Guitar synths (Don's rant)

[Don Tillman]

   From: matti at devo.com
   Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 20:31:32 -0500

   Eh, maybe scrap the whole MIDI/CV controller idea, use a real,
   mostly intact guitar, run it through a beefed-up Roctave Divider
   type thing (and then an octave doubler on that?), dump the guitar's
   signal, and output just what comes out of the oscillators?

   Or has everyone already come to that conclusion?

Well first of all, dump MIDI.  MIDI just isn't appropriate for this
sort of thing.  The guitar and the VCO need to be closer.

One approach is the early Roland technique I mentioned.

Another approach is an oscillator that tries to sync to a guitar
input.  

The oscillator can have multiple inputs and take advantage of phase
and amplitude differences between the pickups.

Multiple oscillators can have different approaches to syncing.

Then hitting a string at an angle might run one oscillator at pitch
and the other oscillator an octave up.  Now you've got some
expression.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don at till.com
http://www.till.com