We've talked before about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. The aim is to facilitate children of the third world with cheap laptops, that will help them develop into the digital world together with the rest of us, thus preventing that the already existing gap between the third world and the rich countries widens even further. All very good and PC, but can it make music?

Now, the answer is "yes". Due to a collaborative effort of Berklee College, Csound developers and others, the XO laptop now comes with access to no less than 8.5 gbs of audio samples, ready to be turned into music. All of it comes with a Creative Commons license, and all of it is online - so you don't need to have an actual XO laptop to make use of it. Just point your browser to http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sound_samples and begin collecting the samples, to take part in the fun.

via Create Digital Music

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The new Prodikeys computer keyboard from Creative would have to get the "why didn't someone think of it before" award for this month.

Creative have build a standard PS2 keyboard with a 37-note velocity keyboard built into the palm rest. There is a cover for the keys, for when they are not in use, as well as pitch bend and volume wheels. The keyboard also features transpose keys to quickly change the keyboard range.

Unfortunately the Prodikeys doesn't support laptop computers at the moment, which is a pity, because I could see this being a desirable accessory for many a laptop warrior, and at $99 it's a pretty cheap MIDI controller keyboard for those starting out in music.

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