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Post by RandomHero on Oct 4, 2005 17:59:19 GMT -5
This is something I have been considering for quite some time, though it wouldn't work very well on guitar, I think a bass may be candidate. Imagine a device that clips onto the body of a solidbody bass, upward around the forearm contour or maybe the top of the waist, with four keys (or five for a 5-string.) Positioned correctly, these keys were actuated to piano-style levers over each string, with independent mutes. (These, of course, could be turned off with another key perhaps just like on a piano.)
I know it would be frowned on by some, or maybe many, but imagine...
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Post by GuyaGuy on Oct 4, 2005 21:32:20 GMT -5
hm....
well it'd be a good solution for someone who'd been in an accident and didn't have full use of his muscles and nervous system!
what other use would it have? to get a fender rhodes kind of sound?
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Post by UnklMickey on Oct 5, 2005 10:13:01 GMT -5
I like it! i see your mind is working overtime. years ago in underground atlanta they had a music museum. the one thing i remember was a device called a violano virtuoso -- a player piano AND player violin. the violin portion had "frets" that descended on to the strings. near the bridge there were rollers that "bowed" the strings. all automated using info from a section of the paper roll. imagine using those rollers on a guitar. you talk about sustain!
to get an feel for how your piano hammer idea would sound, try hitting the strings of your guitar or bass with a tenor drum mallet (tight felt head) or wrap a regular drum stick tightly with a few layers of denim. i think you'll find the timbre when struck about 2~3" away from the bridge to be most interesting.
ideas for mixing concepts from different instruments is just plain fun. some mixes just work out better. the banjo is very limited in it's application, but also very unique in it's sound. your idea would be less distinctive in it's sound but probably have lots more applications.
while you're on the subject, did you know that the piano is a hybrid itself, having roots in the harp, from which came the harpsichord, the clavier, and eventually the piano?
hammer on!
U.M.
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Post by RandomHero on Oct 5, 2005 11:31:28 GMT -5
Sidenote : interchangeable hammerheads for different sounds. Felt, wood, brass, celluloid...
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Cenulab
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 42
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Post by Cenulab on Oct 6, 2005 14:05:30 GMT -5
There was a devise on the market for guitar quite similar to that about 15 years ago or more; I can't remember the name, but it looked cool in photos. Problem was in real life it wasn't made of metal but plastic, including the "hammer" striking surfaces; kind of cheesy. I seem to recall it got a decent review here or there, but I guess it never caught on.
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