Throw out all your pickups! (not really, but...)

[Birdbrain]

Since my other primary hobby is photography, I often scan the pages of DPReview, which analyzes photo gear with the same kind of obsessive detail as we do with guitars. Today I came on something new and unexpected that will surely wind up in this sub-forum someday, i.e. right now.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a novel method of using cameras and lasers to make real-time images of a guitar's vibrating soundboard. They're combining inputs from two different types of cameras and crunching that data to represent the actual vibrations that cause the sound. Then these are converted back to sound, so they achieve amplification of the instrument without any form of microphone, or piezo sensing of the physical vibrations.

The practical benefits include being able to zero in on a single instrument in an ensemble, while eliminating all ambient noise. The sounds represented in the informational video aren't very good, but this is more of a proof-of-concept project. I though some might find it interesting here, especially those from tech or imaging backgrounds.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/390293...nstructs-sound

[Lost Sheep]

I have heard of similar technology to play old, fragile recordings (think of Edison's wax cylinder recordings) by shining an laser beam on the grooves and reading the reflection. Benefit is that there is no wear on the physical record whether it is soft wax, old vinyl or shellac discs that might be damaged by contact with a physical needle/stylus for playback.

Probably 20 or so years ago.

The idea of putting a source inside my guitar to read the vibrations of the underside of the bridge is intriguing. I am not sure if it would be more or less resistant to feedback it might be than current piezo-electric pickups.

[Rick Jones]

Originally Posted by Lost Sheep

I have heard of similar technology to play old, fragile recordings (think of Edison's wax cylinder recordings) by shining an laser beam on the grooves and reading the reflection. Benefit is that there is no wear on the physical record whether it is soft wax, old vinyl or shellac discs that might be damaged by contact with a physical needle/stylus for playback.

Probably 20 or so years ago.

The idea of putting a source inside my guitar to read the vibrations of the underside of the bridge is intriguing. I am not sure if it would be more or less resistant to feedback it might be than current piezo-electric pickups.

My eldest daughter has a record player with a laser stylus that her university friends tried and failed to put into production via a kickstarter campaign. There were two prototypes and she kept one. Apparently there was an issue with the lasers (Chinese built) they had sourced not complying with EU safety standards, and it was more a budget/scale issue than anything else, but she also said that true vinyl aficionados aren’t looking for new tech as a large part of the hobby is the older machines and keeping them going. Your archive/museum use makes total sense though, and I’ll bring it up when I see her Thank you.

As for pickups… sure, why not? Imagine if there was a way of combining the visual in performance… Kaki King would love that I reckon.

[varmonter]

Genius. Imagine the mixing and blending
Capabilities..without (hopefully)
altering ones acoustic tone.
But in a live sound application
How would even this be able to
provide a sound pressure level
high enough to hear without effecting
the vibration of an acoustic instrument
top?
Unless the band and audience
were all wearing headphones.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Genius. Imagine the mixing and blending
Capabilities..without (hopefully)
altering ones acoustic tone.
But in a live sound application
How would even this be able to
provide a sound pressure level
high enough to hear without effecting
the vibration of an acoustic instrument
top?
Unless the band and audience
were all wearing headphones.

Gain.

The signal provided by the optical device is (should be) very clean. Electronic circuitry easily provides gain to the signal and whatever impedance is required to deliver to any regular PA or guitar amplifier.

[Murphy Slaw]

Very cool.

I don't use pickups.

I use mics.

[Rudy4]

There is the Lightwave guitar pickup as used by Willcox Guiters as an example of alternative technology being incorporated into the acoustic guitar.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Genius. Imagine the mixing and blending
Capabilities..without (hopefully)
altering ones acoustic tone.
But in a live sound application
How would even this be able to
provide a sound pressure level
high enough to hear without effecting
the vibration of an acoustic instrument
top?
Unless the band and audience
were all wearing headphones.

It's not as far-fetched as it sounds. After watching a few videos on Youtube where the entire audience was wearing headphones my curiosity was raised a bit, so I did a quick Google search to see what was going on.

Here's a first-hand account of the Peex Live experience from a user who attended a 2019 Elton John concert where it was being used.

https://www.engadget.com/2019-03-13-...lton-john.html

With the Peex system you get to use an app on your smartphone to control five different sub-mixes of the audio. You can do things like boost vocals if you want the singer to be louder, etc.

In the videos I watched the entire audience was wearing over the ear headphones which must have been a similar technology by a different company.