Gizmodo: samplers

Korg microSAMPLER Ready to Rock Your iPhone Noodlings

Danny Allen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT

The iPhone has so many great music-creation apps that they deserve their own category, but shiny dedicated instruments like Korg's new 37-key sampler are always nice. It has a line-input, goose-neck microphone, and editing software for the Mac or PC.

It connects to computers via USB, but also has MIDI in/out connections. The line-in jack is what you'd use for any external audio source, including the iPhone. Away from the desk, the Korg can last about 4 hours on 6xAA batteries.

Sample modes include one-shot, gate, loop, key gate, and auto-next. What you record in is mapped onto the keys for you to play and build up layers. Sampling time/internal memory is 42.66 minutes at 24kHz quality, and half that at 48kHz.

The 21 built-in effects include all the usual stuff (distortion, EQ, reverb, delay, chorus, looper, etc), but there's no vocoder (think Daft Punk "Around the World"). Seems a little strange given the attached microphone begs for it.

$750 is also pricey compared to fantastic software like Ableton Live ($450). But, if you're a hardware purist, the microSAMPLER looks like a very cute little board. [Korg via SlashGear]

Bring the Boom Bap to Someone's Face With These Drum Machine Rings

Adrian Covert — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST

Fashioned after Akai's legendary MPC samplers, these are the next best thing to owning one. Somewhere in another dimension, Dr. Dre and Just Blaze are fighting for the last one. [Geek Alerts via BBG]

Korg nanoSeries Music Modules are Laptop Musician Gold

Adrian Covert — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:50:00 EDT

Korg's nanoSeries line of noise makers are unlike other Korg synths because they rely on computer production software to work. The slim, USB (data+power) devices are made to be portable, so you can take your studio on the go. nanoKEY is a 25-note keyboard, nanoPad has 12 Akai-style sampler/drum pads and Kaoss pad, and nanoKONTROL is a portable mixing board with 18 switches and 9 knobs. Release date and pricing are still TBD. [Music Radar]

Tenori-On Makers Interviewed, Neither Can Play Music

Adrian Covert — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:00:00 EDT

PingMag did an interview with the creators of the Tenori-on that was overlooked when published, but there are a few interesting tidbits from the interview, like the fact that neither of the creators are musicians.

Yu said it took three years to develop the Tenori-on, and another three to get Yamaha on board with the production process. When throwing around design ideas, shapes like triangles were considered, but appeared too difficult to make usable, so they stuck with the square shape. Other interesting design aspects include making the Tenori wide enough so that the thumbs of the average adult hand meet in the middle of the Tenori when grasped, and that it was never intended to be a user-friendly music machine; it kind of just happened. Read the full interview over at [PingMag].

Trinity Digital Audio Workstation Makes Portable Production Easier

Adrian Covert — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:49:10 EDT

Hate having to bring an unnecessary amount of hardware when you want to produce your next musical opus on the go? Need more than a Boss 303 drum machine? The Trinity Audio Group may have what you're looking for with their linux-powered digital audio workstation.

Powered by a custom version of Linux named Transmission, a 500MHz processor, and 256MB of RAM the Trinity DAW comes loaded with a variety of soft synths, sequencers, and audio editing programs. The workstation has 802.11g Wi-Fi, a 40GB hard drive, and is controlled by a touchpad and two buttons. It also has an USB input for controlling the soft synths and a set of XLR (big, three-pronged connector) and TRS (big headphone connector) inputs and outputs for interfacing external gear.

Sure, you wont be running 15 pieces of equipment at once, but that's what all the software is for, right? No price or release date has been set.
[Create Digital Music]