Industrial Radio Pro 4 MIDI bass by Steve Chick

[Kiwi]

I decided to stop over on my way back to London in order to catch up with family but also to meet legendary bass technologist, Steve Chick. For those who don’t know, Steve was responsible for the original MB4 MIDI bass system that started out with Valley Arts and he later licensed the technology to Wal and Peavey.

Unlike the pitch sensing technology in more common systems by Roland and Graphtec, the MB4 system created by Steve is unique in that it uses mechanical sensors to obtain all the information required to generate MIDI messages. Each fret is divided so that each string has its own segment. Each fret also has a resistor soldered to it and embedded in the fingerboard. The resistors are wired in series for each string. This means each fretted note can be identified according to the resistance it presents to the outboard controller unit rather than relying on a complicated pitch detection process. The big advantage of this is virtually no MIDI lag.

Steve has had a fairly low profile in recent years, but has been active in other areas of research, including an overhaul of the MB4 system. Previous MB4 systems weren’t able to detect pitch bends, but thanks to strain sensors in the bridge the new system can. Steve has also struck up a working partnership with renowned Sydney luthier Charles Cilia to produce a complete instrument that takes its dimensions directly from a ‘64 Jazz Bass owned by a friend of Steve.

So what is it like to play? The first thing that jumps out is the absence of lag compared to the pitch to MIDI system in my Shuker Headless 6. Thanks to the mechanical sensing, triggered notes sound immediate. I tried both 4 and 5 strings and there was no noticable lag even on the B. Both polyphonic and monophonic modes are available and Steve activates another mode which takes the dynamics of the string attack, sustain and decay and uses a form of subtractive synthesis to apply them to the MIDI signal. The result is a MIDI signal that sounds much more responsive to player dynamics. It’s also possible to do hammer ons and glissandos without plucking a note with the right hand…and the system even senses harmonics!

The system is pretty much capable of sensing any bass playing technique including popping and snapping. However it's also still capable of creating false triggers with sloppy playing. Allowing for this remains the biggest challenge for any MIDI bass system. I tried a variety of right hand techniques and the least effective was the standard two fingered overhand technique mainly because I kept patting the strings to keep in time between notes. It was an old habit but not one that sits with note sensing very well. I had the best results by using a banjo claw-hammer technique which allowed me to play very fast and clean triplets in a way I could never dream of with pitch-to-MIDI. Steve suggested a classical guitar technique also works well because the strings are plucked cleanly. The range of sounds available are only limited by the synth you plug into the wireless transmitter sized convertor unit. Steve explained that there is a lot of scope to customise how the system in each instrument responds to a players technique. For example, it’s possible to filter out sensitivity to fret noise to reduce unwanted triggers.

It was at this point Steve showed me his latest idea to address the technique issue – a prototype "Chickpick". This is basically a rubber sheathed metal pick which transmits a radio signal to sensors in the instrument every time it makes contact with the string. The idea is that by using the pick to play notes rather than fingers, there will be a specific and definite trigger for the note making cleaner playing much easier for those who are used to using picks. In use, the pick definitely did the job, although I was still getting false triggers because the action on the instrument was high and contact between the string and the fret just prior to plucking was also triggering – something Steve said could be dialled out with lower action and further sensitivity tweaks.

Luthier Charles Cilia sat in with us and demonstrated the guitar version of the MIDI system. He played with astonishing facility - tapping, pinching harmonics, whammy bends and playing power chords, all perfectly tracked by the system. All in all the technology was very, very impressive. There is no question that this is the best MIDI sensing system in existence. However any system will require a high standard of right hand technique to get the best out of it. I discussed this with Steve and suggested potential development to make the optimisation process for players easier. For those who are comfortable with clean right hand technique, a staggering, new world of possibilities opens up where the player feels fully engaged with the synth. At the moment the full bass system isn't cheap and maybe out of the reach of many players. But Steve has been giving that some consideration also, so watch the website ([url="http://www.industrialradio.com.au/products/index.php"]http://www.industria...ducts/index.php[/url]) or subscribe to the Industrial Radio facebook page for any announcements in the future.


Steve Chick

[Kiwi]

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeP2SnKXnk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeP2SnKXnk[/url]

The bass in action by a current owner.

[pantherairsoft]

I was about to post a link to Jarmans MIDI bass demo after a saw the post pop up!! You beat me too it