Music
Check out this cool crowd-funded music technology
Ever wanted a cassette tape that stores digital music but also plays in a tape deck? How about a synth for two? There's a probably a Kickstarter for that.
The world is full of weird and wonderful instruments and music technology. But not quite full enough, apparently. If you scour the world's crowd-funding sites then you'll immediately unearth a wealth of brilliant – and some not-so brilliant – ideas being touted. Concepts that are essential or just very, very cool. To prove that anyone can make a good idea a reality these days, here are some very fine projects that have been helped along by Kickstarter recently.
The Motion Synth
Make like Kraftwerk or Eye from Boredoms with this strap-on hand grip for your iPhone and iPod touch. The Motion Synth is a controller for playing audio apps, shaping vocal harmonies in real time and controlling harmoniser hardware. You can also use it to wirelessly control laptops and plug into hardware via MIDI. And all by waving your hands around like you just don’t care; the grip positions the screen of an iPhone so it can be played by fingers or motion. Its makers say their mentors include Peter Vogel, co-creator of the Fairlight CMI, and Roger Linn, the man behind the first digital sample drum machine. Which is a very strong seal of approval. An impressive 313 people pledged $75,585 / €67,740 / £59,650 to make this one a reality and you can now order your own device for $149 / €133 / £117.
MIXXTAPE
Before its Kickstarter time was up, MIXXTAPE had already attracted $104,000 / €93,200 / £82,000 worth of funding from 1,710 people. Not bad seeing as they only originally asked for $10,000 / €8,960 / £7,900. Its appeal is clear straight away, though. Taking advantage of our love of nostalgia, this bit of kit is a tape-sized (and shaped) digital music player that you can plug headphones into. It also connects to Bluetooth speakers, comes with an 8GB memory card, and is available in custom designs. But the remarkable thing about it is this: it not only looks like a cassette tape, it will also play on most standard tape decks. So you can return to making mixtapes for friends and potential lovers. (Just make sure to get it back after they’re done.)
Dato DUO
This one looks almost as fun as it is to play. The Dato DUO is a synthesiser and sequencer designed for two to people to play at the same time – and requires little musical talent to use. The perfect instrument for two synth nerds on a first date, it has two oscillators, one pulse and one sawtooth; an eight-step sequencer; pentatonic keyboard; various outputs and inputs (for guitar pedals and other equipment); and, just as importantly, it looks like the most pleasing toy you never got for Christmas. No wonder 321 people backed this idea with $86,785 / €77,777 / £68,450. It’s not cheap, though. You can currently preorder one for $370 / €329 / £290.
Frantone Peachfuzz
Voted one of the 50 greatest fuzztone guitar pedals of all time, the Frantone Peachfuzz is back in the game after a successful Kickstarter campaign. It had been out of production since 2009 when Frantone, and its incredible owner Fran Blanche, shut up shop for personal reasons. But clamour for the handmade pedal’s distinctive sound ensured its comeback, with 81 people backing the project to the tune of $19,651 / €17,610 / £15,530. This means future generations of plank-spankers can now follow in the footsteps of Frantone über-fans Kype Malone (TV On The Radio), REM and Lou Reed.
Freedrum
This one does exactly what it says on the packet. Freedrum is a virtual drum kit that means players can drum in any place, at any time. Sofa, beach, office, toilet – wherever percussive inspiration takes hold, basically. All you need to do is put Freedrum’s sensors on the sticks, sync them to your phone, put in some headphones, and bang away. Complaints from neighbours, parents, room-mates, office colleagues, whoever, will be a thing of the past. You can also strap sensors to your feet to get the full drum kit experience. It's such a good concept that over 4,000 people backed the campaign, coughing up $622,877 / €558,360 / £492,210, when the original target was just $150,000 / €134,465 / £118,530. You can preorder now for $99 / €88 / £78.
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