest Reiff (Off Balance Atlas), shared on SoundCloud. The results are eclectic, sometimes exotic, sometimes chaotic, but well worth a sampling yourself. And if you decide to give them money, you can get a handmade cassette copy in the deal.

Forrest explains the project:

This album was initiated from an idea in my head to have other people hear the sounds that I sample and create their own interpretation of the source material. It’s not really a remix album because there is no linear path that any of the sounds were presented in..it is more a reanimation of raw crystal sound waves into a new gem fortress. The artists were not asked to use the material exclusively, but merely to implement it into the creative process. Thank you to all the producers who participated out of their sheer creative drive in the first round. May the future bring bright things for us all.
The album is being offered free of charge but if you donate $8-$10 you will be guaranteed a physical copy of the release in cassette format. Feel free to donate less if you just wish to support the idea and enjoy the digital album. I will be hand making the tapes initially but if the interest becomes great and I receive enough donations a full on pressing will commence and you will receive a “professionally” dubbed and printed tape…which will mark the first official skylight gymnasium records release. We live in an extraordinary world filled with vast stimuli and beauty…I humbly thank you for your interest in this project and possible endeavors of the infinite beyond.
-Forrest Reiff (Off Balance Atlas)

One of the participating artists, Judson / Sumsun, sent us a heads-up on the project and shares his impressions:

I really enjoy listening to all the artists interpretations of the material, you can hear a little bit of Off Balance Atlas or hear a bit that I almost sampled, but then the songs really sound like the artists using the sample.

He fills us in on some of the process and background, too:

It’s a lot of Roland SP sampling ([BOSS] SP-505 and [Roland] SP-404), cassette and mini cassette field recordings, random vinyl rips, hydrophones, analog and digital synths, you know, meat and potatoes type stuff. Then he sent the soundcloud page out to a bunch of friends and they sent it to their friends and it grew and grew. He started this months ago but just put the finished product up online. The label my project is on, Leaving Records, debuted it in a simple blog post:

http://leavingrecords.com/happening/sample-based-life/

Leaving is a small LA label owned by sonic wizard Matthewdavid and is a subsidiary of Alpha Pup Records (Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label is also a subsidiary of Alpha Pup).

The images here come from Forrest’s sampling setup, and I’m sure aren’t dissimilar from many readers’ noise-making closets.

SoundCloud was the means of sharing the files, for samples like this one:

Samplebasedlife (1) (DL able now) by samplebasedlife

SoundCloud and services like it, in turn, will be the subject of a lot of the hacking happening this weekend at the first-ever New York installment of Music Hack Day. I’ll be interested to see if that helps spawn more ideas like this.

On the other hand, you don’t need fancy technology; you could even mail a cassette tape.

http://samplebasedlife.bandcamp.com/

Tried something like this? Got a way of organizing samples, even for yourself? Let us know.

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.

Since the very first Guitar Hero game, musicians have found ways of converting game music controllers into genuine music controllers, through various hacks and tricks. But now, no hackery is needed: Rock Band 3′s new “Pro” controllers ship with actual MIDI DIN ports on the back. With the help of Harmonix, we get to look inside how that MIDI implementation works.

The Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro-Guitar, designed as a collaboration between Harmonix and Mad Catz and manufactured by the latter, isn’t exactly a full-blown MIDI guitar. It has strings, but in place of fretting those strings, you instead use 102 fret buttons. (Stay tuned for details of the Squier Strat for RB3, which will be both – actual strings over the frets.)

Non-guitarists won’t mind the buttons: there’s no need to build up callouses. And the frets are located in the right place, so if you do know how to fret a guitar, you’ll find it usable. The other big upshot is price: with a street price of US$150, the Mustang is on the high end of game controller, but very much the low end of things that can simulate a guitar with MIDI.

I don’t yet have a Mustang on-hand — I’m hoping I can find a real guitarists to give one a full play test when it ships late in November. But I can describe how MIDI works on the device.

The hardware:

• Six actual strings sense velocity. (As you can see in the picture, they stop before they get to the fretboard, covering only the distance needed to allow you to strum them.)
• 102 buttons stand in for frets (17 frets, 6 buttons per fret)
• Power from three AA batteries
• 6.3 lbs
• Tilt sensor
• Xbox 360 game pad
• TRS port for stomp, expression pedal input. (Stomp pedals from the game will work; for expression pedals, we’ll need to do a hack or DIY solution.)

Here’s the pleasant surprise: just about everything onboard is mapped to MIDI, including even the game pad and tilt sensor. And there are even two play modes for additional flexibility when you’re working with MIDI.

Thanks to that 5-pin MIDI DIN port, you can connect the guitar to any computer or synth – even a post-MIDI vintage synth found on eBay. (No USB MIDI is provided, but a lot of audio interfaces and keyboards give you a MIDI in port “for free.”)

Configuration instructions: step one, turn it on. (The PS3 and Wii version will have an actual power switch; on Xbox 360, you have to hold down the Guide button, just as on other Xbox controllers.) Step two, plug in a MIDI cable (the one with 5 pins that we’ve been using for over a quarter century). Step three — there is no step three. Turn it on, plug, and go.

MIDI implementation

Octave: Increment and decrement octave are the left and right action buttons (X and B on Xbox).

Program change: Increment and decrement are the top and bottom action buttons (that’s Y and A on Xbox). Transmits on channels 1-6. No, really. There’s a program change message implemented on this thing. The default is 28, the patch for a clean electric guitar in General MIDI.

D-pad buttons switch functions for the pedal, from foot controller to channel volume to expression.

Pedals: Connect an analog pedal, and you can use continuous expression or volume. Connect a digital stomp (that is, one that’s either on or off, like the bass drum pedal), and you send a damper pedal / sustain message.

Panic: Mercifully, there’s an all notes off command issued if you press the Xbox Back, Start, and D-Pad right at the same time. (Hmmm – feels like ctrl-alt-del.)

MIDI channel: By default, the guitar transmits on channels 1-6 — that’s in order to transmit strings separately. Each of the six strings is a different channel.

Accelerometer transmits Modulation on the X axis, Expression on the Y axis, and Pitch Bend on the Z axis, and each can be toggled independently with shift (the Start key) + B, A, and X, respectively. (That’s a good thing, as controlling all three at once would be a little messy.)

Frets and strings: Here’s the tricky part, because you’re strumming something rather than playing a MIDI keyboard. There are two modes:

• “Strum mode.” Hold a fret, then strum the string. The note is sent when – and only when – you strum. The pitch is set by whichever fret is closest. That note is held until you change a fret.
• “Synth mode.” Strumming a string or changing frets will generate a note – meaning, if you like, you can use that fretboard as a 102-key keyboard. (Microtonal fans, go nuts.) Here’s the odd part, though – you need the strum to set velocity, so whichever strum you’ve last strummed is your current velocity. While it’s called “synth” mode, this is the only mode that allows hammer-ons and pull-offs.

We’re going to need to get the actual guitar and shoot some video before that really makes sense. But you get the idea.

You can adjust pitch up and down 4 octaves in either direction.

LED feedback gives you information on what’s toggled and what isn’t, though my guess is you’ll just listen rather than try to squint at the LEDs.

Want Real Strings?

If those buttons look unappealing to you, Rock Band 3 will have an alternative with real strings, the Squier Stratocaster.

In many ways, the Squier is more interesting – especially to actual guitarists, and not just people looking for a new way to fiddle with soft synths. With real strings, it ceases to be a toy, and while pricing and availability haven’t yet been announced, it’s likely to be the cheapest MIDI guitar solution out there.

I’ve confirmed that the MIDI implementation on the Squier will be similar to the Fender Mustang Pro – same channels and messages. It lacks the pedal inputs.

Engadget did a nice hands-on preview of the Strat, with photos and video.

Likely applications

With both “Synth” and “Strum” modes possible, I think Harmonix and Mad Catz may have a hit here. For someone who isn’t quite ready to commit to a MIDI guitar yet but just wants an alternative way to track some MIDI lines, it’s hard to beat basic input for $150, with frets in the right place instead of a piano keyboard. For other applications, I can imagine having some real fun – with the accelerometer and “Synth Mode,” the guitar becomes a very viable, absurdly cheap, velocity-sensitive controller for strange new synths and other creations.

It’s probably some of those oddball applications that will appeal most, as I suspect real guitarists will hold out for the stringed-fret Squier, leaving the buttons to the rest of us.

Beyond MIDI: These are wireless Xbox 360 controllers, too, so if you have any tool that can talk to Xbox controllers on PC, you should theoretically be able to rig up something wireless that doesn’t involve MIDI cabling. But I like the ability to plug into hardware synths with MIDI, no computer necessary, too – and as I say, those MIDI ports are often “free” on gear you already have plugged into your computer.

Stay tuned for when this ships.

Hopefully that gives you an idea whether you want to pre-order this sucker. Knock yourself out.

All photos courtesy Harmonix.

“Your kids will love this Saw figure.” So, too, must have been the calculation of the person who decided to immortalize the film Saw with little toys and figures containing 30 seconds of voice recording, because this toy is now available in quantity for — wait for it — US$2. A $2, 30-second sampler? Now that’s a bend waiting to happen.

Circuit bending blog GetLoFi in 2008 posted a detailed set of instructions for bending the SAW III sampler. Download the full PDF, and you can make one yourself, using the $2 part from All Electronics.

In the spirit of getting everyone in on the noise-making fun, our friends who organize Handmade Music Austin are making this bend the basis of their August event. As usual, you’ll also get a happy Sunday full of learning, making, sharing, and sounds. Details on the Handmade Music blog, if you’re in the Austin area:
Austin #10

What I love about this workshop is that it’s something a lot of people could do. I’m working on assembling a set of projects for beginners so that, if you are planning an event in your neck of the woods, you have an ample set of supplies. Ideas? Requests? Let us know in comments.

New York, we’ll be back on August 29; I’ll have some details later this week.

What’s the cutest conceivable musical instrument? It’d be tough to top an anthromorphic musical note, complete with eight-note flag, whose smiling face opens when it “sings.”

Boing Boing Gadgets (by way of Tokyo Mango) gets the story on this latest creation of art group Maywa Denki and lead creative instigator Novmichi Tosa. The Otamatone is only barely practical as an instrument; it sports a nasal tone from its simple electronic oscillator and, at the end of the video, demonstrates an entirely new way to render the US National Anthem slightly out of tune. (Apologies to Jimi Hendrix.) But it also exhibits sheer genius, like shaking it to get vibrato and adjusting formants by squeezing the character’s mouth open and closed. And it easily trumps those horrible plastic Yamaha recorders we were all forced to play in school.

It’s almost a surprise to see Maywa Denki with something selling at retail, as their previous creations have been designed to be completely absurd. Take the Tsukuba Series of instrumental devices, which includes:

• An instrument built to punch bubble wrap (packing tape)
• A “voice vibrator” you strap to your throat
• A Brazilian percussion robot
• “Guitar-la,” an array of six guitars played by a pedal organ.

You can see those and other creations by clicking through the “Art” section of the project’s site; there are other wonderful (and kawaii) toys, too, called “nonsense toys”:

http://www.maywadenki.com/

I previously wrote about the strange aquatic-themed musical designs, evoking the shapes of fish bodies and skeletons:

Bizarre Fish-Themed Gadgets, Musical Instruments

It’s all pure design genius, and a reminder that designs need not be bereft of personality, whimsy, and the absurd.

Thanks to Tom Betts from whom I stole found this story.

"If they enter the code CreateDigitalMusic.com in the ‘Add special instructions for the Merchant‘ field in PayPal, we’ll extend the offer until July 14th.

Not getting any promotional fees for pitching this; I’m genuinely excited about my papercraft Moog and the album! (Though I think I may have Microscopics buy me a beer if I see them…)

In other news, the band have posted a lovely short video featuring an oscilloscope; you can watch it on Create Digital Motion.

We hope to catch up with the artist, Mat Jarvis (aka Gas / High Skies), soon.

Gas0095, the landmark 90s ambient release by Mat Jarvis (Gas / High Skies), is back in a remastered version. If you know the music, you’re probably already thrilled by the return of this epic sonic world; if not, even non-ambient fans are likely to get a kick out of the spacey, synthy goodness. (Best press quote: “the ideal soundtrack to an IMAX film on the history of space travel.” You had me at IMAX.)

Paul from Microscopics (the label) writes to tell us they’re sweetening the pot with a 1/8 scale Minimoog freebie for all June preorders. (Nanomoog?) It’s brilliant marketing. In Japan, rampant piracy and a general fascination with toys long ago prompted music stars to give away goodies with albums, sometimes dwarfing the size of the album itself. Oh, sure, you could grab album X off a pirate torrent stream – no toy for you. If MSN Music had given away action figures or something, I expect things would have gone differently. Next, I want to see a functioning synth bundled with an album.

Still not sold? Check out this fantastic video for the spectacular microscopic, set to “A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero.” Before Google Earth, the office of Charles and Ray Eames made this poetic statement on scale macroscopic and microscopic, one of a series of short films that came out of their studio in the post-war decades. (And you thought they just made iconic chairs.) The score fits so well with the film, you’d swear they were released together in 1977. (Also seen via Synthwire.)

Gas0095 Music Page 

Album preorder for US$16 (EUR13/GBP10) gets you the Minimoog model, instant MP3 version, free shipping, and good space karma. Also available as FLAC.

Here’s the free track, microscopic:

gas-microscopic.mp3

Updated – offer extended: If you missed getting the free Minimoog model and still want it, Microscopics have extended the offer, exclusively for Create Digital Music readers. Paul writes:

"If they enter the code CreateDigitalMusic.com in the ‘Add special instructions for the Merchant‘ field in PayPal, we’ll extend the offer until July 14th.

Imagine a semi-modular box with glitchy sampler and the repurposed, Frankenbending sounds of electronic toy guts:

The instrument will consists of three main sections: two modified toys and a lo-fi sampler. The first toy is a complex modern educational toy that can be altered to produce amazing organic soundscapes, sweeping orchestral sounds and strange percussive loops. It also has a stereo output, which is rather nice. The second toy, in contrast to the mellow tones of the first, produces harsher sounding staccato blips, crunches and bleeps. This section can also make several different animal sounds. The sampler can record up to 20 seconds of audio, either as one long sound or four shorter ones. This is useful as the unpredictable nature of circuit bending can sometimes make it difficult to recall a particular sound. Last but not least: there is also a loop function.

Norman did the brief, but the hardware-constructing mad scientist is an East London-based fellow named Dave Cranmer, aka nervous squirrel. (See the interview he did with Future Music mag, and the many creative projects he’s working on on his site.)

Here’s a look at the insides, plus a video of another Nervous Squirrel Creation in action:

The following video is not the Glam Machine (I assume we’ll be getting that from Norman soon), but it’s a box along the same lines:

A rehousing of IQ Builder’s Talking Computer+Voice Changer+Unknow Baby Toy, all contained in a wondeful wood box. Live recording with aerial microphone, with the intention to explore this monster capable of creating a huge mass of textures, rhytmins, effect. Unique sound palette, real fun!
Hope U enjoy it listening as i’m doing playing!…
www.myspace.com/shivatribu
www.myspace.com/shivatribubus
nervoussquirrel.com

And, in a move we haven’t seen in years, they spell the name with a ‘z’ instead of an ‘s.’ Classy. And they’ve opted for a design that looks like the security fence in Jurassic Park.

The beamz Music Performance System @ Theremin World

Not sold yet? Read this feature and drool:

Choose a complementary rhythm track from 30 original songs in 19 music genres, including jazz, bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, reggae, heavy metal and more.

And it all “brings families and friends together through highly personalized music performances that elicit joy and excitement across all ages.” So, is $600 really so much to ask if it saves your family?

Make Your Own Laser Harp

As it happens, you can make a much cooler (okay, not saying much — a cool) laser harp on your own, as Stephen Hobley has done:

Stephen Hobley’s *awesome* laser harp [ladyada's ranting]

Click through to comments for more details on the project and how-to info.

Updated: Stephen’s site is back up, so go have a look. The project uses the very inexpensive Boarduino Arduino clone. I’m an Arduino vet but just picked up a Boarduino, so I’ll let you know when I do something with it.

“Totally awesome” as this may be, I still feel somehow unsatisfied. And then I know why:

Someone needs to do a laser tag harp. Ah, that takes me back. Anyone?

Photo: carinemily. And they say this whole 8-bit music thing is about 80s nostalgia? I’ll show you 80s nostalgia.

Stephen Haunts was inspired by the cassette-recorded 808, and writes to tell us he’s decided to give something back. He’s uploaded 22 kits from a Korg ElecTribe ER-1, a kit from a Yamaha DD-10 (pictured amusing the awkward fellow at right from the manual), and a Yamaha PSS-80. The Yamahas steal the show: they’re little toy keyboards with a decidedly lo-fi sound. I always admired the Japanese sound designers for their minimalism on these low-end hardware units. You almost don’t need to circuit bend this.

Free Drum Machine Samples by Creature [Haunted House Records]

Stephen, aka Creature, used these samples for his Distant Horizon album featured in Mike Una’s round-up of music from the forums.

Toy drums not to your liking? How about a toy music box instead?

Our friend Tom at Music Thing has repaired and sampled his Fisher Price record player music box, then uploaded the results to the open source soundware site Freesound:

Sampling a Fisher Price Music Box Record Player [Music Thing]

You may remember said Fisher Price kit from the tongue-in-cheek Fisher Price turntable “review” by DJ Tech Tool’s Ean Golden.

What’s great about both these sound collections is they’re actually different enough to give you some real inspiration musically. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time to take my handheld recorder around the house and grab some other sounds.