The Oval – Backerjack

The Lumen electronic handpan lets percussionists jam affordably

It’s not unusual to see handpans, a relatively newer form of percussion instrument, sell from the $2,000 range to over $10,000. Their rarity and handmade nature contributes to this price tag, with the result being a beautiful sound unlike any other. Unfortunately, that price tag prevents many from enjoying its unique nature.

In order to make the experience of playing a handpan more accessible, Guy Jackson created the Lumen, an electro-acoustic percussion instrument in the form of a traditional handpan. It combines the same basic form of a handpan with velocity sensitivity, a high-quality built-in speaker, the ability to store a wide variety of sound samples, and the ability to change scales and keys while playing.

All this together offers a diverse musical experience at a more cost effective price of $699. The Lumen is slated to ship in February 2017 should its Indiegogo campaign raise $70,000 by May 13th, 2016.

The previously covered Oval is everything the Lumen is and much more, with the ability to upload custom sounds and a companion app, for example, that opens up the handpan playing experience — and does so at a more affordable price.

Learn real guitar by playing air guitar using Kurv digital instruments

Learning a musical instrument is rarely an easy road. That difficulty forces many to give up prematurely, robbing them of the opportunity of every really learning a skill that can provide much future enjoyment. As analterantive, the company behind Kurv hopes that people starting of with its stringless digital instrument versus a real one will immediately enjoy making music and stick around long enough to start really playing.

It’s designed in two pieces. The Kurv itself fits around the hand like a glove and offers eight comfortable points that each finger can easily touch. Eight points for the eight notes in an octave, eight notes in a scale and eight chords in a key make it so that there’s variety when the user strums with the second part of the instrument, the pick. Kurv responds to how hard the pick is being strummed. But it also responds to gestures, like shaking and flicking, that shift octaves or creates a vibratto effects in either electric, acoustic or bass guitar modes. Together with the iOS app’s intelligent tutorials on hit songs that provide instant feedback, Kurv is a guitar and tutor all in one.