The Verge at NAMM 2012 – The Verge

Alesis DM Dock and Amp Dock for iPad hands-on

2012-01-21T18:06:05-05:00

Amp Dock from Alesis

The iPad sure seems to be a boon for musical equipment manufacturers: not only does it provide a common platform for apps, but developers can leverage some of that tech to bring you cheaper gear - that is, if you don't count the fact that you just spent $400 on the tablet in the first place. As further evidence of the trend, Alesis brought a couple new iPad docks to NAMM this week.

The first that caught our eye was the DM Dock, which turns your tablet into a fully-fledged MIDI drum module. Around the back there are a dozen inputs for trigger pads, a hi-hat control pedal, and 1/4-inch stereo outputs. If that weren't enough, it has classic MI …

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The Mario Bros head west to promote Zelda’s sheet music

2012-01-21T15:59:13-05:00

Mario Bros

We recently stopped for a quick picture with our favorite video game plumbers, and they asked us to pass this along this note: apparently Alfred Music Publishing, known for its Legend of Zelda series and Super Mario series sheet music, will be publishing new easy piano and guitar transcriptions from Zelda later this month. Both books offer note-for-note melodies recognizable to players of either series, and both books promise new and more entertaining ways for amateur musicians to annoy loved ones / roommates / dorm mates. Prices for the books range from $16.99 - $19.99, and can be found on the company website.

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Ball Beats MIDI sequencer uses marbles to trigger sounds

2012-01-21T14:34:02-05:00

Mode Machines Ball Beats

Ball Beats: great little device, less than stellar name. In a nutshell, it's a physical step sequencer laid on an 8 x 6 grid. Each point on the grid contains a light sensor, so when you place a marble on a point, a sample is triggered. Alex from Mode Machines gave us a quick demonstration, in which he created a beat and then changed it up by moving the position of the marbles that signified kick, snare, and hi-hat hits. In addition to the steps on top of the device, there are light sensors on the sides that can be configured for different actions. It communicates via USB to a software interface, which can then send MIDI signals to your audio …

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Universal Audio announces Apollo audio interface with DSP, Thunderbolt expansion

2012-01-21T13:13:05-05:00

UA Apollo

The Universal Audio Apollo, announced at NAMM this week, is a little more "pro audio" than we tend to get into on The Verge, but we figured that we'd share. Also, if it works as promised, it's pretty, pretty cool.

Universal Audio, in case you forgot (or never knew, or never cared to know) manufactures hardware that uses its own processors to power the audio plug-ins in your DAW, freeing up your your Mac or PC to do… other things. The company's newest, Apollo, takes things to the next level by adding a 24-bit / 192 kHz audio interface to the mix. It features 4 analog mic preamps, 8 line inputs and outputs, dual front-panel DIs, analog monito …

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QuNeo 3D USB MIDI / OSC controller hands-on

2012-01-20T16:37:04-05:00

QuNeo 3D

QuNeo 3D is an open source USB (MIDI or OSC) controller from Keith McMillan Instruments. It features a number of sliders, pads, and rotary sensors - each of which pressure, velocity, and XY location output. If that isn't enough for you, visual feedback is supplied by colored LEDs, so each pad, rotary controller, and slider changes color dependent on the state; for instance, sliding up on a volume bar will show the bar go into the green, yellow, and red. It connects to your computer via mini USB cable.

Videos of this thing have been kicking around since the company started looking for financing on Kickstarter late last year (the company has …

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SmithsonMartin Kontrol Surface MIDI controller hands-on

2012-01-20T15:48:05-05:00

Kontrol Surface

SmithsonMartin's Emulator Modular is a software package that lets users create custom UIs for MIDI compliant applications and display them on a multi-touch display. The UI is mapped your software package of choice (ie; Traktor and Ableton Live) and the software supports up to four points of contact. At NAMM today we had the opportunity to check out Kontrol Surface (KS-1974), a large multitouch display that the company has created just for the Emulator software. At first glance, the thing is handsome: a glass case with metal grille along the front, all set in a wooden cabinet that wouldn't look out of place in your grandparents' rec room (cir …

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Korg Kaossilator 2, Mini Kaoss Pad 2, Monotron hands-on

2012-01-20T15:01:00-05:00

Korg at NAMM 2012

We took advantage of a lull in the underground renegade rave party that is NAMM to quickly take a look at a number of new outings by Korg. As far as the Kaossilator 2 and Mini Kaoss Pad 2 go, these devices represent an apparent race to the bottom as far as form factor is concerned, although they definitely have that Korg Kaoss sound. The Kaossilator 2 is the phrase synthesizer, featuring 150 PCM sound presets, the ability to play two loops simultaneously, an internal mic to record audio, external storage featuring a microSD card, and a built-in speaker. Powered with either AC adapter or two AA batteries. Look for it in May for an MSRP $220.

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Teenage Engineering shows off OP-1 update, Oplab control interface, and sneaker controller

2012-01-20T14:34:50-05:00

Teenage Engineering

It was our pleasure to hang out with some of the Teenage Engineering folks this afternoon. Although the sound inside NAMM is just dreadful - imagine a thousand teenagers from a thousand Guitar Centers practicing Nickelback while a drum circle kicks up inside your head, and you'll get the idea of what we were dealing with while demoing the new kit.

First off, the OP-1 synth has received an OS update - and it's available now for free from the company website. The new features center around performance, and they include the Finger Drum Sequencer (actually, two sequencers, each with their own animated monkey drummer, and the ability to chain, m …

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Alesis Vortex keytar adds an accelerometer to your new wave jam session

2012-01-20T12:53:03-05:00

Alesis Vortex Keytar

There's only one way to rock out to Devo's "Girl U Want," and that's with a keytar - but what if you want some swing with your keyboard riffage? The Alesis Vortex may be what you're looking for: a 37-key MIDI controller that adds an accelerometer to the mix. Announced this week at NAMM, the keytar boasts velocity-sensitive keys with aftertouch, eight drum pads, an assignable touchstrip, and volume, sustain, and pitch-bend controls on the neck. The accelerometer lets you control any MIDI parameter simply by tilting the device, putting you just a sway away from that vibrato you're looking for. At 6.5 pounds it does have some heft, but it can d …

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Behringer launches three new Xenyx mixers with iPad support

2012-01-20T07:04:03-05:00

Behringer-iX3242USB

We've already seen widespread adoption of the iPad in music devices at this year's NAMM Show, and now Behringer has followed suit with three new mixers. The Xenyx-series iX1642USB, iX2442USB, and iX3242USB all feature two-way iPad support that lets you either integrate music from your iPad into your studio session, or record straight to an app like GarageBand on the tablet. For more conventional recording, the mixers connect to a PC or Mac via a single USB cable. The difference between the models seems to be down to the number of channel inputs (16, 24, or 32), with the range featuring 32 editable presets, mic preamps with 130 dB of dynamic …

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