Monotone sixty four
Recently there was a post about the Tenori-on. Well a similar grid-based controller interface is available from
Monome called the Monome sixty four - because it has sixty for buttons/lights arranged in a simple grid. These are assignable and controllable by your MIDI software applications. The controller is a convenient two-hand-holding size, with an elegant design including nice wood panelling on the box, and has an accelerometer built-in to sense tilting of the controller. The monome designers, Brian Crabtree and Kelli Cain, call their products "adaptable, minimalist interfaces" and the sixty four is the third in an obviously-named series that includes the two fifty six and the twenty eight. The sixty four is priced at USD$450 plus international shipping costs of about USD$85.
Korg DS-10
Korg have announced a software synthesizer for the Nintendo DS platform. It features analogue modeling of Korg's MS_10 synthesizer and will produce both pitched and drum/percussive sounds and comes equipped with a simple sequencer. This is quite a break though for getting high quality sound sources on low cost hardware. Unfortunately, Korg say the software will only be available in Japan :( The combination of portability, synthesis and sequencing means this would be a great device for utilising all that time on a bus or plane to produce some music. The interface looks clean and very retro, right down to virtual patch leads. There is more info on
Korgs web site.
