GEAR + TECH
Colored Bricks and Fresh Kicks: Check Out This Functional LEGO Drum Machine
Is there anything that can’t be built with LEGO? YouTuber Brick Technology has certainly tested what we thought could have been the limit of the iconic childhood toy by creating a fully functional electronic drum machine. Building a mechanical LEGO device like this is well within his wheelhouse after having built an impressive array of remote vehicles and projectile-shooting devices, all made from the colored bricks. Inspired by the now-discontinued Roland TD-9, perhaps constructing this drum machine with an intricate arrangement of bricks and pins from scratch is the only way to get a device like the source material into your home studio. The device was engineered using a shrewd system of levered picks and a conveyor belt-like runway outfitted with various pegs to encode the in...
Music Tech Startup Songfinch Raises $17 Million to “Create a Middle Class of Musicians”
Music tech startup Songfinch has secured $17 million, closing a Series A funding round that amplifies its efforts to create a “middle class of musicians,” Built In Chicago reports. Songfinch is one of a handful of music startups aiming to change how independent musicians are compensated for their work. “The industry tends to be a star-driven league and the top two percent get a chance to participate and eat most of the dollars in the industry while the other 98 percent struggle and fight for scraps,” John Williamson, CEO of Songfinch told Built In Chicago. The goal of Songfinch’s online marketplace is to provide artists with a hub where consumers can commission them to create custom songs. The platform allows users to choose a style, mood and other custom elements f...
Dutch Designer Dzanar Teams Up With G-Eazy for Debut NFT Collection
Dutch designer Dzanar and multi-Platinum rapper G-Eazy have joined forces for the latter’s debut NFT collection. It’s called “The Geralds” and it was minted on the Quincy Jones-backed digital collectibles platform OneOf. Showcasing the different aspects of G-Eazy’s personality and hobbies, the NFTs are sold in packs so fans can purchase different combinations and win VIP perks, like meeting the chart-topping rapper in-person. Having taken on design projects for a slew of major contemporary music artists, like Akon, Chris Brown, Ed Sheeran, Kesha and more, Dzanar has cemented himself as a coveted collaborator in the music industry. c/o Dzanar The designer says he experiences synesthesia, a condition which essentially triggers the senses so when you hear music, you see shap...
Aphex Twin Launches Free “Sample Mashing” App, an Idea Decades In the Making
Aphex Twin‘s secret sauce is certainly difficult to decode, but the fabled electronic music producer is shedding a light on his creative process with the development of a new creative production app, Samplebrain. The free, open source software effectively turns any given sample into a neural network of possibilities. Aphex Twin teamed up with Dave Griffiths on the app’s engineering. A statement by Aphex Twin via Warp Records outlays Samplebrain’s possibilities. “What if you could reconstruct source audio from a selection of other mp3’s / audio on your computer?” he said. “What if you could build a 303 riff from only acapellas or bubbling mud sounds? What if you could sing a silly tune and rebuild it from classical music files? You ca...
VRJAM’s Visceral 5th Dimension Platform Is a Glimpse Into the Future of Metaverse Raves
Whether or not you agree with the concept of the metaverse, there’s no arguing it’s music’s next frontier. It’s changing the industry as we know it—and VRJAM is one of the biggest catalysts. The accessibility, affordability and sustainability of the metaverse are already being enjoyed by its advocates. But when it comes to live music experiences in the metaverse, VRJAM knows that fan engagement is the real key. For artists embracing Web3, a phrase referring to the next iteration of the internet that promotes decentralized protocols, VRJAM could be a knight in shining armor. After all, it’s not easy building a fanbase these days, but the company’s blockchain-powered platform enables musicians to do it in innovative ways—and monetize it. So VRJAM...
3LAU and Steve Aoki Invest In Groundbreaking Blockchain Music Production Company
The future of music production could very well live on the blockchain. One Web3 startup with promising potential has developed the first on-chain digital audio workstation (DAW), and in doing so, has attracted the attention of a number of major electronic dance music artists. Arpeggi Labs’ use case differs fundamentally from the vast majority of successful developments at the intersection of music tech and blockchain technologies, which may prove to be a key competitive edge. While many new platforms in the space are leading with a focus on facilitating the tokenized ownership of music, Arpeggi is focusing on revolutionizing the way the music itself is made and published. The platform accomplishes this while maintaining a proprietary crediting system that ensures samples ...
Watch This Guy Turn a Vintage Phone Into a MIDI Controller and Play Daft Punk’s “Around The World”
Creative Daft Punk fans have used calculators and even Tesla coils to preserve the robots’ legacy in the wake of their split. But this one just may take the cake. James “poprhythm” Kolpack has repurposed an old phone and, through the use of an Arduino Diecimila device, turned it into a MIDI controller and vocoder to play Daft Punk’s classic, “Around The World.” “This project takes a vintage touch phone and converts it into a musical instrument, or more specifically, a MIDI controller using the push-buttons to generate the signals for musical notes,” Kolpack writes. Inside of a Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone Model No: FT325 James “poprhythm” Kolpack Once the phone was taken apart, Kolpack began mapping the...
Designers Craft Braille-Based Instrument for Visually Impaired Musicians
A trio of Korean designers have crafted an innovative new instrument that’s likely to appeal to a new generation of visually impaired musicians. The Vitar, short for “visual guitar,” was developed by Eojin Roh, Seonjin Baek, and Yujeong Shin. While few instruments exist today that are specifically catered to the visually impaired, the Vitar is servicing a populace of musicians who respond especially well to auditory stimulation. The Vitar, a new musical instrument for visually impaired artists. Eojin Roh, Seonjin Baek, Yujeong Shin As neurological studies have concluded, the auditory cortex of musicians with impaired sightedness often becomes enhanced, leading individuals to be able to better discern more precise differences in sonic frequencies compared ...
Swedish House Mafia and IKEA Launch New Collection to “Democratize Music Production at Home”
Swedish House Mafia and IKEA are aiming to empower a new generation of producers with at-home fixtures to inspire creativity. The iconic trio recently revealed their remix of one of the furniture giant’s signature products, the IKEA FRAKTA bag. Now, the two are slated to debut an expanded offering of 20 new items this coming October. Dubbed the OBEGRÄNSAD collection, the line features a myriad of at-home products essential to modern music production, from consumer electronics to shelves, lamps, carrying cases, an armchair and even a record player. OBEGRÄNSAD translates to “unlimited” in Swedish, which is certainly fitting for a collection that aims to remove creative hurdles and inhibitions for the bedroom creator. “We wanted to simplify the process...
You Can Now Paint With Music Thanks to This Artist’s Brilliant Invention
What if, instead of just putting paint on a canvas, you could hear its colors? Thanks to musician Camry Ivory, you can now generate music by painting with her invention, the Coloratura, which she calls a “system of musical paintbrushes.” Ivory started designing the Coloratura in 2015 as a one-time performance piece for downtown Kansas City’s Art in the Loop Series, reports KCUR-FM. Since then, she’s been improving the instrument as a way to literally create sound with paint. Featuring an easel with a metal canvas, 12 brushes for each note and pots of paint, the Coloratura connects each brush using wires to a circuit board, which sends a signal to her computer and music production software to create different notes. Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Having been inspired by...
Panasonic Revamps Vintage Stereo With Ability to Play Back Freehand Drawings
Panasonic’s latest experiment boasts the capability of turning simple freehand drawings into complex multimedia art forms. Paradoxically, the story behind this cutting-edge stereo player is partially a tale of reform. It began with the discovery of an old Super Phonic HE-3000, a 1960s-era stereo with a rock-solid constitution, but otherwise missing its critical record-playing functionality. The unit had been relegated to the back of a warehouse, collecting dust before it was finally rediscovered. Super Phonic HE-3000. Panasonic Design Panasonic sought to preserve the stereo’s good condition while restoring its missing infrastructure in a modern, more experimental way. Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Instead of restoring the traditional framework, the company instea...
Sensorium Galaxy Launches 24/7 Streaming Channel for Metaverse Raves, Attracting 4 Million Viewers
Carefully positioned within the intersection of entertainment and metaverse tech, Sensorium Galaxy is paving the way for the future of virtual concert experiences. Having already inked deals with electronic music icons such as Armin van Buuren, Black Coffee, Carl Cox, David Guetta, Eric Prydz and Charlotte de Witte, Sensorium Galaxy is creating mind-bending social experiences that bridge the gap between VR and raving. Now, Sensorium has launched the world’s first 24/7 in-engine metaverse streaming channel. Take a glimpse into the photorealistic stream below via its truncated version, which was also uploaded to YouTube less than two weeks ago and has since garnered over 4 million views. It features performances from Sensorium’s AI-driven artists: Kàra Màr, Natisa Sitar and Ninalis. No...
