Guitars

Jammy EVO, a next-gen stringed MIDI controller, on Kickstarter now

Written by Daria on May 25, 2020. Posted in Alternate Controllers, Guitars, MIDI Connections, MIDI Hardware, MIDI News. No Comments on Jammy EVO, a next-gen stringed MIDI controller, on Kickstarter now

On its mission of creating the right MIDI device for those who feel more comfortable with 6 strings than with 25 keys, Jammy Instruments is launching a compact stringed MIDI controller Jammy EVO that allows playing any instrument like playing guitar.

The Kickstarter campaign is already live on the link. Jammy EVO raised the goal of $50,000 in just one hour, and $100,000 in two days.

Jammy EVO translates the guitar skills into any instrument to create in any genre by connecting to a laptop or smartphone with DAW. So anyone with even basic guitar playing skills can play the whole orchestra using just one device. And in self-isolation times, Jammy EVO is more relevant than ever, allowing music enthusiasts to be a one-man-band.

Yet another thing that makes EVO stand out is its portability: being disassembled in half, the device is only 17″. With its new collapsible frame design, EVO can be even more compact than its predecessor, so it can be used on the go, or when not played, it doesn’t take up much space in the bedroom studio. Further, improved ergonomics with more comfortable neck profile, optimized string spacing, more reliable construction of latch mechanisms make playing extremely delightful.

Jammy EVO is going to have a set of next-gen optical sensors that will reduce the MIDI latency to 8—10 ms, and also improve MIDI tracking. New mappable hardware controls will be added to the current push knob and accelerometer. Also, there will be a long-awaited lefty version.

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Jammy Instruments – a music tech start-up, focused on building and bringing to market innovative musical hardware and software solutions aimed to make music practice and creation mobile and accessible. Jammy Instruments has achieved its initial success with their first product — Jammy Guitar. It has raised more than 260.000 USD during its 2017 crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and received Best In Show award at the Summer NAMM 2018 — the world’s largest music trade event. Now, equipped with feedback from the Jammy Guitar users’ community, Jammy Instruments is ready for the new endeavor.

Elk Audio OS for everyone!

Written by The MIDI Association on November 24, 2019. Posted in Alternate Controllers, Guitars, MIDI Hardware, MIDI News. No Comments on Elk Audio OS for everyone!

Elk releases open source version of award winning Audio Operating System and Development Kit for Raspberry Pi.

We’ve covered ELK innovations on the site before. Check out these articles on Steinberg and the Elk Powered Retrologue desktop synth and the collaboration between Fishman, Arturia and MIND Music Labs and the band MUSE.

How Fishman, Arturia and MIND Music Labs Followed their MUSE to a State of the Art Synth Guitar in 30 Days –

British mega band MUSE is currently on tour promoting their latest album Simulation Theory performing in sold out stadiums all over the world. Each night frontman and guitarist Matt Bellamy brings out a one of a kind guitar with a special history to

https://www.midi.org/articles-old/how-fishman-arturia-and-mind-music-labs-followed-their-muse-to-a-state-of-the-art-synth-guitar-in-30-days

Powered by ELK Retrologue synth –

MIND Music Labs announced the continuation of the official partnership with music and media production products provider Steinberg — by bringing a brand-new, co-developed desktop synth prototype with full MIDI support to SUPERBOOTH19 in Berlin, May 9

https://www.midi.org/articles-old/powered-by-elk-retrologue-synth

Elk Audio OS is the award-winning Audio Operating System from Elk (formerly known as MIND Music Labs) that allows you to run existing VST and other plugin formats on hardware instruments and audio devices in real time with ultra low latency.

A beta version of the Elk Audio Operating System is being available under a Dual licensing model (open-source & commercial). The Elk Audio OS SDK & documentation is available and is free for anyone to start using.

Also available on is an Elk Audio OS Development Kit for Raspberry Pithat includes a customElk Pi Audio Hat.

The Elk Pi Hat alone is one of the most advanced pro Audio Hats in the markets with down to 1 ms latency, multichannel and support for Raspberry 4 coming up in the very near future.

“The idea behind the Elk Audio OS is to make a whole new generation of connected musical instruments possible. Instruments that can connect people around the world and spur new kinds of musical creativity. We believe there are so many potential instrument makers out there who could create fantastic things if they just had the right tools, and it is for them we have created Elk. So today I’m very happy to announce that we have reached a major milestone in our company, when we can make Elk available to everyone through the open source release.”

by – Michele Beninicaso CEO at Elk (former MIND Music Labs)

Elk Pi Hat for Raspberry Pi

Texas Instruments PCM3168 audio codec, 24 Bit, 48 / 96 / 192 kHz
6 fixed analog audio inputs (2 configurable audio/CV inputs)
6 fixed analog audio outputs (2 configurable audio/CV outputs)
Headphone stereo output w/ adjustable volume
Stereo Input jack
2 fixed Control Voltage outputs
2 Gate/Trigger inputs
4 Gate/Trigger output
16 analog sensor inputs
32 digital inputs
32 digital outputs
5-poles DIN MIDI In/Out
1 I2C interface

The Elk Pi Hat is compatible with your Raspberry Pi 3b / 3b+

To get started developing and prototyping with Elk, you need to download the Elk SDK from the Elk Audio Git Hub,

Elk Audio OS · GitHub

Code & packages for Elk Audio OS. *Disclaimer*: only docs & SDK available now, binaries for the RPi and source code repositories will come soon. – Elk Audio OS

https://github.com/elk-audio

Elk Audio OS for the masses!

Elk is an ultra low latency OS (down to 1ms round-trip) that is officially supported in the VST3 SDK. Elk has additional support for JUCE and is available under a dual license (open-source & commercial).

https://elk.audio/dev-kit/

Jamstik Shares Plans for New Studio MIDI Guitar

Written by Meredith Cannon on July 24, 2019. Posted in Alternate Controllers, Guitars, MIDI Hardware. No Comments on Jamstik Shares Plans for New Studio MIDI Guitar

The newest Jamstik, the Studio, is a full-size, MIDI-capable electric guitar allowing producer-guitarists to create seamlessly in DAWs and music apps.

Guitarists and piano players have an equal appetite for music production, but guitar players have been left wanting due to previous technological barriers in the digital guitar market. Jamstik, leaders in innovating and modernizing the MIDI Guitar market, today share plans to expand its product offerings with the Studio—a MIDI-capable, DAW compatible electric guitar.

“When Jamstik was founded in 2009, our goals were to educate the next generation of guitar players, and open up the creative potential of MIDI compatibility to the world of guitarists,” said Matt Cannon, Jamstik’s Director of Growth. “While we’ve made strides in both areas with our existing Jamstik portable guitar controllers, the Studio is a product we’ve wanted to launch since the beginning; and one we know many customers and partners are equally excited for.”

The Jamstik Studio edition has 24 frets with standard 25.5″ scale-length, but its headless design and minimal body put it at about 3/4 the size of a standard electric— making it studio and travel-friendly.

The Studio MIDI Guitar includes the following features:

Dual Electric-MIDI Capabilities: Record audio, track MIDI, or do both simultaneously.
Analog Audio: Includes standard 1/4” to plug into amps, pedals, and interfaces as usual.
Versatile I/O Ports For MIDI Processing & Charging:
- USB C for MIDI Out & Charging
- 3.5mm TRS-MIDI Out option
- Bluetooth Wireless Connectivity for BLE-MIDI In/Out
DAW Compatible: Works out of the box with all MIDI capable DAWs and plugins.
Dedicated VST: Jamstik will provide a custom-built VST which will include a curated library of specifically designed sounds for the Studio guitar (also compatible with previous Jamstik models).

Product Backstory: The Studio full-size MIDI guitar has always been a dream of the team of developers at Jamstik. Having recently completed a crowdfunding campaign for the Jamstik 7 and Jamstik 12, advances in digital signal processing gave the team a choice: press on with the 12 as designed or move the technology into a truly powerful, full-size instrument. The decision was made to move ahead with the time-honored full guitar format. All Jamstik 12 backers will be receiving the upgraded Studio model upon release.

Pre-Order Coming Soon: Join the email waitlist at jamstik.com/studio to reserve your spot. Additional information and assets are available on the Jamstik Press Page and on Vimeo.

About Jamstik

The Minneapolis-based team has created a new format for guitar learning & music production; helping grow the digital channel of the traditional guitar market. The evolving company looks to capitalize on profound changes in technology and culture—to support innovative classrooms, studios, and stages. Learn more at jamstik.com

Media Contact: Meredith Cannon: meredith@zivix.net

Business Inquiries: sales@zivix.net

How Fishman, Arturia and MIND Music Labs Followed their MUSE to a State of the Art Synth Guitar in 30 Days

Written by Björn on June 10, 2019. Posted in Creating with MIDI, Guitars, MIDI Hardware, MIDI News, MIDI Product News. No Comments on How Fishman, Arturia and MIND Music Labs Followed their MUSE to a State of the Art Synth Guitar in 30 Days

British mega band MUSE is currently on tour promoting their latest album Simulation Theory performing in sold out stadiums all over the world. Each night frontman and guitarist Matt Bellamy brings out a one of a kind guitar with a special history to play the song “The Dark Side.” While Bellamy is happy with the result, reporting that “the guitar works great!” the story of how this guitar was conceived and built is just a few short weeks is very interesting.

Matt Bellamy, being the perfectionist that he is, wants the sounds he created in the studio on stage as much as possible. One essential part of his sound is the Arturia Prophet V synthesizer. Being a user of Fishman’s TriplePlay MIDI guitar pickup & controller, both on stage and in the studio, he wanted to continue to use that to play the Arturia synth live, but without distance, range, cables and a computer getting in the way of his stage performance.

When Matt told me he absolutely wanted to use the Prophet V softsynth live on tour but still be able to move around the stage without any restrictions, I knew we had to find a new kind of solution that would take the computer out of the picture.

by Muse guitar tech Chris Whitemyer

Chris Whitemyer was aware of Swedish music tech company MIND Music Labs and how their ELK MusicOS could run existing plugins and instruments on hardware. Thinking MIND might be the missing piece of the puzzle he approached them at the 2019 NAMM Show. Together with Fishman and Arturia, a first meeting was held in the MIND Music Labs booth on the show floor. That meeting, which took place just a few weeks before the start of Muse’s 2019 World Tour, kicked off several hectic weeks resulting in the three companies producing a new kind of guitar just in time for the tour’s first date in Houston, TX.

Going to that first meeting at NAMM I didn’t know what to expect, but as soon as we plugged in the guitar with our TriplePlay system in the Powered by ELK audio interface board, it was pretty clear that the Fishman and ELK systems would be compatible.”

by Fishman founder and president Larry Fishman,

What was clear after the first meeting was that the reliability of the Fishman TriplePlay MIDI Guitar Controller in combination with ELKs ability to run existing plugins inside the guitar could open up a new world for performers like Matt Bellamy. And with the tour just weeks away, a plan was hatched to get the system finalized and ready for use in the most demanding of conditions – a world tour of arenas and stadiums.

Only days after the closing of the NAMM Show, MIND Music Labs CTO Stefano Zambon flew to Fishman’s Andover, MA headquarters to figure out how to get a powered by ELK audio board inside a guitar, that not only plays well enough to satisfy a world class performer, but could also control the Arturia Prophet V at extremely low latency. In short, redefine the state of the art for synth guitars.

Getting three different companies to join forces on a special project like this does not happen very often, so this was truly special. To go from a first meeting at NAMM to a functioning system in just weeks was a mind-blowing achievement. It required the special expertise and focused efforts of all three companies to pull it off – I can still hardly believe we did.

by MIND Music Labs CEO Michele Benincaso

To see one of our V Collection classic products like the Prophet V on Stage with Muse is very exciting. The fact that it is that same plugin running in the guitar as you use in the studio really makes all the difference. I mean, Matt Bellamy even uses the same preset in the studio!”

by Arturia CEO Frédéric Brun

On February 22nd, just 4 weeks after the first initial meeting at NAMM, MUSE went on stage in Houston in front of a jam-packed Toyota Center. Seven songs into the show Chris Whitemyer handed Matt Bellamy the new guitar for the song “The Dark Side”

When all the guys got together to build this, we didn’t tell Matt that a new guitar was going to be built or maybe not built. I just gave it to him for the first show and told him he could walk as far as he wanted on stage. He just said ‘Oh, Cool!'”

I had no doubt in my mind it would work and it performed flawlessly. When I first got the guitar one week before the first show I tested it very thoroughly, leaving it on for four hours, turning it off and on fifty or more times, and jumping up and down with it and bouncing it off a mattress. It passed all the tests. The guitar is rock solid! Matt and I couldn’t be happier. It does everything I hoped it would and it’s on stage every night.

by Muse guitar tech Chris Whitemyer

If you want to see this unique guitar in action it will be on MUSE’s Simulation Theory World Tour in the U.S. through May, then in Europe all summer and in South and Central America this fall.

IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard

Written by The MIDI Association on May 11, 2019. Posted in Alternate Controllers, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Wireless MIDI, Guitars, MIDI Connections, MIDI Hardware, MIDI News. No Comments on IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard

Bluetooth LE MIDI Pedalboard for controlling iOS and Mac apps

The IK Multimedia Blue Board uses the new BTLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) MIDI specification so you can control your music apps wirelessly with your feet!

If you’re using iOS apps such as IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube, you can now send control messages to them for up to 32.8 feet via Bluetooth MIDI connection.

There are two expansion TRS jacks for expression pedals to give you more control over your sound.

IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard Features:

Wireless Bluetooth technology that functions up to 10 meters (32.8 feet)
4 backlit control pads with additional LEDs that light when the pad is active
2 expansion 1/4″ TRS jacks for additional expression pedals
Compatible with Mac and iOS devices
Powered by 4 standard AAA batteries
Small enough to fit in a laptop bag

Jammy-A MIDI controller with real steel strings and authentic tone.

Written by The MIDI Association on November 3, 2018. Posted in Alternate Controllers, Guitars, MIDI Hardware. No Comments on Jammy-A MIDI controller with real steel strings and authentic tone.

New MIDI Manufacturer Association member RnD64 funded their development of the Jammy MIDI controller via Indiegogo and raised $218,872.

Jammy is a super portable steel string digital guitar that fits in your backpack. – 15-fret extensive sound range – Onboard guitar FX – ¼” and ⅛” direct audio outputs to your headphones or an amp.

It’s also a MIDI controller. You can connect MIDI via USB or via a wireless Bluetooth connection.

The Jammy won Best of Show at the Summer NAMM 2018 show.