We can almost say with certainty that neither the Eigenharp Pico nor Alpha will actually be remembered as the "most revolutionary instrument in 60 years," but that's not stopping creator Eigenlabs from keeping its hopes high. If you'll recall, these funky instruments were unveiled courtesy of an
enigmatic YouTube clip early last month, and now the outfit is slowly dribbling out official details on its contributions to the musical realm. Neither instrument is being aimed at the bargain banger, with the Alpha going for £3,950 ($6,302) and the Pico for £349 ($557). Both of 'em sport keys, a breathe pipe, a so-called strip controller and their own native soundsets, though currently they'll interface only with Macs. If you're really interested in learning something new, you can surf on over to the outfit's
website for a look at the specifications -- just bring the checkbook if you're easily tempted.
Update: Looks the The Beeb snagged a little
mouth-on time with it!
posted October 8th 2009 6:47AM
Wow, 2 typos in 1 word.
Wow. Impressive.
Straopheric uh?
Well, that must be something!
I really am curious how something like that happens... something along the lines of 'teh' is understandable somewhere in the body on rare occasions. But the headline? That's just embarrassing.
Were the red squiggles of FAIL disabled?
Meh, http://www.starrlabs.com will create any custom job you want with outstanding specs.
The ultimate air guitar!
So this is some kind of advanced guitar hero for douche bags with rich parents?
No, it may be the new midi keyboard. Eg. extremely important for people who create music.
Looks like the instrument from Star Wars' cantina band: http://www.walyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/star-wars-cantina-band.jpg
That's the first thing I thought of when i saw the picture, haha.
Reminds me of the holophonor from futurama. More like the holophonor's great great great great grandfather
http://theinfosphere.org/Holophonor
looks gay.
Well they could either call it "most revolutionary instrument in 60 years" or "a 21st-century reinvention of the forbidden love child of a bassoon and a bass clarinet." I can kind of see why they went with former.
This one instrument alone can do over 150 instruments with little to no skill required. You can play a jazz saxaphone at one moment, then to a guitar solo the next. I was thinking that it was stupid until I saw the video on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcVqJh0qEMc
This instrument has infinite amounts of potential...
Little to no skill? I think I would enjoy watching you attempt to play what they did. Anybody can make a sound come out of just about any instrument, but to create something that others enjoy listening to is a completely different animal. I see what you're saying after that, with the infinite possibilities, but had a major problem with that first sentence. Sure it isn't going to replace many (if any) of the 150 instruments, but as a midi controller, it's brilliant and entertaining to watch.
The BBC article thinks this might replace keyboard on stage. As a keyboarist, I call massive bullshit. Musicians play keyboards because they are laid out the same way as a piano, which they have an opportunity to learn from childhood with encouragement of their parents and possibly even from practicing on a cheap keyboard. You're not going to be able to sit down at the family Eigenharp like it's the $500 spinet that's been kicking around for fifty years. The way I see it, these "instruments" are glorified MIDI controllers that cost about as much as a used car. Even the most expensive stage pianos usually come in at half this price.
Also, you have the fact that this instrument replicates almost any instrument sound (poorly), so what's the guitarist going to think when they synth guy starts busting out a solo at a show that sounds like Slash through a Casio? I'm all for getting the keyboarist on the front of the stage, but they've got keytars for that, and they won't set you back more than the drummer's full kit and the tour van combined. Expect to see these used sparingly by big name acts who want to shake things up a little, or by rich kids aiming for a Prog rock revival.
You are right. Musical instruments that really get popular come from humble roots. Not like this one. Less electronics and more harmonics... Even the Piano evolved from something as simple as the Santoor. Makes you wonder as to what the heck are these guys thinking.
Chirag
It seems you could get nearly the same results with a 99 cent iPhone app.
http://ocarina.smule.com/
Yay, not a comments section goes by without an iPhone shout.
Quick, grab your Fizzz we've got a gig at the Cantina.
I am a bit intrigued--
First of all, I don't think this will ever replace a proper keyboard, or guitar--the fact that one has to be tethered to a computer will decrease the ease of just picking it up to play. No virtual instrument could ever truly replace the real thing. The cost is also pretty freakin high.
What does interest me is how it's role would play in the studio-not to replace real instruments, but as a midi controller. Currently, midi velocity is defined in 7 bits, and only reaches a value of 127. According to the site, the Eigenharp Alpha's breath pipe is 12 bit (value of 4098), and the keys and strip controller are 11 bit (value of 2048). The Pico's strip controller is only 10 bit, which is still a value of 1024. Despite a probably steep learning curve, the strip controller and directional keys may provide a different ability of musicianship (again, something that would probably best be used controlling an electronic instrument such as a synth).
My question is-does it support midi out, and if so, how do daws handle the increased bit values? Also, how would/could it connect to other hardware based instruments (analog synths, etc.)?
the BBC mentions a "high profile musician" taking one, and then jumps into a piece about goth rockers liking it... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we'll see this thing on the next Nine Inch Nails album.
I bet Yanni is drooling all over this!
I think a lot of people tend to forget that there is music outside mainstream radio play in the US. I don't know about where you all live, but here there's rock, alternative, top 40 and about a gazillion country stations. But that doesn't even scratch the surface of what's really out there. Take the world of techno and electronica; it's far bigger than you would probably guess, especially since it's quite popular in most of the rest of the world. This instrument would be absolutely perfect for that type of music, and would make performing it onstage a much more enjoyable experience for both artist and audience. I can totally see what the creators were trying to do. It kinda sucks going to see a show and all the performers are doing is pounding away at keyboards. You can't really see what they're doing. Especially if you're used to rock shows or something like that, you can always see what the musician is doing, it's part of the fun. Personally I'd love to see Daft Punk, Way Out West or Delerium onstage with a couple of these things. Tho, it's kinda funny to think about how Daft Punk would deal with the breath pipe in their costume helmets. hehe
I love this, only for Mac. Guess that price tag isnt so bad for Mac users who spend too much money on their laptops anyway.
Only for Mac, until (supposedly) January.
While a minority machine in general computing, they're pretty common in the music world (I'd say way over 70% of the laptops I see on stage are MacBooks) - in much the same way that Atari ST's had their niche.
I'd also add that audio processing is one of the few things that can tax the limits of my desktop CPU - cheap laptops are fine for web browsing and typing, but if you want to do DSP-type stuff (audio/video) you're going to want something with a bit more beef (fast FSB, larger cache in the CPU), and both Dell and HP'd decent spec laptops are not in the 'cheap' category either.
Perhaps more to the point, the kind of people who balk at spending over £349 on a laptop, are not going to spend more than £50 on a Midi keyboard, and I guess the Chinese manufacturers / Argos have got that market sewn up.
Wow before you guys complain, watch the video, its really mind blowing. I think this kicks ass
Wooow... I must have one (the Alpha of course) !
I have to sell my car to be able to buy one tho...
DO WANT!
Didn't stuff like this (clarinet midi controllers, trumpet midi controllers, harp midi controllers, violin midi controllers, guitar midi controllers etc.) already come out like 20 years ago?
i'm holding out to buy the mid-size version.
Is it anything besides an interestingly laid out assortment of midi controllers?