Rhodri Marsden on three of the latest must-have gizmos currently putting the prog in progress…
Celviano Grand
The phrase ‘Casio keyboard’ usually conjures up distant memories of battered, battery-powered instruments that delivered tinny-sounding demos of Stevie Wonder tunes and little else of note. But times have moved on, and Casio’s Celviano Grand Hybrid is all about squeezing a grand piano into something substantially smaller than a grand piano. This being the digital age, you’re spoiled with multiple options: you can emulate a Viennese grand in a Berlin concert hall, or a Hamburg Grand in an Amsterdam church, accompanied by a symphony orchestra, and there’s not a bossa nova auto-rhythm in sight.
Colorfly C10
As the specifications of digital audio players get upgraded, you have to start wondering whether us carbon-based life forms can even tell the difference. This iPod equivalent for the discerning listener delivers 32-bit audio – but 24-bit audio already captures more dynamic range than the human ear can detect. Cynics will question its value, but anyone who feels short-changed by MP3s will love it.
Double Flux Guitar
The maths is clear: two guitar necks are twice as good as one. (Whether that’s borne out in the real world depends on how rubbish the guitarist is.) This unusual innovation comprises two guitars that stick together magnetically: you’ve got a 12-string for the lush chords, a six-string for your squealing solos, and if you feel like making a bold statement, you can just stick them together to look twice as impressive. That’s the theory anyway. Let me know how it goes.
