Here is a question aimed at kawasaki, Gibson, and other music instrument makers:...

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Paul P

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...Can you make this? Okay, I have (in the past) written emails to Kawasaki, Gibson, and others but have yet to see the thing I tell them of. Generally, I've only seen useless "toys." All right, if anyone works at one of these places, ask the R & D about this (hopefully, since you work there, you'll have better luck than I've had). I am seeking an electronic instrument that would be (1) shaped like a guitar, (2) have an octave select button range in what would normally be the fret board, and (3) the typewriter setup of keys for A through G just as made on a typewriter or computer keyboard/keypad. This allows people that can type to play music (so, it is pefect for that market research population). Now, the electronics part would be "raw" (stripped down) and nothing like electronic keyboards that have all the usual "junk" instrument sounds (that is, no brass, no winds, no other strings, no percussion, no demos, etc., etc., etc.)....instead, the electronics should be PERFECTED FOR AND MADE SPECIALIZED FOR (a.) lead guitar sounds and (b.) bass guitar sounds. Basically, monophonic. Later models can get fancier and do ditonic sounds and such. So, is anyone out there that works for a music instrument company (doesn't have to be Gibson and such) that can make such a contraption?
 
OK - random thoughts here, in no special order. Your use of musical terminology ("ditonic"? No such word. You mean polyphonic in that case) leads me to believe that you have only a certain level of musical skill. To have octave shift buttons and letter-named keys indicates that you have to reset for each time you change octaves is just plain cumbersome. Performing artists need to have their entire instrument available instantaneously to respond to their creative ideas.

The closest thing to what you have described in a MIDI controller, like a short Oxygen. It is used for notation input, HARDLY for performance or improvisation. "Shaped like a guitar" but having buttons on it is at cross-purposes. Your use of words like *toy* and *junk* leads me to think that you are looking for something incredibly simple - which already exists digitally (see above) and further development by a *guitar* company would not have enough of a market. This really makes me think of all the people who spend HOURS fooling around with Guitar Hero, but will not actually take a few lessons are REALLY learn to play.
I mean no disrespect to YOU - clearly, you are passionate about this - but I cannot see this as having any widespread applicability among either performing musicians, OR those who would use it for digital studio work, such as notation. Perhaps you can find someone who can build you a prototype, and then you can refine it in performance before you approach manufacturers. I go to professional conventions every year (since 1971) and we see a LOT of oddities - some actually do get built, and some languish for years with a small but devoted following. Think of the Gravichord, the Lopatin Square One flute, the theremin, the ondes martinot, and others - there's a place for everything - sometimes the place is h just not big enough for a manufacturer to undertake production. I have multiple degrees in music, and work a lot with digital equipment, and my son is currently getting his MM degree in Digital Music - I will run this past him, too.

Make a prototype, get a patent, and keep dreaming!
 
OK - random thoughts here, in no special order. Your use of musical terminology ("ditonic"? No such word. You mean polyphonic in that case) leads me to believe that you have only a certain level of musical skill. To have octave shift buttons and letter-named keys indicates that you have to reset for each time you change octaves is just plain cumbersome. Performing artists need to have their entire instrument available instantaneously to respond to their creative ideas.

The closest thing to what you have described in a MIDI controller, like a short Oxygen. It is used for notation input, HARDLY for performance or improvisation. "Shaped like a guitar" but having buttons on it is at cross-purposes. Your use of words like *toy* and *junk* leads me to think that you are looking for something incredibly simple - which already exists digitally (see above) and further development by a *guitar* company would not have enough of a market. This really makes me think of all the people who spend HOURS fooling around with Guitar Hero, but will not actually take a few lessons are REALLY learn to play.
I mean no disrespect to YOU - clearly, you are passionate about this - but I cannot see this as having any widespread applicability among either performing musicians, OR those who would use it for digital studio work, such as notation. Perhaps you can find someone who can build you a prototype, and then you can refine it in performance before you approach manufacturers. I go to professional conventions every year (since 1971) and we see a LOT of oddities - some actually do get built, and some languish for years with a small but devoted following. Think of the Gravichord, the Lopatin Square One flute, the theremin, the ondes martinot, and others - there's a place for everything - sometimes the place is h just not big enough for a manufacturer to undertake production. I have multiple degrees in music, and work a lot with digital equipment, and my son is currently getting his MM degree in Digital Music - I will run this past him, too.

Make a prototype, get a patent, and keep dreaming!
 
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