roland

CNN suspends Roland Martin for homophobic, violent tweets

CNN's political analyst Roland Martin got in a tweet-war during Sunday's Super Bowl game. And because of it, CNN has suspended him.

The debacle began when he tweeted, "If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him," referring to the H&M David Beckham ad that ran during the game and showed the soccer player in nothing but underwear.

Martin also tweeted, "Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe … Read more

Vintage Roland drum machines on your iPhone

Electronic music fans and gearheads take note: you can now get ReBirth, a software emulator that duplicates the sounds and controls of Roland TR-808 and 909 drum machines and TB-303 bass synth, on your iPhone for only $6.99.

Back in the early 1980s, the Roland TR-808 was the king of drum machines. The old warhorses, beloved for their booming kick-drum sound, are still around, and have been resurrected in software emulators and name-checked by countless hip-hop artists-- Kanye West even named his 2008 album "808s and Heartbreak" after it.

In 1997, Propellerhead Software released a program, ReBirth, … Read more

Roland gets loud with BA-330 portable P.A.

For those who like getting loud in places where power outlets are hard to come by, the Roland BA-330 delivers all the comforts of a full-fledged stereo P.A. system using just eight AA batteries.

Just how loud are we talking? Cranked all the way up, the BA-330 can hit a 109dB sound pressure level--roughly the equivalent of standing next to a jack hammer. The eight AA batteries can deliver up to 10 hours of continuous power, although probably not at full blast (plug-in AC power is also available).

The front of the system offers four 6.5-inch and … Read more

Innovative USB-recording interfaces at NAMM

I didn't imagine there was much room for innovation in USB-recording interfaces, but at the 2009 NAMM show--the annual convention for buyers and sellers of professional music gear (read: music gearhead paradise)--a couple of companies introduced some new takes on this very prosaic, but necessary, piece of gear.

For the uninitiated: A recording interface is the bridge between your musical output and your computer. You attach it to the computer, then plug your instrument (or multiple instruments, or output of a mixing board) into it, and voila. There are countless types of interfaces at all levels of price and complexity, but for home musicians who just want a quick way to get their musical ideas down on their hard drives, an inexpensive USB interface is the way to go. M-Audio is probably the best-known brand at this level, although Tascam and Edirol (part of Roland) are somewhat common as well.

Free trial version of Sonar 8

A digital-audio workstation is probably the most important purchase an audio engineer has to make--it's the command and control center for your entire computer-based recording rig, and you'll be spending most of your time in it.

Unfortunately, pro-level DAWs are complicated pieces of software, and everybody's got their own opinion about what's best--ProTools is widely considered the industry standard, but I know several experienced engineers who don't like it at all.

Because of its complexity and importance, choosing a DAW is not the kind of decision you can make from reading reviews alone, or … Read more

Yamaha Tenori-On review

For all you electronic music fans and lovers of all things blinky, my review of the Yamaha Tenori-On music sequencer is ready for your consideration. The final ruling in a nutshell: the Tenori-On is an awesome tool for performing electronic musicians, but too pricey for nonmusicians and too limited for studio music production.

What a long, strange tease its been since we first caught wind of the mythical Tenori-On music sequencer back in 2005. Now, here we are at the end: you've seen the photo gallery, the unboxing video, my interview with Yu Nishibori, the requisite comparison to the Monome, … Read more

Where just like the Bush administration, you won't believe the crap coming from our mouths

EPISODE 51

Bennett Nasty, Bakalicious, and WillyT talk to Ari Rabban from Phone.com about his company. Also in the mix, they hit up the iPhone SDK, Randall's wife's grandma's issues with MySpace and friendship, plus we think 10,000 B.C. is going to be a pile of prehistoric dung and eight movie adaptations that shouldn't be made. Finally, firefighters make cars fly! I canbelievable!

Don't forget! Super Smash Brothers Brawl Give Away!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Roland's $3,000 virtual accordion

Does your mastery of the accordion already have groupies beating a path to your polka nights? Then turn back now, lest you glimpse the power of the most futuristic, and dynamic accordion ever made: the Roland FR-2.

Roland's FR-2 V-Accordion is no mere squeezebox. Announced at January's NAMM expo, the FR-2 charts out the future of the already thrilling world of accordion performance. It has eight virtual accordion sound presets, MIDI input/output, AA-battery power, high-resolution bellows pressure sensors, chorus and reverb sound effects, an integrated digital metronome, and pad triggers for sampled percussion (cowbell not included).

For … Read more

Next market for desktop printers: Wood?

If you haven't noticed many advancements in printer technology lately, maybe you're looking looking at the wrong medium. Apparently there's some notable competition going on in the area of printers for wood.

Just as the "Craftsman CompuCarve" is literally making its mark in 3D, Roland Japan is hoping to do the same with its new EGX-350 desktop engraver, which the company claims is 50 percent faster than its earlier model thanks to improvements in its motor and other technologies. Able to produce a "hand-carved look," according to Fareastgizmos, the new machine can even … Read more