4 of the Most Innovative Audio Gadgets For 2016
With Christmas and New Year’s quickly approaching, there’s not much time left to find the latest and greatest gifts for the musicians and audio pros in your life.
However, if you’re willing to stuff a stocking with a promise to deliver on one of the most forward-looking musical devices in recent memory, read on.
Most of these incredibly novel devices on this list can’t even be found in stores just yet, but all are slated to start shipping by the beginning of 2016.
Between the four picks below, you’re sure to find something special for yourself or the musician in your family: A cutting-edge controller or instrument that will be used and remembered for a long time to come.
Dubbed “World’s First Smart Vibrating Metronome”, the Soundbrenner Pulse is a smart wearable device that provides realtime “haptic feedback” to help coach you into becoming a better musician.
First, set the tempo by using the BPM Wheel or by tapping on the face. Once set, the Soundbrenner Pulse features lights to help you visualize the beat and its sub-dividions, and you can customize the colors or turn them off. It promises to make using a metronome fun and enjoyable—even for those who dread metronomes— as you can literally feel the beat while you record.
This compact, watch-like device works along with its included “Smart Music Coach” app. You can use your smartphone as the hub for control and sync it with up to 10 devices. It even has special features that will allow you to create tempo maps or synchronize its vibrations via your MIDI device with Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, Avid Pro Tools, and more!
You can pre-order the Soundbrenner Pulse from http://www.soundbrenner.com for $99.00, and the first deliveries are slated to go out this month. This new piece of audio technology was developed in Germany, founded by musicians, and funded by a successful Indiegogo campaign that completed in May 2015.
2. DrumPants
When you put on DrumPants, it’s like having an entire band in your pocket. This wearable musical instrument allows drummers to practice virtually anywhere, and music freaks to keep from getting bored waiting on public transit to (finally) show up.
By tapping on your thighs, you can trigger a full drum kit through headphones or a portable speaker system. But it’s not limited just to that: Use the included app to trigger anything from pianos sounds to vocal samples. You can even use its bluetooth connectivity to control your phone or video game system.
This product first gained some notoriety when it appeared on ABC’s television series Shark Tank and it must be seen to truly be believed.
3. Jamstik
The Jamstik is billed as a “guitar designed for your iPad.” This “smart guitar” wirelessly connects to your iPad, iPhone, and Mac via Bluetooth LE technology. You can even connect to a PC via USB and sync with music apps like GarageBand, Sampletank, and Ableton. Used in this way, the Jamsitck functions as a MIDI controller that allows guitarists to mimic almost any instrument imaginable using their own favorite softsynths.
But the Jamstik can also be as much a learning aid as a creative tool. While the included jamMix app allows experienced guitarists to start playing right away, the jamTutor app helps guide learners through lessons on everything from how to hold a guitar pick correctly to creating your first original song.
At $349.99, it’s a cool gadget to add to your audio production arsenal, or to help reduce the learning curve for a guitar student you know.
Like the Jamstick, the Artiphon Instrument 1 a compact, portable, durable, self-powered device that connects to your smartphone or computer.
But Artiphone takes it one step further: Their patented multi-instrument technology can transform the device into a guitar, violin, bass, piano, drum machine—or practically any instrument you want it to be. It doesn’t mimic just the sounds, but the interface of these familiar instruments.
The included apps even allow you to design new instruments and customize their tunings. This device is fully MIDI-compatible and syncs with hundreds of MIDI apps along with software like Ableton Live, ProTools, Logic, and more.
This product was named one of Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2015” and you can pre-order one now for $449 at artiphon.com.
Here’s hoping you enjoyed this list of some of the most innovative audio devices coming in 2016. Perhaps one of them will become an inspiring creative tool for you—and others—for many years to come.
Ryan Merriweather is an audio engineer, tech enthusiast, and writer.
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