The best and most creative musical tech for your kids
Want to give your children and early start in their musical education? This easy-to-master equipment is intended to make them virtuosi in no time. We test the best musical tech designed for kids.
1. Loog Pro Electric
Learning how to play the guitar can be daunting for beginners, but Loog aims to make it fun. The three-string neck on the Mini Pro reduces chords to the basic triad of just three notes, making it is simpler to play any song. It uses the first three strings as a standard guitar and follows the same tuning, and, as a result, everything learnt on this guitar – including finger placement - can be applied later to a six-string guitar.
Championed as the ideal way to get kids interested in music, each purchase comes with set of colourful flashcards with chord diagrams and a free app. The app is structured as a game in which monsters help kids learn chords that in turn will help them learn a host of songs. The show-stopping designs comes in a range of six pop colours including red and electric green, as well as two limited editions. $179-$199 from Loog
2. Roadie 2
Guitar tech’s beware, Roadie 2 is after your job. This simply and effective automatic guitar tuner fits over the tuning peg and adjusts pitch three times more accurately than the human ear. And by relying on a vibration sensor, not a microphone, it tunes pitch perfectly (customizable in 0.1 Hz increments from 420 Hz to 460 Hz) even in the noisiest of music venues. Ideal for pairing with that Farallon ukulele. £79 from Roadie
3. Orange Micro Crush Pix
The satisfying full bass response and built-in chromatic tuner on this mini guitar amplifier will add oomph to an adventurous music session. Its 10cm speaker sits compactly within its 8.5 x 15 x 15cm orange frame, which at 0.8kg and with strap holders either side of its enclosure, is highly portable. Hailed as an amp ideal for home practise or for warming up on tour, it’s powered by a 9V battery for simple plug in and play. It incudes a clean channel for crisp, spritely tones, as well as an optional overdrive on/off that can be used to tap into metal madness. Thankfully, its headphone jack will keep noise levels down after hours. £40, https://www.amazon.co.uk
4. Gibson Memory Cable
It’s easy to capture a memorable jam session using this TASCAM-powered smart cable. The savvy 4.9-metre instrument cable will plug into a guitar, bass or keyboard to record every musical note in uncompressed WAV-format files that feature CD-quality 44.1kHz/16-bit resolution. The cable’s built-in compact recorder system saves up to 13 hours of play to a 4GB Micro SD card that comes included.
This can be transferred over to a computer-based multi-track recording program for analysis and editing. And if you forget to ‘record-enable’ a track, want to revisit an earlier take, or if your computer crashes, the solid-state recorder will act as your personal back-up service, which runs constantly in the background and never lets a great riff get away. When you think you’ve played a potential future number one hit, simply press a button to close the existing file, save and start recording a new one. £130 from Gibson
Plan Toys Preschool Musical Band
Sun Lee
This musical set is designed for children three and over who’ve set their sights on becoming a virtuoso drummer, and for those who just like to make a lot of noise - which doesn’t really rule any out. Standing just over 33cm tall, it includes a 16.3cm drum, a 12.2cm drum, a pair of drumsticks, a cymbal and a guiro.
The stylish design is crafted from sustainable natural rubber wood from trees that no longer produce latex, and is then strengthened with a chemical-free kiln drying process. To keep the wood pure, no fertiliser is added to the soil three years prior to it being cut down. So while escalating noise levels may leave little to be desired, aesthetics will more than make up for it. £50 from Plan Toys
Zoom ARQ Midi Controller
Sun Lee
Sold as “the drum machine for performers”, this all-in-one production and live-performance instrument is a versatile piece of kit. It features an integrated drum machine, sequencer, synthesiser, looper and MIDI controller with a built-in accelerometer, which lets you create unique drum parts and patterns through both touch and movement.
Its base station features over 468 drum/instrument sounds, 70 types of synth sounds and a wide range of digital effects and includes a USB port for computer connection. Its SD card will save samples as well as import prerecorded audio. Its detachable ring controller that can be used as a live instrument even lights up in a rainbow of colours to accompany the tunes. The 96 velocity and pressure-sensitive pads communicate to the base station and DAWs via Bluetooth, so you can get as creative as you see fit. $350 from Zoom
Via Weird
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