msp controlled guitar

mollyb's icon

I'm trying to figure out how to rewire my guitar in order to send electromagnetic pulses to the pickups (rather than from) in order to control the instrument. it is similar to the piano project at ccrma...

Drsbaitso's icon

maybe a link to the project might help? Just a vague suggestion on my behalf.

btovsky's icon

what are you thinking the EM pulses to the guitar are going to do? i
do a lot of
extended technique guitar work (multiple pickups, induction mics,
etc) but unless
you are rebuilding the guitar from the ground up, sending EM to the
pickups won't
do much. i have used EM to generate sounds with pickups though...
cheers
bruce

bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
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Anthony Palomba's icon

"EM to generate sounds with pickups though"

Actually, that is very interesting, can you
go into a little more detail as to how you
are doing this.

Thanks,
Anthony

btovsky's icon

very simple. take any EM producing device, like a small motor, cell or
such, and move it around your pickups. i can get interesting drones
holding my guitar near my laptop and moving it around. have fun.
b

bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com

"Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane."
Philip K. Dick

Brian E Willkie's icon

have you considered this:

with maybe a max controlled servo to adjust the distance to the strings?

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Brian

Patrice Coulombe's icon

Are you looking for the "backwards electric guitar", as the one Nicolas
Collins made in the 80's?

Sounds are sent _into_ guitar pickups whose fluctuating electromatgnetic
fields vibrate the strings of the guitar!

pc

Stefan Tiedje's icon

molly wrote:
> I'm trying to figure out how to rewire my guitar in order to send
> electromagnetic pulses to the pickups (rather than from) in order to
> control the instrument.

Technically it would work like an ebow, but instead of human controlled
it would be Max controlled.... You will have to build it yourself, as
the distance which is necessary to make it sound would be very close,
compared to the distance of the pickups. It will render your guitar
usless for other playing techniques and It will be hard implement, as
playing the ebow requires a good listening feedback and constant change
of the distance. The reaction is slow, most players also touch the
strings. The sound is usually a combination of the string sound and some
induction into the normal pickups - nice distortions...

What kind of sound and control are you after?

> it is similar to the piano project at ccrma...

You might think all the world knows about it, but I don't. CCRMA's site
is big and I could not find the project. (Links are handy)

Stefan

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Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
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Sukandar Kartadinata's icon

dunno if they're still made though....

btovsky's icon

On Jun 14, 2006, at 6:27 AM, Sukandar Kartadinata wrote:

> http://www.sustainiac.com/stealth.htm
>
> dunno if they're still made though....

i can personally vouch for the Fernandes Sustainer guitar system.
i use one as my main instrument and it beats the ebow hands down.
of course, there are many things you can do with an ebow that the
sustainer can't do - like use it on other instruments (i love it on my
acoustic hawaiian lap guitar) - so having both is a good idea.
cheers
bruce

bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com

"Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.."
Philip K. Dick

mollyb's icon
roger.carruthers's icon

According to guitar hero and hippie legend Steve
Hillage, vibrators make good induction devices for
coaxing strange noises out of, er, guitars. I'm not
sure how you would control one with Max, but there
are probably websites that will tell you how ...
cheers
Roger

Wesley Smith's icon

The most brilliant msp/guitar improv performances I've seen have been
done by Hans Tammen: http://www.tammen.org/ .

wes

dlurk's icon

google audi-oh ;)

btovsky's icon

now THAT'S a scary thought.
b

bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com

"Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.."
Philip K. Dick