Misa Kitara / Tribass MIDI controller guitar

Started by Kenmac, January 28, 2011, 03:36:53 PM

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Kenmac

I searched the forum before I made a topic about this. There's a new guitar shaped controller called the Misa Kitara digital guitar coming soon. Here's the website:  http://www.misadigital.com/index.php?target=home&lang=en  They're taking pre-orders right now and the price seems fairly reasonable. (Check the pre-order page.) As you'll see on the website the section where there should be guitar strings is replaced by a screen that's running a specialized Linux operating system and because the neck has buttons that you push there's virtually no issues with tracking. I'd say this is one worth watching.  :)
"Let them brush your rock and roll hair."

Elantric

#1
About as close to a guitar as a You Rock Guitar  or a Harvey Starr Ztar IMHO = zero string bending.

True its a new instrument - but not much interest here at my end personally  - others may flock to it.

they were having a NAMM show special $1600/ea for pre-orders.
i believe they lowered the price right after NAMM to a more reasonable $849, although they still show an upper end model for $2,899

Also - Prototypes were 1st shown a year ago at Winter NAMM 2010.






paults

I suppose if you can use the X-Y movement for vibrato and whammy effects without triggering new notes, it could get around the lack of a whammy bar and provide vibrato and bending. But, you're limited to sampled guitars, and that's a limitation that's not in the VG series and the GR-55.  To me, that's a deal breaker.  Too bad, though  - I would love have something wacky like this.  Maybe I just need to put light bars under my strings. LOL! 

ddlooping

#3
Interesting concept but not for me. :)

It reminds me of the Fender Mustang for the game Rock Band (which is also a midi controller).  ;D
Diaz Guitars (work in progress)

Kenmac

Quote from: paults on January 28, 2011, 06:10:41 PM
I suppose if you can use the X-Y movement for vibrato and whammy effects without triggering new notes, it could get around the lack of a whammy bar and provide vibrato and bending. But, you're limited to sampled guitars, and that's a limitation that's not in the VG series and the GR-55.  To me, that's a deal breaker.  Too bad, though  - I would love have something wacky like this.  Maybe I just need to put light bars under my strings. LOL! 
:D  Regarding sampled guitars, if you go to the website and check out the "Tech Specs" you'll see it has a MIDI out jack so you could use it with your favourite virtual instruments. Anyway, one of the main reasons why I posted about this was to not only let people here know about it but also because I'm in a bit of a quandry over what to buy when I get my income tax return later on. At first I was going to get an Epiphone Nighthawk (to make a long story short, at one time back in the mid 90's I had a really nice Gibson Nighthawk and I foolishly sold it) then a few days ago I came over here and saw the GR-55 is available and shortly after I read about the Misa from a link on another forum.  :-\ My first instinct is to go with the Nighthawk but seeing those GR videos has me wanting one of those as well. However, the reason that I'm intrigued by the Misa is because I currently own a Yamaha EZ-AG guitar controller which has always had a few annoying limitations and the Misa looks like a more professional version of it. It's still awhile until I get my brother-in-law to file my taxes for me so I'll have time to think this over.
"Let them brush your rock and roll hair."

ZenSonic

Quote from: Kenmac on January 31, 2011, 10:02:27 AM
:D  Regarding sampled guitars, if you go to the website and check out the "Tech Specs" you'll see it has a MIDI out jack so you could use it with your favourite virtual instruments. Anyway, one of the main reasons why I posted about this was to not only let people here know about it but also because I'm in a bit of a quandry over what to buy when I get my income tax return later on. At first I was going to get an Epiphone Nighthawk (to make a long story short, at one time back in the mid 90's I had a really nice Gibson Nighthawk and I foolishly sold it) then a few days ago I came over here and saw the GR-55 is available and shortly after I read about the Misa from a link on another forum.  :-\ My first instinct is to go with the Nighthawk but seeing those GR videos has me wanting one of those as well. However, the reason that I'm intrigued by the Misa is because I currently own a Yamaha EZ-AG guitar controller which has always had a few annoying limitations and the Misa looks like a more professional version of it. It's still awhile until I get my brother-in-law to file my taxes for me so I'll have time to think this over.
You Rock Guitar has a more pro version of it's popular midi guitar that is said to be offered later this year. I saw a pic of a proto type. It looked Strat inspired.  I don't know the specs yet.

Elantric

If you want a touch board MIDI guitar like controller

Try one of these - i own two, and it meets my needs :

http://www.yourockguitar.com/

ZenSonic

#7
Starr Labs/Ztar is working a midi guitar called a Rock Controller that they hope to retail for around $400. Here is a UTube link to the prototype

The gaming industry seems to be moving the technology into the affordable realm.

jburns

ztar was always my fav until the kitara, which has been around for almost 2yrs. i don't think they started selling it until a yr ago. being open source is fantastic. that means limitless settings. i wouldn't compare any guitar hero TOYS to something such as the kitara, an actual musical instrument. from what i know, best tracking, most performance options, and highest amount of processing power compared to anything like it. all for a really really cheap price. watch some videos on this bad ass before comparing it to a video game accessory. its also gorgeous looking. def something to look into, even if it doesn't interest you, the features are mighty awesome.

Elantric

http://misa-digital.myshopify.com/

Misa Tri-Bass








Introducing the Misa Tri-Bass. The tri-bass has been designed specifically for tomorrow's electronic music. Although it looks like a guitar, and has a name like a bass guitar, it is played like neither. The tri-bass design is pretty far removed from traditional guitar, even more so than the original misa kitara. Partly this is to try and break any assumptions people may have of digital guitar style instruments; mostly though, it's to make the instrument fit perfectly in a modern electronic music setting. So with that out of the way, let me break down the core elements of the design.

The neck is touch sensitive to encourage sliding along the neck. In fact, that's what it's all about. There are no push buttons. This is to stop the bad sound of amplitude and filter envelopes restarting, something that happens when trying to slide across an array of push buttons. When you set your synth to glide, this neck design will make sure it sounds better than anything. The fingerboard is wave shaped with channels to lock the finger to the sensor area. This is mainly to provide the tactile information a player needs about their hand position.



The tri-bass has three "strings" only - six strings are unnecessary. YES I know that's a controversial statement to make. But after learning how other people were using the misa kitara, understanding their expectations as "digital guitarists" and most importantly seeing the workflow and processes others are currently using to produce modern electronic music, I knew it was the right decision to make. One note alone through a synthesizer can be enough to completely cut through any mix and provide enough tonal information to sound like bliss (if you're doing it right). Do you really need six? (And this is not to sacrifice musicality, because the multi-channel nature of the instrument - see below - more than makes up for it.) Too many times people have picked up a kitara and tried to play a barre chord. It's not really right. These sorts of six string chords are just not important for what the tri-bass is trying to achieve. The design is a reminder that the tri-bass is not meant to sound like a guitar, and it forces the user to adapt their playing style to a new electronic form. The other reason for the low string count is that three widely spaced strings allows me to do interesting things with the layout as I have more space. The result is to make playing much more comfortable and enjoyable, especially live and in dim light conditions.

The tri-bass body and neck are solid wood just as an electric guitar is. The maple neck feels really comfortable to play. This is my favourite part of the design because I think this, coupled with the embedded electronics, provide that perfect balance between traditional and futuristic forms. There is something special about combining old materials with new ones, even though it can be an engineering nightmare.

The tri-bass is a controller only and does not have an on-board synthesizer. State of the art software synthesizers are freely available to generate sound and musicians rarely limit themselves to one synth only. I want to leave the option open to the players to choose sounds based on their own taste, rather than being stuck with something provided on the hardware. Furthermore, most synthesizers are highly configurable. So my aim has been to give the tri-bass no configuration options at all, to prevent the requirement of configuration at two ends which is messy, especially when sharing presets. A minimalistic interface with configurability at the sound module end is most effective.

Perhaps the coolest element of the tri-bass is that it is multi-channel by default. The screen lets you control multiple synths or sounds simultaneously. You can mix different sounds together just by touching different parts of the screen.

In summary, I am very proud of the misa tri-bass. It is a solid, robust and stage-worthy product that has had a lot of thought go in to the design, and a lot of work go in to the engineering. I hope you like it.




imerkat

#11
Don't know who/where to ask but does anybody know what synth this is?


I know that's a Tri-bass but as much as i know soft-synth capabilities i'm looking for good hardware synth.

Elantric