Tag: INSTRUMENT

Just in time for the holidays, Gibson will release one of the world's most high tech guitars. According to Ubergizmo, the Firebird X features automatic tuning and Bluetooth-enabled, wireless pedal switching. (It's worth mentioning that the Gibson Robot Guitar was the company's first guitar that could tune itself.) Along with those features, the Firebird X -- which will be available as part of a ...

Scientific advancements are considered mature when they can do one of two things: deliver pornography, or play a rendition of the 'Super Mario Bros.' theme. Since nano-scale breasts probably won't have much appeal to the public, scientists instead decided to use the latest in etching techniques to create a musical instrument that can rock out to one of the most recognizable melodies in the world. ...

We've all wanted to smash a guitar into thousands of pieces like The Who's Pete Townshend, but unless you're making Pete Townshend-type money, it's not a wise idea -- until now. According to Wired, manufacturer K's Japan has designed a line of guitars that are meant to be played, smashed and recycled. Costing just $55, the aptly-named 'Smash' has a lightweight neck and hollow body carved from ...

We've covered a lot of ridiculous DIY instruments on this site, and, for the most part, we're big fans. But this... this... whatever it is just makes us angry. Then again, this guy could try to sell us a foolproof cure for cancer and we probably wouldn't bite. Maybe it's the goatee that makes him look like a roadie for Filter, or the exaggerated widow's peak. [Ed. note: That'd be a devil lock, ...

Traditionalists (or real musicians) might turn up their noses, but a group of Dutch Belgian (thanks, murasaki378) college students recently developed a pair of gloves that work as a drum kit. According to Designboom, four students at Artesis University College of Antwerp created the 'Beat on the Block' drum gloves (video after the break), which work by tapping the fingers on a flat surface. The ...

No matter how much we wish and hope, the renewed interest in '80s pop culture just won't go away. According to Ars Technica, a plastic keytar will be included in some forthcoming 'Rock Band 3' bundles. You can strap on the controller, which is being manufactured by Mad Catz, and "play along" to your favorite keytar-infused hair metal and New Wave hits. There's no word on what songs will appear in ...

Share There's nothing new about using cell phones as instruments. We've seen pop songs covered, entire orchestras of Apple handsets and even a ringtone mobile playing Christmas tunes. What we haven't seen though, is one person combine several handsets into a makeshift instrument, and become a one-man Franken-band. That is, until we saw this: the Phone Guitar, assembled from two Android phones, ...

If you are too busy, or too impatient, to break in your stringed instrument, you might want to consider a new hobby. Still, a small start-up in Gainesville, Florida might have a device that'll get that vintage tone for you -- without much work or time. According to The New York Times, the small plastic box, called ToneRite, slips onto the strings of a violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar ...

Dear Santa, We know it's quite a bit early, but we wanted to make sure we got our request in before all the other little boys and girls (who haven't been nearly as good as us, by the way). While everyone else is asking for PlayStation 3s and world peace, all we want is the Korg Monotron. The moment we saw video of the pocketable analog synth from the Musikmesse conference in Frankfurt, ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. DIY-er Ranjit Bhatnagar is building a new instrument from scratch every day during the month of February. Check out his progress, and pick up some tips. [From: Make] ...

Recently, a group called Aeolia has been experimenting with stretch-sensing technology and its interaction with the body. As part of that research, Martha Glazzard at Nottingham Trent University knitted conductive yarn into the Cello Shirt, worn in the video below by cellist Peter Gregson. Placed at the shirt's elbows and underarms, the stretching fabric communicates with Max/MSP software that ...

We're big fans of innovative electronic instruments, especially ones that look past the idea of human interaction and incorporate random input. Design outfit Fascination Workshop just unveiled its new prototype of the Winduino II, an electronic instrument that creates sound from wind. The company describes its creation as "a wireless, digital version of an Aeolian harp." The Winduino II is ...

Ancient Aboriginal instrument, we'd like you to meet modern technology. Who can you thank for this introduction? A nerdy white guy, not even from Australia. Musician and geek Kyle Evans took a didgeridoo, which is an Australian wind instrument, and modified it because he was interested in combining organic sound with modern technology. Evans can manipulate the noise that the custom-built ...

The world needs another instructional guitar tool like it needs another hole in the ozone layer, but in all seriousness, this one is stupendous. Er, it exhibits remarkable potential, considering that it's not yet beyond the concept stage. Designer Eugene Cheong has dreamed up the Maestro, an attachment that can supposedly be adapted to work on any guitar (of the electric variety, we presume) and ...

From all the coffee shop musicians here at Switched and Engadget, we'd like to sincerely thank Belkin for producing this marvelous device. For the rest of us who run around on stage like madmen, we have our doubts about how well this will work. Nevertheless, the BreakFree Connectors were designed to add a magnetic breakaway point in your 1/4-inch cable, meaning that things will simply snap away ...