the moog guitar

[Thaniel Buckner]

i'm not sure of many of you have seen this,



this video is a good demonstration, and every person in the world is going to have one soon and it will sound dated like the electric clavinet.

maybe some of the electronic engineering majors on the board can give me some insight as to how this works. it seems to me that it just come with a sustainer that has an additional control to attenuate...something. i don't know. the thing sells for 6 grand and i'm not sure why exactly.

[mxzombie]

the pickups use an alternating magnetic field to vibrate or restrict the string. at least i'm pretty sure of that. it's a simple idea but i'm sure there are more complicated aspects to the implementation--either way it sounds really neat

[Thaniel Buckner]

well i play in a band that's heavy as fuck sound i don't care if it sounds perfect. so you would just have a little amplifier hooked up to something not unlike a pickup and...an oscillator?

i also think that because the pickups actively mute strings you aren't playing complicates things too.

maybe i should give up on this.

[T&T]

maybe it's just a midi pickup connected to a synth module
MIDI Guitar Pickup Page

the Roland GK-3a pickups are accurate and articulate enough for what's being demo'd.
(i wonder if there's "after touch" lol)
but the Godin MIDI guitars have them built in and are MUCH better
here's some info from godin:

Are our guitars MIDI capable?
No, at least not on their own. Several guitars in the Godin lineup provide hexaphonic output, in other words, a separate signal for each string. The LGX-SA, LGXT, xtSA, Multiac (steel, nylon, Jazz) and the ACS all ******* this feature. This divided output signal is a key element in the interface between guitars and synths. The synth output on our guitars comes from a 13-pin connector (MIDI is 5-pin) and is matched for the Roland GR-Series guitar synths. We matched our guitars with the Roland synths because they are affordable, easy to use, sound great, and are supported by Roland's long-term commitment to guitar synths. Of course once you are connected to the guitar synth you can use the MIDI output from there to connect to other synths, sound modules, sequencers etc. Also note that Roland's GI20 interface provides a USB connection to your computer which eliminates the need for a MIDI interface.

What is tracking?
Tracking refers to the speed at which the synth is able to recognize the pitches being played and convert them into voltages. The pickup type and related electronics play a big role in this however, wood selection, scale, and setup all have a significant impact on tracking as well.

So how good is the tracking?
Most players rate our guitars tracking as the fastest available -see users list.

Will I have to adjust my technique?
Certainly a big part of the appeal of this system is that players at any level can plug it in and have fun with it immediately. However, minor adjustments in technique are inevitable. The biggest adjustments are required when playing synth sounds in context. For example when you are triggering a violin sound it becomes necessary to phrase like a violin player, and your violin phrasing may not work well with a percussive instrument such as a marimba. Many players find themselves focusing most of their effort on a handful of sounds because these are the sounds that they really learn to play.

What about other modules and computers?
Sure, just take the MIDI out from the Roland GR synth into whatever MIDI device you are triggering or into a PC for sequencing. Note: you may find that more dramatic adjustments to technique and possibly data filtering become necessary when using a guitar trigger for sequencing purposes.

[mxzombie]

it's not MIDI, this is actually physically affecting the motion of the strings. it's not something you can just tack on in the signal chain. it's a part of the guitar hardware. i wouldn't try doing this myself, there has to be other processing going on (not on the sound, but i mean computing to figure out which strings are being played, the length of the string at the current fret, etc etc)

[Thaniel Buckner]

would they go as far as to detect the length of the string? i think there's a knob on it that just allows you to change the rate at which the field alternates. like being able to get anywhere between the two settings on an ebow.

[T&T]

Originally Posted by mxzombie

it's not MIDI,
but i mean computing to figure out which strings are being played, the length of the string at the current fret, etc etc)

this is exactly what the midi pick ups do... they just use midi protocol. since the moog "sound generator" is built in, they can use any protocol they want i guess... but there's 100% for sure digital processing going on.
they're no analog synth units on that guitar....
like they said "no post processing", it's all built in. on tiny Chinese microchips.



after watching the video... i'm gonna say i don't know.
ebow type magnets?
yet bends would fuck that up
i'd have to play one to see.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by Thaniel Buckner

i also think that because the pickups actively mute strings you aren't playing complicates things too.

Isle to thread

[Trotskilicious]

Maybe I'm wrong but doesn't this take the skill out of playing a long sustain? Isn't every asshat with a little bit of skill going to think he's Dimebag because of this?

I mean I'm sure doods like Lou Reed and probably Johnny Greenwood are going to do super cool stuff with this but you know? Do we want Pete Wentz sounding like a guitar virtuoso?

[Ol' Couch Ass]

Isle to the thread (and the Moog store).

[publius clodius]

let's buy four of these and start a drone band

[duovamp]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

Maybe I'm wrong but doesn't this take the skill out of playing a long sustain?

Sustain is largely equipment based. Some guitars/pickups have always had better sustain than others. But they've all been finite before.

This thing's absolutely incredible. Like mxzombie said it isn't a matter of just a special pickup, I guess the fret itself is doing some work. I have absolutely no application for such a guitar, but I'd love to have one. Too expensive now, but give it a few years and everybody will copy it. We'll see how good their patent office is...

[aldango]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

Isle to thread

exactly my thoughts lol

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

Maybe I'm wrong but doesn't this take the skill out of playing a long sustain? Isn't every asshat with a little bit of skill going to think he's Dimebag because of this?

I mean I'm sure doods like Lou Reed and probably Johnny Greenwood are going to do super cool stuff with this but you know? Do we want Pete Wentz sounding like a guitar virtuoso?

If you sucked before I am pretty sure you will still sound like shit. Sustain usually has more to do with what you are playing than how you are playing it. I could be a fucking master and I still couldn't make a single coil strat sustain like a Les Paul through a compressor.

[mxzombie]

my point was there is no processing done on the sound, the pickup is moving the string back and forth so that it continues to vibrate as if you had just plucked it. and in the case of dampening it, the pickup is using a magnetic field to keep the string from vibrating. when i say computing i mean that there are some electronics inside that tell the pickup how quickly to push the string (ie frequency) because it needs to match the frequency of the note being played.

[Sonic Johnny]

this is ridiculous. bob would have been proud

[jukeboxphuckup]

It's like having a built in ebow into the guitar if it's creating a magnetic field to sustain the strings.