10 cool music gadgets to make music (even) more fun

Making music is a fun experience in itself, but modern technology has made it all too easy to fall in love with the new ways to interact with music. With the 10 cool music gadgets listed below, you are guaranteed to bring extra amusement to your music-making and put on a show for any person nearby!

1. Genki Wave

Genki Wave is a customizable MIDI ring that allows you to control sound, visuals, and other parameters with gestures. From samples to reverb, it lets you personalize all the effects you need for your music and adds fun to your workflow. Not to mention, you'll look cool as heck while performing with it.

With natural hand gestures, the Genki Wave naturalizes your creative workflow so you can truly focus on expressing yourself. It's compatible with most major DAWs and can also serve as a studio controller. 

2. Odd Ball

An Odd Ball is a ball-shaped musical instrument that you can bounce, pinch, or smash, making it Paired with the ODD App, it allows you to play, create, and record sounds. It is super portable and water- and shock-resistant, so you can bring the fun wherever you go, and you can even increase the fun by learning to juggle with different sounds.

3. Playtron

Ever dreamt of playing music on strawberries? You can do just that with Playtron, a device that allows you to play on any conductive surface. All you need is a device, a computer, or a phone, and up to 16 objects of your choice: fruits, vegetables, metals, slimes, liquids, etc. You can even play with people and animals!

4. Artiphone Orba 2

Artiphon Orba 2 is another cool music gadget. It's a handheld synth, looper, and controller. Orba 2 produces different sounds depending on how and where you touch it, and you can even record and import your own sounds with the Orba app. There is a built-in speaker, but you can also use the headphone input, which makes it a great device to make music on the go.

5. Joué play

Joué Play is not just a simple MIDI controller. Paired with an app and consisting of a tray area and four interchangeable pads (piano, keys, guitar, and drums), it allows you to play, loop, and record music. Each pad has a sound bank of 12 instruments that you can tweak with the in-built effects. While it won’t teach you how to play these instruments, you can have endless fun playing on the different pads.

6. Hyve

Hyve is a great-looking, fun, tactile, and expressive synthesizer. It consists of two parts: the bottom half is a one-octave piano keyboard, while the top half is a grid with notes ranging from C2 to F♯5. Hyve synths come as assembled and ready-to-play instruments, but you can opt for a kit that requires no experience and soldering.

7. Data Duo

Ever wanted to make music with a friend, but one of you isn't too experienced? Dato Duo might look like a toy, but is in fact a powerful 2-in-1 synthesizer and sequencer. Thanks to its accessible design, all generations can play together and learn the basics of synthesis. You can even go further by connecting it to other instruments like Pocket Operators or effects pedals, making it a really cool music gadget! 

8. Sphero Specdrums

Tapping on color and hearing its sound is what Sphero Specdrums are about. Consisting of app-connected rings, Specdrums will let you play music by tapping on colored objects around you. You can customize the sounds and tell the rings to play words, sound effects, or any custom audio recorded with the app.

9. Erae Touch

Erae Touch is a MIDI board user’s dream come true. A total of 1000 sensitive illuminated sensors allow you to shape your sound in any way you want. You can play with effects and faders, play on custom piano layouts, and even use the Erae Touch as a drum pad (yes, it is that durable). Plus, the light patterns will be a great addition to any live performance.

10. Teenage Engineering pocket operator

Teenage Engineering pocket operators come in a variety of models, from drum machines to samplers or any kind of synthesizers. You can use one to make music on the go, or you can connect a few pocket operators with each other to create a pocket band. They can also be used with other synths. You don’t need previous background in synthesis, and the little animations on the screen will make it a fun device for children and grown-ups alike.

Anja Drozdova is a Swiss-Russian musician and music teacher. She focuses on finding creative ways to engage students during piano and music theory lessons by using different mediums such as technology and visual arts. Anja also writes electronic pop music under the artist name Mlkshk. Her music is inspired by everyday life, scenes from childhood, and imaginary places, shapes, and colors.