It doesn’t get douchier than that guy who hauls out an acoustic guitar at the beach at sundown. Or does it? The Melo-D, a guitar made by TemPolor, is billed as the “world’s first AI guitar”. If you can’t guess what that means, you haven’t been paying attention.
The guitar is a musical instrument in much the same way as your old Guitar Hero controller is. In other words, it’s got the shape right but the rest of it…? Not so much. Its creators reckon the Melo-D can be used to create music using generative AI. It’s also supposed to teach its users music fundamentals. Using flashing lights. Yngwie Malmsteen‘s face probably looks an awful lot like Clint Eastwood’s right now.
Play that Melo-D again
Still, there’s a market for the Melo-D. It’s being punted via Kickstarter, where it was seeking a lowly $5,100 or so. It’s secured more than $80,000 (R1.3 million) in funding. That’s fewer digital guitars than you might think, however. Each goes, at the early price, for $400 (R6,500). Full price for the gadget is closer to the R10k mark.
The digital guitar mimics the shape of a real axe, dropping a light-up fret-bar and a touchscreen display onto the body for the hard-of-thinking. Essentially, the instrument tells its holder how to play it. The system is surprisingly close to the aforementioned Guitar Hero. There are also what TemPolor calls Rainbow strings, which are rubber outcroppings that mimic real strings. These also light up, so you could be strumming a tune in minutes instead of learning what scales and notes are first.
But lest you think it’s just another version of the venerable guitar (everyone knows the only real guitars are made from the bones of your enemies), its generative AI features will remove all doubt. Players can hum a tune and turn that into playable music in moments. You won’t be doing the writing, of course — an artificial intelligence system, and the company’s app, handle that.
“In seconds, it becomes a full guitar solo, arranged and synced to your instrument. Then play it back on Melo-D with light-guided support, so the idea doesn’t just stay in your head. It becomes something you can hear, follow, and play.”
Jimi Hendrix is probably spinning so fast in his grave that he’s altering the planet’s magnetic field.
Still, genAI rocksmithing might be just up your alley. In that case, assemble your cash and back the Melo-D before the end of June. The first units are expected to ship sometime in September this year.
