Awesome Music

Musician and streamer Drew on the Kit likes to take viral videos and improvise drum beats to them. We’ve compiled a few of our favorite clips into a YouTube playlist, including cats, dogs, birds, and people doing their thing with a new rhythm section. You can catch his live stream performances on Twitch.

There’s a good reason that guitars are only playable from one side. But that didn’t stop musician Rob Scallon from giving this unusual double-sided guitar a try. This strange string instrument is configured as a regular guitar on one side and a bass guitar on the other. It’s super tricky to play both sides at the same time.

Despite having come out more than 20 years ago, we still get chills every time the theme music from Halo starts playing on an Xbox console. But does it sound as good without the violins and choir? Beyond The Guitar proves that the track is still spectacular even stripped down on solo acoustic guitar.

The Flairdrum is an unusual percussive instrument that uses PET water bottles filled with varying amounts of compressed air. The air pressure changes the surface tension of each bottle, resulting in different notes when struck. Daniel Bornmann performed this ear-soothing rendition of his track Am Anfang ist Klang.

This kit from Teenage Engineering and designer/musician Yuri Suzuki lets you create your own low-fi vinyl records. Once assembled, connect an audio source to its 3.5mm jack, place a 5″ vinyl blank on the turntable, and start it spinning to record monophonic sounds. Records 4 minutes a side @ 33 RPM or 3 minutes @ 45 RPM.

Musician Ichika Nito got his hands on a Casio DG-20, a 1980s gadget that used guitar strings and a fretboard a MIDI controller. He then proceeded to demonstrate why this thing might just be the coolest instrument ever. Enjoy some more Casio shredding action here.

(Flashing Images) With COVID travel restrictions in place, filmmaker Adam Chitayat longed for the outside world. Stuck at home, he collected thousands of Google Maps Street View images, which he eventually used to complement the sounds of musicians Axel Boman, Man Tear, and Inre Frid on the track Out Sailing.

South African musician The Kiffness enjoys adding his own musical tracks to viral videos. In this clip, he took footage from a guy known for his beachside beverage sales technique and turned it into a smooth tropical jam. For some reason, we’re craving Coca-Cola Light now.

Guitarist Cole Rolland and drummer Kristina Schiano teamed up for this high-energy performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (3rd Movement) that gives the classical piece new life as a hard rock song. Their other collaboration is entirely on the other end of the spectrum – Eiffel 65’s 1998 Europop hit Blue.

Musician Joe Porter is back with another round of covers performed on unexpected percussion instruments. Crank up the volume for Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train on slapaphone, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit on marimba, Dick Dale’s Misirilou on hammer dulcimer, and Rush’s YYZ on drums and a hammered synth controller.

From the 1960s through the early 1980s, department stores played mellow instrumental music that was supposed to encourage shopping. Fardemark compiled nearly 90 minutes of this vintage stock music and recorded it onto an old cassette tape to best evoke the sounds of a bygone era. If you need more, here’s part one.

The music video for Die Antwoord’s track Age of Illusion is notable for a couple of reasons: 1) the trippy animations were created using AI technology by artist Sagans, and 2) its hypnotic electronic groove is a departure from the group’s hard-edged rave music. For a moment, we thought we were listening to Gorillaz.

Formed in 2019, the U.S. Space Force has had its share of detractors, but the idea of having a military branch focused on the safety and security of the space above Earth isn’t a bad idea. Like other military branches, they now have an official theme song, entitled Semper Supra – the latin phrase for “Always Above.”

Radiohead’s Paranoid Android is about a young man who feels alienated by a materialistic world. Super Mario 64 is about a plumber trying to rescue a princess. You’d think they’d have nothing in common, but on4word managed to create a version of the in the steel drum style of the game’s soundtrack.

The latest LUMI keyboard controller from Roli offers more musical expression than ever. It has per-key pitch-bending, polyphonic aftertouch, and each key has colorful LED illumination. Each one has magnetic connectors on its sides, so you can join multiple 24-key modules into a 48, 72, or 96-key keyboard.

Mashup maker Bill McClintock combined tracks from two bands at opposite ends of the musical spectrum: Steely Dan and Mötley Crüe. The result is a delicious blend of jazz, rock, and heavy metal. Listen closely, and you might hear some Ted Nugent and Van Halen too.

Harpist Kristan Toczko offers up an early Halloween treat with this seamless medley of music from Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies, Halloween, Stranger Things, and The Walking Dead. Then she finishes things off with a little bit of Still Dre. We also love her cover of The Simpsons theme.

The latest Moog theremin has a five-octave range and improved bass response. It can also be used as a pitch, volume, and gate controller for modular synthesizers. It has a hardwood cabinet and quick-release brass-plated antennas, and can produce some amazing sounds – as demonstrated by The Octopus Project.

Musician Luca Stricagnoli is known for his captivating acoustic guitar arrangements. His performance of the Dire Straits track Money for Nothing offers a unique take on the 1985 hit, combining fingerstyle playing with the twangy sounds of a reverse slide neck, an accessory created by Luca and luthier Davide Serracini.

We’ve been following musician Luna Lee and her outstanding Korean-style arrangements of popular tunes for some time. Along the way, we missed one of her best covers ever, this 2016 performance of the Foo Fighters 1997 hit Everlong. She really rocked this one out with those layered gayageum tracks.

Redditor AWildWilson found out that their landlord Julian Fuego is a musician in his spare time. It turns out he’s really good. His music video for the buzzworthy Tonight on the Cross is a perfect example of the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover.” We’re hoping this music video blows up.

During an interview with Julian Shapiro-Barnum of Recess Therapy, a seven-year-old boy named Tariq charmed the entire world with his enthusiasm for corn on the cob. Now this viral video has been transformed into a song by schmoyoho, aka The Gregory Brothers. We can’t imagine a more beautiful thing.

Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack from Interstellar is a masterpiece of cinematic music. Musician Jamie Dupuis performed this stellar version of movie’s main theme on his 20-string harp guitar. The beautiful sunset setting for the video makes viewing even more enveloping than the music itself. Headphones recommended.