Lo-Z: Let’s Clear a Misconception
June 14, 2021
Allow me to clear up a very common misconception about Lo-Z (low impedance) pickups. This should probably be in a FAQ, and so I transformed
Nu Series v2
The Nu Series Modular Active Pickups are hacker friendly, general purpose pickups that can be used in a variety of applications.
Nexus-GK
The Nexus-GK is a flexible, and hacker friendly breakout box that connects your multichannel guitar to the outside world.
June 8, 2021
21st Century Pickups for the Modern Guitar Player. The XR2 may well be the most versatile monophonic pickup ever. Active or passive configuration. Medium impedance
June 4, 2021
In the previous Nexus production batch, we started offering this right-angle jack for the instrument-side of our Multichannel Cable. It seems to be gaining popularity,
May 16, 2021
Have you ever wondered what the actual coil inside the Nu capsule looks like? Here’s a close-up. There’s 1300turns, gauge 46AWG, in that miniature, bobbin-less
May 12, 2021
The Nexus-GK… From the start, we only do limited production runs based on demand. This time, however, we intentionally produced a bit more, with the
April 11, 2021
Jinmo is an artist who actively engages in expression activities in various fields such as auditory arts and visual arts, transcending the differentiation of expression
April 10, 2021
Here’s something to look forward to, come May 2021. Allow me to introduce the XR2: Active or passive configuration. Can be configured with or without
April 9, 2021
Production time! We only do limited production runs based on demand. Having sold out on all Nu and Nexus items, it’s time for a new
Onset Detection: DSP Adventures
March 24, 2021
Before I jumped into this rabbit hole, I wouldn’t have thought that onset detection would be so deviously tricky! I just wanted to generate ADSR envelopes from the multichannel guitar signal. It looked easy, until I actually tried to implement it. But now I think I have something that works really well.
March 11, 2021
Ascend VPU v1.1.1 is released. This is still an extension of the evaluation period to March 31, 2021 and probably through April. Why the long gestation period? This will be the first of a series of plugins dedicated to the multichannel guitar. I want to be sure everything is working flawlessly. Ascend-VPU will pave the way to more Ascend plugins, all dedicated to the multichannel guitar.
March 9, 2021
An apology. I am an advocate of Open Source. But after having shared open-source projects for over 20 years now, starting with my contributions to the Boost libraries, it pains me to say that I am closing some of my source code for pragmatic concerns. The first to be closed are the technologies that are in very active development — that would be pitch detection and onset detection.
February 26, 2021
Here are some close-up pictures of the guitar after installing the full Nu-XR system. It was a joy installing the electronics for this guitar. This non-traditional guitar has no cavities at all. It’s just a full wide open space for the components and wiring. I think this is the easiest installation I’ve ever done. Every inch of this guitar is a RADICAL declaration.
February 10, 2021
Pictures paint a thousand words. Watch this space…
Stealth radical ergonomic acoustic guitar designed by Rick Toone and Fabio Mittino. Carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum. Element™ extended range single billet machined aircraft aluminum neck. Patented Intonation Cantilever™ individual string bridges. Cycfi Research™ Nu-Multi and XR pickups.
Fast and Efficient Pitch Detection: Power of Two
February 4, 2021
Bitstream Autocorrelation (BACF) is fast and accurate. What can be better? Well, two BACFs in parallel!
January 28, 2021
A nice little secret with virtual pickups is that each virtual coil reduces random noise due to its inherent averaging effect. Comb filters have that very welcome effect! The more virtual coils you use, the better the noise reduction.
January 19, 2021
Onset detection is concerned with finding the start of a musical note immediately preceding the attack. Onset detection in conjunction with pitch detection are utilized
Spin ‘Em Up: The Circle Guitar
December 19, 2020
The Nu pickups are installed in all forms of instruments from electric guitars, bass guitars, cellos, harps, pianos, xylophones, etc. Now, the Circle Guitar, invented
December 9, 2020
I’m very glad to announce the availability of Ascend VPU for evaluation. Ascend VPU is an audio plugin that virtualizes the sonic characteristics of guitar
November 23, 2020
Recap Last week, I presented the 4th part of the Virtual Pickups series. The article continues the series with the introduction of the preprocessor and
November 21, 2020
Production time! We only do limited production runs based on demand. Having sold out on all Nu and Nexus items, it’s time for a new
November 13, 2020
A few years ago, I wrote a three part article series about virtual pickups: emulating guitar pickups in software. Now it is 2020 and after
October 25, 2020
The photo below captures the never ending search for paths that may bring me closer to my goal —that elusive dream, ever so vivid in
September 18, 2020
We are now offering consulting services for product development, both hardware and software, from conceptualization and prototyping all the way to the final product. If
August 21, 2020
Before anything else, thank you very much for making the first Nexus-GK batch a success. The batch sold-out pretty fast! To be honest, I was
August 5, 2020
Jessica “Psy” DeLacy is known for her work in the animation industry. Beyond pixels, and into the audio and music realm, Psy generally built a
July 18, 2020
My masterpiece! After years of research and development, starting with the Alpha project, I think my goal is now finally within reach, and I am very
Fast and Efficient Pitch Detection: Revisited
July 6, 2020
Reload Last year, I wrote a series of articles about Bitstream Autocorrelation: Synth Tracking Bliss! Bitstream Autocorrelation The code has matured significantly from its inception.
Nu v1 and Neo Upgrade Path for Nexus-GK
June 27, 2020
Are you a Nu v1 or Neo user? I announced the release of Nexus GK the other day. It was an important milestone for us.
June 25, 2020
Finally! I’m proud to release the Nexus-GK: a small, flexible, and hacker-friendly breakout box that connects your multichannel guitar to the outside world using a
June 17, 2020
These Nexus-GK boxes are fully tested and ready to go! … Embracing the Roland GK-13 pin as a secondary connector. More information to follow. Watch this space.
May 30, 2020
Continuing our Constructing Thor series, here are some more pictures of the work in progress. Check out these links to know more about Thor: Time for
May 18, 2020
Meanwhile, the Q Audio DSP Library is inching its way towards a 1.0 release. For those who don’t know yet what it is, here’s the
May 11, 2020
It’s the first time I didn’t post anything for more than a month. Ideally, my target is posting at least once a week. April was
March 21, 2020
Last month, I posted some mid-section pictures of the Carbon Fiber-Wood prototype. Now this guitar has a name, “Thor”, thanks to Bill Banks who first
Dissecting the 13-pin Connector
March 9, 2020
So, recently I got some connectors from our Spicetone friends. I claimed that this is the best choice (or at least a suitable choice), but there
March 8, 2020
After the release of the BOSS SY-1000, I think it is time to finally embrace the Roland GK-13 pin as a secondary connector. In retrospect,
March 5, 2020
Look what we got recently from our Spicetone friends! Thank you Rein Sabolotny. Now what shall we do with these, hmmmm… 🙂
February 21, 2020
I wrote about the halldorophone before in my post titled Embracing Feedback. The halldorophone is a cello-like, bowed acoustic-electric instrument that utilizes feedback to generate
February 2, 2020
I probably need a name for this concept guitar… Work in progress. Many years ago, I designed and built Alpha. Last year, I started working
How to Make and Repair Pin Header Cables
January 22, 2020
This might be trivial to some, but sometimes you have to dig into the details. As you already know, instead of direct soldering, we use
January 6, 2020
Update Dec 2020: I know, I know… first it was Slack, then Google Group. I value meaningful discussions, but it’s very hard to keep track
December 23, 2019
For those who missed the recent Cyber Week promo, here’s another chance! By popular demand, we’re extending the 20% promo on all items yet again.
December 21, 2019
What is this Nu Capsule all about? Here’s a page, dedicated to demystifying the Nu Capsule: The Nu Capsule. If there’s anything else I might
November 24, 2019
It always bothers me when I see ugly, unmaintainable MCU code, which seems to be prevalent in the embedded programming world. Everywhere I look, I
November 24, 2019
We now offer free shipping on all Nu products including the Nu Capsules and Nu Multis as a small token of appreciation for your support.
October 28, 2019
Last time, I posted a short demo of Infinity at v0.8. Working hard to completion, we’re now at v0.91. Here are some of the latest
October 12, 2019
Another milestone… The Ascend VPU plugin, the virtual pickups software I’ve been working on, is now at v0.9. Soon, we will be in beta. By
October 10, 2019
I’m glad to announce that we now officially have the Nu Multi Acoustic as standard in our online store. We’ve already worked on a few