The Pythagotron has a new damper

The first version of the Pythagotron was quite a complex construction out of threaded rods. This changed with a new more elegant design based on extruded aluminum. One thing that has fallen by the wayside through this process was the damper that was able to gradually mute the string. But now this of lack of string manipulation is over now as the new damper is here!

Die Stadt der Zukunft @MS_Stubnitz (2022-12-07)

Anachronism is a “concert series for music and non music” – seems like a perfect place for “Die Stadt der Zukunft”! So the Band followed the kind invitation to Schwankhalle in Bremen and one day later also to the MS Stubnitz in Hamburg, were Anachronism takes place annually.

New Pickups, new Preamp, new Processor

These three updates made quite a difference to my well-being.

ElektroCaster’s drum sequencer takes shape

Up until now the ElektroCaster has been just a guitar with quiet some extra features. I recently wanted to build a new hardware sequencer to accompany me with drums, harmony and bass while playing. But with all the work of building a new complex piece of hardware lying before me, I realised that the EC’s really is up to the job of providing a flexible and direct interface to make a music sequencing workstation out of it. This drum sequencer along with a new interface concept are the first steps in this direction.

Experimenting with piezo pickups to reduce noise

One of the hardest problems to solve in regards to make the EC a good feeling instrument is noise. Having so much electrical stuff going on under the hood makes it quite hard to isolate it completely from the electromagnetic pickups. While I’ve got the noise down to a somewhat acceptable level (if keeping the gain moderate), I wanna try a different route by implementing piezo transducers from #graphtech, which are immune against electromagnetic interference. I wonder if it’s worth the trade off  of having a piezo sound…

First steps with the step-sequencer on the ElektroCaster

These are the first steps of implementing a step sequencer to trigger midi drums from my ElektroCaster. I really like how I can inverse a channel by sliding over the string. One next thing on my list is to find a more elegant way to erase multiple steps.

Implementing fret-press-recognition

I’m on the way of leveling up my string-press-recognition to a fret-press-recognition. So the guitar will not only know what string is pressed, but also at which fret – even without playing a note. For example, this can be used to play melodies on an external synthesizer or to control fx parameters like ring modulation frequency applied to each string separately. But my main motivation is to use it to place hits on a step sequencer grid that is projected on my led-fretboard…