Misa Digital Guitar

I came across something very interesting a few weeks ago. A company by the name of Misa Digital (Flash required) has developed a touchscreen controlled digital guitar. This isn't the first time this has ever been done - several similar projects have been hacked together by ambitious individuals - but this is the first time something this clean and professional has been produced.

Using many sensors in place of frets and strings, the left hand still plays very similar to how it would on a regular guitar, except with no need to apply pressure. The right hand, however, has much more adaptation to do. No longer is there any strings to pluck...instead, a large, visually pleasing multi-touch screen fills most of the body. There aren't detailed instructions on the website, but from what I can gather from the video, tapping in certain areas seems to play single notes, while touching and sliding triggers various effects.

Misa Digital heavily stresses that their product is in no way intended to be a replacement for the electric guitar. Their digital guitar is a completely different instrument, with its own advantages and weaknesses. On the one hand, it lacks the beauty of analog sound - the subtle velocity changes that come with plucking a string, the pure sound of a string actually vibrating through the air. On the other hand, it is an instrument that puts everything at your fingertips - you can modify the sound in real time with simple touch commands which seem fairly natural.

Oh, and it looks awesome too. I think it would be pretty awesome to watch a digital guitar player up on stage, rocking away on that thing.

It can be difficult these days to do anything truly innovative in the world of music, but Misa Digital does just that. Their digital guitar caters to the eyes, the ears and the hands, and it will certainly be interesting to see what it's used for when it becomes mass-produced.

If this kind of thing interests you, check out the laser harp. While this instrument has ACTUALLY been around since the 70s, it has become well-known again since this guy created one in his own house and began releasing videos.