Novation Twitch touchstrip DJ controller makes the scene at Musik Messe 2011 (video)

We're not professional musicians by a long shot, but when we do get a chance to break away from the relentless torrent of cellphones and tablets, nothing quite hits the spot like a little music appreciation. Of course, when done Engadget-style this usually means a gadget of some sort -- and we'd be lying if we didn't say that Novation's newest didn't whet our appetites for some after-hours beatmatching. Twitch is essentially a full-figured DJ controller, but instead of some sort of round jog wheel (which the current reviewer has always found to be extremely counter-intuitive) the company added a touch strip, which can be used for everything from finding the beat to zooming in and out of the waveform display (after watching the video, it's hard to believe we've been beatmatching without pinch-to-zoom for this long). This bad boy also boasts a full compliment of controls for Serato, Traktor NI, and Ableton Live. You're probably interested in seeing how it performs in the real world, but unless you're in Frankfurt for Musik Messe, you're going to have to settle for the video after the break. Look for it in July for a street price in the $500 range.

Synthtopia, Create Digital Music

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Scientist cooks up adjustable strength metals

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