Manipulate sounds by moving glowing blocks
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc]
The reacTable, a new instrument that lets musicians manipulate sounds by moving glowing blocks on a round, transparent table, is wowing festival audiences after it was hand-picked by Björk for use on the singer’s summer tour.
The modular synthesizer mashes up shades of Tron, laser hockey and classic Moogs using open-source reacTivision software and an under-the-hood camera to track blocks that, when added, rotated or moved, combine to produce beeps, whoops and soaring synth lines.
The reacTable‘s developers say it is the latest in an emerging wave of “tangible music interfaces,” but to the touring musicians who play the thing, it’s merely “cool.”
Each block has a different function — like changing a sound wave’s amplitude or acting as a metronome — that is denoted by a unique hieroglyph. Players move, rotate and flip the blocks, run their fingertips over the tabletop’s surface and alter the blocks’ proximity to each other to control the music produced by the machine. Pulsing visuals that light up the tabletop come courtesy of a projector beneath the reacTable’s translucent Perspex surface, making the instrument interesting to the eyes as well as the ears.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVULBXvmxk]
Have a nice weekend
Equipment used by Kraftwerk
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ]
Found this nice site today that shows a pretty detailed list of the equipments used by Kraftwerk on their albums and on their gigs / world tours.
Maybe some inspiration for some of view 
Personally I´m quite intrigued by the vocoders used
Here are some of the questions they answer:
Octopus BlackSea – mmmmm nice :-)
Played around with this little beauty during Xmas:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JISVw7xiR5w]
And I must say it is rather impressive, below a short description taking from the producers website
Octopus is a MIDI sequencer – simply put, a machine to generate control data for sound-producing devices, e.g. synthesizers.
Octopus’ most outstanding trait is probably its recognition by an authoritative audience as a musical instrument. The merit lies in the fact that comparable products are traditionally perceived as “just” intricate electronic devices.
User experience and musical creation are the centerpieces of the Octopus design. Its embodiment is a no-compromise machine.
The recipe is to combine a high-end user interface, a domain-specific data framework, and the power of modern real-time computing technology.
Analogue Synthesizers
AudioWarrior has released Analogue Synthesizers For Kontakt, a collection of gurgling analog sounds from some of the of the most famous analog synthesizers of the 60’s & 70’s. This collection includes searing synth leads, deep shaking bass patches, FX, trippy pads based on classics like Juno, Oberheim, Moog, Prophet, Oscar, and more.
What the manufacturer says:
The Holy Grail of Analogue Sythesizer Leads, Bass’, FX, Pads.
The best sounds of 7 Famous Analogue and Digital Synthesizers from the 60’s & 70’s
that have shaped our civilization are now yours to do with what you will by land, by air, or sea.
Evolving Alien Environments and Soundscapes including Rain & Thunder, The Grays,
BladeRunner, RAIN, Deep Sea, Alien Locust, Ethereal Bog, Frogs of Plague
Every famous sound is included that put synths on the map. Digitized for maximum flexibility for use in Native-Instruments Kontakt.
Once you have them activated and on screen, further twist them into pulsating textures and pitch wheel them into pandemonium.
Download the whole retro-classic collection to your desktop in minutes.
If anyone has tried it already, feel free to leave a review
Moogulator, Jean Michel Jarre & Crazy Adds
Well couldn´t help myself, needed to post all these things at once, see if you can find the common link – the red line
Listen to the Moogulator – its awesome!!
http://www.moogulator.com/moogulatorplayer2/fsmp3playerv15.swf
And who didn´t know this about Mr. Jarre….
And if you want to find more adds like this – don´t miss out on this site
VNV Naton
MODCOM : is a new project from Ronan Harris which uses analog modular synthesizers and analog sequencers for live sound generation. Sequences and sounds are patched, manipulated, effected, re-patched and mixed live. This kind of performance was common to 70’s synth pioneers who used walls of synths and cables to make sound but now its use will be for 21st century electronic beats, rhythms and soundscapes
Check it out here:
http://www.myspace.com/modcom
DATAMASKIN
