It's here!

[PhoBucket]

I picked up my Harpejji on Friday. Ahh so nice..I don't want to do a full review until I've spent more time with it, but it sure is perdy!

[GaryOpenhill]

:eek:

green with envy, but trying to smile -> :D

[Try'n2Tap]

All I can say is WOW!:eek:

[Tom Drinkwater]

Wow. That is a very nice present indeed. What are you going to play it through for amplification? Keyboard amp?

[PhoBucket]

Thanks, everybody.

Right now I am playing it through a DTAR Solstice preamp and then into my bass rig.

Harpejji -> Solstice -> Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 -> Patterson Audio 2x8

Oh, and I am messing around with with some Tech 21 pedals somewhere in the signal chain (Blonde, and VT Bass). Thanks to Jamsire for 411 on the Tech 21 stuff.

[TheEclectic]

How are you progressing?

I am interested to read your thoughts and impressions on the instrument. I am really interested in how the strings going away from you influences your playing.

[PhoBucket]

How are you progressing?

I am interested to read your thoughts and impressions on the instrument. I am really interested in how the strings going away from you influences your playing.

Sorry for the late response. I was vacationing in San Francisco for the last week :)

I am loving this instrument. It's keyboard + touch-guitar approach is exactly what I was looking for. Both in sound and playing concept this is right on the mark for me. Also, the action is lower than the demo unit I tried in November, so playing the bass strings is very easy.

I am getting a very warm sound with the treble and mids on my preamp rolled down, which is not something I would normally think of from an all maple instrument with piezo pickups. It sounds like something between an electric piano and a jazz guitar. Very satisfying, warm, and funky.

The instrument has an AC adapter. It is the type that joins the rack at a 90 degree angle and doesn't take up more space than a normal plug. Still, I thought it was worth mentioning because although it is standard fare for keyboards to plug in for power, most basses and guitars use batteries for their electronics (except for Alembic?).

The spacing and scale work well for closed voicings, and I'm using my thumbs like on a piano. For instance, when I'm playing All Blues, my left hand will play the bassline, my right hand thumb and index are playing the chords, and the rest of my right hand is playing the melody.

This is how I play major scales, from my post (http://marcodi.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=24) on the Marcodi forum:

"I am using piano fingering notation (LH: 1 is pinky RH: 1 is thumb )

RH: 2 3 1 (up) 2 3 4 1 (up) 2
LH: 3 4 5 (up) 2 3 4 5 (up) 3

A couple of things I like about this fingering are that (unlike on piano) your thumbs are always crossing at the same time. Also, when crossing the thumb under on the way down, a slight rocking of the wrist will naturally lift the finger that on the same string in front of the thumb and give the necessary force to produce a meaty sound. Alternately, you could pull-off with the finger that is in front of the thumb."

Other than All Blues and scales, I've been working through Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos (Book 1 so far), comping through the II-V-I Aebersold (http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=V03DS&Category_Code=AEBALL), and writing some things based on the two handed hammer on techniques Bill Burke demonstrated at FredTap. Tomorrow I'm taking the instrument up to an Advent rehearsal, which will be its first time out of the house.

One area where I think it needs improvement is the stand. The stand they recommmend is not good for seated playing because the legs get in the way of your own legs. I'm leaning towards the K&M Baby Spider stand as an alternative, but have not found one locally to try out yet. It hasn't prevented me from playing the instrument, but I think it will be ergonomically better and will more easily accomodate a pedalboard when I find something else, especially since I am playing with the bottom of the instrument very close to my stomach.

I'll try and get my act together an post some youtube clips when I get a little more practice time under my belt.

Best,
Ben

[jeffcomas]

Hi Ben,

I look forward to hearing you play, after you get a chance to get used to it.
Heard anything about tapping workshops in the southeast, or east coast?


:)

[PhoBucket]

Hi Jeff,

Welcome to the forum. I haven't heard of any in the early part of the year, but I will certainly be bringing the harpejji to FredTap in the Fall (assuming Rob will be putting it on again)

Thanks,
Ben

[PhoBucket]

I've have had the instrument for a month and have become more accustomed to its strengths and weaknesses. I had a one week break, at the beginning of the year, and felt like I had to start over in terms of muscle memory. No more big breaks for a while! Also, I've become much more conscientious about trimming my fingernails to keep them from hitting the fingerboard.

I took the instrument to an Advent rehearsal yesterday, and I'm looking forward to incorporating it into our set. The band gave lots of positive comments along with some good natured ribbing about my shuffleboard ;)

Pros:
String Orientation - I really digging my hands not getting in the way of each other. I thought that this switch in orientation would be harder than it actually was. It didn't take long to learn how to get enough meat on the string to make a good sound. Also, I'm learning to use my forearms and wrists to get a volume and touch on the thumbs and pinkies that is consistent with the rest of my fingers. Woohoo...true 10 finger tapping.

Sound - Especially on the middle 18-20 strings. It's voiced clearly enough for all of the chords I want to try without sounding thin. Well, the top 2 strings are a little thin when played by themselves, but the same is true of the top string of every other tapper I've played. They work well in chords. Also, I am most often playing chords in my right hand instead of my left.

Construction Quality and Finish - Everyone who has seen it so far has commented on the finish. I especially like the tortoise shell they used. Also, all of the seams where the wood meets the hardware are tight, adding to the feeling (along with it's heft) that this instrument will remain in top condition for a long time.


Cons:
Volume Controls - I would like the unit to have separate volumes for the melody and bass sides. As it is, the lowest strings put out a much stronger signal than the highest, so I've been going through and tweaking all of the patches to compensate. There are ways around it, use separate volume pedals, or tweak the preamp, but it feels like something that should be on the instrument.

Edit: I spoke with Marcodi about this, and the instrument has internal trim controls adjust the relative levels of each side. They kept one volume knob so that the instrument's overall volume could be controlled with a single action.

Flatwound Strings - I'm not really getting on with the flat wound bass strings. The middle 5 strings are roundwound, and I love that part of the sound, so I've just placed an order with juststrings.com to swap out the bass strings for d'addario roundwounds.


Mixed Bag:
Unlike many other tapping instruments, the fingerboard markers correspond more directly to pitch than to location or intervals. (Like C-dots vs. standard guitar dots). The up side is that the system makes a lot of sense, is easy to learn, and helps keep the sea of strings under mental control. The down side is that you are locked into one tuning. I kind of feel like the first people who played a Chapman Stick; I'm buying into Tim's vision the same way people bought into Emmett's vision of 4ths/5ths.

Anyway, none of the cons come close to outweighing the benefits of the concept , so I'm still a very happy camper right now.

Enough blabbering on...sorry for the long-windednessitudity...time to practice.

[jeffcomas]

Congratulations, Ben. I can't wait to hear you play it.
:)

http://www.myspace.com/jeffcomas

[PhoBucket]

I used the harpejji on a demo session last night for the Technosquirrels. I did a few tracks of whole notes and chords in different ranges. Also experimented with the muted technique seen in the Tim's Marcodi video.

The song is in the very early stages of production, but I can already tell that the melody is killer. Hopefully some of what I tracked will make it onto the final version.