When is a guitar also a controller? When it’s an Elektro Caster!
Why can’t a guitar be more than a guitar? Why can’t guitarists have access to some of the cool stuff going on in Eurorack-Land? How about a guitar that works as a controller that can feed synths or arpeggiators? Designer Frank Piesik has the answer: the Elektro Caster!
We’ve been looking through all the available materials, videos and what-not. But we’re still a bit in the dark about what this instrument can actually do. Frank Piesik, maker of the Elektro Caster, seems to have designed a mix of controller, MIDI interface, synth and guitar. The crazy videos below document the result of his ambitious DIY project.
The Electro Caster is packed with controllers and PCBs! · Source: Hackaday
Control
There are knobs, sliders and pots all over the guitar. They probably all have a purpose, but it’s not easy to see what they do! The pots at the bottom and top seem to control the parameters of the played synth. And yet there are still pickups, because the guitar still works as a six-stringed instrument. In fact, the pickup has a six-way signal path. And the guitar also has actuators that play the strings. The demonstration video playing the Game of Thrones theme is a bit shonky, though, but this whole thing it’s seems very inventive and clever. It just needs a clearer explanation for us musicians to tell us what it can actually do.
At the top is an OLED that gives you information (about something or other). The biggest impression is probably made by the illumated, touch-sensitive fretboard. All in all, this is a very funky bit of controllorism, all wrapped up in a guitar body.
If you would like to have a go at building something similar, then you can follow the two links below to see how this was done.
More Information
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