When it comes to learning an instrument, the most important part is having fun and getting lit-up.  The LK-270 from Casio not only has both down to a science, it has the cost down as well.  This affordable 61 key instrument is touch sensitive (if you want it to be), which means the harder you pounce, the louder it sounds.  Watch the digital display to learn which fingers hit the lighted keys.  Use one of the 570 onboard tones, 180 rhythms and digital effects, or practice with Casio’s lighted key lesson system.  There are even audio inputs for an MP3 Player, Mic, and a USB port for MIDI control.  You can even load your favorite songs in the SD slot for a lighted lesson.  I found that being able to dumb down the tempo was paramount for my non musically inclined learning pace. 

OTHER FEATURES

Scoring system: Your lesson score appears on the display screen.

Voice Fingering Guide: If the keyboard senses you are having problems, it will help you by calling out finger numbers in a simulated human voice.

Lesson part select: (right hand, left hand, both hands)

152 Song Bank tunes: including 50 Exercise phrases (Song Book provided)
The Song Book does not include music for Exercise phrases. Due to copyright restrictions, some Song Bank tunes may not be included in the Song Book.

Built-in songs: cover a wide range of genres for lesson play and for your listening enjoyment. Includes Exercise phrases!

Karaoke: 52 Built-in Songs

Song Expansion:  You can load songs from external sources and use them for listening, play along, or even lessons. 
Memory capacity is approximately 320 KB, which is enough for up to 10 songs. Note that the actual number of songs that can be stored depends on the size of each individual song and other data stored in memory.  Also the songs you add using Song Expansion can be used for Step Up Lessons, but fingering guide will not be displayed for those songs.

Recorder and metronome: Are two features available for lesson support

Touch Response: 2 sensitivity levels, Off

Key Light system: Can be turned on and off (up to 10 keys can be lit at the same time)

Maximum Polyphony: 48 notes (24 for cetain tones)

Tones: 570 Built-in Tones, Up to 8 (Melody Sampling: 5, Drum Sampling: 3)
Up to 10 seconds, Tone Functions include Layer & Split.

Digital Effects: 10 Reverbs, 5 Choruses

Lesson: Step-Up Lesson: 4 (Listen, Watch, Remember, Auto). L, R, LR.  And Repeat, Voice Fingering Guide, Note Guide, Performance Evaluation.

Musical Information Function: Tone, Rhythm, Song Bank, numbers and names; staff notation, fingering, pedal operation tempo, measure and beat number, chord name, etc.

Terminals: USB Port, Sustain/Assignable Jack, Phones/Output jack, Audio In jack, Mic In jack

Dimensions: 37 7/16 x 14 13/16 x 5 1/8 inch

Weight: Approximately 11.0 lbs (without batteries)

[Get It $3370]

You don’t need to be 18 to have fun with this centerfold.

Swedish airline pilot Fredrik Johansson got tired of trying to find a place to store his guitar on the plane and decided to take maters into his own hands. The DeVillain Guitar Company and its first product, Centerfold, is a folding electric guitar. The strings roll up as the maple neck and rosewood fingerboard folds back onto the Honduras mahogany base. It takes about 20 seconds to fold and unfold the instrument. Surprisingly the strings stay well tuned, you’ll probably have to perform a quick fine adjustment, same as any other guitar after breaking it out of the case. Catch the video demo by Maurice Spencer; I swear the background music is from Crocodile Dundee, but whatever, it’s a good demo.

[More Info]

If I could make love to any piano in the world, it would probably be this one. Of course that’s a ridiculous assertion, everybody knows that piano’s reproduce asexually.
The name of this beauty is the M. Liminal and it was designed by Philippe Gendre and the NYT Line.  The instrument is made in Italy by the Fazioli Company.  If you were wondering, the design was inspired by the sea, the shape of the side evokes the profile of a wave while the black-silver colour that of silver-surfer; or a dolphin, I can’t remember which.
Take a look at the video!

M. Liminal’s shapes and colors are combined in asymmetric designs which elegantly tie the medley of classic and modern styles.  Through the red of the soundboard, the black of the cast iron frame and the transparency of the plexiglas music stand, this piano seamlessly units ocular and auditory pleasures.

The instrument is inserted in a strip of wood and rests on a metal base which is soundproofed with the use of sound deadening paint. The base is aligned with the barycentre of the instrument which houses the pedals.

[Get It $4100]

So you want to play Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” but you just can’t get that sound out of your obscenely expensive guitar, even with a capo on the 12th fret. To rectify this dire situation you’ll need to purchase yourself a quality ukulele, and if you learned anything worth remembering in 2nd grade it was that the Martin 5K Uke is the obvious ukulele of choice. If you don’t recall learning this bit of information in 2nd grade, it’s most likely due to the fact that the Martin 5K Uke was issued in 2006, so you’re either over the age of ten or you’re a 4th grader that didn’t pay attention on ukulele day.

The Martin 5K Uke is a soprano-size body ukulele crafted entirely of solid flamed koa and has a traditional mahogany block dovetail neck joint. Visually, it features a style 41 abalone body inlay and an equally impressive ebony fingerboard with grained ivoroid binding and abalone flower pot headstock. inlay. The O-style bracing provides the unmistakable sound that only a Martin uke can produce. This is truly a wonderfully crafted ukulele.