Live music is a great help to practicing singers and musicians wanting accompaniment or as entertainment at a dinner party or in a club. The problem really lies in getting people together consistently who want to play, especially on short notice.
The Solo is looking to resolve that difficulty. The product is a mahogany or ebony guitar attachment that transforms any guitar into a self-playing version of itself. To do this, retractable pegs push down on the strings of a guitar’s fretboard while a row of picks down by the guitar’s base strums them, essentially creating a modern digital equivalent of a player piano.
Bumpers on the Solo’s corners prop it up over the strings to ensure they aren’t accidentally pressed down without input from a Bluetooth-connected smartphone and the companion Solo app, which contains classic guitar melodies along with the capacity to create original compositions. Each Solo is going for $180 and is expected to ship in December 2016. Its Kickstarter campaign is looking for $18,000 in funding by March 10th, 2016.
Many would agree that digital music lacks a lot of the feeling and emotion live music evokes. With the Solo, that feeling can be had at a moment’s notice to practice with or even entertain guests. For a similar gadget, the previously covered RoboTar aims to help those who are disabled play by giving them the opportunity to strum while it presses down on the strings of the fretboard. While not as versatile as the Solo, RoboTar hits it home by focusing on those who would ultimately be very appreciative of the agency RoboTar returns to them.