Music is a great gift to give this Christmas so we put together a list of some which are available in the United Kingdom. They may be available in your country, if when you read this you are elsewhere in the world, but you will need to establish that before you can buy.

I have chosen music gadgets assuming that just about everyone these days will possess a PC with a USB connection. However, the second beauty of these USB devices is their ease of installation. Also, if you decide you want to use them after you have alerady started your PC they will usually be recognised as soon as you connect them

Roll-Up USB Piano

The Roll-Up USB Piano, is one of my favourites. It is a rubber mat with a four-octave keyboard moulded into its surface. Plug it into a USB port and you can make beautiful music with the software with it. It is not just a piano either. A range of polyphonic instruments is available, and there is also a metronome to help you practice.

A few years ago all instruments of this type, albeit often using special additional boards which needed to be set-up inside your PC, supported the MIDI system, in which a host of tunes have been set up, by hobby and casual players. Many of those that might receive this player as a gift may indeed already have their own MIDI collection. The Roll-Up Piano doesn’t support MIDI, or it could have been useful for those with an existing computer music setup, who wish to replace old favourites and add their own accompaniments.

Also, roll-up and easy to put away it may be, but it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to play as if you don’t use enough finger power as you play the notes don’t register at all.

Nevertheless, for knocking out an occasional tune, and for a bit of a sing-song on Boxing day it is a cheap and cheerful present selling at around ?30 (about $60).

USB Electric Guitar

If rock and roll is your thing, the Behringer iAxe 393 is a real electric guitar that connects directly to your PC via USB.

Bundled with it is a free version of Native Instruments’ Guitar Combos. What is that I hear you ask? Well the software simulates a wide range of amplifier sounds.

There is immediate enjoyment to be had from a quick jam trying out all the different sounds, but again in a similar way to the USB piano the iAxe didn’t in the end strike me as being a serious musical instrument.

If you were hoping that the included software would act as a sequencer plug-in, then you will be disappointed and there’s no simple way to hear yourself playing through your PC’s speakers, the audio output signal has to be routed via a non-standard audio output at that is fixed onto the guitar itself.

Now, a further point to make is that the guitar itself isn’t of very high quality. For the price at around ?100 (about $200), you could hardly expect anything of real musical quality though.

In common with many budget Stratocaster copies, it does also suffer from pickup hum, and the machine heads have a spongy, imprecise action.

I don’t think that its a bad deal at the price though - and since the iAxe has a standard quarter-inch jack in addition to the USB port, you can always plug it into an amp and rock out for real.

USB Guitar USB Connector

Of course, if you’re a keen guitarist, you probably already own a high-quality instrument. In that case, you might be interested in Behringer’s USB Guitar Connector. This neat little box turns any electric guitar into a USB device, and as for the guitar it comes with a free version of Guitar Combos.

The Guitar Connector shares the iAxe’s software limitations, so don’t expect to drop it into an existing recording setup. It only costs ?50, so you’ll have money left to buy the full version of Guitar Combos that interfaces with a sequencer or software that works with a 32-bit ASIO stream.

USB Virtual Drum Kit

To complete yourself an USB band, you could buy yet another USB based gadget. That’s the Ion VirtualDrumX, a system of six velocity-sensitive pads and two pedals that trigger a kit’s worth of drum sounds on your PC, at about ?130 inc. VAT (about $260).

There is bundled software supplied out of the box with provision for 233 different percussive sounds, plus a drumming game which should help you improve your skills.

The musicians who read this will want to know whether the VirtualDrumX works best as a standalone device. No, unfortunately you cannot use this device as a MIDI trigger, which will disappoint many.

Please also do be aware that the six identical pads which are supplied in the kit can’t reflect the action of a real drum kit. In truth you’ll be applying the same action if you’re splashing a cymbal or pounding on a low torn.

Again, these are gadgets to which will really only be able to provide amusement and a taste of the real-thing. But, possibly rather better than the predecessors in this review, this USB Drum Kit gives a good introduction to drumming.

Buying this technology and gadgets for Christmas is cheaper than investing in real skins, and since all the sounds are generated on your PC, you can put on a pair of headphones and not worry about disturbing the family while they sleep off their Christmas lunch.

Tim Somers
MusicHoncho.com

The Future of New York Radio: Howard Stern Sirius Style

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Author is not associated with Sirius or Howard Stern in any way and this article is meant to be an analysis of the move to Sirius Satellite Radio by Howard Stern and events surrounding it.

Howard Stern’s move to Sirius Satellite Radio will really make a huge difference for New York Radio. With listeners making the move to Satellite Radio and away from New York City, what will happen to the radio stations broadcasting in New York City? Does radio continue on a good course or does it need a wake up call? – Is this it’s wakeup call?

The Daily News, has said that New York City radio “faces its last great wakeup call” and is being forced to deal with changing technologies, and the ever changing consumer tastes. The biggest threat, obviously to New York Radio is the changing of radio formats, from terrestrial to Satellite Radio. The Hollywood Reporter has outlined several new changes that Sirius Satellite Radio has made to its radio channel line up in order to take away market share from New York Radio and this is a huge threat to the terrestrial format.

Howard Stern isn’t the only one whom is making the move to Satellite Radio, there are several shock jocks that are in some areas, the flag ship of Clear Channel and several other networks. Stern will now have two stations via Sirius Satellite Radio and there are more in the works. Sirius also has plans for upto five family and kids channels as well as three difference Christian channels. Sirius is covering all its listeners wants and desires, New York radio has failed to do that, and Sirius is answering the call of its subscribers for better content!

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HD Radio Stations - They’re Here (And More Are on the Way)

If, like many Americans, you’re holding off on buying an HD Radio because you’re not sure there are any stations broadcasting in HD Radio technology, you could stop holding off.

There are already more than 1,000 stations across the U.S. broadcasting in HD Radio technology and more are adding the technology every day.

This is not limited to just major markets, either. For example, here in Colorado, there are stations broadcasting in HD Radio technology in Colorado Springs. And Ft. Collins. Albuquerque has seven stations broadcasting HD radio signals, and both Memphis and Nashville, TN have HD technology licensed stations.

Naturally, the major markets such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis all have numerous stations broadcasting HD Radio. Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Miami do too. In fact, it’s almost impossible to find a city with a population of more than 200,000 that does not have at least a couple of HD radio stations.

How about HD AM stations?

While many of these stations are HD FM, there are also a number of HD AM stations. For example, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver/Boulder, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, and Minneapolis-St. Paul have HD AM stations, as do Albany-Schenectady-Troy, San Diego and San Antonio.

What’s the advantage of HD AM stations. It’s that HD enables AM stations to sound as clear and static-free as conventional FM stations. So, if you’re a talk radio fan, you would be able to hear your favorite programs with the same clarity and fidelity as if they were broadcasting in FM.

The future also looks very bright for HD Radio. The big broadcast corporations such as Infinity and Clear Channel have pledged their support of HD Radio. Plus, HD radio is being pushed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which has announced an agreement that will accelerate the conversion of over 800 PBS AM and FM stations to iBiquity’s digital HD Radio broadcasting.

Just as important, iBiquity recently announced that is has signed agreements with four, new China-based manufacturers to produce low-cost HD radios.

Tim Somers
MusicHoncho.com

Satellite television became an option for many more consumers sometime in the 1990’s when the new smaller dish antennas were invented that did not appear to be something out of a science fiction flick. Although some smaller companies have started and failed, the two major players left in the game are DISH Network and DirecTV.

With only two big companies left in the game, the question most potential customers face when choosing satellite TV service is: Who has the better deal? Are the DirecTV deals the best or should you go with one of the dish network offers?

DirecTV is the clear leader in total number of customers, with DISH Network coming in second. Even so, there are valid reasons to give both companies consideration when consumers who are considering satellite service for their television entertainment.

DirecTV offers more programming for sports fans in general, although DISH Network does offer quite a few sports packages as well. A big plus for football fans is DirecTV’s “NFL Sunday Ticket” programming that DISH Network just doesn’t have.

However, some say, and I tend to agree, that DISH Network is in front when it comes to technology. They were first to switch over all their channels from the old MPEG-2 video format to the new MPEG-4 format and also the first to offer true 1080p HD programming on some of their video-on-demand channels while DirecTV does not offer 1080p at all currently.

DISH Network also offers digital video recorders that are judged to be the best by most experts. As someone who has a DISH Network DVR, it’s hard to imagine it being much better. It’s really revolutionized the way I watch TV and really makes the VCR look something out of ancient history.

DISH Network is also has more to offer when it comes to international programming and they offer a wide variety of programming from countries all over the world in many languages.

Both DISH Network and DirecTV have a pretty fierce rivalry where HD availability is concerned, with each of them claiming to have the most HD channels over the years.

Like you could expect from most big corporations both companies get sneaky with the method they use to count their HD programming choices. Does a pay-per-view channel count? What about movies on demand? As a potential customer, your best option is to go through the entire list of channels each company offers and decide which HD channels are more important to you.

I’ve done my own share of research and reading of satellite TV forums and have remained with DISH Network for a number of years. I am quite pleased with my DISH Network service and the programming packages that they offer.

The programming plans that DISH Network offers today are some of the best I have ever seen and you do not have to come up with money for the equipment out of your own pocket like it was years ago. In case you have not guessed, my advice for potential satellite TV customers is to look for one of the best dish network offers you can find.

Tim Somers
MusicHoncho.com

This article provides information on a number of different entertainment options like guitar lessons on video, download full length movies as well as satellite tv for pc software.

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Your initial guitar lesson will ultimately result in you playing any song you choose with confidence. Although this learning system is suitable for advanced guitarists, it places special emphasis on the beginners. Learn from an experienced lead guitarist with tons of experience. His Education degree makes him a very effective instructor. No matter what musical style you choose, blues, jazz, classical or whatever, your lessons with Jamorama will prepare you for reaching your dreams. Jamorama includes 148 video guitar lessons.

Experts agree that this program is very good. You will be in the groove and experiencing a great time within minutes of downloading this system. If you want to learn guitar chords and you play bass or acoustic or electric or even classical then this is for you. If you are looking for a lesson book or lesson dvd then look no further than this program. This is video learning made easy by a Pro Guitarist with a teaching degree.

You will learn in an assortment of ways, from video clips to live jam tracks, to thousands of lines of tabulature with complete step-by-step instructions. Click the link above if you want the guitar lessons on video.

download full length movies
File sharing is absolutely the most popular method to obtain internet movie downloads. It is much less expensive than other options, and you can often find movies long before they are released in the video stores.

Peer to peer file sharing software, often referred to as p2p file sharing, is very impressive. Movies and music files are downloaded from many different computers at the same time to increase the download speed.

If you happen to lose your connection or turn off your computer, the movie download will restart from where it left off next time you connect.

You can find almost anything you can imagine on a file sharing network. You will find full movie downloads, video clips, music and more.

Pay attention when loading the software to the location of the “shared folder”, this is where you will find your movie downloads. Be aware that most peer to peer software comes preset to allow others access to your shared folder.

This is in the spirit of “file-sharing”, the system would not work if people were not willing to share. Most p2p software allows you to convert this setting to disallow or limit sharing from your computer, while nevertheless permitting you to download files. Click the link above if you want to download full length movies.

pc review satellite tv
This comprises software that you’ll be able to download to your PC that gives you access to TV stations from all over the world. Click the link above if you are interested in satellite tv for pc software.

Tim Somers
MusicHoncho.com