Japanese musicians commemorated Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary with a unique composition made up entirely of Wikipedia entries. Open Reel Ensemble produced the song as part of a virtual birthday celebration, and it’s a true journey because it’s totally made up of ancient reel-to-reel equipment that also function as instruments. Every sound is produced by physically moving the tape over the heads, with no artificial samples added after the fact.
Swedish designer Love Hultén’s latest creation, the NES-SY2.0, is real nostalgia overload. On the surface, this object resembles a wooden mock-up of the Nintendo Entertainment System from the 1980s. However, opening the front panel reveals what it’s all about. This item is a full-fledged music synthesizer that nonetheless proudly wears its gaming roots on its sleeves.
Patients within MRI scanners have a difficult time to begin with. You have the continuous thump of the machine while they lie still for what seems like an eternity. Headphones are supposed to help pass the time and block out some of the noise, but standard issue designs just don’t cut it. The common restriction is no magnets or cables near the equipment, so technicians simply pipe the audio through plastic tubes, resulting in a faint and muffled sound.
Back in 1984, Akai released the PJ-11, a compact stereo system that brought some fresh ideas to portable audio. Small enough to slip into a bag, it came with two independent speakers connected by cables that carried both power and audio signals, and those speakers could detach from the unit, lock into position at various angles, and be adjusted however the situation called for.
Google has now integrated Lyria 3, its latest music generation model, directly into the Gemini app, and you can start using it right away. Users simply tell it what they want or upload a photo, and within a few minutes, a 30-second single appears, complete with appropriate instruments, singers, and lyrics.
Floyd Steinberg spotted a bargain in the Colmi R02, a smart ring that discreetly tracks your everyday health data. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, as this little device also features a motion-sensing accelerometer, Bluetooth connectivity, a small battery, and a slew of sensors that track your daily steps, sleep, as well as heart rate via a companion app.
The guitar strings hover there, kept in place solely by magnetic force. They are not being held in place by any pegs or bridges. That’s the work of Swedish maker Mattias Krantz, and it’s a really incredible sight.Traditional guitar strings require some form of physical point of connection to stay in place and under tension; without it, they go slack.
A small record player has stepped into the 21st century, collaborating with Spotify in an unexpected way. The mastermind behind this project, AKZ Dev, has managed to breathe fresh life into a novelty coaster set built like a little turntable, combining old-school elegance with modern audio streaming. They’re designed to look like real records, complete with printed labels and all.
Maker Electron Impressions created a really useful contraption that can spit out sound in a very tight beam, similar to how a laser fires a beam of light. The name sound laser is quite fitting, as you basically point it at someone, and they will hear music or conversation, while everyone else is completely unaware.
Sony debuted the PS-F5 in 1983, just as cassette tapes and the first Walkmans dominated portable music. Vinyl looked to be confined in living rooms, tethered to weighty platters and delicate arms. Sony engineers decided to change that. They created a portable turntable that plays records standing upright, runs on four AA batteries, and weighs so little that it can be carried anywhere.