Music

The Woovebox micro music workstation rocks a stripped-back design reminiscent of Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operators, but has more to offer the mobile groove creator – packing in a synthesizer, sequencer, sampler and beat maker.

Back in the late 1960s, creating music anywhere was made much easier with a now iconic toy-like pocket synth called the Stylophone. Now Dubreq is aiming to do the same for beat makers with a portable drum machine.

Boss has added an interesting new amplifier to its acoustic range. The AC-22LX battery-powered compact amplifier for acoustic instruments rocks Air Feel processing for faithful natural tones at performance volumes.

Shenzhen's Natasha Guitars has launched a Kickstarter for a bamboo smart guitar called the NBSG that comes with sound processing brains offering different tone presets, onboard effects, app control, and wireless output.

Having finally accepted that I'm destined for singer/songwriter territory rather than shredville, I've been feeling a little Gretsch-curious lately. So I decided to spend some time with the Rolls-Royce of the range and something more affordable.

For more than 10 years, Loog has been making learning to play a guitar a less daunting task for youngsters. Now the company has teamed up with Fender for a pint-sized Tele and Strat – each rocking three strings, a single pickup and a short skinny neck.

To mark what would have been the 100th birthday of the Father of Loud, Marshall has introduced the Studio JTM series, an amp head with matching speaker cabinets plus a combo amp – all looking like they might have stepped straight out of 1960s.

Last month, tone veteran Orange Amplification stepped out of its comfort zone to launch its first Bluetooth speaker. Now the company has returned to familiar ground for what's described as "probably the loudest 30-watt amp on the market."

Back in 2019, Artiphon launched a Kickstarter for a battery-powered handheld music-creation tool called the Orba. Now the company has returned to the platform with Chorda, a portable synth, looper and MIDI controller shaped like a short guitar neck.

Learning to play guitar is now much easier thanks to a wealth of online tutorials, but many find mirroring onscreen chops tough going. With Fret Zealot, students follow lights on the neck to learn fretting positions for chords, scales and songs.

A quirky project has landed on Indiegogo that may appeal to aggressive guitar players who constantly see their picks fly off into the crowd. Coming from Acorn Amplifiers, it's a stompbox that dispenses a new pick at the push of a footswitch.

Back in 2017, HyVibe launched an Indiegogo for a hybrid acoustic with built-in digital smarts. This was followed by a kit to give such superpowers to any acoustic. Now the company is back with an Essential system that players can install themselves.

How many speaker drivers do earphones need to deliver great stereo sound? One in each earpiece? Two? Six? The Knowles Corp has partnered with Ultimate Ears Pro for the release of the UE Premier in-ear monitors, which rock 21 drivers per earphone.

Even with convincing deep fakes causing record-label panic and a flurry of new AI tech garnering plenty of interest, we’re still at the very beginning of learning just how modern machine learning will change art and pop culture, for both good and bad.

Shoegaze heroes My Bloody Valentine are one of the loudest bands on Earth, so much so their wall of sound has even caused buildings to crack. Chief noisemaker Kevin Shields has now made a pedal so you can DIY your own guitar-triggered home demolition.