Everyone needs a hobby, right? And chances are you know at least one person on your holiday shopping list who fancies themselves a musician. Whether they’re a casual guitarist, a former piano prodigy or a bedroom producer of electronic music we’ve got some recommendations. Some of these even make a great gift for music lovers who haven’t quite made the jump yet. Perhaps getting a synthesizer tinker toy will inspire your loved one to go from a consumer to a maker.
If you know someone who believes there’s music all around, if you can just train yourself to listen for it, I have the perfect gift for them. The is sort of like a microphone. But not one that you sing into. Instead, it picks up electromagnetic interference and radiation from across the entire spectrum from Hertz to Gigahertz. Soma likes to refer to it as an anti-radio since it doesn’t tune into one frequency, it tunes into all the frequencies. With the Ether your sound-loving giftee can eavesdrop on neon signs and sample the silent whine of an AC adapter. It’s literally a gateway to an invisible world of electromagnetic waves. And the particularly adventurous can even wield it as a live instrument.
Buy Ether at Soma – $160
Modular synthesis has been enjoying a revival over the past few years. But getting into Eurorack can be intimidating and very expensive. So a number of companies have been working to lower the barrier to entry. If there’s someone on your list that has been itching to dip their toes in, the West Pest and East Beast from Cre8audio are an excellent starting point. They’re self-contained semi-modular synths, so they don’t need any extra gear to start experimenting. But they’re Eurorack compatible, and can be removed from their cases and mounted in a larger system if they wind up going deeper down that rabbit hole.
We like the West Pest in particular because, in addition to being perhaps the most affordable Eurorack compatible semi-modular synth out there, it explores the more experimental world of west coast synthesis. As the music gear experts at Reverb note “the combination of Wavefolding with the Dynamics Controller (a take on the low-pass gate) gives the synth its bold, unique and adventurous sound.”
Buy West Pest at Amazon – $250
Every music lover and music maker needs a good pair of headphones. There are so many amazing sets out there to choose from, but I remain a dedicated fan of Sony’s affordable workhorse the MDR-7506. They’ve been a studio mainstay for decades for good reason. They’re natural sounding, light and comfortable enough to wear for hours, and reasonably priced. The MDR-7506s are equally at home monitoring a podcast, mixing a club banger or just listening to some vinyl. In short, they’re a great practical gift even if you’re operating under a tight budget.
Buy Sony MDR-7506 at Amazon – $100
The original Orba is a phenomenal fidget toy and an interesting MIDI controller. The Orba 2 is both those things and a sampler. Adding sampling to this little musical grapefruit greatly expands its flexibility. If you know someone who’s constantly tapping out rhythms or humming little melodies to themselves, they’ll probably love an Orba.
Buy Orba 2 at Artiphon – $150
Cheap and portable synths are a dime a dozen these days. Korg really kicked off something of revolution with its Volca line. But one thing we’d yet to see until Roland launched its Aira Compact line, was a portable and affordable box dedicated to vocal effects. The E-4 Voice Tweaker combines pitch correction, a harmonizer, a vocoder, plus pitch and formant shifting, and a looper. There’s also delay, reverb and chorus effects, not to mention Roland’s signature Scatter, which it turns out is much better on vocals than drums. If there’s anyone on your list who’s been trying to turn themselves into the next Bon Iver or late ‘70s Herbie Hancock, this will at least get them part of the way there.
Buy E-4 Voice Tweaker at Amazon – $200
Where to begin with the Habit? It’s a delay pedal – which almost every musician can use. But it’s so much more. It’s a looper, sort of. Chase Bliss calls it a musical sketchpad, and that can be true too. It does all of those things, plus it has a selection of unique modifiers that can chop up sounds in rhythmic ways, mimic the warble of a tape machine, or spit out what can only be described as unicorn sparkles. In short, there’s almost nothing else like it out there. If there’s a guitarist or a synth player on your list with a taste for the esoteric (and you don’t mind splurging), they’ll probably love the strange collection of sounds that Habit puts at their feet.
Buy Chase Bliss Habit at Reverb – $399
The 1010Music Nanoboxes are probably the smallest full-featured hardware synths out there. But the Lemon Drop also has the distinction of being one of the only dedicated granular synths on the market. If your giftee is into ambient music or oddball textures they will almost certainly love the Lemon Drop. It has a robust granular sound engine (meaning it chops up sound files into tiny bits and spits them back out) with up to 16 granulators per voice and four voice polyphony. Plus it doubles as an effects processor for live audio with an expressive X/Y pad mode for changing parameters. And it can easily fit in a jacket pocket.
Buy Lemon Drop at 1010 Music – $399
The Mavis is the cheapest way to give someone the gift of a real-deal Moog synthesizer. It’s a $350, pseudo-DIY, semi-modular, monophonic synth and, in a rarity for the company, it’s fully Eurorack compatible. It’s capable of getting that classic Moog sound with thick square and saw waves shaped by resonant lowpass filter. Its 24-point patchbay is an impressive collection of utility and sound-shaping tools that is not only great for learning the art of synthesis but also expanding the potential of a larger modular setup. Lastly, the Mavis is the first time Moog has dipped its toes into the rival world of West Coast synthesis by including a wavefolder. It’s a great gift whether it’s someone’s first synth of fiftieth.
Buy Moog Mavis at Amazon – $349
Part of the fun of holiday shopping is finding fun weird things that you know someone would appreciate, but are so impractical they’d never buy it themselves. That’s basically the Rainger FX Minibar in a nutshell. It’s a distortion pedal, and also an endless supply of different distortion pedals. See, on its own it doesn’t do anything. The “Liquid Analyzer” part of the name comes from the fact that there’s a tiny container on top that you need to fill to complete the circuit. And, the sound will change based on what you put in there. Water will have an obviously different effect than say, beer, or soda, or – if you’re metal enough – blood. The folks at Reverb love it because “the Minibar is easy to incorporate into musicians’ small pedalboards… meaning folks can experiment without too much of a space commitment.”
Buy Rainger FX Minibar at Reverb – $149
I firmly believe that every guitarist should have an amp sim in their arsenal. They’re handy for quietly practicing late at night, recording direct to a DAW, or building a lightweight live rig that connects to a venue’s PA. Universal Audio’s are among the best amp sims I’ve ever used. They’re not cheap at $400, but if there’s a person on your list you want to splurge on, these are a worthy consideration. While all three of the models are excellent, and my personal favorite seems to change from week to week, it’s probably the that has spent the most time on my board.
The Ruby is an emulation of the classic Vox AC30 which has been used by everyone from the Beatles, to U2, to REM, to Queen. Reverb’s experts love that it “delivers choirboy cleans, complex overdrive, and classic vibrato to mimic a classic British tube amp.” Plus you can tweak the Ruby’s sound by turning on popular mods or switching in different speaker emulations.
Buy Ruby at Reverb – $399
The Century Collection is another splurge, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving. For $400 your giftee will receive every sample pack, virtual instrument and effect plugin that Puremagnetik makes for the next 100 years. On day one they’ll get access to around 100 sample packs covering everything from vintage synth pads, to circuit bent toys, to early digital drum machines.
But perhaps even more interesting are the 39 VST plugins that range from lo-fi keys to absolutely out of this world effects. The creative delays and strange micro loopers are highlights and perfect for the person who’s into more ambient and experimental music. Then there’s , an “advanced sound design workstation” that’s updated on a monthly basis with new features and effects. Even if someone manages to outlive the length of their Century Collection membership, they’ll probably never be able to fully explore it all.
Buy Century Collection at Puremagnetik – $399
Anyone who practices some sort of creative art – be it music, painting or writing – hits a block at some point. There’s tons of advice out there on how to overcome these hurdles, but one of the most famous is easily the Oblique Strategies deck. Developed by Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno in 1975, each card contains an action or a way of thinking designed to shake up your approach to a thorny creative problem. “Use an unacceptable colour,” “Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate” and “Emphasize the flaws,” are the sorts of vague instructions you can expect. And how someone interprets the prompts will produce different results for each person. If you’re shopping for anyone with a creative streak, they’ll find a use for this deck.
Buy Oblique Strategies at Eno Shop – $60
If you’re gift shopping for a music producer I can almost guarantee you they’re fans of J Dilla. He was a singular force in hip-hop, and has even had his MPC displayed at the Smithsonian. Dilla Time by Dan Charnas chronicles not just the life of Dilla (James DeWitt Yancey), but his legacy and the history of rhythm in America. In addition, there are graphics that help illustrate the concepts behind Dilla’s unique beats and what made him so special. It’s part biography, part history lesson and part practical music production guide.
Buy Dilla Time at Amazon – $22
If there’s an aspiring songwriter on your list, consider picking them up a copy of How to Write One Song. Written by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, this tome breaks down the process from beginning to end and encourages readers to start small; don’t try to become a “songwriter” just try to write a song. But this isn’t a rote how-to book, that sort of thing is only so helpful when it comes to mastering an artistic craft. It’s about building creativity into your everyday life. And just like any other skill, being creative requires practice.
Buy How to Write One Song at Amazon – $19
A turntable is almost a necessity for any music lover or music maker. For one, it’s a way to listen to the artists they love. Whether that’s for pure enjoyment or for inspiration. And while there are plenty who think that vinyl just “sounds better,” I think the real reason it beats out streaming from Spotify: It’s tangible. There’s nothing quite like physically holding a piece of music, placing the needle in a groove and looking at the large cover art, or reading the liner notes. It connects a person to the art more and forces them to be a more active participant in its consumption.
Now, the AT-LP120XUSB is not the highest-end turntable in the world. And it might not even be the best bang for your gift-giving dollar. But it is excellent sounding and reasonably priced. And the USB port makes it easy for any aspiring music producers to sample straight to their DAW. Maybe, just maybe, it will inspire a life-long love of crate digging.
Buy AT-LP120XUSB turntable at Amazon – $349
A US federal court has sentenced a Chinese national to 20 years in prison after he was convicted last year of plotting to steal trade secrets from several US aviation and aerospace companies.Xu Yanjun, the first Chinese spy extradited to the United States for trial, was convicted in November 2021 by a federal jury on counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and trade secret theft.
The white man accused of killing 10 black people in a racially motivated shooting spree at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket intends to plead guilty to murder and other charges next week, a lawyer for families of some of the victims says.Peyton Gendron plans to accept responsibility for all 25 counts contained in a state criminal indictment at a hearing on Monday in Erie County Court in Buffalo, according to Terrence Connors, a lawyer for relatives of seven of the dead and two surviving victims.
Chilling footage has captured the last moments of two of the university students found stabbed to death in a home on Sunday.The haunting video from a Twitch livestream shows Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, chatting as they grab a late night snack from a food truck just hours before they were murdered alongside Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
Leaders gathering for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Thailand should "rise above differences", the host says, after a series of summits in the region were dominated by geopolitical tension over the war in Ukraine.Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said the meeting of the 21-member bloc, which starts on Friday, "takes place at a pivotal juncture" with the world facing multiple risks.
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A free trade deal between the UK and Australia has taken a leap forward with a parliamentary committee giving it the green light.The parliament's treaties committee released a report on Thursday recommending that "binding treaty action be taken".
The Dutch government says it has summoned the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over what it called the country's "utterly despicable" response to the verdict in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17.Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court's decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader for shooting down the Malaysian airliner "neglected impartiality".
Victoria has recorded three new confirmed cases of measles in returned overseas travellers.The cases are all within one family, with two people infectious during a return flight from Singapore to Melbourne.
South Australia has successfully managed an oversupply of electricity after being disconnected from the national energy grid, with the state government describing fears of possible blackouts as a bit of "hysteria".With SA unable to export excess solar and wind power across the border to Victoria, generation from some commercial, industrial and residential solar systems was curtailed on Thursday to minimise the risk of disturbances across the network.
Graphic media coverage of domestic violence has been linked to copycat behaviour and used as a chilling threat against terrified partners, research has found.Explicit reports on the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children in Brisbane and Kelly Wilkinson on the Gold Coast prompted a surge in cases of similar violence, according to the University of Queensland study.
Ukraine may get the access it has demanded to the site in the border area of southeastern Poland where a missile killed two people on Tuesday, Polish officials say.Warsaw and its Western allies say evidence from the scene points to the explosion being caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian missile.
A man with a rare degenerative condition that resulted in half his brain being surgically removed was told by Australia's disability agency his funding had been slashed because "patients get better".Ruth Den Brinker, the mother and full-time carer of a 44-year-old man with disabilities, presented her submission to a Senate committee examining the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) on Thursday.
The federal government will host a National Early Years Summit in February as it builds its "whole-of-government approach" for Australia's children.The government's early years strategy, to be unveiled on Friday, will co-ordinate programs and funding directed at children and ensure accountability isn't lost through efforts being scattered across various departments.
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The Canadian prime minister was 'threatened' by the Chinese leader in a tense moment caught on camera at the G20 leaders' summit. Watch the video here.
Sydney Metro passengers could suffocate and die if a fire breaks out in a tunnel because exits would be too far to reach, NSW Labor says.The Australian standard ensures maximum cross-passage spacing of 240 metres but Sydney Metro insists its projects will employ the 500m European standard.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the meeting of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, a New Zealand government spokesperson says.The meeting on Friday evening is "currently confirmed", the spokesperson said in a message.
It could soon be easier for survivors of sexual assault to give evidence in the event of a retrial in Canberra, with the ACT government looking at legal changes.ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury is considering allowing recorded evidence from a first trial to be used in a subsequent trial in a bid to stop someone being required to give in-person evidence a second time.
John RaouxNASA has just launched its first rocket in the Artemis program, which will, among other things, take scientific experiments to produce metal on the Moon. In recent years, a number of businesses and organisations have ramped up efforts to establish technologies on the Moon. But doing work in space is expensive. Sending just one kilogram of material to the Moon can cost US$1.2 million (A$1.89 million). What if we could save money by using the resources that are already there? This proces
Nov 18, 2022 by The Beat Maker - 0 Comments