Friday, December 28, 2007

Cool new internet resources for musicians

I just found this article over at Reuters that lists several new web-based services aimed at helping independent musicians. The best part? They're all free. Free is such a nice price.

Fanbridge is another cool (and free) service not listed in the article that musicians might want to know about. It basically brings mailing list management for your fan base into the Internet era.

Good stuff abounds.

Korg KAOSSILATOR: Coolest Musical Toy For 2007


There has been a lot of cool high-tech musical gear released in 2007, but for my money, none is as cool as the new Korg Kaossilator. It's so new, Korg USA doesn't even have a page up for it yet. Korg UK does, though, because it's been out in the UK and Europe (and Japan, obv.) for a while before hitting the States.

Anyway, why all the love for the Kaossilator? Because it's probably the most fun new musical instrument of the year. In my book, fun can trump a lot of other factors. It's portable, battery powered, lets you play music and build loops by yourself, and can easily be integrated into your music rig for fun at home or live. Thanks to the XY touchpad interface, you don't have to know scales or play keyboard or anything to play it, either. It's the perfect starter musical instrument for a generation that grew up on video games, cell phones, the internet, and iPods. And for non-technophobic musicians, it's a toy that can keep you entertained and let you make music pretty much anywhere. Plus, it's really, really yellow.

There are several videos up on YouTube (they have all the best stuff over there), including a semi-professional product demo and some user stuff.

You can pre-order the Korg Kaossilator at Musician's Friend.