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(5 votes) 
Regulars
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The Volta Violinatron is an amazing, stand-alone EV.
...but, what about a stand-alone MIDI EV? Liutaly iV - this is just plain WILD!
Liutaly iV electric violin dials up smartphone for synth sounds and effects
I think the Liutaly iV, by Claudio Capponi (an impressive "Italian film composer, music arranger, orchestrator, music producer and violist"), has possibly been around longer than the Volta Violinatron!
Not only has it's own amplified speaker system, rechargeable battery, 4 or 5 strings, but also has a smartphone dock on the underside for what may be the ulimate 'midi Violin'!
The player can select modes [of playing] independently [analog, electric, synth and electronic], or mix and match, and can even merge straight electric violin with combined pickup and smartphone-influenced sounds.
Possibly hasn't become more popular because of cost(?) - don't think it 'needs' to access the smartphone for all modes of playing, but this tutorial doesn't address it. The direct connection may mean absolututely ZERO latency, though!
I'm curious about learning more, but I'm also keeping my eye on the Digitize company innovations!
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"Possibly hasn't become more popular because of cost(?) - don't think it 'needs' to access the smartphone for all modes of playing, but this tutorial doesn't address it. The direct connection may mean absolututely ZERO latency, though! "
Maybe.. or maybe just hasnt been advertised. It is expensive ..agreed. How do you see you using this?
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@ABitRusty -
I never saw a current price anywhere - did you?
I'm happy with what I have, but I do like the idea of less 'stuff' to mess with. 😉
For a violin to not only stand-alone as amplified music - the different apps it works with is impressive.
I've listened to plenty of arguments against midi violin - being a waste of all the bowing techinques we've learned, when keyboards work better, but if I was out alone in the woods (and wanted something more than acoustic violin)... nevermind, I probably wouldn't even have cell service (so scratch Liutaly iV). 😣 I'd get plenty of enjoyment by throwing the tiny Spark 'Go' in my pocket for an EV-playing excursion in the woods (with some effects).
I like synthesized music, but I don't want to become addicted to modular synths - too much 'stuff'.
DigitAize takes a different approach to midi. The violin can still be played acoustically, but the fingerboard becomes a touchpad with 3D motion sensor, live streaming can be done with a builtin mic, just no onboard amplified sound. I like there's no cable jack. Been watching them out of pure curiosity, but someone starting out may want to go this route.
...know we aren't supposed to press hard on the strings, but I'm still wondering how how long that fingerboard pad holds up.
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Amazing piece of kit, I absolutely love the tailpiece, its brilliant, reminds me of a kramer guitar. I also think the fact that the necks are interchangeable is a revolutionary idea.
It is 3000 to 5000 dollars though, which for me at least is way outside my price range, but obviously its aimed at pro musicians, I could see the fiddler from the levellers loving this thing, but for the enthusiastic amateur I dont know.
One of the probs I think that they will have in selling it is what is the actual point of it? Everything it does from a bands perspective can be done from a bank of effects or a keyboard.
I think they would be better keeping it as fiddle with interchangeable necks, drop all the electronic attatchments, apart from the pick up, no band musician would bother with mobile phone things, and for amateurs its too expensive, keep the design, which I think is amazing, truthfully, love it, especially the tailpiece, and make it affordable for all, I would love one, but not for that price.
Cant beat a sunny day
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ELCBK said
I like synthesized music, but I don't want to become addicted to modular synths - too much 'stuff'.
Quite. In the case of keyboards, MIDI is clearly the way to go, as the logic could hardly be simpler.
But it's all expensive. When I bought my Yamaha P125, I was advised to buy MIDI instead, but the keyboards the guy recommended were three times the price of the Yamaha, with software on top, and all I wanted was piano and harpsichord.
Not so clear with fiddles, though. Not a rabbit-hole I want to go down. If I had 5K to blow, I'd rather buy a violin upgrade or a 15" viola.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
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my impression is that its a regular violin but with an overlay that converts to midi? idk
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Regular violin for Digitize - there's a 'Strings Module' (houses wireless mic, rechargeable battery, motion tracking sensor, other electronics) that gets installed, plus the fingerboard sensor overlay.
The cool stuff is the 'Digitize Connect' software(?) and 'Digitize Audio' plugin... EACH STRING can be made to do something different! If they're really offering the whole package on a Stentor violin for apprx $2,000 (US) - seems reasonable for something that could be mind-blowing fun.
I was really interested in the 'Animoog Z' app (OP) - but it's only available for ios & apple. 😒 ...great for anyone with an ipad. I think it's free to try & either a small cost, or monthly subscription, but I can't use it.
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That looks pretty cool, but probably not something I would ever go for myself. Though for me, I play keyboards at least as well as I play violin at this time. Which is not to say great, but no worse either. 
They are all really cool, though I am reminded of MIDI guitars as well. Neat, but I would rather just go with keyboards myself - but that is a personal preference.
You mentioned an app, and yeah, there are apps to do something somewhat similar, though they are limited to being able to handle single notes usually, not polyphony. I have played around doing something similar in Logic. You can actually convert audio to MIDI, which is pretty fun. But again, it's usually faster for me to just play and record it on the keyboard.
Though it could be really useful if you don't have/play a keyboard, and would be a lot less annoying than note entry.
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