Seriously, some of the coolest-looking gadgets coming out these days are for electronic musicians. The latest example: this USB MIDI controller that has a 64-button grid specifically designed to trigger audio clips in Ableton’s Live music creation/performance software.

Similar to the open-source Monome project (though a little more refined), and smaller and cheaper than Akai’s APC40, the Launchpad’s LED buttons change colour as you launch audio samples in and out of the mix.

The controller also works with other music software, but as you can see in the video below, its big drawcard is that tight integration with Ableton Live. It supports Macs (natch) and PCs, and hits stores later this month for $US200. [Novation via Create Digital Music]