Misa Digital Guitar cuts the strings, brings the noise
The intersection of the classical instrument known as a guitar and the modernist urge to modify everything has resulted in plenty of nutty, zany, and just plain questionable products in its time. It's quite a pleasure, therefore, to point you in the direction of a so-called Digital Guitar that keeps the axe looking refreshingly familiar, while turning it into something that poses a legitimate threat of actually being useful. Essentially a MIDI controller, the Misa guitar has 24 frets and a large multifunctional touchscreen, which you can use to interface with the appropriate software on your pc. We've got a video demonstration after the break, and you can hit up the source link for more info including details on how you might be able to buy one for yourself.























*Brain implosion*
This won't replace the guitar, but it's a very cool idea nevertheless. I'd like one with a whammy bar please.
@ai4281
I smell the next rock band guitar.
@ai4281
From video it doesn't look like a Whammy Bar / Tremolo would be necessary - just move your fingers/hand on that strum pad.
NERDGASM!
sounds pretty fucking awful
but i guess you can change the output (?)
It's a cute concept, but it simply won't catch on.
Guitars with a secondary MIDI controller built in? Hell yeah! But a touch-based MIDI guitar will not catch on beyond some electronic and experimental musicians.
It's the reasons you can't get pianos with touch sensors instead of keys, the sound will always be slightly... off.. no to mention a lot of playing is done by feel, and a touchscreen simply doesn't provide the kind of feedback reqired for competent playing.
@CJ
Yeah we need one with 6 strum bars for it to catch on...
and a new game called Rock Hero!
@CJ
pretty much all that needs to be said +1
"Yeah we need one with 6 strum bars for it to catch on..."
Done:
http://www.youtube.com/user/martinbriley#p/a/f/0/65R2FWwLp90
Free Bird!
This reminds me of a guy that built a Guitar Hero controller with a touchscreen strumbar. It was on AcidMods if I remember correctl.
@BigJayDogg3
*correctly. Sorry for the typo. Chalk it up to being 2:30?
uhm.. i'll take a real guitar
/Give please.
Love the comments about the crap tone and Free Bird.
This thing is truly amazing. I guess that you can strum it and play chords just like the real thing. I hope so.
Of course, this is Version One and it will evolve and get better but somehow I don;t see Leo fender turning in his grave just yet.
Guitarists should look at this thing just as photographers did in the roll-of-film era when digital cameras first made their appearance. The first digital cameras were not very good back then but look at 'em now.
Man, if only Jimi had had one of these.
@rederikus How long have you worked for this company?
@TSIG
Not at all. I'm just a tech geek that's also a music fan. Bit of a guitar freak too.
Awesome...
Meh, I don't see how the touchscreen would do anything but make the music worse. I'm totally in favour of modernising when better technology is available, that lets you do more stuff more accurately, melodically, passionately whatever, but how are you going to get real feedback when there aren't actual strings to pluck? how are you going to know just how hard you're strumming? it looks like the guitar apps on the iphone... with an external controller. i really don't see the point. just to reiterate, I really am in favour of modernisation, laptop djing, for example has brought discernable advances to the genre, but this? screw this.
Welcome to the New World Order, were you don't need real instruments.
This just reminds me of the awesome Kaoss pad Matthew Bellamy has in his guitar.
@einhanderkiller Exactly! This has nothing to do with guitars but it looks like a great midi-controller. I'm not too sure why they need a screen that's facing away from the player but I guess they like nice lights that raise the asking price by a power. I never learned to play keyboards but I played the guitar for years when I was younger so this would be a really good alternative controller for any midi-controlled program.
First I thought this is another Guitar Hero thing, but this one is beyond being just a toy, and yet up to the par with a real instrument. The greatest musicians defined their music, style and tool -- Les Paul, Blackie, etc...; and their tool distinguished the greatest musician. Love to see it challenges the Rock'n Roll world.
Not going to sell.
Is the touchscreen pressure sensitive and if so to how many levels?
play some pantera!
Reminds me of Matt Bellamy's guitar. This would make for a fun DIY project. :D
Now if we could just get it to stop talking like Jar-Jar...
Some of those sounds are straight out of Defender.
@ai4281
I smell the next rock band guitar.
Not for me. I can get a Roland MIDI pickup as a retrofit, and use that to control a MicroKORG from my Gretsch if I ever wanted to use MIDI on guitar.
Plus if I do that I have a great synth and vocoder to use separately in other pieces my group do :D
I foresee a future where people with digital guitars will belittle people with "regular, old" electric guitars, who will in turn, of course, belittle Guitar Hero players.
A real "electric guitar" ~
if you buy this then you bought this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/interactive/c498/