FAD GADGETS

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

ENDLESSS BEAT MACHINE

Miniaturisation has driven technological development, with companies cramming as many electronics into as small a space as possible, to the point where we need precision tools and magnifying glasses to use them. Hurrah, then, for Endlesss, who have gone in the opposite direction and bunged a digital audio workstation inside a colossal retro arcade-style cabinet. The music-making fun (including a collection of games) can be had via its chunky buttons, joysticks, XY touchpad and the 24-inch touchscreen. If you have space for this thing, which you almost certainly don’t, it’ll set you back almost £16,500. Ah. Small gadgets it is then…

ROLAND SH-4D

Roland’s enviable musical heritage includes such celebrated 1980s stalwarts as the Jupiter-8 synth and TR-808 drum machine. This keyboardless sound source (The Kids call it a ‘groove box’) contains a bunch of emulations, including the SH-101 (beloved of Tangerine Dream, Aphex Twin, Devo) and the Juno106 (Tangerine Dream again, Vangelis, Daft Punk and, er, me). It presents you with a wealth of tones to explore and manipulate, it sounds mighty, has a pleasingly retro look reminiscent of Roland’s late 1970s synths, and most notably won’t set you back £16,500. www.roland.com

XENOS

Greek-French composer Iannis Xenakis was notable for marrying maths and music, using set theory, game theory and computers to create large-scale musical works. In the 1960s he explored what he called ‘Dynamic Stochastic Synthesis’ (essentially random fluctuations) to manipulate sound. Master’s Degree student Raphael Radna built this Mac/PC plug-in, which uses the algorithm Xenakis invented. I can’t begin to understand the theory behind it, but did use it to make some magnificent farty sounds. I’m sure it’s what Xenakis would have wanted.