Who needs real musical instruments when you have something ‘smarter’? Metro rounds up the latest in high-tech musical gadgetry: from pocket-sized synthesizers, ‘smart’ wireless drum sticks to interactive album covers.
Potentiate your guitar
Guitar fans, say goodbye to cumbersome cables. Created by the Scotland-based startup Ingenious Audio, Jack is billed as the world’s first gadget to stream wirelessly real-time audio to an amplifier. A recent success on Kickstarter, Jack simply plugs into any guitar output connector and syncs via Wi-Fi to amps, as well as your tablet, to playback or record your music. Jack has also staggeringly low latency for realtime playing – about 13 times faster than standard Bluetooth and almost 3 times quicker than “low latency” Bluetooth. At wifi-guitar.com, Around $280
London-based artist Bruno Zamborlin has created Mogees, a new device that transforms any object into a musical instrument. The smart gizmo attaches to any surface, picks up the vibrations from the object while you tap it with your finger, and converts them into sound via a smartphone app. So in effect, your desk, coffee mug and backpack can become your new guitar, drum kit and saxophone – sounds good. “Sticking a Mogee sensor to a window or to a tree is like playing them. The different way you touch it, the different way it sounds,” Zamborlin told Metro. At Mogees.co.uk, Price TBC
Swedish company Teenage Engineering has put some Game Boy-esque playability into making electronic beats using synthesizers. The Pocket Operator allows you to create tunes by bashing a few buttons with your thumbs, just like your favorite handheld gaming device of yesteryear. There are three models of synths to choose from: the PO-12 “Rhythm” drum machine, the PO-14 “Sub” bass synth, and the PO-16 “Factory” melody unit. The gadget boasts a 8-bit LCD display, a built-in speaks are even an alarm clock. At Teenageengineering.com, $59 each
