Ghost in the Guitar: How a Magnet and an Arduino Can Strum a Guitar

Before anyone else says it, 'Look Ma, No Hands!' Yes, Josh Levine has created a self-strumming guitar using an Arduino, a permanent magnet and the electromagnetic effect to play a string.  

Before anyone else says it, “Look Ma, No Hands!” Yes, Josh Levine has created a self-strumming guitar using an Arduino, a permanent magnet and the electromagnetic effect to play a string.

Hackaday brought this story, rather bizarrely in my opinion, into a world of Jimmi Hendrix - I didn’t hear it myself - and on the original project page, Josh explains the physics behind the strumming strings, and how he created the magnetic field, and how by turning the current on and off the wire moves back and forth… vibrating the air and finally making a sound.

The video by Josh Levine explains it much better:

ghost guitar diagram

Here's who it works simplified by this diagram created by Josh Levine.

 

One take away from this proof of concept video is how this technique can generate some atmospheric and innovative sounds from any guitar. Perhaps one of the better guitar hacks we’ve seen at AskAudio.

Via: Hackaday 

Source: wp.josh.com 

Rounik is the Executive Editor for Ask.Audio & macProVideo. He's built a crack team of professional musicians and writers to create one of the most visited online resources for news, review, tutorials and interviews for modern musician and producer. As an Apple Certified Trainer for Logic Pro Rounik has taught teachers, professional... Read More

Discussion

AuDioMiRage
Very interesting idea. The ability to generate harmonics really makes this project worth exploring.

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