Something new in guitar synthesis

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   I'm a progressive rock musician, formerly the original cast "George Harrison" of Beatlemania on Broadway.

Something newsworthy:
I now play a futuristic instrument called the Starr Labs Ztar. A MIDI Guitar controller like no other which takes expressiveness and instills it in electronic music with a Progressive Rock Neo Classical edge.

Robert Fripp of King Crimson once remarked that his interest in guitar synthesis was that something entirely new would appear. This could be it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvc6u5t1yG0

Fans of Crimson and Yes are very impressed with what is on offer here. Very positive reactions, I must say.

Cheers,

Les Fradkin
http://www.lesfradkin.com
http://www.myspace.com/lesfradkin
http://www.reverbnation.com/lesfradkin

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lesfradkin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: November 14 2008 Location: Parker, CO USA Status: Offline Points: 2	Topic: Something new in guitar synthesis Posted: December 17 2008 at 14:19
	I'm a progressive rock musician, formerly the original cast "George Harrison" of Beatlemania on Broadway. Something newsworthy: I now play a futuristic instrument called the Starr Labs Ztar. A MIDI Guitar controller like no other which takes expressiveness and instills it in electronic music with a Progressive Rock Neo Classical edge. Robert Fripp of King Crimson once remarked that his interest in guitar synthesis was that something entirely new would appear. This could be it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvc6u5t1yG0 Fans of Crimson and Yes are very impressed with what is on offer here. Very positive reactions, I must say. Cheers, Les Fradkin http://www.lesfradkin.com http://www.myspace.com/lesfradkin http://www.reverbnation.com/lesfradkin
	Les Fradkin Bringing the Ztar to Progressive Rock

clarke2001 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: June 14 2006 Location: Croatia Status: Offline Points: 4160	Posted: December 17 2008 at 15:47
	Err..sorry, I don't get it. What so special about Ztar, compared to other MIDI guitars? And why is that 'guitar synthesis' if it's just about a MIDI interface triggering synth?
	Percussion, sir!

lesfradkin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: November 14 2008 Location: Parker, CO USA Status: Offline Points: 2	Posted: December 17 2008 at 16:15
	Some background info quoted from the www.starrlabs.com website: The Z-tar is an electronic musical instrument that you connect via a MIDI cable to synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, and computers. The main difference between the Z-tar and other MIDI guitar controllers is that there are no strings on the neck. Instead, the fingerboard is actually a specialized keyboard with a touch-sensitive key each note position. You can play the Z-tar like a guitar where you fret with one hand and strum with the other hand, or you can tap the fingerboard keys to play them as you would a keyboard, only you're playing the same scales and fingerings that you use on guitar. The Ztar is not a guitar. It does not replace a guitar. It helps a guitarist play synthesizers and play into computers. The advantages when using this type of fingerboard are: You can sustain notes with your fingers as you would with a keyboard but cannot do with a guitar. You're playing a MIDI controller because you're playing a synthesizer, and most commonly using sounds other than guitar. Pianos, organs, strings, horns, etc. sound more authentic if you can hold the notes the way a keyboard player does it, rather than strumming a string which dies away and having to re-strum or use a sustain pedal to maintain the sound. The Ztar fingerboard as able to play up to 24 notes per string, simultaneously! Where you can use this capability is in playing tightly-voiced chords the way a keyboard performs them. An ordinary guitar is quite limited in the type and number of chord-voicings that are normally easy to play on a keyboard. Also, the Ztar's polyphonic string enables complete independence when playing in a two-hand tapping style. Because the Ztar has no strings it is not necessary to analyze string vibrations for pitch-detection purposes. While this technology has improved, there are theoretical limitations that will always yield time-delays and glitches in performance, a drawback with most traditional gutiar-synth controllers. It should be mentioned that solving this problem is not the main focus of the Ztar. These and other advantages render all Roland and other pitch detection systems obsolete. But more to the point, this is a NEW instrument and the results speak for themselves. Expressiveness and the ability to play everything you see and hear on the video LIVE with clips, melody, bass, backing, percussion, etc. Try doing that with a Pitch to MIDI system. Les
	Les Fradkin Bringing the Ztar to Progressive Rock