Be the Pick

From a source at Gizmodo, we have been informed of one mans invention that may change the way we think of guitar sounds in the not too distant future. Inventor Paul Vo has created a battery powered pickup to fit beneath guitar strings that alters the way the strings vibrate. Naming it the “Vo-96 acoustic synthesizer”, Paul calls it ”vibration control technology”, and unlike electronic synthesis that uses a chip or a computer to alter the waveforms of the sound, this device alters the sound in real time, physically changing the way the strings vibrate. Have a look at this video.

I’m not sure of what Paul Vo means when he says there is intense digital signal processing going on to control the physical space. But whatever exactly is happening there, it’s amazing. The vibration of each string can be controlled at 16 different  for a total of 96 discreetly controllable harmonic “channels”. So it sounds like the player has some options as to what he wants the vibration to sound like. I hope this technology is released in the near future so we can start hearing some of this sound in the more psychedelic guitar music of today. If only the Beatles had access to a guitar like this! Somebody fire up the time machine!

And just for fun, here’s a video of another new technology in guitars that only seems to be a guitar in shape. This instrument is so digital it might as well be a keyboard, but what makes it unique is the XY pad with interchangeable sound morphing variables for the player to run their fingers across while triggering a sound.

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