Years of toting a pedal harp around, I always wished it were easier to move. Smaller, more portable somehow. Why did I have to choose the largest instrument in the orchestra? Why not a flute or violin? Even a string bass would have been easier to cart around. So I couldn’t help but smile, and be a little envious there’s not a harp version…yet…when I came across the most portable ‘instrument’ around, short of the human voice that is. I’m sure the technology will only improve, but for about $30 there’s a t-shirt, an actual cloth t-shirt that is also a functioning electronic guitar.
“The Electronic Guitar Shirt is not a toy that plays pre-canned musical riffs, it is a real musical instrument that allows you to play your favorite songs and sound great doing it. All major chords are recorded from a real electric guitar, and the included magnetic pick allows you to strum just like you would a real guitar. The included mini amp clips to your belt and gets plenty loud with great sounding amplification circuitry. The tone knob on the amp lets you adjust the sound just like a real guitar.”
There’s also a drum version of the shirt that puts a new slant on that old pat your head and rub your tummy trick. “Hit the drums on this shirt with your finger and they play through the built in speaker… simple but amazing. With 7 different drum sounds you’re ready for a personal drum solo on your chest.”
Writer Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin tested and demonstrated one of these tech T-shirts in the video below. “This one allows you to put your virtual Rock Band chops to work actually making music, putting you one step closer to being a guitar hero.”
%CODE2%
Putting aside my Wi-Fi health concerns, there’s also a very cool Wi-Fi signal detecting t-shirt (currently on sale for 19.99 at ThinkGeek.com), and Wi-Fi detecting baseball cap ($14.99 also at ThinkGeek.com). “The glowing bars [on the front of the shirt] and on the cap light-up to indicate the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi strength in your general vicinity.” Perhaps it even could have a role for those, who like me, are not too keen on microwave radiation penetrating our lives nearly everywhere we go. We could all be walking wi-fi detectors now.