Alesis, which has been busily chiseling out an upwardly mobile stake in the e-drums market, has revealed its latest kit, the Strata Core. The Strata Core is, essentially, a slimmed-down iteration of the Alesis Strata Prime, which we recently reviewed and found to be “a bonafide game-changer”.
UK synth brand Future Sound Systems has made a name for itself with a string of innovative and distinctive Eurorack modules. Now the company is preparing to take a significant step up with its most substantial hardware product to date, Cric.
In recent years we’ve seen a variety of new technologies that aim to offer a more expressive synth playing experience than you’d get with a traditional keyboard. From poly-aftertouch and MPE, to devices like Expressive-E’s Osmose and the multi-touch Morphé controllers found on Artura’s PolyBrutes – it’s fair to say expressivity is hot right now.
On Saturday, a YouTube creator called ChromaLock published a video detailing how he modified a Texas Instruments TI-84 graphing calculator to connect to the internet and access OpenAI’s ChatGPT, potentially enabling students to cheat on tests.
Epiphone has raided the Gibson archives to reanimate the Grabber Bass, a lost classic bass guitar made famous by the likes of Krist Novoselic, Mike Dirnt and perhaps most notably Gene Simmons.
Launched on Kickstarter last October, Kiviak Instruments’ WoFi is a cloud-connected sampler inspired by classic ’80s and ’90s sampler keyboards. The good news is that WoFi smashed its Kickstarter target of €100,000 and is now being shipped to supporters
It’s been a busy 12 months for Alesis when it comes to electronic drum sets, starting with the Nitro Max, which raised the bar for entry-level kits thanks to its inclusion of mesh heads and a BFD-derived sound set.
Most companies try and stretch their timelines back as far as possible – not Seiko. The company began life in 1881, but Seiko references the brand’s birthday as 1924, the year when Seiko-branded watches first appeared. That does give Seiko a chance to celebrate their centenary this year, and they are not doing it by halves.
Boss continues to knock it out the park when it comes to delay pedals; 2023 was a golden year, even by the Japanese effects pioneer’s standards. On the analogue side we saw the DM-100 Delay Machine raise the bar on BBD-driven repeats, but the digital fans got a feast too with the acclaimed 1983 SDE-3000 rack unit reborn in pedal form.
Gibson has unveiled a pair of stunning Custom Shop acoustic guitars celebrating the late Johnny Cash and his daughter, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, featuring some exquisite signature details (just look at those pickguards!) co-designed with the artists themselves.
