WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

At the 2026 NAMM Show, held Jan 22–24 in Anaheim, California, Kurzweil has officially introduced the SP8 Stage Keyboard. Connect with Kurzweil (HDC Young Chang) Booth #9502, Level 1, Hall B.

The SP8 “Built to Play, Master Your Stage” is designed for performers who demand expressive sound, immediate control, and rock-solid reliability, the SP8 Stage Keyboard delivers Kurzweil’s legendary performance DNA in a powerful, streamlined instrument built for the modern stage. Built on Kurzweil’s legendary V.A.S.T. engine, the SP8 combines authentic acoustic realism, deep synthesis, and intuitive hands-on control—giving you everything you need to command the moment.

Up front, there’s an 88-note hammer-action keyboard, with pitch and mod wheels at the top left.

The SP8 offers the piano tones, organ modelling, classic 6-operator FM synth and also vector synthesis waveforms.

And, there are more than 1,000 factory programs in total, spread across 10 categories, which equates to around 2GB worth of content. 200 factory multis make use of the SP8’s split and layering capabilities, and there are assignable knobs and buttons.

More details on the SP8, pricing and availability are to be announced, but preliminary specs are available on the Kurzweil website.

NAMM news so hot we couldn’t sit on it………

At the 2026 NAMM Show, the strangest thing we’ve seen this year has been the Groove Thing, a Bluetooth Buttplug speaker and sex toy.

Groove Thing founder Michael Weiss-Malik – described as “a lifelong passionate music lover, technologist, and pleasure seeker” – financed the initial production of the device via a Kickstarter project, but now is making it more broadly available.

The designers say that the Groove Thing is “like having a third ear.” In your butt.

The Groove Thing is made up of two main components: a standard Bluetooth stereo speaker, and a set of interchangeable wired vibrating resonators, which are designed to be “used internally”.  This includes anal, vaginal, and clitoral options.

If you don’t like the provided options and want to use your own toy, a ‘BYOD’ Vac-U-Lock adapter is available as an optional add-on.

The official Groove Thing video preview:

They say that the prototype has been “tested in over 170 holes.”

If you’re interested in backend audio solutions or ass-istive listening technology, you can get a hands-on demo at the NAMM Show in the Music Innovation Hub.

If you’ve made it this far, let us know the song that you’d blast on the Groove Thing! Or just make everybody’s day with a snarky-ass comment!

At the 2026 NAMM Show, Behringer is previewing the JT-2, a new Euro-format rack monosynth, based on the voice and look of the Roland Jupiter-8.

The Behringer JT-2 is a desktop synth design in Euro format, meaning that it can be used as a desktop synth or removed from its case and mounted in a larger Eurorack system. But it’s not designed to be patchable, like the Behringer Neutron or Moog’s Eurorack synth line.

It can be controlled via CV/Gate or MIDI.

The Behringer JT-2 does not have patch memory, so it’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get synth, in terms of patch settings.

Behringer has previously said that they plan to price this at $299, but details on final pricing, specifications and availability are to be announced.