Is it a guitar? Is it a keyboard? It's a Harpejji. And it costs $6,000

This is a Harpeggi - a new instrument that is essentially a huge, flat Chapman Stick. You play it by tapping the 24 strings on the 24 frets. It was invented by maths professor Jorn Starret as the StarrBoard, but is now being produced by Marcodi Musical Instruments in Maryland, for $5,995 in various finishes. The problem, as ever, is that this is a great idea and a nice sounding thing, but every potential purchaser will inevitably use it to inflict more widdly widdly music on a tired world. (Thanks, Carl)

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

The sound of the instrument reminds me of the intro to Enter Sandman.

# posted by

KeithHandy : 1:01 am

I'm always down for innovation but that thing sounds like shit.

# posted by

.notebook : 2:58 am

That's because this is just a guitar in a different form, and you can't pluck, strum, or pull-off. Meh...

# posted by

Wes : 3:00 am

for $6000 you would expect some ebows and pickups to be thrown in :(

# posted by

Drohnwerks : 11:30 am

sounds like crap

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:36 pm

The "sounds like crap" and "sounds like shit" comments are a bit nasty, subjective, and unnecessary. It sounds like an instrument. You can probably do some interesting things with it, depending on how you use it. You probably have no immediate use for a bassoon, either, but it has its places, and some people will pay good money for a high quality bassoon.

# posted by

KeithHandy : 5:23 pm

And what might "widdly widdly music" be?

# posted by

Richard Lainhart : 8:13 pm

Who has invented this instrument?

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:43 am

Hi humanis,
Tim Meeks is my close friend of mine and he is also the inventor. I used to work at Polk Audio with him and that is where I met him and I also discovered that he was working on a new type of instrument.
My name is Jason Melani, my responsibilities are sales and marketing. Here is a good resource as to why the harpejji exists. It is a letter from Tim explaining his reasoning for this instrument.

http://www.marcodi.com/resources.html#

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

# posted by

Jason Melani : 11:06 am

Wes, to address your comment... actually you can puck it. A player can tap and hold the string and then pluck the same string for a plucking sound.

# posted by

Jason Melani : 2:32 pm

Hey guys Jason here from Marcodi,
Yes the audio does not sound good at all. This video is to show musicians how the harpejji is played. It is not to display the sonic characteristics of the harpejji. Our myspace page has better audio.
www.myspace.com/harpejji

Better video's and sound clips will follow. Take care to all!

# posted by

Jason Melani : 2:41 pm

If anyone is interested in the harpejji we are asking individuals to contact us by phone for a limited time price.
1-888-553-4999 is our toll free number.

Thanks for everyones comments. It is really an amazing instrument. I would say that someone really needs to play it in order to absorb all the possibilities of the harpejji.

# posted by

Jason Melani : 5:15 pm

i think the effects processing on it weren't doing it any favors. the dry sound of it makes me think of clavinets. and who doesn't love to hear a good old clavinet once in a while?

# posted by

marty : 7:45 pm