Our guide on how to label and write notes on the piano keyboard is great for older children and adults who don’t yet wish to learn traditional musical notation, but it may still be too complicated for much younger children. Introduction If you are keen to teach your toddler or […]
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Would you like to be able to play some of the most famous and popular traditional children’s songs, or even teach your child to play them? If so, take a look at our guide to playing a number of traditional nursery rhymes that have proved popular over the years. We […]
How to Play Popular Traditional Children’s Songs on Piano and ...
Novation used this year’s Winter NAMM to show off its latest Nova hardware analogue-modelling synthesiser: the UltraNova. Though it was ‘born’ last year, this has been a major trip out for the latest Nova incarnation. UltraNova is a single-part synth taking the legendary Supernova II synth engine as a starting […]
Novation shows off UltraNova [NAMM11]
NAMM 2011 saw Novation announce Automap 3.8, bringing tighter integration for Waves users. Automap is control software that comes free with all Novation controllers. The latest update provides total integration with all Waves plug-ins – just open up a Waves plug-in and it will automatically map to Novation hardware (this […]
Novation Automap 3.8 announced [NAMM11]
1 There are plenty of music creation apps for iPad but they don’t all necessarily have the ability, on their own, to interface with other equipment. Enter iConnectMIDI, a MIDI interface designed specifically for Apple’s portable products. The box can be connected up to an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone’s dock, […]
iConnectMIDI: link musical gear to Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod touch [NAMM11]
Cherub has shown off a few gadgets which will be of interest to keyboard and piano players. First up comes the WMT-280 Rhythm Trainer, a 3-in-1 tuner, metronome and tone generator with a 20ms response time. OK, so the tuner may not be of great use (though you can always […]
Cherub shows off music gadgets [NAMM11]
Casio has unveiled four new keyboards at this year’s Winter NAMM show. The WK-6500 and CTK-6000 are replacements for the heralded WK-500 and CTK-5000 models. The new additions offer new tones and rhythms, a larger backlit LCD display and a new 17 track sequencer with editing tools for creating new […]
Casio introduces new compact keyboards and workstations [NAMM11]
1 Korg has announced its limited edition Wavedrum Oriental, a percussion synthesiser featuring a wide range of Arabic percussion sounds. Exotic sounds to Western ears, Arabic percussion is indispensable to belly dancing, world music and other popular genres. Many acoustic percussion instruments can produce a whole range of sounds simply by […]
Korg Wavedrum Oriental dynamic percussion synthesiser revealed [NAMM11]
1 Korg has shown off three space-saving, feature rich USB MIDI controllers designed to fit right in with your laptop or desktop computer keyboard. The slim design of the nanoSERIES2 controllers means that precious desktop space isn’t wasted, and the three variants mean there should be a solution for everyone (or, […]
Korg nanoSERIES2 trio of slim USB MIDI controllers revealed [NAMM11]
Check out our Korg Kronos web site for the latest news, information, pricing, availability and resources. There are some pretty great music workstations coming on to the market this year. Korg has already unveiled its Pa3X arranger workstation, and Yamaha’s Tyros4 is also with us, so how does Korg’s Kronos […]
Korg Kronos Music Workstation is here [NAMM11]
Korg has shrunk its Pandora multi-effects processor into… the Pandora mini. Now you can play your instrument through this processor and get just the effect you need. Granted, it’s designed primarily for guitar and bass players, but why shouldn’t us keyboard and synth players get a look in too? I […]
Korg Pandora mini: Personal Multi-Effect Processor [NAMM11]
2 Korg expands its Pa series of arranger workstations with the flagship Pa3X. There’s a huge range of highlights so here’s the lowdown direct from Korg: Enhanced RX (Real eXperience) sound engine offers improved realism and new vivid sound, including pianos borrowed from the acclaimed Korg SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano, plus […]
Korg Pa3X professional arranger workstation unveiled [NAMM11]
Most digital pianos take up significantly less space than their upright or grand acoustic cousins, but some can still be a challenge to locate in smaller spaces or transport around. Hoping to solve that problem, without skimping on quality, comes the Korg microPIANO. It uses the same high quality stereo […]
Korg microPIANO compact digital piano introduced [NAMM11]
Anyone interested in personal audio recording could do worse than take a look at Roland’s latest pair of USB audio interfaces, the TRI-CAPTURE and DUO-CAPTURE. Whether you want to record vocals, guitar or other types of mobile audio, the TRI-CAPTURE lets you do it. It features a mixer-like design with […]
Roland intros two USB and one MIDI interface [NAMM11]
Unless your musical style is dance, electronic or some other highly synthesised genre, surely the ideal backing band is a live one. In reality, though, that’s never practical — humans are temperamental, they tire easily, and most don’t do what you want all (most) of the time. Enter auto-accompaniment. Whether […]
Roland BK-7m backing module offers versatile accompaniments and voicing [NAMM11]
2 It’s fair to say we don’t generally cover accordions at Piano and Synth Magazine, but when this latest offering from Roland caught our eye, we knew we had to showcase it. I love the accordion, even though I can’t play it, and Roland has brought the instrument well into the […]
Roland FR-18 diatonic V-Accordion unveiled [NAMM11]
1 BOSS celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Loop Station with a dynamic new lineup of RC-series loopers. Introducing the RC-3 and RC-30: portable, powerful pedals with super-sized internal memory that captures up to three hours of stereo looping. The RC-3 is a one-track stereo looper housed in a compact pedal; […]
Boss RC-30 and RC-3 Loop Stations announced [NAMM11]
Roland has unveiled its new ATELIER combo organ, the AT-350C, featuring a range of high resolution voices powered by SuperNATURAL technology. Travel friendly but still encompassing an upper 49 keys and lower 64 keys, plus full harmonic bars for upper, lower, sola and bass, it also features a D Beam […]
Roland ATELIER Combo AT-350C Organ unveiled [NAMM11]
1 Based on last autumn’s flagship Roland RD-700NX digital piano but at a lower price point comes the RD-300NX. This new digital piano features the same SuperNATURAL piano sound engine as found on last year’s four models, together with new electric piano sounds, a Sound Focus feature, ivory Feel-G Keyboard with […]
Roland RD-300NX digital piano: SuperNATURAL flagship on economy [NAMM11]
Yamaha and Karma-Lab have announced the development and release of KARMA Motif software for the PC and Mac, bringing the award-winning KARMA algorithmic music technology to the Yamaha Motif XS and Yamaha Motif XF platforms. KARMA Motif debuts the new KARMA 3.0 technology with a host of new features including […]
KARMA Motif software for PC and Mac announced [NAMM11]
Yamaha continues to add to its low-end line of PSR series home keyboards with the introduction of the PSR-E233 and PSR-E333 61-key instruments. Thanks to Yamaha’s experience in home theatre audio technology, these new entry-level instruments benefit from an Ultra-Wide Stereo function that allows the built-in speakers to output a […]
Yamaha PSR-E233 and PSR-E333 portable keyboards unveiled [NAMM11]
Yamaha has announced a new mid-priced 48″ upright piano will a soft-close fallboard. The T121 SC is priced between the T118 and U1 upright pianos, and has been introduced due to market demand. Yamaha’s T Series upright pianos offer exceptional performance and quality for the home, church or school. Using […]
Yamaha T121 SC 48″ upright piano introduced [NAMM11]
1 Yamaha announces a variant of its YDP-161 in a new finish. The YDP-161B is decked out in black walnut, and retains the same features as found on the YDP-161, including high-quality AWM dynamic sampled piano voices, graded hammer keyboard, half-damper effect pedal, two-track song recorder, 128 note polyphony and 50 […]
Yamaha YDP-161B digital piano unveiled [NAMM11]
Offering a similar function set to the 76-note Piaggero NP-V60 and NP-V80 digital pianos released last year, Yamaha now reveals the ultraportable NP-31 and NP-11 models. The NP-31 features a 76-note full-size keyboard, while the NP-11 offers 61 keys. Designed to be transportable and usable pretty much anywhere, they’ll run […]
Yamaha Piaggero NP-31 and NP-11 ultraportable digital pianos unveiled [NAMM11]
Yamaha has shown off its new Clavinova CLP400 series upright digital piano. Features include completely redesigned cabinetry with front legs and a more powerful sound system, a discreet key cover that hides away the panel buttons, and Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC) which adjusts EQ tone control according to the volume […]
Yamaha Clavinova CLP400 Series unveiled [NAMM11]
1 Yamaha has introduced its new Clavinova CLP Slimline Series of digital pianos, combining advanced technology with elegant craftsmanship. New models include the CLP-S406 and CLP-S408, whose slimmer design make them perfect for use in the home, or anywhere that space is at a premium but quality and visual design mustn’t […]
Yamaha Clavinova CLP Slimline series of upright digital pianos unveiled ...
The latest model in the AvantGrand range of Yamaha pianos is the AvantGrand N1X, launched at NAMM19. Yamaha has announced the latest addition to its AvantGrand range of hybrid pianos. The AvantGrand N1 is a more affordable version of the N2 upright and N3 flagship hybrids, yet still delivers the […]