It costs 400,000 dollars to play this instrument for 12 seconds

As for pickups I instantly thought about harpeji. It has separate pickups for each string and it's theoretically possible to make the system where only pickups at the front are active.

give that guitar to Ichika Nito and he will play the most beautiful you ever heard

No matter what direction he takes with this thing, it's going to be a monster. I am now heavily invested in the development of this ridiculous cylindrical instrument.

I haven't read all the comments, so this might have already been suggested. You could play it in a horizontal configuration like a lap steel guitar. That in combination with a slide like others have said would probably be the most "practical" application. This is legendary!

A piano has a pedal that mutes the strings except the ones played. A piece of wood with felt. There could be a c shape that rests on the strings not facing forward. And a c shape pickup that only amplifies the strings facing forward. Keep innovating!

When it comes to playing this thing, GIVE IT TO ROB SCALLON! He can play anything, especially if it has strings. He will make masterpieces. You won't regret it brother

Looks awesome already! I figure putting it in an open tuning might work quite well. When trying to grip the neck or when rotating it will probably cause a lot of unwanted strings to vibrate, in an open tuning those will sound well at least. And you can worry about only fretting one side then. Which makes me think, I'd kill for a collab with Rob Scallon for this guitar. Feels like he would have a blast playing it, and you two sitting down and just talking about the quirks of this thing fits perfectly for his "unusual instrument" type videos. Either way, I'm looking forward to main channel video once this project is done.

Is it gonna be better than a guitar, of course not but what makes this great is that it is outside the box, invententive and bold. Without adventurous experimentation we would'nt have half of the amazing stuff we have in the world. Keep expressing and never stop ;)

I could imagine using a violin bow on the "strum" side and a slide on the "fret" side, and then tuning the whole thing to an open chord while it rotates. All of the actual string vibration would be generated by a combination of the rotation of the device + movement of the violin bow.

Mattias always makes solutions to roblems nobody ever had. good stuff.

I literally just got the notification for this video. I'd forgotten this channel even existed. Seeing this creation out of any sort of context is so bizarre. I love it.

I reckon that the most viable option to have this idea actually work would be to have the strings attached at either end of some carbon fiber reinforced slats that are able to be driven around a track that is within the neck of the instrument - the idea being that the front face is relatively flat but inside the neck the individual parts fold up to fit that surface area within a smaller volume of space, so the nut and bridge parts are almost like links in a chain driven by motors at each end. The hope is that the two ends can be precisely geared up to compensate for the difference in diameter, as well as the carbon rods being able to handle the string tension without warping

I have a few ideas: I think it would be very uncomfortable to spin de neck with your hands while playing, so you could have a pedal that makes it spin. Also the strings could be tunned in a way they make a minor chord and you could have a moving capo between frets, and maybe this capo have a way to change a little bit so it makes a major chord. Ive got this idea because i tought it would be very cool to just make spin the cilinder and keep the pick in the same place while it spins making a chord.

Mattias, what a stellar imaginative inventor! you seem to be able to build anything that you abstract in your mind's eye. I enjoyed trying to play it in my mind too; however, my conclusions were: 1) Get rid of the strings, this thing has the potential to add multiple new and unexpected dimensions to creating and performing music. The strings are going to act as a boat-anchor preventing this thing from soaring. 2) replace the archaic Pythagorean strings with the best available 3D (4D?) sliding and pressure sensitive midi sensors. They could wrap around the cylinder, 360 degrees, head to "bridge", and while you're at it invent some new approaches to touch sensors with feedback (the playing surface should feel alive). 3) Make the cylinder small enough that it feels good and cover the back side in a "half" canopy, such that the grip on the back of the canopy "feels" like a conventional guitar neck (don't forget keyboard players). (like a hollowed-out guitar neck with the spinning cylinder in it) Additionally, the "C" shaped canopy protects the sensors on the "back" side of the neck from accidentally being activated and gives the player different degrees of grip and compression. and 4) as others have suggested, spin using a servo motor controlled by a "WahWah" pedal, where the cylinder can rotate CW and CCW at different angular velocities and accelerations making changes in a microsecond. The advantage of your invention is that the musician-performer can add several new multidimensional spaces of emotions and aboriginal expressions, many of which have not even been discovered or fully exploited yet. Keep inventing, creating, and building!!!

I think this project is really interesting, and I’m excited to follow your progress. Keep up the good work!

Maybe 3d print a curved slide, instead of fretting the notes

We need more people like you . That is how we can change the world and make it better . You are very smart to create new things

I wish this was an instrument that had existed for a long while, because I think it would look and sound so cool with a professional trained on it playing it! I think they'd use a bow, though 😝

Could move in a direction akin to a futuristic hurdy gurdy, develop a chassis with an external key system played in the left hand while the right hand could drive rotation and elevation of the cylindrical fretboard within the chassis. Wild work, dont lose hope!

I'm not an engineer at all, but since it looks like you have individual pickups you could have every pickup go to an electromechanical rotary switch so that the strings on the back are always muted, but it would probably be impossible without a redesign and it might not be the most reliable. Just an idea

When the Predator is playing the violin, you need a Gatling guitar

Hello, this seems like a very interesting idea and I'm all in for it. I will have some recommendations on the design, dont know if you already have similar plans but I think that few of the "must-have"s for this type of thing would be: 1- Most important of all a motor, which I assume you will attach later, but it should have a way to stay locked so that the neck actually does not turn whatsoever. 2-For the problem of hitting the strings in the back, the first thing came to my mind is to switch the back half of the strings when not in use. Because when you don't do that, it will probably touch somewhere else and if not from your fingers, there will definitely be a noise. This would be an addition later on the project though, you could have modes where you switch a particular portion of the strings off depending on your needs. For this to be easy enough there should be a way to locate the spindle though, so that you can program it to switch on and off the frets that face forwards as you turn it automatically. This way you could turn it anyway you want and still have just the specific pickups running. I think those would be the most essential additions right now, good luck!

I need to see Rob Scallon play this, I imagine he'd be very excited to see it

Give it to Charles Berthoud. The guy needs a challenge. He'll probably make a video like "three Taylor Swift hits in the style of Tool all at once on one instrument" and the hardest part for him will be not to look bored. :-D

Being round makes it resemble a Gatling gun when it spins.

would it ruin the vision adding like a neck-rail sorta thing that helps you hold it? 1:06 yep, that yeah, stretching will probably be a problem, but at least holding should be easier also cylinder is the best

As far as something that could be used to move up and down the neck, shamisen players use a thing called a yubisuri. Its a finger sleeve that reduces friction on your fretting hand. it covers the space between your thumb and index while allowing your other fingers to be free. But i dont know if it'll completely noiseless unless you have something that dampens the strings. But i would probably make a second neck just to rest my thumb on that doesnt touch the other strings.

Should give it to Bob Ross and let him paint Happy little bushes on it….

Step 1: fix a bow or a stationary pick to the body so that as the neck rotates, the strings are plucked by the pick or scrape against the bow. Step 2: fix a rod parallel to the neck and attach a guitar finger sleeve to the rod, fashioning it so that the finger sleeve can slide up and down against the strings as they spin. Step 3: connect a hand crank to the neck. You turn the crank with your right hand and fret the strings with the finger sleeve on your left hand, and the rotation automatically picks against the mounted pick (or bow).

It may not be very cool when it's square, but it's hip to be square.

I had this idea 20 years ago but I was coming at it from an upwright bass perspective. I believe it is an awesome idea! My idea was to have a fixed thumb sled on the back of neck that would raise it off the strings but allow full range up and down the neck.the sled would be kind of like a train on a track concept.I was also thinking foot pedal with variable speed forward and reverse to spin the neck. Keep going ,keep experimenting .this will be awesome!

It's a 21st century Arpeggione! Awesome!

Tony Levin Funk Fingers maybe the route for this. I think solving the problem that the original design has created is your amazing USP. Designing solutions for the design yet maintaining the original concept. Just as a "thing" this is pure art.

If you are planning on primarily playing chords on it, you can have the strings tuned to C Maj (No sharps or flats) and have buttons which fret the needed sharps/flats of other keys. Or if you keep it entirely chromatic, you can use buttons like an Autoharp which silence strings that aren't part of the key you want. You can still stop the guitar wherever and fret what you need

I think the strings need to be horizontal or better yet, at a downward angle - and fretless. This way the notes will sound different as the cylinder turns and the fingers can fret the notes while the cylinder moves in a horizontal direction. Having the string perpendicular to the direction of spinning isn’t going to work - but changing the direction of the strings and removing the frets will totally work!

The Gattling Axe, with a half guard running through the back of the neck & sensors that allow only the exposed part of the neck to be active when in use

Trying to give you a constructive criticism: I think this looks as beautiful as sadly useless now. Probably you should rebuild it with fix strings and an empty space for the thumb (scrap the bass for now or just use less strings) only Then you make the inner part spin and play it in a more similar way as an hurdy gurdy, no need to use the right hand to pick the strings or anything (could be used to spin manually or operate the velocity of the motor). Just an idea on what i would do with it, hope you get the right inspiration and finish this project!

Fun project! Here is my 2 cents :) Since this obviously is not playable (in rotation mode) using the traditional "finger pressing against fetboard approach" of the guitar neck, i suggest several stationary bows and picks to interact with the strings when in rotation mode. And do the fretting action on the rotating neck with a metal device like a slide. You could have "slides" on several fingers to trigger several notes at the same time making chords.

Awesome video! I haven't seen this project before, and my immediate thought was that it could be played similar to a lap-steel guitar, where you sit with it on your lap or on a stand. Obviously it would need to freely rotate, but I think it could work. Have you considered using a mechanism that locks each segment of the fretboard into place, but in a way that it can be turned to the next setting with a little bit of force? It could be a toggle where you can make it freely spin, or switch into the locked one - similar to how some house wheels have toggles for click scrolling and free scrolling. Another thought - let's get Rob Scallon to play this thing ASAP!

Same style bridge as a Stranburg, love that design

The action on that thing is nuts.

Literally went "spinning is a nice trick" and made a guitar.

Electronically only enable the pickups you play with based on rotation position, so your thumb can rest on the string with pickups disabled for that string. Or just have pickups only on one side

So basically a gatling guitar. The problem with playing it will be while it's spinning with respect to the fretting hand. It might be doable with a slide/bottle neck if you mute at the nut with some fabric. A more purpose built solution might be a moveable ring around the whole neck circumference that would act as a slide (basically an inside out fret) , which given a sufficiently hard material and adequate contact could stop the string (muting may still be needed at nut). the ring might be hard to move while spinning or may wear itself or strings, and a ball bearing is a possible solution (like if you could just hold the bearing stationary while the neck spun inside it ).

Make a sliding capo that can wrap around the whole thing, possibly like a spider capo? where you can hold and release specific strings on the fly. Could have it to where it can let the string be open, fretted, or dampened/muted?

the main thing is the flight of thought, and then we’ll figure out how to play this string minigun =D

you just need to "fret the thing" and "we didn't exactly make this to be functional"- mattias krantz 10/25/23

To utilise the spinning function while also playing, you won't be able to to press down on notes anyway. You could however use a slide to change pitch. And use a violin bow to sound the strings. You would have to tune the stings to an open chord, and play with your left hand hovering over the top like a lap steel guitar. This way you would genuinly have a unique and usable instrument.

You have to invite Rob Scallon, he´ll figure it out in 5mins

The reason I don't play it is because you won't hear anything. As you might have noticed the pickups are not installed in this version!

I was looking at it imagining it in an open tuning and fretting it with some kind of circular capo you can move around it and then having a something of a pick fixed somewhere so it'll just pick the strings as you rotate it.

Okay but, I had a dream many years ago where I was hanging out with Les Claypool and he had a new bass that had a neck exactly like this.

Im kind of hoping the pickup will be stationary while the strings spin over/under it so I can hear what it sounds like when the string isn't fixed above it.

"we did not go to the moon because it was easy, we went to the moon because eff it why not" -black science man

You could also make a round guitar slide (or even just a regular one) then you can play it possibly while its spinning

that's a COOL idea. Oh the possibilities when playing, you could just roll the next with your fret hand for the worlds longest guitar scale climb 😂 Or even a hollow neck cylindrical acoustic version. Cool stuff, thanks for making it!

I think a back cover on the neck would be a good addition, having it connecting from the body to the top of the neck, preferably made of something light like carbon fibre. I’m almost imagining it’s use as a chapman stick mixed with the spinning mechanism of a hurdy gurdy. In that vein, I also suggest a wheel or turning handle with a brake system that can both stop the neck from spinning and lock it in place where needed, like if you wanted to use it like a normal guitar. It could also help to have adjustable resistance on the spinning so it can be more or less difficult to spin depending on what you want.

I'm still imagining fretting it with a slide.

Rotary slip ring connector with dead zones to isolate pickpups on thumb side.

Maybe it will be possible to make a rheostat contact arc on the lower neck joint. I mean when you turn it, only strings on the front neck( which are in use) will transmit the signal.

The thumb thing is easy to overcome. String and tune it in octaves so the strings on the exact opposite sides are octave notes. Then play both strings at the same time as you roll around the cylinder.

The plank idea could work. Try making it the whole length of the guitar and then attaching it with L brackets to the top and bottom connecting to a rod going through some skateboard bearings. It’ll definitely add to the thickness but it’ll spin! You could also remove some strings to make it thinner to accommodate the plank.

cool idea man!! keep us updated. new subscriber!

Brother, I think the best way to play this instrument would be to tune all of the strings to an open chord tuning. Once tuned this way, you should be able to play it while it spins. Don’t worry about fretting the instrument at all, play it with a guitar slide, or a lap steel bar. Enjoy.

So what kind of fret radius would you like? -YES.

What if you used a circular capo that would be designed similarly to a barbell collar? You could adjust it relatively easily and with the right tuning the guitar could work as an arpeggiator at the very least. If you could somehow make a slide that worked across the circumference of the neck then it might work well as a slide guitar in a a similar arpeggiator type way.

Pickups should be switched on/off according to rotation. Off when in back (removing unintended sound from touching back-side strings). On when in front. Could be pretty easy to implement.

I think a heptagon profile, with seven radius-ed fretboards, would be kind of cool. I like the idea of an odd number. This could be playable using different playing techniques. Perhaps Rob Scallon could come up with some playing techniques.

Maybe just have another neck for the guitar that's ofc not attached to the strings, just kinda separately there, like one of those rollers with a handle except without the handle yknow? It should probably help with stability if it's an issue. Also maybe have the neck thin enough so that you don't have to wrap your hand around it too much. That way it can act as a guide for your hand just to prevent you from having to lift it trying to prevent unintentional noise.

That's looking sooo good now! How is tuning? (Probably better than a piano at least)

Reminds me of a mini gun. Perfect for the Doomslayer. Could kill demons and play the soundtrack at the same time.

Rob Scallon.... No one else can debut this properly when It is finished....

I'd consider making it into a drone instrument with an open tuning.

A sliding thumb rest? A bar from the body that then loops and attaches at the top of the neck. It's grooved to allow the thumb rest to slide. Also a stepper motor attached to let's say a sewing machine pedal to rotate it.

You could fret it like crazy when it's not spinning or spinning slowly but you will need to engineer a sliding capo like on a Steinberger but with string side rollers for speed spinning. Spinning will also add centrifugal effect to dampen vibration. Many problems to solve but I applaud the innovative creativity. Salute!

The hand rest idea sounds good, but the foam or fabric cloth will drag. Or you could have something which activates the pickup one string at a time. So your footswitch to rotate the thing will step through each string in turn (one foot press = next string [clockwise or anticlockwise setting too]). THis is so cool, would love to see this work.

What about a flexible sleeve rotating around an oval support? In theory this would make it easier to hold it and to play it still keeping the possibility to smoothly play while rotating

Amazing stuff! 👍 If you rotated JUST the neck core and frets, but have the strings fixed, it would auto-bow like a cello when you pressed a string against the (motorised) rotating fret... Then you could have a rear surface for the thumb, rotating fretboard in the middle, and some strings on the front.

I still think playing it in the lap like a slide guitar (maybe not directly in the lap if the back's open, but in that flat-down position) is going to be most comfortable for playing it as it is, especially since you can keep it spinning without having your fretting hand getting pulled around. Also the cylinder neck definitely is too cool to pass up on, even if there are more "practical" shapes

Rather than a cylinder, Is it possible to make it have a standard fretboard curve: imagine almost like a treadmill that would rotate around the standard fretboard shape

wish i could give this a go! I can see some cool two handed tapping played on this!

Looks like it could be used as a slide guitar, use like a brass/glass slide to fret it while it spin. Set it in an open tuning and maybe use a sustainer/ebow too?

It needs to have gun barrels built into the neck. Then it could be an anime "Gatling Guitar".

Hook motor up to pedals. Have one for rotating clockwise, and one for counterclockwise. Then use finger picks and a slide. Play it like a pedal steel

I suggest that you use your LH thumb to fret notes on the backside of the neck as your fingers fret notes on the front side. You could probably make some nice counterpoint that way.

i would make a mute for the strings that arent on the intended playing surface right in front of the bridge (attached to the body). maybe it activates and deactivates when the computer spins, or maybe has a manual release.

With reactangle and strings on both sides would make it more playable With two types styles

This absolutely awesome

x:hey are you ready for the gig him:no i forgot to tune my guitar sorry

Maybe the back/thumb part could be the slider so one can play 2 types of styles at once 😂 Great invention. Keep going ❤

I really assumed you would play the damn guitar

Use half a tube to cover the back, only exposing the playable strings.

Yesterday I watched a machinist/welder/engineer design and build an RC boat, it sank. So will this. I am a bass player, guitar player, luthier, and piano technician. Every mistake luthiers make today were made during the renaissance period. With a little research you could avoid making the same mistakes. The most important thing we have learned from history is that, we have learned nothing from history!

I've obviously missed a bunch of details; this is the first I've seen about this. What's the range of string gauges? Is it guitar, guitar-bass, bass guitar... what octave? (I'd put that basic descriptive information in the Transcript area.) Beyond that, I see primary ergonomic concerns. I'd investigate a solution similar to a ramp that runs along and between the strings for the thumb. That needs to be firm. Instead of a square or circular shaft, I'd consider a plumply rounded triangular form with the classic mid-1950s Fender soft-V neck profile in mind. I'm an industrial designer and I've been playing bass guitar for over 30 years. I also build/make basses.

Luca Stricagnoli, whom I believe is also an idol of yours, is a master of playing mutant guitars. I believe he is the best person to play this instrument.

1:33 "I am heavy weapons guy"

I'm not exactly sure what the most effective way to play it would be either, but I think the idea is neat as hell regardless. A couple thoughts for you... For one, there's no hard and fast rule saying it has to be rotating at all times, you could have it where it snaps into 3 or 4 or so various different positions to like switch between bass vs guitar mode. Also, as others have suggested, perhaps you could play it with a bow, but that almost suggests it might be better without the frets if played with a bow. Another thought, there's nothing mandatory about the order of the strings, you could experiment with other string orders like interleaving low/high/low/high strings pre-tuned to play different chords when turned into different positions. Just my 3 cents on it, I wish you all the best and hope to see you play that bad boy one day!

Electronic muting when strings are facing back. Add a switch to turn off the pickups to the strings when not in front.

It is totally playable, just get a gyroscopic sensor and deactivate the pickups from the back so the thumb doesn’t make a sound. Also push the body forward so you can rest your right hand on the body when you play. It’ll be the width of a classical guitar. It’s a great idea man. If you perfect it you could sell it to Steve vai or something.