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Synthesizer Guitar
A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as Hammond Innovex and Ovation, Ludwig, EMS, 360 Systems, Norlin Music and Maestro, Ampeg and Hagström, Arp, Roland Corporation and FujiGen ( GR-500 and GR-300), New England Digital, Electro-Harmonix, Casio, Terratec/Axon, Starr Labs, Ibanez, Holt Electro Acoustic Research, Zeta Systems, and Yamaha. In the early days, there were three main types of guitar-synthesizers: * Multi-effects type * Frequency-to-voltage converter type (using guitar with pickups) * Guitorgan type (using guitar with fretboard switches) Later, the multi-effects type evolved into modeling guitar, and the other two types evolved into current devices. Presently, there are two main groups: * Guitar-synth using guitars: regular guitars equipped w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica, or both. Techniques The guitarist may employ any of several methods for sounding the guitar, including finger picking, depending on the type of strings used (either nylon or steel), and including strumming with the fingers, or a guitar pick made of bone, horn, plastic, metal, felt, leather, or paper, and melodic flatpicking and finger-picking. The guitarist may also employ various methods for selecting notes and chords, including fingering, thumbing, the barre (a finger lying across many or all strings at a particular fret), and guitar slides, usually made of glass or metal. These left- and right-hand techniques may be intermixed in performance. Notable guitarists Rock, metal, ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovation Guitar
The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of string instruments. Ovation primarily manufactures steel-string acoustic guitars (both 6 and 12-string versions) and nylon-string guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification. In 2015, it became a subsidiary of Drum Workshop after being acquired from KMCMusicorp. The company's Ovation and Adamas guitars are known for their round backs, which gives them a recognizable shape. The latter are also well known for the use of carbon fiber tops (instead of the typically wood tops for acoustic guitars). Apart from guitars, the company currently produces acoustic basses, mandolins and ukuleles. History Founder Charles Kaman (1919–2011) developed the first prototypes of the Ovation guitar in 1965–1966. Press release Kaman, an amateur guitarist from an early age, worked on helicopter design as an aerodynamicist at United. Eventually, he founded a helicopter design company, Kaman Aircraft, in 1945. The Kaman Corporatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yamaha Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle division was established in 1955 as Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., which started as an affiliated company but later became independent, although Yamaha Corporation is still a major shareholder. History Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd. (currently Yamaha Corporation) was established in 1887 as a reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha (山葉寅楠) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture and was incorporated on 12 October 1897. In 1900, the company started the production of pianos. The first piano to be made in Japan was an upright built in 1900 by Torakusu Yamaha, founder of Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. — later renamed Yamaha Corporation. The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer are still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interloc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. Ibanez manufactures effects, accessories, amps, and instruments in Japan, China, Indonesia and in the United States (at a Los Angeles-based custom shop). they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, and more than 300 electric guitars. After Gibson and Fender, Ibanez is considered the third biggest guitar brand. History The Hoshino Gakki company began in 1908 as the musical instrument sales division of the ''Hoshino Shoten'', a bookstore chain. Hoshino Gakki decided in 1935 to make Spanish-style acoustic guitars, at first using the "Ibanez Salvador" brand name in honor of Spanish luthier Salvador Ibáñez, and l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starr Labs
Starr Labs is a musical instrument manufacturer that was founded in 1986 in San Diego, California by musician and inventor Harvey Starr, former singer and guitarist with 1960s' band The Richard Kent Style of Manchester, England. The company manufactures a diverse product line of MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ... (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) interactive guitars, keyboards, percussion and unique music devices for professional musicians, semi-pro musicians, and music students. Current products include: Ztars keyboards guitar electronics. The company also offers custom versions of their products for professional musicians. The guitar products range from the simple RockController, a six-string, full-fretted neck controller for music-based video games to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terratec
TerraTec Electronic GmbH is a German manufacturer of sound cards, computer speakers, webcams, computer mice, video grabbers and TV tuner cards. TerraTec is mainly known for its sound cards, and is the largest German producer of them. The company was founded by Walter Grieger and Heiko Meertz in 1994 in Nettetal, Germany. Both Grieger and Meerts are still CEOs of the company. There was a time when Terratec mainly produced graphic cards. But it dropped the production later and focused on sound cards. Furthermore, TerraTec is distributing hardware and software products like professionally studio software Cubase for musicians or hardware like ''PhonoPreAmpiVinyl'' to digitalizing recordings from vinyl or tapes to digital audio formats. TerraTec also produces the "Axon" brand of Pitch-to-MIDI or guitar synthesizer converters. AXON's current models include the AX100 and the AX50USB. Products Sound cards *Terratec Aureon 7.1 *Terratec Aureon 7.1 Universe *Terratec DMX 6Fire *Terratec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casio
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It was founded in 1946, and in 1957 introduced the world's first entirely compact electronic calculator. It was an early digital camera innovator, and during the 1980s and 1990s, the company developed numerous affordable home electronic keyboards for musicians along with introducing the world's first mass-produced digital watches. History Casio was established as Kashio Seisakujo in April 1946 by Tadao Kashio ( 樫尾忠雄 1917–1993), an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Kashio's first major product was the yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, allowing the wearer to smoke the cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer's hands free. Japan was impoverished immediately following World War II, so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New England Digital
New England Digital Corporation (1976–1993) was founded in Norwich, Vermont, and relocated to White River Junction, Vermont. It was best known for its signature product, the Synclavier Synthesizer System, which evolved into the Synclavier Digital Audio System or "Tapeless Studio." The company sold an FM digital synthesizer/16-bit polyphonic synthesizer and magnetic disk-based non-linear 16-bit digital recording product, referred to as the "Post-Pro." The Synclavier was developed as the "Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer" by Dartmouth College Professors Jon Appleton and Frederick J. Hooven, in association with NED co-founders Sydney A. Alonso and Cameron W. Jones. The Synclavier would become the pioneering prototype hardware and software system for all digital non-linear synthesis, polyphonic sampling, magnetic (hard-disk) recording and sequencing systems technology that is commonplace in all music and sound effects/design today. The instrument's development picked up speed in late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland GR-300
The Roland GR-300 is a guitar synthesizer manufactured by Roland Corporation. The GR-300 was considered the first "playable" guitar synthesizer. (Its predecessor, the GR-500, was plagued with tracking problems that rendered it virtually unplayable.) The GR-300 had no MIDI and could only be played through a GR-300 series guitar controller. The actual synthesizer module sat on the floor and had the rugged appearance of a large guitar-type foot pedal (complete with carrying handles). It featured 6-voice polyphony, one voice per string and 2 oscillators per voice. Each pair of VCOs were harmonically locked to each string but could be tuned separately to play different pitches. The GR-300 also featured a VCF with variable lengthsweep up and down, and an LFO. Each string had an enable-disable switch as well as a string sensitivity switch (basically audio compression). Built-in footswitches controlled the VCO mode (single/dual), the VCO harmonize pitch (detuning of the VCO's), and the VCF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland GR-500
The Roland GR-500 was a guitar synthesizer. Manufactured by the Roland Corporation and FujiGen in 1977, it was one of the first guitar synthesizers. Overview The synthesizer module included Polyensemble, Bass, Solo Synth, and External synthesizer control. Much of the voltage-controller filter and voltage controlled amplifier sections were based on previous analog mono-synths from Roland. Sliders adjust the VCO, VCF, VCA, and LFO sections; there is no memory to store settings. The synth module is controlled by a highly modified guitar: the GS-500 guitar controller was built in a partnership between Roland and the large Japanese guitar builder FujiGen. The result was the Fuji Roland Corporation, established in 1977 through a joint capital investment. The GS-500 controller used a special pickup system that connected to the synth module via Roland's own 24-pin interface. Controls on the guitar primarily were for adjusting the relative volume of the different sections: guitar, polyense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FujiGen
FujiGen Gakki (), also known as FGN, is a Japanese musical instrument manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano. The company is named after Japan's iconic Mount Fuji. "Gen" means stringed instruments and "Gakki" means musical instrument – the name is literally translated to "Fuji Stringed Musical Instruments". FujiGen does OEM guitar manufacturing for well known guitar brands and they also manufacture their own brand of guitars known as FGN. History FujiGen started production in 1960, making violins and classical guitars. In 1962, FujiGen started production of electric guitars. In the 1970s, FujiGen started making guitars (OEM) for companies such as Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), CSL (Antoria), Kanda Shokai (Greco guitars) and Yamaha. In 1977–78, FujiGen went into a joint venture with Roland to produce guitar synthesizers. In 1981, FujiGen opted out of acoustic guitar production to mainly concentrate on solid body guitar production. FujiGen obtained a CNC router in mid 1981 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has factories in Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. As of 31 March 2010, it employed 2,699 people. In 2014, it was subject to a management buyout by its CEO, Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners. Roland has manufactured numerous instruments that have had lasting impacts on music, such as the Juno-106 synthesizer, TB-303 bass synthesizer, and TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. It was also instrumental in the development of MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments manufactured by different companies. In 2016, ''Fact'' wrote that Roland had arguably had more influence on electronic music than any other company. History 1970s Having created Ace Electronic Industries Inc in 1960, Ikutaro Kakeh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
