FAD GADGETS

Rhodri Marsden on three of the latest must-have gizmos currently putting the prog in progress…

DIGITAL ELECTRONIUM

The Electronium was an early synthesiser designed to generate “instant compositions”, and consisted of a mass of buttons set into a colossal wooden unit. It was created by electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott over the course of 11 years and paid for, improbably, by Motown Records. Only one nonfunctioning unit survives but artist Yuri Suzuki has recreated it as software, using cuttingedge artificial intelligence to realise Scott’s dream. It’s just as confusing as the original but hey, at least it works.

www.yurisuzuki.com

FOLDING GUITAR

Travelling musicians may have had the experience of putting a guitar into the hold of an aircraft and arriving at their destination to find the instrument snapped in two. Many attempts have been made over the years to solve this problem — cutting-edge flight case design, or paying for an extra seat on the plane for the guitar — but the answer has been staring us in the face: fold it in half. Yes, the sight of a guitar folded in two is inherently troubling, but Ciari’s two-jointed beast apparently does the trick. Just pop it in your rucksack.

www.ciariguitars.com

RHYTHMO BEATBOX

“All of the fun, none of the headache” runs the slogan for the Rhythmo Beatbox, a drum machine housed in a cardboard case. It may prove to be a headache if you accidentally sit on it, but still, it’s a cute little instrument with buttons straight off a space invader machine and two built-in speakers for instant beatbox gratification. You get to assemble the thing yourself, and you can even write your name on it in biro, and there aren’t many drum machines you can say that about.

www.rhythmo.io