November 8, 2014
Inexpensive Synthesis For Your Guitar
As a guitar player for almost 50 years (not particularly good, but I amuse myself) I’ve always been fascinated by the synthesizer options for stringed instruments. There are been many on the market since the mid 70s, including some amazing hex-pickup models that enabled really cool stereo field effects. All of these have been fairly large investments for sometimes marginal tracking.
One of the benefits of the rapid advancement of technology is some really cool new apps and inexpensive hardware interfaces to pull it all together. There are some fairly full-featured modeling apps for iPhone / iPad, but not much for Android so far, (HINT, HINT).
Sonuus has been working on some pretty cool computer-based MIDI interfaces of late and their latest offering is reasonably priced – and full-featured. It works on anything you can plug into its 1/4″ jack, so vocals, mic’d instruments of any kind, etc, can all be synthesized with this module.
Sonuus i2M
The i2M Musicport Signal Converter is a decent product that tracks pretty well. It’s monophonic, but you’re not paying the hefty price tag for polyphonic.
Product description:
The i2M musicport is the new way to connect your musical instruments to your computer. It combines a high-impedance audio interface that won’t suck the tone from your instrument, with very fast, low-latency, monophonic MIDI conversion that doesn’t require special pickups to be mounted onto your instrument.Designed particularly for guitar and bass, it works with most musical instruments including the human voice. Now you can record great-sounding tracks and play synthesizers and samplers how you have always wanted to: by using your favorite instrument.Using class-compliant USB drivers built into your computer’s operating system, and with no special instrument set up required, the i2M musicport offers a true plug-and-play experience for all musicians.
Check it out:
You can order it from Amazon:
