The Continuum Fingerboard shown at NAMM 04 is a different take on the traditional keyboard. But, as the name implies, your fingers are still involved. Lepetitmartin reports.

This controller offers a surface roughly similar in size to a traditional keyboard and can be played with the 10 fingers (sorry if you have 6 fingers per hand, it can only manage 10 notes simultaneously). Finger pressure controls tremolo (ask a violonist or a clavicordist) and glissandi.
Pitch (x axis), timbre (y axis) and dynamics (z axis) are controlled by finger position. Total pitch ambitus is 8 octaves. The unit is compatible with Kyma and any MIDI device with MIDI In/Out/Thru and supports a direct Firewir connection.

Ed: Just saw this fantastic device via a contributor to the U&I list. Looks tremendous. I hope to try one in person soon! -PK

Not to be outdone by Apple's Emagic Logic, MOTU's got some tricks up its own sleeve for the future of Digital Performer, the company's flagship DAW MIDI/audio environment. At NAMM, MOTU demonstrated several new features being worked on in Digital Performer, including a consolidated preferences window and enhanced MIDI arpeggiator. MOTU also previewed Digital Performer's Beat Detection Engine . This new audio processing technology examines the transients in waveform data and applies artificial intelligence to determine beat locations and the overall tempo of the audio, even when the audio file is not trimmed to measure or beat boundaries. This core engine has been deployed throughout Digital Performer, allowing users to manipulate the beats and tempo of their audio and MIDI data. That's without using predefined loops, so this is a major feature for DP that could set it ahead of the pack.

Digidesign announced the acquisition of Bomb Factory Digital's Assets, including their brand name and their catalog of 27 renowned plug-ins (those shipping as of December 29, 2003). Acquired Bomb Factory plug-ins will continue to be supported on Pro Tools|HD Accel, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools|24 MIX, and Pro Tools LE in TDM, RTAS and AudioSuite formats, and on the Apple Macintosh OS X.

Edirol has announced the PCR-1, a compact 24-bit/96kHz audio interface and keyboard controller made for the traveling musician. The PCR-1 features 25 full-width keys, 25 assignable controllers, RCA input & output, S/PDIF output and pitch & modulation controls. This very slim keyboard is USB bus-powered and needs a Mac PowerPC G3/233 MHz or higher on MacOS 8.5, 8.6, 9.x, and OS X.

Ed: Now the main decision for folks is whether to buy this or the similar product from Midiman. Want to weight in? Hit comments. -PK

The website formerly known as GBUsers.com has announced that it will now be known as MacJams.com. MacJams.com is one of the leading GarageBand communities, featuring news, information, and user discussion about Apple's popular music software and related topics. Users are asked to update their bookmarks prior to February 2, 2004, our former domain name will become inactive. Ed: Sounds good to me -- GB sounds too much like "Great Britain"!