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Misa Digital Guitar Runs On Linux

Posted by kdawson on from the far-too-many-degrees-of-freedom dept.

conner_bw writes "Imagine strumming a guitar without any strings, on a touchscreen. Think the idea is too far-fetched? The Misa digital guitar claims to be exactly this. Overcoming the natural limitations of a traditional guitar, this new instrument eliminates the need to pluck strings while using the right hand to control sound. Specs: Linux kernel 2.6.31 (Gentoo); 24 frets; touchscreen; MIDI out; RJ-45 Ethernet. My favourite parts of the site are the FAQ (How do you SSH into the guitar?), and this quote from the developer: 'Because the software is open source I'm hoping people completely change the instrument and share new "firmware" with others. Different graphics, different control ideas etc. It would all be free of charge. So I'm hoping that happens as the instrument becomes more familiar.'" The developer, Michael, has not yet promised a delivery date or set a price for the instruments he is manufacturing.

125 comments

  1. Needs wireless connectivity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    so I can play air guitar

    1. Re:Needs wireless connectivity by indi0144 · · Score: 1

      no wireless n, less space than an ipod touch, lame

  2. From a life long guitarist... by jte · · Score: 1

    Overcoming the natural limitations of a traditional females, this new instrument eliminates the need to interact directly, while using the right hand to control...

  3. Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Skip the words, watch a video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2eiP12hQQY&fmt=35

    1. Re:Video by sopssa · · Score: 1

      While definitely cool, don't you need some kind of tactile feedback from the guitar strings to play it better? The same reason why there will always be use for mouse and keyboard too, to provide better control.

      But since I'm not a real guitar player, this could be a fun thing to have (and probably easier to play than a real guitar)

    2. Re:Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This isn't a guitar, it's an electronic musical device that's shaped like a guitar and the notes and chords are selected like a guitar. The "strings' are plucked by touching/hitting the screen - The tactile feedback is from hitting the "screen" or what ever that device is that has the blue light display.

    3. Re:Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While definitely cool, don't you need some kind of tactile feedback from the guitar strings to play it better?

      Yes and no; players adapt and the sound of the instrument changes according to limitations. Take drums, using the bounce of the stick from the batter head is part of any good players technique. Where the original electronic kits had rubber pads, modern electronic kits use mesh heads so the feel is similar to a traditional kit. While any half-decent drummer should be able to bang out a performance on an old electronic kit, it may not be a convincing performance. Especially if the aim is to replicate the sound of an acoustic drum kit.

      Midi guitars are strange, the ones I've played didn't track chords at all, had bad latency and bending a string even very slightly (as happens when fretting or picking hard) would tend to make the synth patch bend an entire half tone. Initially difficult to adapt your playing for but doing so can actually improve your technique.

      My understanding of the MISA thing is that it does not emulate a stringed instrument at all, calling it a guitar is a misnomer. An electric guitar is a plank of wood, a magnet and some wire; we like it just fine the way it is.

    4. Re:Video by hrvatska · · Score: 1

      Made me think of the drumitar used by Futureman in The Flecktones.

    5. Re:Video by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Midi guitars are strange

      If you try to play them the way you'd play a regular guitar, it can quickly turn into a hash.

      However, the notion of using a guitar-like interface for MIDI control is not a a bad one at all. Lord knows, there are tons of different controller-types I'd like to see. Unfortunately, the box with a grid of buttons seems to be on the ascendancy again in the Monome and new Launchpad. I've been hoping for a Theremin-like MIDI controller, where I can control other parameters besides pitch and volume.

      I'm glad that there are geeks like this Michael character and his Misa.

      Next step is to update MIDI entirely. It's getting old and encourages a flat way of thinking about computer music.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Video by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Oops, sorry about the double-post, but I just noticed that there have already been theremin to midi controllers. Moog handled one for a while called the "Etherwave". It cost $5k and is no longer in production. I also found some homebrew information. Should have used google before I shot my mouf' off.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    7. Re:Video by harry666t · · Score: 1

      I am a "real guitar player", and I want one of these. I've been doing a lot of experiments with music lately: alternative tunings, inserting weird things between strings, building my own strange instruments, defretting an electric guitar, experimenting with touchpad as a controller, etc. This "guitar" is on my wishlist.

    8. Re:Video by harry666t · · Score: 1

      That should be easy, shouldn't it? Two proximity sensors and a microcontroller to translate that to midi messages. Or maybe just send raw data via serial port and let a real computer chew it.

    9. Re:Video by flyneye · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I am a luthier (stringed instrument builder) of traditional archtop and electric guitars,basses and others. I am also a MIDI guitar controller enthusiast. I use a baritone guitar to control my synth. While some tactile elements of tradition are helpful for some patches, using a standard instrument is not without glitches and artifacts(kinda neat if you want to include those elements, absolute PITA if you don't)
              I can see from the video that his touchscreen is a fix to this problem. As for strings, I'm sure I would try bending at the neck for a couple weeks till I get out of that head. It wouldn't affect my favorite patches though, pipe organs and Hammonds and I have a MIDI wah-like controller I would use for the leslie effect. Like he says, don't compare it to traditional instruments. I would love one of these on its own merits.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    10. Re:Video by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Did you see the laser guitar at instructables.com yet? http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Prism-A-Laser-Synth-Guitar/
      Not really as advanced as MISA but seems to fit the theremin bill.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    11. Re:Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you try to play them the way you'd play a regular guitar, it can quickly turn into a hash.

      I did attempt to explain the limitations of midi pickups on stringed instruments. And while I'd prefer to perform using one of these Misa controllers instead of a keyboard in a live scenario, they aren't guitars at all.

      TC electronic announced a tuner at NAMM that can tune all the strings on an electric simultaneously. It can't be long until they offer a midi controller pedal that'll track chordal work. One that'll function with any electric stringed instrument. That will be the holy grail of guitar-midi because for something so simple, these instruments make for complicated 'controllers' to emulate. In fact, it's probably not possible to emulate a rock guitar; accelerometer in there so I can shake it, some tracking to control amplifier feedback and some sensors in the neck so I can detune sustained notes by pushing on the neck. It seems more sensible to play the real thing and digitize the data from the output signal using DSP than to build the guitar controller itself.

      Next step is to update MIDI entirely. It's getting old and encourages a flat way of thinking about computer music.

      It's a testament to the midi spec that the standard has survived so long. Aside from a faster data rate, increasing velocity/control range and making MTC sample accurate; what features do you feel are missing?

    12. Re:Video by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You can also get a nifty touchscreen pitch-bend controller, and run it inline with another midi device, like one of these grids of buttons. Between the two you ought to be able to get the effect you want, though you may not like mashing keys or stroking a touchpad. It seems like you also ought to be able to get the same effect with a touchpad operating a virtual midi controller on your PC...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:Video by ZosX · · Score: 1

      photon x25. it is cheap and has a theremin styled controller. just set the cc values to whatever you want.

      --
      zosxavius photography
    14. Re:Video by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      While definitely cool, don't you need some kind of tactile feedback from the guitar strings to play it better? The same reason why there will always be use for mouse and keyboard too, to provide better control.

      But since I'm not a real guitar player, this could be a fun thing to have (and probably easier to play than a real guitar)

      I'm a long-time guitar player, and I have played around with "MIDI guitars" like the Rolands before, however they were actual guitars with sensors much like standard electric guitar pickups for sending data. Even those require a significant modification of normal playing technique, so I can imagine this will be even less like playing a standard guitar.

      I'm also wondering how well a touch-screen will be able to respond in real time as it relates to speed and accuracy of the "string plucks". The other thing is that a lot of the character of the note depends on how a string is picked/plucked/hammered. I'm not sure how something like a "harmonic pinch" type pick attack could possibly be translated by a touch screen.

      Those who find this interesting may also find "synthophones" or "wind controllers" fascinating. They are basically MIDI horns. Yamaha made one, the WX5 Windcontroller. There's also a fellow named Martin Hurni who I believe lives in Norway(?) that builds synthophone Hall-effect sensors and circuitry into saxophones.

      Here are a couple links to some synthophone/windcontroller information and some video from Bob Hunt, a good friend and top-notch fellow musician I've played onstage with for the last few years:

      http://electricmotorsales.net/bobhunt/index.html

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM2FWRMrSrQ

      Now, if this MIDI touch screen guitar can even come *close* to the performance of a synthophone, I'll be impressed.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    15. Re:Video by liquidsin · · Score: 1

      the next step from MIDI is OSC. higher precision and networkable are my two favourite features. lots of small/homebrew stuff already supports it (plogue bidule, dsmi, iphone apps), and Native Instruments has support for it in some of their newer gear, though i hear the support is spotty and not too well documented. if you're on a mac there's OSCulator that acts as an OSC host, passing data to/from your midi hosts. there's also work being done to get it running in Ableton Live with some python scripts. I'm eager to see it supported natively in all the major DAWs in the near future.

      --
      do not read this line twice.
    16. Re:Video by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Plogue bidule is one of my favorite tools. I'll have to look into OSC.

      Thanks for the tip, liquidsin.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    17. Re:Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MIDI isn't 'getting old' - it is totally obsolete. Limiting each parameter to 8 bits simply isn't enough, real musicians can play with fare more subtlety than that.

      I am reminded of the great pianist Artur Schnabel, approached to make piano rolls. "Our technology" the company told him, "can record 16 different degrees of touch."

      "What a pity", he replied, "I have 17".

      I agree 100% with the person who said this isn't a guitar.

    18. Re:Video by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Yes you do. As a bass player who is lucky enough to have a rhythm guitarist that plays a really nice Roland guitar synth having those strings to pluck, strum, caress, DOES make a very big difference in the tone of the played note.

      It is of course much more natural and easier to pick up for a traditional musician, as I can attest to as I picked up the synth guitar the other night and was playing cool synth bass line merely by playing bass style on his Roland. If you were to be blindfolded in the next room you would be able to instantly know and tell the difference between he and I, even if we played the same piece with the same sounds applied, simply by the way we each approach the strings, he with a more traditional pick with the last two fingers strumming highs, while I use a bass style four finger approach with lots of thumb and first finger.

      So while this looks like a neat toy, and I'm sure that a musician can cook up plenty of cool and weird with it (I keep an old Zoom Bass Pedal around just for unleashing its synth bass 'funk patch o' doom' once a night) to me the lack of strings would be more of a hinder to my playing than a help. The neck appears similar to the Roland, so maybe someone could cook up a similar string sensor like the Roland uses for the strings on theirs. Considering he doesn't say what the price will be this thing may be too expensive to worry about anyway, Used guitar synths can be found quite affordable in many music stores, or you can simply go MIDI using a Roland pickup/MIDI combo for under $300 and use the guitar you are already used to. Looks like it would be a fun toy to whip off on stage to get freaky during a jam, but I sure wouldn't want to use it as a main instrument.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    19. Re:Video by conureman · · Score: 1

      I've never used a guitar midi controller, but I always thought that being able to fret a chord across three octaves might prove useful compared to the one full octave I can do on a keyboard. I used to run XXX heavy strings, like .054-.014, wound B strings, &c. That would be good for midi control maybe? The pitch doesn't change much even when you bend'em way across the neck.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
  4. In other news... by zr-rifle · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Muse's next album delayed as the riffs are still compiling.

    --
    Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
    1. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one uses Gentoo anymore.

    2. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except, ya know, the guitar the article is about.

  5. hmmm by naz404 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I sure hope they don't release the "Misa Jar Jar Binks".

    Misa day startin pretty okee-day with a brisky morning munchy, then BOOM! Gettin very scared and grabbin that Jedi and POW! Misa here! Misa gettin' very very scared!

    --
    http://www.object404.com
  6. This is proof by n1hilist · · Score: 3, Funny

    That linux rocks! \m/

    1. Re:This is proof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That GNU/linux rocks! \m/

  7. Bending strings by MrKaos · · Score: 1
    Not that I'm much of a guitar player, but I'm wondering how you bend the strings when there is no string?

    Sounds (and looks) pretty cool though - I think I want one.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    1. Re:Bending strings by Aneurysm · · Score: 4, Informative

      The point is there are no strings, therefore no string bending. If you watch the video though you can see the the right hand uses a touch sensitive screen to control pitch etc. so you can simulate a bending effect. It's not a guitar, just an electronic instrument inspired and shaped by a guitar

    2. Re:Bending strings by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      If there's no strings, what's the point of the neck and the frets?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:Bending strings by kombipom · · Score: 1

      The frets tell it which note/chord to play while the touchscreen controls the effect(s) added and the timing. (from watching the video)

    4. Re:Bending strings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That isn't how a guitar works. You have to fret the string AND pluck or strum the string.

    5. Re:Bending strings by slim · · Score: 1

      I think there are pressure sensors in the neck, which correspond to guitar notes. The touchpad probably has columns corresponding to where the strings would be. So hit the E-string part of the touchpad while holding the first fret of the E-string part of the neck, it will play an F.

      This doesn't allow you to bend notes with the fretting hand. Most guitarists will find this to be major omission.

    6. Re:Bending strings by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Don't think it works like that. He mentioned that the two dimensions are mapped onto midi parameters (velocity, distortion). That doesn't leave anything left for "which string".

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    7. Re:Bending strings by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      well, this isn't a guitar, but a keytar with a touchscreen and the keys in the neck.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    8. Re:Bending strings by harry666t · · Score: 1

      You can hack this baby and make it do whatever you want. Duh.

    9. Re:Bending strings by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1

      It's not really a guitar. It is a synthesizer that sounds like a guitar with distortion. I do play guitar. There is a joke among proficient guitar players where the term 'talent pedal' or 'talent booster pedal' is used in place of 'distortion pedal'. While a lot of good players do use distortion, it is used by a lot of not so good, or downright bad players to cover up their bad playing. When you hear that computer sound in singer's voices in the pop songs that are out there today (i.e. young girls and sometimes boys picked by studio execs because they look pretty and cool, not necessarily because of talent), it is usually the result of 'pitch correction'. This is technology that allows the engineer to move off key singing back into proper pitch within their Digital Audio Workstation. I like cool sounds too... maybe this is the democratization of music. Maybe this will allow people with no talent or no will or desire to devote the practice it needs to gain proficiency to be able to have their own music.

      I have nothing against guitar synthesizers. In fact I like them a lot, and will likely look at this one if and when it hits the market. But if the guy wanted to really show it as a guitar, he would show us what it sounds like with a 'clean' guitar sound too. That way we can here how well it allows a person to create musical phrases, control the timing of when the notes are produced, control it in general, that sort of thing. I'm not saying it can't, but distortion covers that up.

      And by the way, I've seen a number of heavy metal musicians (good ones) who are closet jazz freaks too. :) I'm not saying jazz is better... I like it but listen to it as much as I do heavy metal... but my gauge of what talent is, is not limited by what genre a musician plays.

      --
      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
    10. Re:Bending strings by manicb · · Score: 3, Informative

      As long as you weren't wanting to give a guitar performance:

      With this, the right hand gains options, and you actually lose options with the left hand. On a guitar the left hand provides fretting, bending, vibrato, harmonics, muting and probably more techniques that I don't know about. Triggering all the notes at the same time is also limiting as it rules out sweeping and slow strumming. To actually give a performance that's expressive in the same way a guitar is you're going to have to fill the touch pad with different regions controlling different kinds of expressive playing. Not ideal.

      That's not to say this doesn't look like a great toy, a cross between instruments being used by a couple of well-known bands at the moment.

    11. Re:Bending strings by joocemann · · Score: 1

      If there's no strings, what's the point of the neck and the frets?

      To choose tones in a way 'similar' to how a guitar player chooses them.

    12. Re:Bending strings by joocemann · · Score: 1

      That isn't how a guitar works. You have to fret the string AND pluck or strum the string.

      Yeah, duh... The whole point is that this isn't a guitar... its a digital 'guitar' that is more of a new tech than a simple guitar....

      Sorry to tell ya, but this isn't just another rehashing of the same old idea over and over... its something new.

    13. Re:Bending strings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it's to mimic the way an actual guitar player looks while playing. Guitarists enjoy freedom of movement not available to keyboardists and drummers.

      Beyond the shape, there' nothing similar to an actual guitar about this thing. It's a computer playing sounds.

    14. Re:Bending strings by advocate_one · · Score: 1

      If there's no strings, what's the point of the neck and the frets?

      anything's gotta be cooler than a fscking keytar...

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
    15. Re:Bending strings by harry666t · · Score: 1

      This is all true what you've said about all the techniques that you can use with real strings, and all of these things are almost exactly what I am missing when I'm playing piano (I started playing guitar long before keyboards). However, a piano is a very different instrument from a guitar, and has a lot of its own strenghts. Same thing with Misa.

    16. Re:Bending strings by PenisLands · · Score: 1

      No joke. After all, this isn't a guitar, but a synth instrument shaped like one.

    17. Re:Bending strings by manicb · · Score: 1

      Of course. As far as I'm concerned any MIDI controller + any synthesiser patch = a new instrument. Different weights of keys demand different playing technique, as well as 'alternative' controllers such as the haken continuum, axis series (based on harmonic tables), MIDI theremins, electronic wind instruments, various silly keyboard/guitar hybrids, guitars with hexaphonic pickups, pad controllers, handheld wands and all manner of magic touch surfaces.

      On top of that the playing technique for a slow synth pad (requiring anticipation) is considerably different from playing a percussive part, which is different again from playing a monophonic part. (Only one note can play at a time, but there is art to the style of legato playing and retriggering. I like to play with the rate notes are moving to each other as well, throwing in another factor.) Attempting to recreate instruments like guitar and flute on a synthesiser requires some understanding of the real instrument's playing techniques, and good use of controllers to incorporate these (such as applying pressure to keys to add vibrato.)

      As a result of this I am a little exasperated every time somebody combines a few existing controllers, maybe with some software to tie it all together, and it is hailed as an exciting "new instrument". MIDI has changed what that means. Yes, this looks fun. I am suitably amused/impressed that it runs linux. Other than that it doesn't seem like a huge deal. I'd rather have this.

    18. Re:Bending strings by harry666t · · Score: 1

      > http://mansons.co.uk/shopping/categories/manson-signature-guitars/manson-signature-guitars/mb1-standard/

      A sustainer! :D

    19. Re:Bending strings by Hamoohead · · Score: 1

      This is technology that allows the engineer to move off key singing back into proper pitch within their Digital Audio Workstation.

      God I wish I had some mod points. I'm a sound man and that is some funny shit. I used to have that Farside comic laminated to my console. Haven't seen it in years. Thanks for the memory. And IMHO, Auto-tune IS a suck button. Thanks Cher!

      --
      "If your parents never had children, chances are you wonât either." -Dick Cavett
    20. Re:Bending strings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As several people have pointed out that's bullshit.

    21. Re:Bending strings by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1

      You still need to play in key using the right chords at the right time. His left hand on the fretboard in actually forming chords like you would with real strings. At least it looks like it to me... and I play guitar (and bass, and drums, and ... but mostly guitar).

      --
      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
    22. Re:Bending strings by joocemann · · Score: 1

      As several people have pointed out that's bullshit.

      how is it bullshit? i think it is quite obvious that the tones are scaled across the 'frets' very similarly to how a guitar's tones are scaled... the finger placement is obviously affecting the output tones in ways that are similar to how they do on a guitar.

      make a frikking point.. .oh wait.. you're just a coward with nothing real to say.

  8. Gentoo isn't Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a meta-distribution for ricers, you insensitive clod!

    1. Re:Gentoo isn't Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a metal-distribution for ricers, you insensitive clod!

      There, fixed that for you.

  9. Re:Gentoo by miknix · · Score: 1

    It's a meta-distribution for ricers, you insensitive clod!

    Must see: http://funroll-loops.info/

  10. Re:Gentoo by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, because a site, that contains not a single argument, but only out-of-context quotes, and idiotic ideals, is just oh so cool.

    It’s like stating that because some idiots do idiotic stuff with something, that thing must be idiotic too, and so must everyone else who uses it.

    Show me your car, computer or really anything, and I build you a website showing nothing but idiots using it in idiotic ways, or using it like you do, but out of context, so that you look like a total idiot.

    You know, those who hate ricers and those who are ricers are really the same group of people. Retarded extremists. People who know only two modes of thinking about something: 1. OMG it’s TEH BESTORZ!!!1one! or 2. EPIC FAIL CRAP, AAAAH, DIIIEEEU FAGXORZ!!!11one!

    Frankly, you both can fuck right off.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  11. Yes, but does it run... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    oh...

  12. Re:Gentoo by miknix · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, because a site, that contains not a single argument, but only out-of-context quotes, and idiotic ideals, is just oh so cool.
    (..)
    Frankly, you both can fuck right off.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm a *official Gentoo Developer*. You can check it here:
    http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/devrel/roll-call/userinfo.xml

    However that doesn't prevent me of finding that website *extremely* funny.

    Jesus Christ, can't people laugh anymore?

  13. Simon? by Xistenz99 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I played guitar hero in the 80's when it was called Simon

    1. Re:Simon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck where are my mod points. This comment has me looling.

  14. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  15. Die Jar Jar! DIE! by bazorg · · Score: 1

    someone whack him in the head with the guitar! quickly! aargh!

  16. Tactile feedback by slim · · Score: 1

    I don't want to come over all Luddite - but surely part of playing guitar is the sensation of the strings against the fingers. You know where they are, because you can feel them. You know whether and how hard you've plucked/strummed, because you can feel them.

    I think playing this thing would be a bit like typing on an on-screen keyboard - a second class experience.

    1. Re:Tactile feedback by mangu · · Score: 1

      I think playing this thing would be a bit like typing on an on-screen keyboard - a second class experience.

      I had that same experience when I tried to play an electronic saxophone. All the feel of the reed in the acoustic instrument is gone.

      However, guitars have been "electric", which actually means a hybrid instrument, for decades now. This Misa is actually a third generation instrument, we have the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, and the touchscreen guitar, three entirely different instruments that share the same basic physical layout for generating chords.

    2. Re:Tactile feedback by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      the electric of electric guitar is only the manner of picking up the string vibrations - a coil with magnets instead of a microphone. by all other means an electric guitar is a real guitar (except that most electric guitars are solid body guitars to avoid feedback).

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    3. Re:Tactile feedback by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is like saying a laptop is a typewriter because output is produced by pushing buttons with letters.

    4. Re:Tactile feedback by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it isn't. An acoustic guitar is a typewriter. An electric guitar is a typewriter which electronically senses which key was pressed (and how hard) but is different in no other important way. This thing is one of those silly laser keyboards projected onto a desk.

      It's bizarre to me how obsessed people are with removing tactility from everything.

    5. Re:Tactile feedback by mangu · · Score: 1

      by all other means an electric guitar is a real guitar (except that most electric guitars are solid body guitars to avoid feedback).

      You have never played a guitar, have you? Playing an electric guitar is fundamentally different from playing an acoustic guitar.

      Probably the best analogy would be to say an electric guitar is to an acoustic guitar as an organ is to a piano. In a piano the string is plucked by a hammer, while in the organ the sound is emitted continuously by the air flowing in the tubes.

      An electric guitar is designed to have a sustained sound, and that's why it has a solid body, to lessen the dissipation of the sound, not to avoid feedback. Acoustic guitars need the dissipation, otherwise they would emit no sound at all.

      This sustained sound is what allows so many different effects to be produced by an electric guitar, both by manipulating the strings and by controlling the amplifiers.

    6. Re:Tactile feedback by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2, Informative

      I play guitar for almost a decade and I've built a couple of electric guitars by myself. But it seems you don't know shit about the history of electric guitar. The only reason for solid body was to avoid feedback at high volumes. All the effects came much later.

      And no, playing an electric guitar is not fundamentally different from playing an acoustic guitar. There are some additional tricks that differ, but most things are pretty much the same.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    7. Re:Tactile feedback by joocemann · · Score: 1

      I don't want to come over all Luddite - but surely part of playing guitar is the sensation of the strings against the fingers. You know where they are, because you can feel them. You know whether and how hard you've plucked/strummed, because you can feel them.

      I think playing this thing would be a bit like typing on an on-screen keyboard - a second class experience.

      I think i would like it WAY more than a guitar... but that's my taste... part of it being that I'm not expecting a guitar, i'm expecting a new fun piece of technology.

    8. Re:Tactile feedback by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      That one is a very good analogy.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    9. Re:Tactile feedback by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      I have played plenty of guitars, for 30 years.

      There is basically no difference between playing an electric and playing an accoustic.

      I own 5 guitars, A Strat, a Les Paul, a Yamaha bass and 6 string acoustic and a Takamine acoustic.

      The taka acoustic has a very good pickup, and great sustain, at least equal to the strat!

      Any extra sustain comes thru distortion/compression with an amplified guitar.

      The downside with nthe acoustic with picup is too MUCH sustain, otherwise known as feedback.

      AC due to mods in this thread.

      Falconhell

    10. Re:Tactile feedback by Hamoohead · · Score: 1
      I'm a sound man and guitar tech. I have built (and worked on) more than a couple. The GP is WRONG about a fundamental fact of acoustics where guitars are concerned.

      Both electric (we're talking well built, not Musician's Friend Strat or Les Paul style budget models) and acoustics both "dissipate" sound at about the same rate. The path is just different. With an acoustic, the sound is radiated by vibration of the wood and is directed outward by the sound hole. In a solid body, the vibrations are constrained in the wood and transfered to the pickups though sympathetic vibration of the strings. Pluck a $2000 Strat unplugged and listen to the decay (put your ear on the headstock or body). Then pluck a $2000 Martin and notice, that while the note is louder, the decay is about the same. If it's not, then there is something wrong with your guitar. It's the tight coupling of parts, type of wood, and construction that affect sustain, whether you are talking about electric or acoustic.

      The invention of the electric preceeded solid body by a few years when the need for amplification to be heard among the big band instruments was realized. These were really not much more than an acoustic design with either a mic or mag pickup strapped under the strings. According to Aspen Pittman's Tube Amp Book, feedback problems were indeed one of the main reasons for developing solid body electrics. The acoustic-electrics of the time were real problematic.

      And why is everyone tweaking on these "this ain't a real guitar" comments. Of course it isn't! It's a fucking midi controller. That's like bitching that a Fender Rhodes isn't reallty a piano. Jebus!

      --
      "If your parents never had children, chances are you wonât either." -Dick Cavett
  17. Yes, but what is it programmed in? by davidwr · · Score: 5, Funny

    I heard they wanted to do it in C#, but that idea fell flat, so they went with C.

    *groan*

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:Yes, but what is it programmed in? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe if you pray really, really hard, and put enough money in the coffers, God will fix that sense of humor of yours.

    2. Re:Yes, but what is it programmed in? by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

      I heard they wanted to do it in C#, but that idea fell flat, so they went with C.

      That joke sort of worked in this case, but does it scale?

    3. Re:Yes, but what is it programmed in? by arndawg · · Score: 1

      oh lawd.. Thank you guys for awesome posts. I have to take a Whole Step back to gather myself.

    4. Re:Yes, but what is it programmed in? by davidwr · · Score: 1

      |: The original joke was sort of funny but it wasn't worth repeating. :|

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  18. Guitar is 3D, touch screen is flat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This isn't a guitar, it's just another soft synth, and it's pretty useless. If your one hand is controlling the knobs, why let the other hand grip the chords and notes guitar-style? Would be better to do it on a keyboard. Guitar is played with your hand around the neck, you can't play it like it's supposed to be played on a flat touch screen. So basically it's a very bad replacement for a keyboard midi controller.

  19. Re:Questions to add to the FAQ by jmyers · · Score: 1

    $ grep dissonant /var/log/solo.log
    too many lines

  20. I'm going to one-half-up that joke... by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Hey, C sharp, fell flat... C. Ah, I get it. Ha. Ha-ha-ha...

    I guess your choice of words wasn't completely accidental.

    1. Re:I'm going to one-half-up that joke... by PenisLands · · Score: 1

      This isn't flamebait. He's making a pun on 'accidentals'.

    2. Re:I'm going to one-half-up that joke... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this modded flamebait? It's lame, but not flamebait.......

  21. Mod parent up by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1, Funny

    +1/2, Funny

  22. Overcoming ...what again? by adosch · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Overcoming the natural limitations of a traditional guitar, this new instrument eliminates the need to pluck strings while using the right hand to control sound.

    This whole movement to become a (fake) virtuoso on a (fake) musical instrument is nauseating the hell out of me (e.g. Guitar Hero and now *this*). Yes, let's teach everyone that hard work and dedication to personal greatness and accomplishment is a joke. What possible "natural limitations" of a traditional guitar are we talking about? So you mean that you can't use both your hands at the same time because it's 'complicated' and 'feels uncomfortable at first'? Well, if that's the case, you shouldn't be walking and breathing either. When you do anything for the first time, those are the two things that usually rear their head first.

    Only frustration I ever see out of beginning guitar players that quit in a short amount of time is: 1) They are trying to learn on an absolute garbage guitar that isn't set up and the action is as high as the Empire state building (NO one is going to learn on that and not get frustrated, pro or novice) and 2) They are looking to play like Van Halen, Zakk Wyide, Richie Blackmore, Steve Vai, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, ect. and realize that it takes a bit more than two weeks worth of dedication to do that, they are back to listening to their iPod full of EMO with their Nintendo DS in their hands. Sounds like this Misa is missing the true, life-long value of playing an 'real' instrument and being good at it.

    1. Re:Overcoming ...what again? by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      Could not agree more about the difficulty of learning on crap guitars.

      Only in the last few years have I bought really nice guitars and the difference is amazing. Some poieces that were difficult to manage on an average guitar are easy on a decent one.

      The difference is unbelievable really, I reckon I played 30% better as soon as I picked up my new accoustic. Yay!

    2. Re:Overcoming ...what again? by Datamonstar · · Score: 1

      Actually, it looks like this one hsa frets that you must precisely press. It's NOT a guitar, but that is specifically mentioned in the description and the instrument lookd difficult in it's own right. An electronic piano is NOT a piano, either, but they can be sampled so as to sound much like a grand, or mated with a synthesizer to produce an unlimited number of sounds. This is music. This is technology. Sorry, if it doesn't fit your interpretation of music, but things like this have been around for a long time and are getting more and more popular each year. Take a look at digital drumsets. Are you going to tell me next that those are fake instruments and require no skill to perform on?

      And yes, there are a lot of people who quit playing a musical instrument because it's hard. Which is exactly why you don't go out and buy a good expensive instrument! I keep on trying to get involved in programming, but I end up quitting because it's hard. I'm sure there are's a few programmers out there who'd like to be able to learn a musical instrument like I have, but end up quitting also.

      --
      The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
    3. Re:Overcoming ...what again? by adosch · · Score: 1

      Don't you still beat on heads with sticks with digital drums? Yep. Functionality not lost there.

      Don't you still press down a tuned key to make a sound with a digital piano? Yep. Functionality not lost there, either.

      ...so how is my point void since the point of a guitar is to pluck tuned strings and fret to make notes? Functionality lost. Mind as well play go get a Guitar Hero guitar because again, all you're doing is pushing buttons. It may be more than 5, you're not gaining any functional experience that will even help you play a 'real' guitar and succeed. Sure, I can move my fretting hand fast and shred on Guitar Hero, try doing it IRL on a 'real' guitar, many more factors to consider to clarity, tone, definition, pressure, syncing of what you're doing.

      ...sounds like you have a dedication problem or ADD. Flamebait this post, too. Anyone who actually plays guitar truthfully and skillfully well I'm sure gets the point I'm making.

    4. Re:Overcoming ...what again? by Datamonstar · · Score: 1

      Hitting a drum or pressing a piano key without any intimate knowledge of exactly what is happening behind the scenes does not a musician make. You do loose functionality, which is why they are classified as altogether different instruments. But it still doesn't make the player any less of a musician.

      --
      The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
  23. Patent pending? by hrvatska · · Score: 1

    In the footer of the Misa digital guita it says "Copyright 2010 Misa Digital. Patent pending." I wonder what's being patented. There is plenty of prior art in this area if you do much digging. A good example is this from the 1980s. I wouldn't be surprised that if this goes to production that the company finds itself on the receiving end of a patent infringement lawsuit.

    1. Re:Patent pending? by mejogid · · Score: 2, Informative

      What looks unique to me is the use of the touchscreen not to interact with virtual strings but to control midi parameters - the neck is used to finger chords, and all notes fingered are played no matter where on the touchscreen you tap. The touchscreen is used to modify pitch and distortion with multiple fingers at the same time for multiple chords.

      In comparison, your example involved fingering chords and 'virtually' strumming them - much closer to a typical electric guitar. If it's an effective instrument this does seem innovative enough to be patent-worthy IMO.

    2. Re:Patent pending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, this has been done before several times... ususally by non-guitarists.

      In the past it usually failed because of lack of expressive range, and because at the end of the day a guitarist wants the sound of a guitar not the sound of a synth-guitar.
      Good job if he can get the musical revolution he's wanting... but I wouldn't hold my breath.

      For full disclosure, I play synth - and guitar - and I use Linux.

  24. Re:Patent pending == fuck you by WED+Fan · · Score: 2, Informative

    I hate it when companies use patent claims in their marketing. Won't buy.

    Such BS doesn't even make a good soundbite. I would be willing to bet that the computer you are posting from has all sorts of patents and patent-pending notices in its documentation and stamped on the body.

    If I were to go into your kitchen, your bathroom, your bedroom, and your living room, I'd see all sorts of little gadgets, gizmos, appliances, and devices that have patents or have a patent pending.

    Worse yet, I bet you have a lot of software patented material.

    Yeah, you're a rebel. Yep, you got street cred. Power to the masses.

    No wonder you're hiding under the AC label, you know how ridiculous you sound on the surface and under the surface.

    Of course, this kind of self realization indicates that deep down, you know you're an idiot and blowhard, filled with self loathing 'cause you are THAT guy. You are the guy that has the permanent coffee mug grip that wanders through the cubicle farm espousing your ill founded, self contradicting, absurd opinion on matters political, economic, and such.

    It's the weekend, so you have to do it here.

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
  25. /shakes head by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

    Nice Midi device. Stop calling it a guitar.

  26. Good job! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Linux gets something years after everyone else gets it. Now I see why I should switch to Linux.

    Poor little fanbois... hungry for some table scraps.

  27. Re:Patent pending == fuck you by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Troll

    you are THAT guy.

    If he's that guy, what does that make you? Oh wait, I know. Trolled.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  28. Re:Gentoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm an ex-Gentoo dev since about five years ago, and that site was tired when I was around. It's intended to lampoon a certain class of idiot, but the problem is that lots of even stupider people (eg, many people right here on Slashdot) think it applies to Gentoo as a whole.

    So yeah...fuck off.

  29. Thanks by WED+Fan · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I like how you didn't use the AC this time.

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
    1. Re:Thanks by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Troll

      I like how you didn't use the AC this time.

      You're a fucking tool: I haven't used AC in years, and I regularly flame ACs for their cowardice. Check your crystal ball, Kreskin, it's a bit cloudy. Welcome to my foes list, fucko. I don't appreciate being called a liar.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Thanks by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Fight! Fight! Fight!

      Also, TFA mentioned that the touchscreen is a simple X Y MIDI CC. Devices like that, such as the Korg KAOSS pads, have been out for awhile. My question(I'm a longtime guitar player) is if the touchscreen could be calibrated(via OS hacks?) for fingerstyle playing. That is, to calibrate seperate resting positions for your thumb and then five other spaces for the other strings and then each tap in that particular spot would pluck its respective string.

      Think of playing songs like Fleetwood Mac's Landslide or Metallica's Nothing Else Matters. If the software controlling the pad could be changed to support that, I'd buy one. Otherwise it's just a fancy KAOSS pad.

    3. Re:Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh, heh, heh. Credit where credit is due. You allowed yourself to be reduced to blubbering pile of spewing venom by a simple statement. Losing the high ground.

      Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.

      Else, why did you come to the defense of an AC poster?

    4. Re:Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're all fucking idiots! End the argument!

    5. Re:Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You switched back to AC?

    6. Re:Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just so you know, you were modded down for being a dickhead. Now grow up so we adults can take you seriously.

    7. Re:Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your Mother.

    8. Re:Thanks by WED+Fan · · Score: 1

      So, you ARE a liar.

      --
      Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
  30. Re:Gentoo by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    However that doesn't prevent me of finding that website *extremely* funny.

    Me, too. Their lack of understanding of HTML is hilarious.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  31. Re:Gentoo by miknix · · Score: 1

    However that doesn't prevent me of finding that website *extremely* funny.

    Me, too. Their lack of understanding of HTML is hilarious.

    I bet they riced it for IE.

  32. The point: by Bragador · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It is true that you can already do all that on a keyboard with a touchpad. The interesting thing though is that the keys aren't placed in the same way on a guitar than they are on a keyboard so you can compose things that sound different.

    In other words, you'll be able to compose and play differently since piano tends to make you compose in a linear way, and a guitar forces you to play notes that are all over the keyboard.

    It's a bit like the Akai EWI USB which gives you more control over the sound level depending on how hard you blow into it. You'd need a pedal to get the same result with a keyboard, which is a less intuitive setup.

    Different tools have different strong points and weaknesses.

  33. Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of one of those!

    Thanks I'll be here all day.. ;)

  34. Awesome by Murdoch5 · · Score: 0

    This sounds sweet!

  35. Reall want to hear Holdsworth play on of these by Ice+Station+Zebra · · Score: 1

    I think he could make it really sing, just like he does with the synthaxe.

  36. Guitar-ZyX: NDS homebrew touchscreen WhammyPad by jdogalt · · Score: 1

    Shameless plug-

    If you are interested in recycling an NDS into a touchscreen whammypad that you can embed in or velcro to a real guitar, check out-

    http://gzyx.org/

    It comes with a fedora-11 derived LiveUSB appliance distribution that boots straight into the open source rakarrack f/x processor. Along with a server to listen via wifi to the NDS which runs a homebrew remote control application, to control changing f/x presets and mapping 2 parameters to the X and Y of the touchscreen.

    100% open source, self hosting (modify and recompile any or every part without downloading anything)

  37. As a bass player, I want this. by admiralcrunch · · Score: 1

    I've played bass for ten years, and was in music school for bass for 4 years. In my last semester I got severe tendonitis and basically stopped playing. The Misa looks perfect! I only hope the price isn't too steep.

  38. What about MIDItar? Oh, that's Windows and Mac by BenJeremy · · Score: 1

    Yeah, it doesn't offer the capabilities of the Misa, but you can noodle a bit with your Guitar Hero/Rock Band controllers, drums or guitars. I just got it hooked up and it works (with a bit of chaining between MIDItar, Max, LoopBe and Fruity Loops).

    If nothing else, MIDItar makes for an inexpensive MIDI drum kit - and for that use, it's pretty effective.

  39. It's a synth, not a guitar. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you want to play guitar, it still has all the limitations of a synth emulating a real guitar, no matter whether its powered by Linux, OSX or Windows. Jan Hammer might like it, but it still sounds like all those synth played "guitar" parts.

  40. Just when I thought... by message144 · · Score: 1

    Just when I thought all the fun of playing guitar had been completely eliminated, somebody yet again proved me wrong.

  41. How to shred? by Baloo+Uriza · · Score: 1

    How do you really shred without some good, heavy-gauge strings? The tactile feedback is part of the guitar experience!

    --
    Furries make the internet go.
  42. Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ???

    Modding, then posting, even as AC wipes the modding. Frosts you that it was modded 'insightful'?

  43. Parent is (probably) not flamebait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_%28music%29

  44. abuse of moderation by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If he's that guy, what does that make you? Oh wait, I know. Trolled.

    I was NOT the troll in question. In addition my above comment is the truth as I see it, and by definition nothing you believe is a troll, though it can be flamebait. Permitting the masses of asses to moderate slashdot is a massive failure of judgement.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  45. Yeah but does it run on ........ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never mind

  46. Bleh by bollox4 · · Score: 1

    Awful, no matter which platform this arrives on.

  47. Couldn't take heat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As of this morning (US Mountain Time), the MISA Digital Guitar forum (http://forum.misadigital.com/) has been closed: "The forum will re-open when the first units are shipped."

    Michael got hammered pretty good by some folks who pointed out that this is not that revolutionary. Yes, it's the only one running Linux, but that doesn't really make it a revolutionary new instrument. And the Ztar guitar controller has been around for several years ...

    It ain't a guitar, it's a guitar-shaped MIDI controller that uses a touchpad ...

    Me shrugs and goes back to my Godin xtSA, plugs in the MIDI cable and ignores the rest...