Products of Interest You Rock Guitar MIDI Guitar used to map two different sets of switch, and controller for menu and Controller sounds onto the fingerboard. Volume, patch selection. It has a status LED pan, chorus, transposition, and MIDI and a mini-USB port for charging. The You Rock Guitar is a guitar- channel can be set for each layer and The hexaphonic cable is connected shaped MIDI controller with a 22- the user has a choice of major, minor, to the controller unit through a short fret neck with pressure sensitive pentatonic, or user-defined scales. cable. It picks up the notes played, switches, a tremolo arm, a joystick, One hundred presets are pre-loaded the controller unit converts them to and a short string section for trigger- with various combinations of sounds MIDI, and then sends that wirelessly ing notes (see Figure 1). The tremolo and tunings. to the USB wireless receiver that is arm is used for pitch bends and the The connection ports are located connected to a computer. It uses the joystick for modulation. A built-in on the bottom edge of the guitar 2.5-GHz ISM band. sound library allows the controller to and the control buttons on the top The controller is packaged with be used as a stand-alone instrument, edge. The ports provided are: USB, PreSonus’s StudioOne Artist, Native 1/ without the need for computer- 5-pin MIDI, 4-in guitar jack, mini Instruments’ Kontakt Elements and generated sound. The sounds include stereo headphone output, stereo line GuitarRig LE, IK Multimedia’s Sam- sampled acoustic, electric and bass input for use with audio sources, pleTank and AmpliTube, and Notion guitars, as well as sampled piano, and a GameFlex port for wireless Music’s Progression 2. The software strings, pads, drums, and synthesiz- connection to Wii and Playstation bundle gives the user access to virtual ers. Layer and Zone features can be 3. The You Rock Guitar can operate instruments, synthesizers, effects, on battery power using four AA guitar and amplifier modeling soft- batteries or can be powered via the ware, and lets them record directly to doi:10.1162/COMJ r 00290 USB connection. The user can adjust their DAW of choice. The fret board settings via a software application or of the guitar can be split to allow up can use the on-board controls. The to four instruments to be controlled controller weighs 6.5 lbs and has simultaneously. buttons for use with a guitar strap. A number of well-known guitar A set of headstocks and decorative producers are now including the pick guards are available as optional TriplePlay as a built-in device. Fender accessories. has released the Fishman TriplePlay You Rock Guitar is listed for US$ Stratocaster HSS guitar and Godin 359. Contact: You Rock Guitar; tele- Guitars also has a model called the phone (+1) 805-426-5000; electronic Session Custom TriplePlay guitar. mail [email protected]; Web The TriplePlay is listed for US$ yourockguitar.com. 615. Contact: Fishman, 6 River- side Drive, Andover, Massachusetts, Fishman TriplePlay Wireless Guitar Controller The TriplePlay from Fishman is a wireless MIDI controller for electric guitars. It comprises a low profile 1 (less than /2-in.) wireless controller, hexaphonic pickup, and wireless USB receiver for transmission of the MIDI signal to computer (see Figure 2). The controller can be quickly and easily mounted and removed from the guitar. It uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery and has a wireless range of Figure 2. The TriplePlay Figure 1. The You Rock more than 100 ft. The controller unit wireless guitar controller Guitar MIDI controller. features a volume control, selector from Fishman. 94 Computer Music Journal Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/COMJ_r_00290 by guest on 29 September 2021 Figure 3. Livid’s Guitar Wing wireless MIDI controller. an alternative to wireless connection. [email protected]; Web The battery provides up to 8 hours of www.misa-digital.myshopify.com. operation. Guitar Wing is listed for US$ 199. Contact: Livid; Web lividinstru- Allen & Heath Xone:K1 MIDI ments.com. Controller The Xone:K1 MIDI controller from Misa Tri-Bass Guitar Controller Allen & Heath has a total of 52 assignable controls in a lightweight The Misa Tri-Bass is a guitar con- 2.2-lb unit (see Figure 4). It is based troller with a solid wood neck and on the company’s earlier Xone:K2 01810, USA; telephone (+1) 978-988- body, sensors on the fingerboard, controller and designed with DJ 9199; fax (+1) 978-988-0770; Web and an integrated multi-touch touch use in mind, although its range of www.fishman.com. screen on the body. It is a controller controls make it applicable to a wider only and does not have a built-in range of musicians and performers. synthesizer. The Tri-Bass connects The controller has six endless rotary Livid Guitar Wing to MIDI devices via a 5-pin MIDI encodes with built-in push switch, cable or to computers and digital twelve analog potentiometers, and Livid’s Guitar Wing is a wireless audio equipment using the supplied four linear faders. It also features 30 MIDI controller for use with guitar MIDI–USB cable. backlit switches that can be used and bass. It is designed to fit onto The fingerboard of the controller to display a range of three different the instrument, giving the musician features 60 sensors, arranged into colors for use in performance. quick and easy access to a range of three rows over 20 frets. They are The Xone:K1 is powered by USB. MIDI controls and DAW parameters shaped to guide the users’ fingers into It can be connected to other Xone:K on virtual instruments and effects place and provide tactile feedback. series controllers or Allen & Heath plug-ins (see Figure 3). The Guitar The sensor specifies the pitch of the mixers using the company’s X:LINK Wing can connect wirelessly over note to be played and it is the touch protocol. The front panel is made of Bluetooth to a computer and is screen that is used as a playing surface steel and steel nuts are used on the powered by a rechargeable lithium to trigger the notes. rotary controller. A black padded case ion battery so the user has freedom of The touch screen is divided into is available as an optional purchase. movement. four sections, each of which repre- The case also functions as a stand to The controller has a three- sents a different MIDI channel and align the controller with the height dimensional accelerometer, four can be assigned to a different synthe- of most professional mixers. The velocity-sensitive pads with built in sizer sound. A sample mode is also controller measures 5.3 × 2.1 × 14 in. aftertouch, three touch sliders with available and it divides the touch The Xone:K1 is listed for US$ 299. LED indicators, four control but- screen into individual zones which Contact: Allen & Heath Limited, tons, four select buttons, and a USB are used to trigger sound sources or Kernick Industrial Estate, Penryn, output. The buttons are backlit and control parameters independently of Cornwall TR10 9LU, UK; telephone programmable. The Guitar Wing has the neck sensors. In this mode, touch- (+44) 132-637-2070; web www.allen- an adjustable rubber guitar clamp for ing the sensor alone triggers a note heath.com. connection to instruments. and two-handed taps can be played. An effects plug-in, WingFX, is A volume knob is the only other included with purchase. It can be control on the guitar body. The con- Simmons Stryke6 Drum used as a standalone application or troller can be powered by a recharge- Controller as a VST/AU plug-in. Guitar Wing able internal battery or by mains is a class-compliant MIDI device so power using the supplied adapter. Simmons, the manufacturer of the can be used with any MIDI software The battery status is displayed on the first electronics drum kits of the or hardware. Templates are provided touch screen. The Tri-bass is available 1980s, has now created a six-pad for Ableton Live, Guitar Rig, and in black or white models. drum controller called Stryke6 (see Logic. The USB output can be used to The Tri-Bass is listed for US$ 799. Figure 5). The controller is designed transmit MIDI to a host computer as Contact: Misa Digital; electronic mail to be portable and to be used in Products of Interest 95 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/COMJ_r_00290 by guest on 29 September 2021 Figure 4. Allen & Heath’s Xone:K1 MIDI controller. Figure 5. Simmons’s Stryke6 drum controller. to 96 kHz. The outputs on the device 1 are: three stereo pairs of /4-in TRS speaker outputs with level controls, a 1 stereo pair of /4-in main outputs and 1 a stereo pair of /4-in cue output. In addition to this, four full-size head- phone outputs with volume control are located on the top panel. Each of the stereo inputs can be routed to ei- ther the main or cue output path and each of the headphone outputs has a main/cue selector button. The range of outputs also allows the user to switch between speakers, setting the levels for each individually. A large blue knob on the top panel controls the main speaker level. An electret-condenser talkback microphone with separate level con- trol is built in and when activated the cue signal is automatically attenuated Figure 4 by 20 dB.