Google Blog: Create a festive jingle with instruments from around the world. “Why not create your own jingle this festive season? Instrument Playground is a new Google AI powered experiment from Simon Doury, Artist in Residence at Google Arts & Culture Lab, that lets you create music inspired by instruments from around the globe.”
Geeks are Sexy: A Century-Old Music Machine That Simultaneously Plays a Piano and Three Violins. “At first glance, it may appear to be just a player piano, but this creation from the early 20th century hails from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and offers a unique musical experience. What sets it apart is its ability to simultaneously play not only a piano but also three violins. In its time, this innovation was nothing short of revolutionary.”
Make Zine: 3D Printing Paganini’s Famous Violin. “The illustrious ‘Il Cannone di Paganini,’ once owned by the renowned Genovese musician Niccolò Paganini and now preserved at Palazzo Tursi, inspired the creation of a faithful 1:1 replica using 3D printing technology. The replica, crafted with meticulous attention to detail, features white resin and strings in the striking red nylon, evoking the colors of the San Giorgio flag.”
Engadget: Moog celebrates 70th anniversary with musical web app. “It’s hard to believe, but iconic synth manufacturer Moog is turning 70. Synthesizers didn’t become mainstays in popular music until the 1970s, but Bob Moog started manufacturing and selling theremins in 1953, with actual synths following in 1963. To celebrate the anniversary, the company launched a web app filled with interactive experiences for music historians and casual fans alike.”
Tom’s Hardware: Raspberry Pi Pico Piano Helper Lights Up Keys to Teach Songs. “You can learn a lot about tinkering with microelectronics, but now, thanks to Adrian Cruceru’s latest Raspberry Pi project, you can use microelectronics to learn how to play the piano. A Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller drives his RP2040 Piano helper project and can be programmed to help students learn any song they like. Just follow the LEDs and press the corresponding key to play new songs on the fly.”
Yorkshire Post: World’s Largest Brass Band archive to open in Yorkshire with unseen historical items from exclusive brass bands collection – on public display for the first time. “Launching early March at the Heritage Quay in Huddersfield to coincide with The Yorkshire Brass Band Championships, the archive will be publicly accessible to researchers, brass bands enthusiasts and anyone else hoping to learn from over a century of banding heritage.”
The Scotsman: Experts warn Scotland’s musical heritage under threat over BBC plans to drop piping show. ‘Award-winning musicians, academics and piping sector leaders have called for Pipeline to be saved due to the “critical” role played by its outside broadcasts in maintaining a public record of piping at festivals and contests, and the recording sessions traditionally offered by the BBC to musicians unable to make their own albums.’
CBS News: Minnesotans’ massive antique pump organ collection spans neighboring homes. “Ron Manzow has spent most of his life in Plainview. He taught third grade for decades before retiring. But you could say his home is still full of history lessons. Manzow has collected 75 pipe organs. His collection has gotten so big, in fact, that he bought the house next door to him for storage.”
Classical Music: New website reunites musicians with lost instruments. “Insurer Allianz Musical Insurance has launched a website that aims to help reunite musicians with their lost instruments. The new site… will allow musicians from across the UK to register lost, stolen and found instruments online for free.” You do not have to be an Allianz policy holder to use the site.
Found on Boing Boing: a database of “public” pianos. “…currently tallying 8,287 public pianos in 117 countries around the world. The random page generates cool galleries of people playing public pianos.”
Yale Daily News: Collection of Musical Instruments plans for major renovation. “The Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments — a leading institution that acquires, preserves and exhibits musical instruments from antiquity to the present — is one of many Yale museums currently closed to the public due to the pandemic. It will use the period of closure to develop its online presence and make plans for an extensive renovation.”
Music Radar: Roland unveils 50th anniversary website and teases a new ‘50th model’ to be launched on 18 April. “Roland has kicked off its 50th anniversary year by launching the Roland at 50 website, which showcases milestone moments in music history and celebrates the artists and Roland products that have helped to shape it. The centrepiece of this is a bespoke timeline; this showcases more than 180 Roland products from the ‘70s to the present day. There are also several in-depth articles covering the history of Roland samplers, the sounds behind A-ha’s Take On Me, the enduring appeal of the TR-606 drum machine and the legacy of Rush drummer Neil Peart.”
American Songwriter: New Website Celebrates the Legacy of Les Paul. “There is no name better known to guitarists, songwriters, guitar collectors, and music fans than the name Les Paul. A website recently launched that is dedicated to the inventor, musician, and music technology pioneer who has become known as the ‘father of modern music’. It celebrates his remarkable life through hundreds of rare videos, photo galleries, behind-the-scenes experiences, and more.”
The Verge: Google Search adds guitar tuner to its smorgasbord of built-in features. “Google Search now has a handy built-in tuner, letting you use the microphone on your phone or computer to tune a guitar, Android Police reports.”
The Conversation: Virtual exhibition breathes life into Lesotho’s musical tradition and clay art. “The start of the news broadcast on Radio Lesotho is signalled by an unforgettable vibrating sound, rather harsh, as if made by a large bird. This is the lesiba, a musical bow. The lesiba was played by boys and men as they herded cattle, before radios and cellphones began to take the place of the national musical instrument. Nowadays, there is little apparent concern for maintaining interest in the lesiba at school or any other national level in Lesotho. The unique sound of the instrument – once evocative of a rural way of life – seems to exist in a disconnected, disembodied fashion on the radio.”
