Jon Batiste Tests Music Gadgets

You know, I have perfect pitch so I can tell,

but if you play something that's an F.

[machine buzzes]

That's supposed to be F.

♪ E ♪

But E is really. [sings]

You hear it vibrating?

Hi, I'm Jon Batiste and I'm a guest correspondent for Wired.

[bell dings]

And today I'll be testing and reviewing music tech.

[upbeat music]

First gadget.

[hands tap]

[calm music]

Woo, I love this.

This look like the 1950s.

I love the vibe of it.

It has this built-in speaker system-looking thing.

Stylophone Retro Pocket Synth.

Each segment on the surface plays a different note,

the same as different keys on a piano.

Ha-ha!

You can switch between three sound modes

and make the sound wobble with the vibrato switch.

Ooh, fire!

Amazon customer gave it five stars.

Inside of a cheap micro-controller,

there was an actual circuit board with a chain of resistance

and a 555 timer.

This was an unexpected surprise and gives the instrument

a much better feeling of authenticity.

But I'm a little bit suspicious of that

'cause it says Amazon customer.

It's not a name.

I think that might be an audience plant,

as we say in the business.

[laughs]

And this is a bad review from S. Anderson.

Cheap garbage, oof.

90% of the time when I turned it on,

it just makes some low frequency croaks and creeks

and then goes silent.

That's actually kinda dope. Let's see what we got.

[synth buzzes] Oh!

Hear that sound?

[synth plays]

[laughs] I'm-a use this on an album, this fire.

[synth plays]

That's supposed to be F, E-uh.

But E is really.

[sings]

You hear is vibrating?

It's like microtones off from what's actually E, A440,

frequency of A440.

I know we just alienated most of the viewers,

but that's my review of this thing.

I love odd stuff like this that's small

that you can fit in your pocket.

I give it five stars. I love it.

But you know, it's a little out of pitch.

Next gadget, please.

[calm music]

[vocalizes]

Ooh!

First impression's actually, oh wow, hear that?

That's nice.

It's kinda like Twister for fingers

and cell phone addiction.

Sphero Specdrums, also known as finger drums.

Sphero Specdrums are app-enabled music rings

that make the world your instrument

by turning colors into sounds.

Turning colors into sounds. That's soulful.

These are reviews for the Specdrums finger drums.

They work by recognizing color,

so they will work on just about anything,

which really makes for fun.

Five star review.

Oh, there's another review here, but it's a bad review.

It has an issue with the Bluetooth pairing

and as there's no way to reset the code or enter a code,

it's pretty much useless, C. Ballard.

Well, let's see how it works for me.

[Specdrums play]

Dang!

[laughs]

That's killer!

[Man] You don't have to hit me that hard.

[Specdrums play]

It's like the difference between making something

from scratch or you buy ingredients

of varying degrees of preparation.

How you put it together, ultimately,

there's an artistry in that.

So I give it five stars for what it is.

Yeah, where the next gadget at? Let's get it!

[calm music]

Oh!

I love this! This killing!

If it ain't fun, I don't want none. Ah!

Play22 Keyboard, also known as the Floor Piano,

also known as the iconic instrumentation from the movie Big.

[laughs]

Gigantic electronic keyboard play mat super-strong vinyl mat

comes with eight musical instruments, piano, saxophone,

violin, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, xylophone, guitar.

Five star review.

Absolutely perfect.

My two year old granddaughter loves it.

It's large enough for her to run across and very durable.

One star review.

Garbage bag plastic construction and garbage sound.

It got that kid thing. [laughs]

That kid vibe.

[piano plays]

Wait a minute.

[piano plays]

These are not the right pitches.

Okay, so it's a half step off.

[laughs]

Man. This is very ineffective.

This probably cost $50.

[Producer] $37.

Okay, okay.

[piano plays]

And there's this.

[sings]

I am blessed! [screams]

I would say the pitch not being right on,

very far off, in fact, a half step off.

But then the record and playback function

gives it some points, so I give it three stars,

somewhere in there.

Oh my goodness.

To the soles on my feet, I am blessed.

This looks like a tone manipulation device

for acoustic guitar.

Tonewood Amp.

Similar to the way the strings excite the top of the guitar

to produce sound, Tonewood Amp excites the back

of the instrument, producing sound waves of effects,

such as reverb, echo, delay, tremolo, and more.

So let's see.

Pastor Jerry Rohn on Amazon, five star review.

Within 10 minutes, it sounds great

and the folks I play for love the added effects

of my acoustic guitar.

Now I'm gonna add the chorus effect. Can't wait.

Pastor Jerry Rohn. Ooh, come on, pastor.

[guitar plays]

Oh!

♪ Sometimes I open my mind ♪

♪ And I dream ♪

♪ Dream ♪

Tremolo.

[guitar playing continues]

This is really great with an old amp

and everything like that.

Delay!

[guitar playing continues]

Whoo!

[laughs] It makes me feel like I'm in the wilderness.

Okay, so for me, as a performer who has busked before

and played on the different forms of public transit,

[laughs] I find this to be a great device.

It gives you a added production value

at a very minimal real estate.

Very small compact device here.

I think it opens the imagination.

It's a great advancement in technology. Five stars.

[calm music]

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah, I know about this.

I do, I really bah.

It has a plastic base, I like the color.

It feels retro, 70s energy.

Just something that you might've seen or heard

at a Doors concert.

Andy's Recorder Keyboard, also known as melodica.

This unique instrument looks like a keyboard,

but sounds like a recorder.

A five-star review.

Always been intrigued by this quirky keyboard.

Portable and breath-powered.

It's unique and great for busking.

And now we got a three-star review,

The quality deteriorates as you approach

the higher register.

So he's probably saying that the quality

of the high register is not.

[melodica whistles]

Okay. I can hear what he's saying with that.

[laughs]

[melodica plays]

Ooh!

Ha!

My normal melodica has a lot more of a sturdy tone.

It holds the air with much more authority.

And this, as soon as the air hits the reed,

you're almost done with the resonance of the pitch.

Whereas, on my melodica, I could blow and I can buzz,

or I can kind of press the air slowly

and I can even bend the notes,

here you really have only a few options

with the pitch because of how the airstream is constructed.

I love how it's just inconsistent.

It's like a very mom-and-pop,

do it yourself kinda instrument.

It's like, I built this at home in my woodshop.

The top part don't really work that well

and the bottom, you gotta kinda blow a little harder

to get the sound and in the middle, you know,

sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

But the charm of that is what I like about it, actually.

Five stars.

Hey, tech! Tech-a-lo-polis!

I liked some of them. I liked all of them for what they are.

Be who you are, be you!

See you next time.