A new keyboard from Roland of Japan lets you construct the musical equivalent
of genetically modified food: music composed from bits made by others. Instead
of synthesising sounds, the Roland VA-7 stores 4000 digital recordings of
singers’ voices and musical instruments, alongside rhythms from over a hundred
drummers. The pitch of each can be varied independently of tempo鈥攁nd vice
versa鈥攕o a tune played on the computerised keyboard can blend up to 16
different recordings. If you wanted, a polka band could appear to play heavy
metal, with a heavenly choir at the mic. Next!
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
2
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
3
Ancient human DNA found on cave art for the first time
4
If you aren't terrified by this heatwave, you should be
5
Europe鈥檚 heatwave is the hottest and most humid ever
6
Can home batteries help save the climate and save you money?
7
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
8
A promising natural technique to remove CO2 could backfire
9
The best sci-fi novel in 2026 so far 鈥 plus 6 other great reads
10
You should turn off fans when it's too hot 鈥 but how hot is too hot?



