Paradis Guitars - Swiss Guitar & Looper Innovation

Started by Elantric, May 09, 2011, 09:34:05 AM

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Elantric



There was a Firewire MIDI Guitar by Rolf Spuler based upon the BRidgco / Archwave Firewire MIDI Guitar reference board.

http://www.rolfspuler.com/gb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=136

http://matthias.grob.org/pParad/ParadHistE.htm

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=31680.msg239522#msg239522



http://www.archwave.net/solution.php

Last Update on Rolf Spulers "Paradise" Firewire Guitars - I spoke with Mr Spuler last year, and he indicated that production has stopped on his Firewire MIDI guitars.
http://www.rolfspuler.com/gb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=120&limit=1&limitstart=0


jburns

i got really excited and went to that link before i read the bottom. ugh. still awesome to see a start in this direction.

jburns

wonder how well the paradise ran in a live setup. its a real accomplishment either way. i dont think windows even supported firewire in 2004 for one thing. and he got it to transfer midi, built into the guitar without a box no less. im pretty sure something like that and possibly the fishman wireless (if its 2.0) can control digital audio with way better results. midi data is simple and doesnt require much other then a good pitch to midi detection. but when you start using VST's running 600MB of memory, sometimes mine get up to 1200 which still isnt really even alot, once the midi is in the signal it still takes time, resources and power to trigger digital audio accurately. especially in windows- the motherboard eats up everything in sight. just because (lets say firewire for example) can transfer @ up to 800, most motherboards are so overrun and split the resources so that your only getting 150 of that a second instead. so just imagine how slow that usb1.0 really is! theres just not enough power for high quality softsynths using a 1.0 connection. and roland/others dont admit to it on specifications. they just say "usb-high speed" {i think usb 2 is called "superspeed"}. well, its my little theory but i really do believe that these faster connections and decent drivers for them of course will make all the difference for keyboardists and midi guitarists in a daw environment.

Elantric

#3
Re Firewire - I have had firewire on my Windows PC's since 1998 - I needed it for capturing video from my Sony TRV900 DV camcorder.

A Firewire port has been standard on all Macs since 1997

Actually the firewire PCB with 8 channel audio and MIDI I/O inside Rolf Spuler's Paradise / Avalon guitars was developed by Bridgeco, with some custom Guitar to MIDI firmware programmed by Mathias Grob - ( same guy who developed the EchoPlex Looper ) - Bridgeco has sold the technology to Archwave, who still markets the chipset and has development boards

http://www.archwave.net/solution.php


scratch17

I know this is a bit off topic, but I think it bears mention here, because Firewire 800 was mentioned as the best MIDI data transfer conduit, and it is already obsolete.

According to jburns:

Quotefirewire800 [carries midi!] and is the fastest data transfer out there for pc/mac (without lets say an optical audio interface), so why not use this method instead?

Firewire 800 is not "the fastest data transfer out there".

Thunderbolt was developed by Intel and Apple (to replace Firewire, displayport, eSATA and USB). It is 12 times faster than Firewire 800. It uses electrical connections for cabling up to 10 feet and optical cables for longer cable runs.

Thunderbolt can have up to six devices connected to each port. It combines a PCI-e bus and a Displayport bus.

You can expect to see Thunderbolt peripherals such as port replicator docks with USB3, eSata, Firewire400 and 800 to enable you to use legacy devices on the Thunderbolt bus. Of course, these devices won't transfer data any faster than their underlying technology.

Since Displayport is built into Thunderbolt, monitor manufacturers will be coming out with displays
that have more than one port, so they can be daisy chained with other Thunderbolt peripherals. Since Thunderbolt bandwidth is dual-channel (duplex) 10GBPS per port, there won't be any affect when adding devices to the chain.

It is even possible that since Thunderbolt is also PCI-e, a display could have a built-in mini PCI-e video card slot that could contain the video engine for the monitor. A PCI-e expansion chassis with Thunderbolt is also possible.


Some of the announced peripherals:

Universal Audio has announced Thunderbolt connected hardware that can host their renowned plug-ins.

Apogee has also announced support for Thunderbolt for their Symphony In/Out audio interfaces.

Avid has announced Thunderbolt support for "audio (Pro Tools/M-Audio/Digidesign) and video" devices.

There are already storage solutions (from La Cie and Promise), and video capture devices (Matrox) announced  with Thunderbolt.


Thunderbolt is already built in to the early 2011 Macbook Pro (one port) and new iMacs (two ports).
Apple is widely expected to include Thunderbolt on all new Macs as they are revised. It is also possible that iPad and even iPhone could get some version of Thunderbolt so you could connect to a Mac.

How long before peripherals with Thunderbolt are made available? As with all new technologies, there will be a first device released. At the NAB show, Blackmagic announced a video capture solution with Thunderbolt that will be available in July.

Here are some sites describing Thunderbolt.

http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/
http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/index.htm



Hamer Duotone, Brian Moore i213, Taylor 710 BCE 

VG-99, FC-300, RMC Fanout
RJM Mastermind GT10
Kemper Profiling Amp
Radial JDV Mk3, X-Amp
Mesa Recto Pre + 20/20
68 Fender Bandmaster (AB763)
Marshal AS80R

UA Apollo X6, Twin X, Logic Pro, Luna, Melodyne Studio

jburns

itll be how long before thunderbolt is mainstream?... 800 is already on most computers and audio devices, thats what i meant by "out there" as in already being used on the market. im not using my guitar for video son.

wmzaphod

I especially like the use of AA batteries in that one .......
Peter
a gear-a-holic

See some guitars at JediStar.com

chaka

#7
Hi,

Paradis guitars sound really well. On www.schlaier-hirt.de/audio you can find some audio played with a Paradis Nylon guitar and a Paradis with steel strings. Note that the bass is not a synthesizer, it's the polysubbass of the Paradis guitar. On the album »Behind The Scenes« there is a small amount of a GR-55 335/Mesa Boogie simulation added to the Paradis stereo sound.

Chaka

Elantric

#8
! No longer available
http://youtu.be/LnYSHu-8-K0?list=PL33C32EC30EE2C546

http://www.rolfspuler.com/site/


------------------------------------
Rolf Spuler, one of the most unique and genious guitar makers died on April 18. 2014
He used the most advanced methods to make 350 guitars: 3D design, CNC, SMD electronics, piezo pickup for each string...

the resulting 6 opportunities below are a simplification. any combinations are possible, so whatever interest you have, please contact us! mailto:matthias@paradis-guitars.com

1  taking over the Swiss company Rolf Spuler GmbH
    with or without content.

2  rent this place: with or without content
    for building guitars or whatever you want.
there are free rooms in the main house if you want to live there. an amazing place, because Frauenfeld can be reached by bike and Zürich by S-train - and the forest with waterfalls starts behind the house...

3  adapt any of the concepts or parts described at http://paradis-guitars.com for your instrument.
    all professionals that worked with Rolf are willing to consult and started this forum: http://paradis-guitars.info (Rolf did not want that his models would be built by others)

4  take over the whole electronics. Matthias will continue making the pickups
    Rolf developed a modular PCB family to build into the guitars that was not promoted yet.

5  creating a webshop with all the guitar specific parts
    one of Rolfs plans was to offer all the special parts he found and created to other guitar makers. we have pictures showing what parts we are talking about in case you are interested in organizing this.

6  repairing Rolf's guitars
    do you have a guitar repair shop that can deal with SMD electronics?
Rolf's instruments contain rather complex electronics and unsusual parts, but he left a stock of parts and all drawings and schemas his partners can consult...

7  buying specific items like machines, wood, prototypes, kits...
    if no one takes over the entire shop, we will start to sell off its parts mid August.

please forward this mail to whomever you think may be interested or know someone interested, mailing lists etc
thank you
Matthias
__._,_.___


Matthias Grob matilists@gmail.com














---
The FireWire Electric Guitar
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2005/10/the-firewire-electric-guitar/

AES: Finally, a guitar you can plug directly into your computer — no strings attached.


You may never have heard of BridgeCo, but if you've got a FireWire audio interface, odds are their guts are inside. (They make the firmware / hardware platform.) Now they've gone and crossed your FireWire interface with a boutique electric guitar. What does that give you? A FireWire electric guitar, that's what.


Companies have been promising guitars you could plug and play with a computer, but there's always a catch, like a breakout box — or the thing simply doesn't ship. Heck, we even got a prototype USB-powered ukelele. But this is real, it's at AES here in NYC, and thanks to FireWire, each string can be a separate audio channel.


So is the guitar any good? Probably — it's the product of designer Rolf Spuler, who builds instruments for the likes of Al DiMeola and Bela Fleck. I'll get to hear it in action this weekend and will report back. And it sure looks cool. (More CDM photos after the jump; thanks, Spencer!)


Alternative to a FireWire guitar: use a computer-based stompbox and plug into that for software effects; see the recent IK / Native Instruments stompbox smackdown.





Elantric

#9
Welcome to the forum Paul!
Quotei am not a musician but i love music and build instruments in carbon fiber..

I'm sure you are aware - but be sure you are wearing protection when working with Carbon Fiber or any other wood / luthier materials.

Last year we lost one of my favorite luthiers in Switzerland - Rolf Spuler  of Paradise Guitars  from complications from breathing the dust he created each day while building musical instruments, and Carbon Fiber dust is particularly damaging to the lungs ! 

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11656.msg84573#msg84573


Elantric

#10
Matthias -

Very happy to see you posting here at Vguitarforums.

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3444.msg26042#msg26042

the guitar with firewire PCB with 8 channel audio and MIDI I/O inside Rolf Spuler's Paradise / Avalon guitars was developed by Bridgeco, with some custom Guitar to MIDI firmware programmed by Mathias Grob - ( same guy who developed the EchoPlex Looper ) - Bridgeco has sold the technology to Archwave, who still markets the chipset and has development boards

http://archwave.net


https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11656.msg84573#msg84573




matigrob

#11
Thank you, Elantric
I have such a FireWire guitar nicely working, http://www.matthiasgrob.org/pEquip/EquipE.htm
and I have some such PCB boards left if someone wants to buy one...
but confess I recently prefer to use a StringPort interface, or maybe a Roland GR-10 from now on.
and of course I still use the VST plugins I made for this projects: http://www.mathons.com/polysystem.htm

When we decided to make the big effort to create this hardware for the guitar and the VST plugin family, we did not consider:

- a good guitar serves for decades and electronics change, so its important to build the minimum into the guitar. to fix this problem it would make a lot of sense to create a guitar electronic module standard, so newer modules can be inserted in older instruments...

- the FireWire male connector is pretty solid (survives the cigarette step out test you suggest here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4634.msg31255#msg31255 :-)
but the female is not, even with Rolfs special protection part. and once it breaks, the 24V destroy parts of the computer

- whenever the FireWire connection is unplugged or fails the audio application in the laptop needs to be rebooted

- a laptop is great to create and save things, but its not reliable enough for stage, by its connectors and the uncertainty of the software. even with a dedicated machine, using the same setup and software, I often had clicks appearing or the interface not coming up immediately... reboot... even a big screem a few times!

- it does not feel right to have a lot of electricity (even warming up!) in the instrument.

With the Diguit, Rolf went even further with this concept, he managed that Axon built the Szalay MIDI conversion into the BridgeCo chip, so the guitar really had a MIDI output, a DIN 5pin connector and FireWire!
I also have some of those boards, but I do not know how well they work, Rolf gave up when Axon closed.

So now I hope we can figure out a solid analog connection with separate strings and some control lines.
we had some great discussions here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cycfi/

Elantric

#12


See & Hear Rolf Spuler Paradise Guitar in action live played by Jose Neto backing up Steve Winwood at 2013 Jazz Lugano Festival
http://www.joseneto.com/

http://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/fiscalsponsorship/projects/themanbehindthewhiteguitar
Quote...as soon as he touched his custom-guitar, sending a shower of harmonics into the the silence, he rendered all musings about categorisation redundant, . . . he demonstrated just how much musical territory, opened up by Hendrix in the 1960s, still remains for subsequent generations of guitarists to explore."   – The London Times, 1996



Lugano: 04 - 07 - 2013

Steve Winwood: Hammond,g,voc
Paul Booth:s,fl,voc
Richard Bailey: dr
Cafe DaSilva: perc
Jose Neto:g

01 Rainmaker
02 I'm a Man
03 Fly
04 Can't find my way home
05 Had to cry today
06 Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
07 Light Up or Leave Me Alone
08 Higer Love
09 Keep on running
10 Dear mr. Fantasy
11 Gimme some Lovin

Elantric

#13

The Man Behind the White Guitar will release January 17, 2017, the date of the next presidential inauguration.

This film is being created by a growing international collaboration of artists who believe in the power of music. Paul Liberatore,  journalist for Marin Independent Journal says José Neto is in service to music, not fame or money. He carries a spirit of loyalty, devotion and positive vision, a message we could all use in our world today.


Jose Neto
This is the pitch video for funding efforts for the feature documentary film, "The Man Behind the White Guitar." You can visit the website
http://www.themanbehindthewhiteguitar.com/

and the Facebook page
http://www.themanbehindthewhiteguitar.com/

.


A feature documentary film by collaborative international artists

"They're going to make a movie about Neto? Well he's brilliant, isn't he?" – 92-year-old baker Ms. Watson from the Cotswolds in England.

A spectrum of people, voices, and textures, "The Man Behind the White Guitar" is a film about the musical life of Brazilian guitarist, José Neto. Neto's music and energy have been behind major world musicians, including Harry Belafonte and Steve Winwood, as well as Brazilian greats, Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. His diverse musical journey from Brazil to the United States and England and deep life challenges have taught him the values of loyalty, devotion, and positive vision that speak through his sounds and performing spirit. He's touched the lives of the most unsuspecting fans worldwide.


http://youtu.be/LnYSHu-8-K0?list=PL33C32EC30EE2C546
Goto 40:00 and its the first time I ever heard a nylon string guitar sound like a cross between Duane Allman and Carlos Santana


http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABA88394ED51062E&feature=plcp

Elantric

#14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES67

http://archwave.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Archwave-AudioLAN-brochure-2015.pdf

http://youtu.be/nyfTesKpq-E?list=PLtZcTSildlegF6EEUiSPS5zsQBhkx_CIU

Cymatic Audio uNode M42
Use your uNode M42 to add microphones, line-level sources, and MIDI devices to your AES67 or Ravenna equipped audio mixing console or sound installation.

Equally at home with both live sound as well as install environments, the uNode M42 allows you to add audio and MIDI I/O in a space saving and modular fashion.

Mix and match multiple uNode M42 units as needed, at any physical locations in your stage or installation that needs one. Designed to work both free-standing on a stage floor or mounted securely in a rack, the uNode M42 offers versatility, in addition to its compact size and ease of use.


For more information on the Ravenna networked audio protocol and to learn about compatible products, visit www.ravenna-network.com

http://www.ravenna-network.com/
http://www.ravenna-network.com/adopting-ravenna/oem-solutions

matigrob

#15
Helo,
its nice to read how our work is liked here!
since Rolf died and we are not sure how to go on building the Paradis guitars, we created a Polybass version which fits into any hexaphonic guitar (if you have the skills) and especially plug+play into the Godin Multiac SA (probably any guitar with a RMC pickup)
http://polybass.com
there is also a new FB page and group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/140324249842486/



Cups

The original guitar looks amazing. Thanks for the share.

Smash


admin






the legendary Polysubbass is now available for your instruments!
for over 25 years, only Paradis guitars had this unique integrated low bass sound...
...which now is available for the Godin Multiac SE (plug and play) and other instruments!

Polybass is a radical rework of the legendary Polysubbass
now designed for low power 9V battery supply in any guitar. a bass line follows your playing, totally integrated,
controlled by the lowest slider (synth vol control).
its analog, we do not even talk about tracking: how ever you play, it never creates a wrong note.
Priority function
only the lowest string you play becomes audible, so there is no bass mud or roaring, just one lower octave bass line.
adjustable volume for each string
the RMC pickup is amazingly balanced, other pickups need correction. it can be helpful to adapt the string volumes to playing style, to string characteristics, to musical intentions... from outside with a little screwdriver, boosting the weak strings...
new low noise preamp
less noise and slightly smoother attack... due 7 discrete FET preamp's with much higher input impedance than the original...
easy exchange without soldering
unscrew, unplug, cut 2 wires, insert, replug, play
new back plate
3mm smoked plexi with logo and holes for adjustment...
color rubber caps for the sliders
colors help to remember and rubber is smoother to operate




Elantric


GuitarBuilder

Very sad to have lost Rolf at such an early age.  He was an artist and wizard.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

Elantric

Quote from: GuitarBuilder on August 24, 2017, 03:29:53 PM
Very sad to have lost Rolf at such an early age.  He was an artist and wizard.

Very true - ( a lesson on the importance of minimizing wood dust)

Mathias Grob  has taken over Paradis Guitars ( Gibson Echo-Plex, 
http://paradis-guitars.com/network.htm

Must Read
http://matthiasgrob.org/HomeE.htm

GuitarBuilder

Matthias is more like a mad scientist inventor - awesome!
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

Elantric

#23
Quote from: GuitarBuilder on August 24, 2017, 05:01:24 PM
Matthias is more like a mad scientist inventor - awesome!

He's actually a member here

he tried to skype several times - but our mutual time schedules were never right

http://www.mathons.com/

http://matthiasgrob.org/pParad/WhyPolyDistortion.html

admin

#24
Quote from: GuitarBuilder on August 24, 2017, 05:01:24 PM
Matthias is more like a mad scientist inventor - awesome!


http://www.matthiasgrob.org/pMusEng/loopdev.htm
The Development of the
LOOP delay / ECHOPLEX DP

1985, Matthias started to use a Roland 3000 delay with a volume pedal in the FeedBack insert to create sound carpets, as he called them, without knowing about Brian Enos work. They served for the daily exercises to ease his back problem. After half a year, the sound had cought over all of his interest and he started presenting it in public.
1987, Matthias traveled to t.c. electronics in Denmark to explain the necessity of loop functions for the 2290 delay to Kim Rishoj, who evaluated the functions carefully but found them only interesting for a "few esoteric" musicians. Listening to Matthias' music of that time, this is understandable :-)
1988, Matthias designed the Multiply function and sent the proposal (pseudocode / time chart) to Gary Hall at Lexicon, who liked the idea but thought that the sales volume for Lexicon would be to small.
The letter to Roland Corp. with a similar proposal was not quite understood and Rolands answer was pretty negative.
1989, Matthias met Gary Hall at the music fair in Frankfurt and learned enough about the PCM42 from him to be able to build the first prototype of the Record and the Multiply function into Gary's personal PCM42 and Matthias made his music on this construction for about two year, confirming the usefullness of the functions.







1990, Matthias had the idea to bring the users of loop technology together to exchange music and information with the project LOOP Group. In 1995 he invited LOOP delay users for a common CD project but only got 4 contributors (Kuno Wagner, Michael Peters, Renato Rizzo, Andre Krikula) sent a DAT to Brasil. In 1996 the internet was introduced in Brasil and Kim Flint founded Loopers-Delight.com. There, more contributors became interested and the first Loopers-Delight CD finally was spread as CD-Rs in 1998, by Ray Peck. The second CD was a double with industrial quality, produced by Matt McCabe.
1991, Matthias decided to build the LOOP delay all alone. He was not aware of the effort for software, but destiny saved him by bringing Eric to the community of the beautiful chalet Musical Engineering was installed in. Here an old page documenting this central phase of development.


http://www.livelooping.org/tools/rack/loopdelay/
Paradis Loop Delay
Paradis Loop Delay

Few of the Oberheim Echoplex users know that their loop delays have an ancestor.

In the early nineties, really long loops still couldn't be done without tapes or expensive modifications to high-end delay units. Multiply, Insert, and Undo functions were Looping Science Fiction, and existed only in the head of Matthias Grob, a Swiss musician and electronics engineer. Matthias thought that having such functions would be cool, so he invented the Loop Delay.

In cooperation with Eric Obermuhlner and the Swiss company Paradis (otherwise known for their exotic instrument design), the Loop Delay was built and sold about 100 times (now a collector's item!). In the beginning, nobody in the music business had the faintest idea what a "Loop Delay" could do, and its revolutionary new possibilities were hard to describe, so the Loop Delay carried a short description on the front panel:

LD1 DIGITAL DELAY / RAM RECORDER / OSTINATOR

(Of course, nobody knew what an "Ostinator" was either.)

At the 1993 Frankfurt Music Fair, Matthias was found by Keith McMillen, then leader of Gibson's short-lived G-WIZ Labs,
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=downloads;sa=downfile&id=69

and he took the Loop Delay several steps further, and it turned into the Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro
http://www.livelooping.org/tools/rack/echoplex-digital-pro/

which was the most sophisticated dedicated looper for many years. Matthias has since partnered with ex-gwizzers Kim Flint and Eric Obermuhlner as Aurisis Research, to continue developing the Loop concept.

The Loop Delay, its internal workings, logic, philosophy, and user interface were basically similar to the Echoplex, but with some major differences:

The programmable parameter matrix known from the Echoplex didn't exist. There were some parameters but they couldn't be controlled and stored as easily.
The Loop Delay had no output volume control.
No 9 independent loops but only one.
While the Echoplex comes with one standard cable, the footpedal of the Loop Delay came with a bundle of cables, one for each function.
less MIDI and Sync functions
no Reverse, no sound triggered Record, no redefinition of the loop start point
Nonetheless, the Loop Delay is a wonderful device and I have spent many wonderful hours with it – thanks for inventing this Matthias!

Michael Peters

the inventor using his tool: