Native Instruments’ Maschine Mikro is a compact, travel-friendly beat-making station. You can use it to create melodies, “jot down” ideas, or build beats from the base up—all for an incredibly reasonable price. The Mikro can stand on its own as a production tool but it’s also compatible as a plug-in for a number of other audio production programs (like Ableton Live, Logic Pro or FL Studio).
A super-fun audio-recording device, Player One boasts a looping feature, playback button and pitch-shifter. Handmade in Dallas, it’s easy to use, with two arcade-style buttons on top—pink for record and yellow for play. Playful, user-friendly and heavy on DIY spirit, this is a sweet gift for children (aged four and up) and kids at heart.
In 1980 Nile Rodgers received his first Grammy nomination—as a songwriter on the Sister Sledge hit “We Are Family.” A year later he received another with “Upside Down,” which he produced for Diana Ross. As awards shows go, he wouldn’t win—until 2014. That year, his collaborations with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams (the track “Get Lucky” and album Random Access Memories) would take home three …
