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NEWS: Stylophone Beatbox goes on sale in the UK

Amy-Mae Elliott — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:57:12 +0000

Bo, tt, bo, tt, ts, ts, ka!

We brought you news this was incoming from this year's Toy Fair, but the Stylophone Beatbox is now available to buy in the UK.

Following the relaunch of the retro Stylophone, the Beatbox edition produces several different percussion sounds, from bass drum all the way to hi-hat.

With different sound "palettes" - percussion, actual beatboxing (provided by beatbox champion MC Zani) and bass tones - the gadget lets you create a percussion loop, which means you can form a beat over to improvise with other voices. ?

There's also the option to connect up your MP3 player to the Beatbox via the headphone socket and tapping along with your own records.

IWOOT is offering the new musical gadget now for ?19.99.

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Tags: Audio Musical instruments Stylophone Gadgets Dad

Stylophone Beatbox goes on sale in the UK originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:57:12 +0000

NEWS: Yamaha Tenori-On Orange announced

Amy-Mae Elliott — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:40:30 +0000

"Wallet-friendly" version of futuristic instrument

Yamaha has unveiled a more "wallet friendly" addition to the Tenori-On family - the Tenori-On "Orange".

The follow up to the original Tenori-On, launched back in 2007, it seems this version loses the expensive magnesium casing of the original, being replaced with a heavy duty and durable plastic casing.

Yamaha's Peter Peck explains: "We know everyone loves the concept and fresh approach of Tenori-On, however, as you'd expect, we have received thousands of requests for a more affordable version. We therefore looked at many ways of reducing the price without compromising the all-important product concept or creative operating system. By removing the battery option and the back panel LED's and changing the chassis construction from the magnesium found on the original to a more affordable material, we have achieved our goal of creating the more affordable Tenori-On 'Orange', bringing the full creative capability of Tenori-On to a much wider audience".

The Tenori-On "Orange" will be shipping from December 2009 with pricing to be revealed nearer the time.

Tags: Audio Musical instruments Yamaha Tenori-On

Yamaha Tenori-On Orange announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:40:30 +0000

NEWS: VIDEO: ThinkGeek's Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt

Amy-Mae Elliott — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:52:12 +0000

Musical tee

You can now be a guitar hero away from the console with ThinkGeek's Electronic Guitar Shirt. $29.99 and four AAA batteries will see you rocking all over the world using just the shirt on your back.

Described as a "real instrument", the Electronic Guitar Shirt is said to be incredibly easy to play because each button on the neck is a major chord.

All major chords are recorded from a real electric guitar, and the included magnetic pick allows you to strum just like you would a real guitar.

The included mini amp clips to your belt and "gets plenty loud" while the tone knob on the amp lets you adjust the sound just like a real guitar.

If the ability to "play dozens of classic rock songs with very little skill" appeals, then hit play on the video above to see the shirt in action, while it's on sale over at the ThinkGeek site now.

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NEWS: VIDEO: Novation Launchpad controller revealed

Duncan Geere — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:48:34 +0100

Multifunctional touchpad interface

Novation has come up with a new product designed for controlling Ableton Live - a popular bit of DJing and music production software. It can dynamically control almost every part of the software, from triggering samples to tweaking the mixer.

It consists of a 64-button grid with triple-colour LEDs, control modes for the session view and Live's mixer, two user modes that you can program to do whatever you like, and dedicated buttons along the sides for scene-launch and other functions.

It measures 239mm x 239mm x 24mm and weighs 717g. It's USB-powered, too, so you don't need to lug around a power adaptor, and it can hook up with other launchpads so you could run up to six at once.

It comes bundled with a special edition of Ableton - Ableton Live 8 Launchpad Edition, which features eight audio tracks, eight MIDI tracks and eight session view scenes. It also has Live's effects and allows for custom mapping.

The Launchpad will be released worldwide on 1 November, and should cost about ?150.

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