EK-50
Price: to be confirmed
One of the most common sights in music classrooms is the ‘classroom keyboard’. Korg has just announced the EK-50 Entertainer Keyboard that it claims has lots of tools that will help develop musicians. It features styles and backings that get more complex as the player develops.
Komplete 12
Price (retail): £159, Komplete Select; £479, Komplete; £959, Komplete Ultimate
Native Instruments has just announced a plethora of releases including four new pieces of hardware and updates to its sampler, Kontakt, and its flagship synth, Massive. Most importantly, it now has an update to Komplete that contains multiple products – all the famous instruments and effects in one bundle.
Scaler 1.5
Price (retail): £39.95
A MIDI effect that can analyse notes that have been recorded and suggest appropriate chords and scales that can accompany them, ranging from simple to the most experimental accompaniments. For teaching theory, the user can also look inside all of the chords to see how they have been constructed and how they work with the chosen notes and scales.
nanoSERIES 2
Price: to be confirmed
The favourite portable controllers of many musicians for the last ten years – and an affordable way for schools to have lots of keyboards and drum pads – have had a colourful facelift. The same basic combinations of keyboard instruments, pads and sliders are now available in limited edition colour schemes.
New York Compressor
Price (retail): €19 (£17)
For anyone teaching compression, one of the most important techniques is parallel compression, or New York compression. Denise has launched the aptly named New York Compresor. A very simple compressor with only three controls, which makes this an excellent teaching tool for learning about compression.
