The Harpejji is based on the StarrBoard, invented by my friend John Starrett[1][2] in the 1980s,[3] as acknowledged on the Harpejji website[4]. Not sure how the Guardian got to such lengths describing Meeks as the inventor without noticing this.<p>Here's a photo I took of the original StarrBoard in Gainesville, FL in 1997: <a href="https://imgur.com/pilVv8b" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://imgur.com/pilVv8b</a><p>[1] <a href="https://starrettguitars.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://starrettguitars.com/</a><p>[2] <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q2hIMZ8AAAAJ&hl=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q2hIMZ8AAAAJ&hl=en</a><p>[3] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarrBoard" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarrBoard</a><p>[4] <a href="https://www.marcodi.com/pages/about-us" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.marcodi.com/pages/about-us</a>
This needs to be multiscale. The treble sounds strained and whiny, because it's at too much tension, because it's too long. The bass sounds farty and unfocused, because it's at too little tension, because it's too short. There's a good reason bass guitars are bigger than guitars.<p>Multi-scale guitars have been out of patent for years now. And if the harpejji was invented in 2007, then I believe it should go out of patents next year? I hope the resulting competition makes them up their game.
I came up with something similar, in the opposite direction: <a href="https://github.com/Miserlou/LaunchBoard">https://github.com/Miserlou/LaunchBoard</a><p>It's an Ableton device to map the keys of a Novation LaunchPad as if it were an 8 string, 8 fret guitar. I play the guitar but not the piano, but play a lot of synths. This bridges the gap for me, and it's so, so, so much fun.<p>I'm thinking about doing a dedicated hardware version with proper midi out, touch sensitivity and integrated capo/octave knobs. Maybe worth dusting that idea off if this guy was so successful..
Jacob Collier (relatively famous musician) has a number of videos playing the Harpejji.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5T-9RPW4pg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5T-9RPW4pg</a><p>He has a lot of great content in general and musical talent, if you’ve never come across him before. Worth diving into.
A childhood friend of mine invented the Lumitone, a microtonal keyboard with colored backlit hexagonal keys. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNIxTiApig">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNIxTiApig</a><p>About 10 years ago I visited him in his studio where he had all mocked up in paper and cardboard, putting all the pieces together. Fun to see it finally out and in people's hands.
This looked incredibly complicated to play initially, but at this particular point of the "Playing basics" video, I was sold: <a href="https://youtu.be/AUnvq2zRU6k?t=85" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/AUnvq2zRU6k?t=85</a><p>And it gets better when you see the scales and chords section.<p>The video also explains that it uses piezoelectric sensors.
I remember at NAMM about 10 years ago, the company I worked for made a touchscreen-based mixing console.<p>The CEO insisted to have Stevie Wonder try it. What surprised me is that he (SW) <i>looked</i> impressed doing so, moving virtual faders on a glass screen with no tactile feedback.<p>That was my first realization that music is a business like any other, and getting a famous person doing a PR stunt for your product may be beneficial, even though they're not at all the intended consumer.<p>But also, SW was using his ears more than his fingers to get the feedback the product was lacking, and so what started as a bad joke made me respect him even more.
<i>> But does anybody really want to play them, learn them or go and see someone else perform on them?”</i><p>This is a great thing about physical instruments: it's easy to tell the relationship between what the performer does, and what sound comes out. (Like, "he hit a piano key, and the piano made one note.")<p>I've been to electronic music concerts, and a lot of the time it's just some guy fiddling with his MacBook, and cool music is coming out of the speakers, but it's not clear what he's really <i>doing</i>.
Ah, not the otamatone then:<p><a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmxLja-DRIw">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmxLja-DRIw</a>
This kind of has the sound of someone playing an acoustic guitar patch on a keyboard. It seems to lack the expressive dynamics you would expect with a guitar, almost like the velocity is clamped.
Slightly off topic, but I really want an instrument that works like LinnStrument but with a synth built-in (so you can actually play it without connecting to something else).
One cool thing about the harpejji: it's isomorphic. That means that the "shape" of a chord will be the same, everywhere on the playing surface. So, switching from playing in C major to D major just means moving your hands over one string. (Guitar and piano players know that it's more complex than that on their instruments.)
The Hang is another relatively new instrument that has become somewhat popular in some circles.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_(instrument)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_(instrument)</a><p>I got a chance to try one out recently, and played it for a bit. It was fun.
The article links to a vulfmon track with audio and a still photo, but the video for same track on the vulf channel proper shows the instrument actually being played[1]. When I saw this a couple of months ago I had a bit of work to convince myself it was a real instrument - Stratton makes it look just too easy!<p>Coincidentally, I found a 1976 video[2] of David Vorhaus playing his Kaleidophon around the same time which gave me the same skeptical vibe.<p>1: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ROpRnmmKE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ROpRnmmKE</a><p>2: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRNM5n3jjQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRNM5n3jjQ</a>
I know a guy who invented something similar 20 years earlier.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarrBoard?wprov=sfla1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarrBoard?wprov=sfla1</a>
Video of Stevie Wonder playing the instrument:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQtEElCV2lY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQtEElCV2lY</a>
Cory Henry playing Stevie's "Love's In Need of Love Today" is great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL50VnZY1Kk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL50VnZY1Kk</a>
Harry Partch must be grooving in his grave. Bit of shame he didn't live another 20 years, really, it'd be interesting to see what he could have done with more electronics and synths.
This (somewhat annoying) youtuber played one: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFzW9rnaR7w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFzW9rnaR7w</a>
I have a Linnstrument.<p><a href="https://www.rogerlinndesign.com/linnstrument" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.rogerlinndesign.com/linnstrument</a><p>Is open source too.
They should have gone straight to playing a cimbalom, but I guess that wouldn't have been seen as cool as singing on a "new" instrument.
Beautiful. Maybe it’s just the style of music but the example video is very reminiscent of Disasterpeace’s work:<p><a href="https://disasterpeace.bandcamp.com/track/nocturne" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://disasterpeace.bandcamp.com/track/nocturne</a>