Editing SynthAxe

{{Short description|Electronic music instrument that emulates the layout of a guitar}}
[[File:SynthAxe.jpg|thumb|250px|The SynthAxe]]

The '''SynthAxe''' is a [[fret]]ted, [[guitar]]-like [[MIDI]] controller, created by Bill Aitken, Mike Dixon, and Tony Sedivy and manufactured in [[England]] in 1985. It is a musical instrument that uses electronic [[synthesizer]]s to produce sound and is controlled through the use of an arm resembling the neck of a guitar in form and in use. Its name comes from the words ''synthesizer'' and ''axe'', a slang term meaning a guitar in rock music. The system was developed as a joint venture funded by Richard Branson's [[Virgin Group]].

The SynthAxe itself has no internal sound source; it is purely a controller and needs synthesizers to produce sound.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SynthAxe - Allan Holdsworth Information Center|url=http://fingerprintsweb.net/ahwiki/index.php?title=SynthAxe|access-date=2020-10-09|website=fingerprintsweb.net}}</ref> The neck of the instrument is angled upwards from the body, and there are two independent sets of strings.

The fretboard is continuously scanned and sends signals to synthesizers which produce the sound. The left set determine the pitch played, through contact with the frets on the neck and by sensing the side-to-side bending of the string. The right set of strings are velocity sensitive; these strings can be plucked, strummed or damped in the same manner as a guitar. A keyboard made up of nine keys can also be used to trigger notes instead of the strings.<ref>{{Cite patent|number=4658690|title=Electronic musical instrument|gdate=1987-04-21|invent1=Aitken|invent2=Sedivy|invent3=Dixon|inventor1-first=William A.|inventor2-first=Anthony J.|inventor3-first=Michael S.|url=https://www.freepatentsonline.com/4658690.html}}</ref> Design of the key toggles was done by the late David Fowler, at the time trading under BJ Hopkins Injection and toolmaking, in Littleworth, Oxford.

An electronic [[tremolo]] bar (the 'electronic wang arm') can be used for standard [[whammy bar]] effects, or can be redefined to produce different MIDI output such as [[filter cutoff]]s or volume.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Original Demo of the SynthAxe|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZopVI9LTOU|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-09|website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

When originally produced, the SynthAxe was priced at £10,000<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=SynthAxe: Back in 1986 a complete system was nearly £10,000 sterling|url=http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/synthaxe.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-09|website=www.hollis.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Andy Summers in Guitar Player Interview 1986|url=https://www.joness.com/gr300/summers.htm|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-12|website=}}</ref> (approximately $13,000) and eventually sold for about £6,000. The instrument was built from aerospace and [[military grade]] hardware, and was such a sophisticated and expensive piece of machinery that few were sold, making it difficult to keep the company afloat. In or around 1986, [[Virgin Interactive|Virgin Games]] took over the distribution but let it go after a couple of years.

Fewer than 100 SynthAxes were made,<ref>[http://www.alendi.co.uk/synthaxe.html Alec Standsfield: The SynthAxe]</ref> and it is difficult to locate used units. Most musicians who desire a MIDI guitar controller often use other alternatives, such as Roland or Axon systems that can convert a guitar's output to MIDI via 13-pin cables and outboard devices or older systems such as the [[Roland GR-500]].

==Notable users==
Prominent players of the SynthAxe included [[Allan Holdsworth]], who used it extensively on his albums ''[[Atavachron]]'' (1986),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Innerviews|title=Allan Holdsworth - Visual music|url=https://www.innerviews.org/inner/holdsworth.html|access-date=2020-10-09|website=Innerviews: Music Without Borders|language=en}}</ref> ''[[Sand (album)|Sand]]'' (1987) and ''[[Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie]]'' (2001);<ref>{{Cite web|title=SynthAxe - Allan Holdsworth Information Center|url=http://fingerprintsweb.net/ahwiki/index.php?title=SynthAxe|access-date=2020-10-09|website=fingerprintsweb.net}}</ref> [[Chuck Hammer]], who worked with both [[Lou Reed]] and [[David Bowie]], and was the earliest guitarist to use the SynthAxe in the United States; and [[Lee Ritenour]], who used the SynthAxe on his album ''[[Earth Run]]'' (1986), the cover of which features the instrument.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lee Ritenour|url=https://leeritenour.com/cds/earth-run/|access-date=2020-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref>

In the music video for "[[Out in the Fields (song)|Out in the Fields]]" by [[Gary Moore]] and [[Phil Lynott]], Moore is briefly shown playing a SynthAxe<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Gary Moore on guitar and SynthAxe, visible around 2:00|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsKpazeA5L8|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-09|website=youtube}}</ref> Christopher Currell used a SynthAxe to control the [[Synclavier]] on [[Michael Jackson]]'s [[Bad (tour)|Bad tour]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://encyclotronic.com/articles/interviews/synclavier-history-tour-and-the-quantum-potential-with-christopher-currell-r22/|title=Synclavier History Tour and The Quantum Potential With Christopher Currell|website=Encyclotronic|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-04}}</ref> [[Béla Fleck and the Flecktones]] drummer [[Future Man]] uses a highly modified SynthAxe, known as the "Drumitar", that he purchased in its original form from Ritenour.<ref>{{dead link|date=February 2021}}[http://www.flecktones.com/page/Futuremans-Synthaxe-Drumitar Futureman's Synthaxe Drumitar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126191753/http://www.flecktones.com/page/Futuremans-Synthaxe-Drumitar |date=2018-01-26 }} flecktones.com.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{dead link|date=February 2021}}[http://www.studiobergman.com/synthaxe.html SynthAxe Images]

{{Portal|1980s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:SynthAxe}}
[[Category:Guitar synthesizers]]
[[Category:Goods manufactured in England]]
[[Category:MIDI controllers]]