Portable Guitar Amp 'AMPBOT' Launches on Kickstarter

AMPBOT is a new product launching on Kickstarter. It’s a portable guitar amp that promises fast plug-and-play access. It works with LES PAUL and Strat style guitars, with five sound effects: Clean, Chorus, Flanger, Metal, and Wah Wah. AMPBOT will last up to 2 hours of playtime thanks to its powerful 5V USB lithium battery and no additional devices are needed. It’s available starting at US$$200 for super early bird backers.

GarageBand And The Musicians Who Use It

This year is GarageBand’s 15th birthday, and Rolling Stone wrote a great article on how it changed how musicians created their art.

In the first media visit Apple has ever allowed to its under-the-radar Music Apps studio, the team of engineers showed Rolling Stone how the creation process for Garageband’s two types of sounds — synthetic and “real” — can span weeks or sometimes months per instrument, with new hurdles at every turn.

Musicians Are Happy With Apple Right Now

Spotify, Google, Pandora, and Amazon are joining forces to appeal a ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that would increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. Can’t have the people producing music for your service making more money. But Apple isn’t joining the appeal, which makes musicians happy.

We thank Apple Music for accepting the CRB decision and continuing to be a friend to songwriters,” he said. “While Spotify and Amazon surely hope this will play out in a quiet appellate courtroom, every songwriter and every fan of music should stand up and take notice. We will fight with every available resource to protect the CRB’s decision.

BopPad Uses Smartcloth to Improve Drum Pad Response

There’s a new drum pad out there from Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) that uses smartcloth to make the device more accurate and responsive. At least that’s what the company claims, and they’re using smart fabric sensors from BeBop Sensors to do it. Funded on Kickstarter last year, BopPad is a, “location and pressure-sensitive drum controller with a wicked-fast playing surface.” I’ve yet to meet an electronic drum I love to play, but I’m looking forward to checking out BopPad. Just watch the video. The device is $199 through the KMI website.

Hey Musicians, How about a Wearable Metronome?

Here’s something for musicians called Soundbrenner Pulse. It’s a wearable metronome that uses haptic feedback so you can feel the beat. The company says that haptic feedback is “up to seven times stronger than the vibrational alerts found in today’s smartwatches.” This is a standalone device that can be strapped around your arm or leg, or worn on your chest. Better yet, it’s controlled by an app that can sync with up to five Soundbrenner Pulses. That means five people in the band could be marching to the same beat! Come on, that could be game changing for musicians! Soundbrenner Pulse is $99 at Amazon, and it’s shipping now.