Mini Scratching. Touchtable by Masc Design

A cool midi controller. Link

Christmas Wishlist

Don’t know what to buy yourself for christmas? Check out this toy list for some holiday ideas.

1. Roland SPD-20 Total Percussion Pad $650
Instead of getting a PS3 with Rock Band, why not grab a Roland 8 pad drum kit with 700 sounds loaded into it?

2. Korg Kaoscillator $200
100 of Korg’s world renowned synth sounds right at your finger tip.

3. Sterling Audio ST51 Large Diaphragm FET Condenser Microphone $99
This microphone is the top rated in the under 100 dollar range in a number of realworld tests. I would rather have this than an m-audio mic or any other costing 3 times its price.

4. Korg DS-10 For Nintendo DS $36
For only 36 dollars and Amazon delivery this video game / synth will be on everyone’s list.

5. Hal Leonard Rock Keyboard $12
Learn different Rock styles and chords to play along with the CD. If you are a beginner or intermediate I recommend this one as it helped my playing and improvising.

6. Stocking stuffer pick: Disney Hannah Montana Guitar with Bonus Amp



NO! Well if I’m not the grandaddy of all liars!

Alesis Fusion Shortage

There is a crisis shortage of Alesis Fusions. They are no longer being manufactured, and websites like Musicians Friend and Zzounds is not carrying the keyboard. A search on ebay pulls up only one listing…..only a 6HD. Unfortunately, early on the reputation for this keyboard suffered, and so did demand, as the price started becoming liquidated a year after its release. In its final days you could get a weighted 88 key for only $999 new or $700 on ebay.

Is this the final death of the fusion? Will alesis ever make anymore!!???? They better!! I still use mine as an all in one studio without my computer. The 8-input hard drive recording, and many of its sounds are excellent, despite some technical glitches. I hope they bring back the best sounds of the board into a new product that has a better sequencer, while keeping the 8-input hard drive. It could also use a casio style sampler in its song mode.

On another note. Tascam’s FireOne, 2-channel audio interface, with jogwheel has dropped in price considerabley. For those of you with a mac, or a firewire interface, you can get this thing for only $115. It has headphone out, 2 mic pres, a guitar jack input, controllable buttons, MIDI!!! AND line ins. Thats a nutty deal! The jog wheel can even flash to the beat of your music and it comes with a version of ableton live. I would love to review one of these, as it looks like it has more function than Mackie’s more expensive satellite product ($199).

Anyone notice that Mackie is starting to cater to people with lower budgets? Hmmm…a bad music equipment economy means good deals for us!

Digidesign and M-audio Drivers Lacking with Latest Operating System

From Create Digital Music

if you’re a user of Digidesign and M-Audio products and looking to use current operating systems, very often you’re out of luck.

Link to the article

I think that totally sucks. I’ve had this happen to me with an m-audio USB midi interface. They just never updated the driver on the switch from OS9 to OS X. All it was is a USB midi module. I had to sell it and switch to an anchient MOTU unicorn midi interface. Just go with MOTU. Their support is way better than both of these companies that are basically releasing gobs of products and not paying any attention to them at a later date.

Be careful who you buy from when you are getting computer-specific gear, even if it is USB, or plug and play.

Ebay Auction Bargains – Ending Soon!

Edirol UA-101 Audio interface in perfect condition! USB 2.0 interface with 10in/10output! Has mic Preamps, built-in limiter, and hooks directly to stereo monitors.
only bidding at $51 bucks right now!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260177785395&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

Korg ER-1 Drum Machine, one of easiest drum machines to own & play. Now bidding at $102.50

http://cgi.ebay.com/Korg-ER-1-Drum-Machine-Synth_W0QQitemZ260177792804QQihZ016QQcategoryZ38069QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Big Damn Namm Update 07

The Chip Collection didn’t make it out to NAMM 07, but thats not going to stop us from making a giant NAMM compilation post!!! This post will be updated on January 18th the following days as stuff comes in.


UPDATE: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition and Customizable Voyager

UPDATE: Open Labs upgrades MIKO SE and MIKO LE: Link

From future music blog

UPDATE: Mackie Anounces Control Pro Surfaces: Link

Mackie anounces Tracktion 3!!!! (I love Tracktion’s ease of use and its better mastering plugins)

TAPCO Anounces 4×6 Firewire audio interface for $249: Link

UPDATE: KORG IMAGES on Gearjunkies.com: Link (currently having server issues)

A Stupid Mixer, MINI Kaoss Pad (***AWESOME***), M3 Synth, and R3 (new Darth Vader edition microkorg).

Check back for status and pictures / adds.
If you know anything, please comment!

Most Anticipated / Rumored:

Apple Logic version 8 or 7.5: Unconfirmed

Alesis Master Control Firewire Audio Interface: Confirmed


Alesis Master Control
Nice!! Check out the specs on this audio interface. Its everything you’ve ever dreamed of….6 discrete outs, 5.1 surround. 8 Channels of 44.1-192khz audio in. Motorized Faders, MIDI, 2 Preamps, SPDIF, LCD, Jog wheel, fully editable presets.
New Korg Microkorg called the R3: Leaked Images / Confirmed From Gear Junkies



New Korg Mini Chaos Pad: Leaked Images / Confirmed From Gear Junkies

Roland MV-8800 Sampler Workstation: Confirmed

MV-8800

Roland V-Synth GT: Confirmed

V-Synth GT

Previously Confirmed:

(Coming in March)
Arturia Origin: Origin is the first Arturia Hardware synthesizer. It is a modular system of a new generation opening innovative avenues in sound design.
Loaded with modules extracted from the best synthesizers of all time (Moog Modular, ARP 2600, CS-80, minimoog and Prophet VS). Details Link
(Arturia Origin sounds like it could be really expensive…)

No word yet on Steve Urkel Edition Moog.

1 Bit Audio Interface & Mobile!?

This Looks pretty fresh. A mobile recorder from korg. Whats so special about it? 1 bit recording!!! Supposedly these recorders double the bitrate of my current audio interface. Thats really sad (for me) with my edirol audio interface. I want it!!!

Korg M1000 Product Page

Read more…

• Articles (rss) (149)
• Audio Interfaces (rss) (9)
• Keyboard (rss) (29)
• Korg (rss) (31)
• Midi Controller (rss) (23)
• Mobile Recording (rss) (7)
• Music Industry News (rss) (152)
• New Gear (rss) (43)
• Reviews (rss) (19)
• Roland (rss) (28)
• Sample Pack Releases (rss) (17)
• Sampling (rss) (36)
• Software / VST Au (rss) (58)
• Tutorials (rss) (48)
• Videos (rss) (83)
• Yamaha (rss) (7)