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Artiphon

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA — If you're looking for a killer MIDI controller that feels like not just 1 "real" musical instrument, but many of them, Artiphon could be your salvation. The Artiphon Instrument one ($399), on display here at Moogfest 2016, is at present in "soft launch" style, simply that means much more than what information technology sounds like. After a successful $one.iii million Kickstarter launch and a redesign a couple of years ago, the visitor is at present fulfilling its 3,300 pre-orders from backers and has begun accepting orders from the general public — at the time of this writing, with a roughly half-dozen-week fourth dimension to ship. We spoke with Dr. Mike Butera, the founder of Artiphon, at Moogfest 2016 and got a adventure to try our hands at the Artiphon (pronounced Art-eh-fahn).

The 23.five-inch-long Artiphon Instrument one looks like the lovechild of a Keytar and a guitar fretboard. It lets you lot strum a guitar, bow a violin, crunch out a drum beat, or even play piano parts. In other words, it lets y'all be the entire band, non just by switching sounds, but by playing each musical instrument the way information technology'due south supposed to be played. Information technology'south a pure MIDI controller; information technology has no sounds of its own, just information technology'south designed to work with dozens of iPhone and iPad apps similar GarageBand in addition to the desktop GarageBand and Logic Pro Ten, among others.

Artiphon

The instrument includes 72 pressure-sensitive keys in 6 octaves. It contains an accelerometer; a built-in speaker that passes audio through from any USB-audio-compliant app; a rechargeable battery; a bridge for strumming, tapping, and picking; four presets; and four user presets. A knob lets you control volume and switch betwixt presets, and there'south a headphone/mic jack and USB jack that also functions as a MIDI interface like most controllers today.

In practice, the Artiphon is a chameleon. Plain, the Artiphon isn't going to stand in for a traditional drum kit; its pads are responsive, and feel remarkably like those of a quality drum machine if you lay information technology flat on your lap or on a table; information technology divides the entire neck into giant pads on each position across all six "strings." In guitar fashion, you can strum or play lead, or fifty-fifty play it similar a slide guitar, and it functions as a squeamish bass (though it feels kind of like a fretless, even if you're triggering a regular fretted electric bass sample).

Put it in violin manner and hold it in the proper position on your shoulder, and you tin dispense the instrument as if y'all were using a real bow, including inducing vibrato with your fingers. Butera too demoed the Artiphon for united states; he'due south an actual violin player, and he played a convincing violin solo that sounded as if he had programmed in specific articulations for every notation using a high-terminate violin sample library; it was that "existent" sounding, even though he was just playing it live like he would a real violin, and the app itself was just GarageBand.

Artiphon

We think a controller similar this is the polar reverse of something like the Ableton Push, which is set in an Akai MPC-mode grid to cue up beats and loops as well as private instruments. Push is a phenomenal controller, but when I reviewed it, I couldn't really run into myself using one personally. I've equanimous and recorded music using traditional digital audio workstations (DAWs) for decades using synthesizer-style keyboard controllers. Something similar the Artiphon to me feels more than natural than the Push, and lends itself to playing sampled guitar and other stringed instrument parts with much more realism than you'd become from a standard 49-key MIDI controller.

Artiphon

Over the years, we've seen tons of electronic MIDI controllers that attempt to mimic the feel of the "existent affair" as close as possible, exist it Roland V-Drums, the Korg Kaoss Pad, the Yamaha WX5 wind controller, or scores of increasingly real-sounding digital pianos. The Artiphon isn't for wind instrument players, simply it does so much else; I could run into myself losing evenings only noodling around with information technology as a guitar and bass. I'm seriously tempted to order one. Our house has electronic and acoustic instruments everywhere to begin with; we need another MIDI controller like we need a pet alligator. If yous're also tempted, pre-social club yours from Artiphon's site; you tin get the Artiphon in black or white, while an extra $50 adds a soft gigging case and strap.

Now read: The future of sound and thought at Moogfest 2016