Developments in science and technology have always had a massive influence on music, and especially in the modern era. From the electric guitar to the CD player and the iPod, each generation brings new innovations, platforms and ideas. And there’s nothing we’re obsessed with more than a new techy toy to play with, are we?
The next crop of music tech is hitting the market now, and we’ve picked out four awesome gadgets that will make 2016 seem like the future.
SubPac
The SubPac is a revolution in the world of electronic music that allows listeners to feel the song they are hearing. It’s essentially a backpack that sends physical vibrations through your body, the music equivalent of a Rumble Pak in your Nintendo 64. It’s already been used in the studio by producers including FreQ Nasty and Scientist, but with the secondversion of the SubPac coming out, it’s now being rolled out into a live setting.
When FreQ Nasty visits Australia this month, he’s bringing the new technology to create a Silent Disco for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. The technology is giving people with a disability something they have not often experienced, and if it keeps going the way it is, we could see it rolled out everywhere from Soundwave to Stereosonic.
AudioOrb
Do you have more money than you know what to do with? Do you find a pair of headphones or a stereo system to be a little too mundane? Then the AudioOrb might be for you!
The AudioOrb is many things: it is part-furniture, part-bed, and part-desk. But most importantly, it’s a giant orb that uses 18 speakers to provide you with surround sound in the truest sense of the word. It’s a speaker than you can enter, filled with Tempur pillows to make sure you can stay in there as long as you want.
The AudioOrb was part of a crowdfunding campaign seeking US$15,000 to buy one of two units, which isn’t too bad when you consider what some people spend on their stereo systems. Could we see it return to a wider audience in the near future? Time will tell.
The V Motion Project
When the dust cleared about the Xbox Kinect’s camera technology being a massive invasion of privacy, people started to release it’s a fantastic motion sensor.
Technology surounding motion sensors has boomed in the past decade (much like everything else), being used frequently in art installations and video projects. Musicians are having a swing at it too, with V Energy creating a video to show the potential of the technology – musicians using their entire body to control popular music software Ableton Live. It’s a long and exhausting process, but it could soon become much easier.
Guitar Wing
If you’re a music-maker looking for something a little more practical than what V is pumping out, then maybe the Guitar Wing is your thing. It’s an MIDI-controllable attachment to your electric guitar, meaning you can plug into your favourite music software and get creative.
It’s easily accessible, placed only inches away from your strumming hand, so you can change settings as easily as with a pedal board. But the depth of changes that can be made is amazing; allowing musicians to do everything from alter the volume and pitch bend, to layer guitar lines and lay down drum beats. It turns the guitar into a whole new instrument.
