Røde Connect
Price: Free!
Røde is best known as a manufacturer of affordable but excellent microphones and its latest product is designed to support owners of some of those. Røde Connect is a small computer program that allows owners of Røde's USB Mini mics to connect up to four devices simultaneously to the same computer. The target market for this app is podcasters and live streamers – but it could have application in the music classroom.
The application allows you to record, edit and monitor the incoming signals and also playback other media during the record process. There are some basic controls for affecting the tonal characteristics of the audio with included effects, and the programme provides remote access for the built-in controls on each mic. This could be a great app for simply recording student performances or for live-streaming lessons. Røde Connect is free but each USB-mini mic is £72.
Arturia Pigments 3
Price: €199 (introductory offer of €99)
Pigments is the flagship synthesiser from French software and hardware manufacturers Arturia. Arturia is best known in the software world for its faithful software recreations of famous electronic instruments from the past. However, the team also make their own synths that draw on that knowledge and then add something more. Pigments is their own take on the best bits from every synth in the world.
Version 3 incorporates something called Additive synthesis in addition to all the forms of synthesis available (subtractive, wavetable and FM) that Pigments could already do. There are additional new effects including the legendary Roland Chorus sound. This is a very powerful synth and not for the casual user – but for Level 3 students looking to explore electronic music, this could be perfect.
M-Audio Oxygen Mk V
Price: £90 (25-key), £130 (49-key), £160 (61-key)
Once a mainstay of music classroom workstations, M-Audio's MIDI controllers seem to have been around since I began teaching 20 years ago. The Oxygen controllers are designed to be an all-in-one basic controller and feature everything that a student might need for basic hardware control of a DAW.
The latest generation (Mk V) features auto-mapping of controls to the DAW so there's no complicated setup. It also features automated chord and scale function. The chord function allows complete chords to be played with one finger, and the scale function allows scales to be played missing out the wrong notes! It also includes a range of software to get users started on their music production journey.
LALAL.ai
Price: Free!
LALAL is a free web-based resource that uses AI to separate recordings into different parts. This could be particularly useful for singers who need a backing track. Find the original song and separate it into vocal part and backing track. Equally, by listening to the a cappella, it could provide an excellent teaching resource for studying and learning different parts of a musical performance.
This product has been around for a couple of years, but has been recently updated with an additional 20 terabytes of data to learn from. The company admits that the different algorithms provide varying results, so it's worth trying different options to get the best outcome. Anyone who has tried this process before knows it can be hit-and-miss – but LALAL.ai is as good as I've heard.
