drums

On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music crew checks out a cool new set of previously unreleased recordings and interviews from the late jazz/blues/gospel/soul artist Nina Simone called Protest Anthology; a few new songs from electronic artist UFO! (not to be confused with the Brits who brought you the classic-rock staple "Too Hot Too Handle"); and the brand-new album from Sun Kil Moon, the name Mark Kozelek seems to be sticking with (after long-ago retiring his previous band name, Red House Painters).

Crossfade TV is a collaboration between Download Music and CNET TV.

Some cynics out there might have thought the drum cases from Spotswood Custom Computers were just silly novelty items. Au contraire: Not only have they been popular, but there's a new model that's bigger and--depending on one's point of view--better than ever.

The L-24 is part of the company's "water-cooling" line, measuring 24 inches in diameter and 18 inches deep. That's big enough to house 12 fans, "three triple-fan water-cooling radiators, extra-long graphics cards, a 1600W (or larger) power supply, two 5.25-inch CD/DVD drives and 15 3.5-inch hard drives,&… Read more

Next to guitars--real, virtual or something in-between--the most popular musical instruments we've seen on Crave are drums. From fingertip pads to several types of rollaway versions, percussive gadgets appear to be everywhere. But they usually don't look like a cookie sheet.

That's what the "Ion Digital Drum Station" resembles, though ThinkGeek nevertheless claims that it has "eight natural feeling, velocity-sensitive drum pads." They also come with their own sticks, headphones and MP3 inputs to help create custom tunes, or you can just play along to programmed patterns with 233 sounds available … Read more

How's this for the latest in PC designs? Drums. Yes, like the kind that you bang on, all day if you must, with or without sticks.

When fellow Craver Brian Cooley posted an item months ago about the Spotswood kick-drum computer, we assumed it was just something from one of the obscure sites he surfs, in between 007 blogs and single-malt scotch retailers. As it turns out, he may actually have been on the cutting edge of a new trend, the latest example being the "Shadow" hard drive from Suissa Computers.

Although it's not a full … Read more

It's good to see that the Japanese haven't forgotten about cultural entertainment in their apparent quest for a human-free society. At least their robots haven't, anyway.

The recently unveiled "Motoman" was initially assigned to such mundane tasks as sorting mail, for example, but it's already showing that it's got rhythm too. Four of them, to be exact--two twin-armed models and two welding versions.

The robots displayed their prowess on the taiko drums at the Kokura Gion Daiko Festival, an event that Pink Tentacle says is almost 400 years old and is known for … Read more

Regular readers of this space may know that we've developed a mild fascination with drums, especially those of the digital variety. We've also come to realize that we have something of an obsession with LEDs. (Clearly, some of us at Crave don't lead very interesting lives.)

But in our unfailing devotion to report all trends, especially when they converge, we feel obligated to pass this item along: Behold the LED drumsticks. While musicians interviewed by Popgadget appreciated the blue glow of their tips, they unfortunately expressed doubt over the sticks' ability to perform in "heavy hitting&… Read more

If technologists worked as hard on energy issues as they do on virtual drum sets, perhaps we never would have heard of global warming. That's the way it sometimes seems, anyway, given how many percussive instruments that routinely come to market.

At least the latest example comes from an established name in music, Yamaha, unlike many of the generic products out there. Its "YDD-60 Digital Electronic Drum Machine" not only lets you bang away all day, but it also works without drumsticks at all, bongo-style, and provides 230 digital voices to accompany your arrangement if you're … Read more

If there's any musical instrument that might challenge the unhealthy affection for guitars among Cravers, it would be virtual drums. Whether they be of the roll-up or the fingertip variety, percussion seems to be a favorite instrumental variety. So what could be better than a set that plays with an iPod?

The "Mini miJam Drums" don't come with a traditional set of heads but are nevertheless "equipped with a selection of sound effects and background rhythms, including bass, snare, cymbals and the hi-hat" that can be played along with an MP3 player or computer. … Read more

Last month I wrote about the release of Korg's mini, battery-powered version of their Kaoss Pad audio effects processor. Well, I finally got my hands on one, and I'm happy to report it is every bit as cool as I had hoped. To refresh your memory, the Korg Mini Kaoss Pad is a palm-sized, battery-powered effects processor that lets you warp and remix any stereo line signal. My full review (with video) of the Mini Kaoss Pad posted on CNET this week, but it didn't have any audio samples to let you hear what it can do. … Read more