Guitar robot update

Colleagues,

It’s been a bit. I’ve put together a short (<4 minutes) video of what’s been going on with my guitar robot since the MAKE magazine article and update.

Thanks,

Olav

For the original MAKE article, see:

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Wait, sorry to hijack this thread, but I just realized you are the Olav Martin Kvern—the same person who wrote one of the few technical books I’ve ever purchased. I read Real World Freehand cover to cover and absolutely loved all the technical details about the program.

Your book is within arm’s length of my desk.

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This is so cool. I loved both the video and the article. Thank you for sharing!

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Thanks for your kind words about my book! Those were fun times. :crazy_face:

Olav

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This is so amazing! I can’t believe I missed when you first shared this!

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Thanks! There will probably be another article, at some point, that goes into more detail. I’ll post here if/when that happens. As I tend to say–“hours of harmless fun!”

Olav

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Thanks! The Glowforge really helped me to bring this project along. The snap-fit laser-cut parts in the platform are a critical part of what makes this work.

More to come! I have several other projects for robotic musical instruments. To start with, I have four electric autoharps to play with…stay tuned. (But note that I am slow–I have a “real job” in graphic arts software that sometimes gets in the way of productivity.)

Olav

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This is really cool! I think I missed the original post as well.

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:grin: i see what you did there

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Love! I enjoyed the original post and Make article, but at the time it sounded neat - but not so much like guitar music. The section you did with the “pulse matrix in VCV rack” actually sounds like a guitar, and an incredibly well played one at that :smiley:

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Really, the next thing should be muting. When you play guitar–especially if you’re playing Metal–you mute strings with the side of your picking hand (i.e., between the pick position and the bridge). There’s not a lot of room between the pick and the bridge in the current design–the picks have to be close to the bridge to deal with vertical displacement caused by fretting.

I’ve tried simulating the sound of muting with external audio processing, but I just can’t get the sound that I want. So it’s back to the drawing board…

Olav

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Yes! I really like that example. I wish I could have shown the actual VCV Rack setup that I used, but I lost that file almost immediately after I made the track (note to self: put everything in GitHub). Varying the clock rate and slightly randomizing velocity makes a sequence sound a lot more human.

Olav

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