Linnstrument guitar chord shapes/voicings

[pabaker85]

Hi,
I’ve been searching for posts or videos demonstrating the possibility of playing barre and other traditional guitar chords voicings, but can’t find much. Is this feasible given the Linnstrument pad and instrument size, orientation, etc.?

Specifically, I want to play with a guitar strap similar to how I use the Artiphon Instrument 1. I can see how open chord structures might work, but thinking barre might be tricky. I’m also interested in using the bottom row trigger mode to mimic the string picking/strumming action. Most videos seem to demonstrate playing flat as a keyboard or is using a strap but mostly monophonic playing.

Thanks

[Tj Shredder]

I do not see any advantage for playing barre chords. It will hurt your hand...
No keyboard player misses barres, as we as Linnstrument players we have two hands and could play 10 note chords without the limitations a barre yields. Guitars are made for strumming, only then you need barre chords to set six strings with five fingers. You rarely see bassplayers using barre...
A LinnStrument is neither a keyboard nor a guitar!
I still think the best row offset setting is tritones, its easier on the hands to play fourths or fifths...

[pabaker85]

Thanks for the thoughts. Makes sense.

For me, who plays mostly guitar and a little keys, I’d love to transfer my existing skill set and chord voicing muscle memory, but maybe that’s just not possible. The Artiphon is pretty good in that regard, but I find the pads on the neck are sometimes tricky to trigger accurately (for barre chords in particular).

[John the Savage]

As a guitarist of 25 years, naturally I prefer to use my LinnStrument in the "guitar" tuning configuration, because the layout of the notes is familiar. However, as far as actually playing it is concerned, beyond a basic level of dexterity, I would say there's very little overlap in technique. Most of what works on the guitar, doesn't really translate to the LinnStrument. It's best to approach it as an altogether new instrument.

As far as chords are concerned, you'll just have to start thinking in terms of jazz, man. Partials are your friend on the LinnStrument. Bar chords, and even simple cowboy chords, are not only impractical, they're kind of a moot point to be honest. And as stated above, you do have a second hand to "fret" addition notes with if need be.

On a personal note — and I promise I'm not being judgmental, but I do feel as though a little tough love and brutal honesty is necessary here — Folks, seriously, unless you're actually a member of Divo and are prepared to embrace the irony of that shtick to-the-max, having the LinnStrument strapped to your chest like a washboard, well... It's a little tragic. You look like a dork. There, I said it. I'm sorry, but it's true. If you don't wanna get beat up in the ally after the gig, have some dignity and play it like a pedal-steel.

I love you all. Really. I just don't want to see any of you get hurt (smirk).

Cheers!

P.S. That goes for you keytarists too (wink).

[UnWorldly]

I tried strapping it for a long time, my left split flips upside-down in that position and I cant easily reach the lower rows that way. If I wear it at an angle my left wrist is kinked like a chicken wing and hard to maneuver. The reach is a little better when wearing it near vertically but it feels really silly to wear, like a washboard is an excellent way of putting it. I thought about re-mapping all the notes and commanding the lights via midi from my computer to accomplish a vertically flipped left split, that would make wearing it a little more practical because I wouldn't need to relearn my left hand fingerings vs the sitting position. I find that I'm constantly looking down at it to not lose my place and it looks goofy wearing a vertical board while looking down. Ability to play without looking will come with practice, I hope. I had this crazy idea to wear some vr goggles so I wouldn't have to looking down at the thing all the time, it wouldn't be too hard to make a widget that displays in goggles which notes I'm hitting, still, doing that wouldn't help you to know where you fingers were before actually hitting something. If I go that far with remapping the notes, programming my own lights and wearing VR goggles to keep my head upright, then I may as well embrace it, buddy up with a fingerdrummer, keytarist, make some disco robot looking costumes, it could be fun.

I've since gone more practical and kept it on a desk, most of the time simplified chords on the left hand, lead melody on the right. Both hands assisting with one side or another when more complexity is required. I tried the tritone spacing, I didn't like it because I kept inadvertently forming four corners of a box. The diagonals in the default made those box situations less common.

I don't know if every linnstrument does it, the faq says that if you have three corners of a box formed with your notes, the fourth corner will not register. Well in mine, if I have two corners, the third corner will randomly hit were I pressed or the forth corner that I'm not trying to press. I like to chord in my left hand so if I ever have two fingers vertical I have to be really careful that the melody in my right hand does not line up with either row on my left, or ill randomly get the opposite corner of the box sounding instead of the note I pressed. Tritone keeps your hands moving in more square like motions and seems to make the box problem worse, I can see the appeal though, the sqares make it easier not to get lost on the board. The four corners of a box does not bother me, but I must admit the third corner randomly changing into a fourth corner is getting on my nerves. I could probably avoid all these box problems by buying a pair of 128's and playing one with each hand, that would be something.

[John the Savage]

I don't know if every linnstrument does it, the faq says that if you have three corners of a box formed with your notes, the fourth corner will not register. Well in mine, if I have two corners, the third corner will randomly hit were I pressed or the forth corner that I'm not trying to press. [...] The four corners of a box does not bother me, but I must admit the third corner randomly changing into a fourth corner is getting on my nerves.

Hmm... This doesn't sound right. I'm just quoting this part for you, so Roger is more likely to see it when he comes along. I had to swap sensors on my LinnStrument when I first got it, due to a bad batch that slipped past QC. As I recall, I encounter a few anomalies like this during that process, though admittedly I'm a little hazy on the details now. Have you tried doing a global reset and manually calibrating? That procedure solved a few problems for me during that time. Anyway, I'm sure Roger will have more insight for you...

Cheers!

[Roger_Linn]

Unworldly— John is correct in that the problem can likely be corrected by a Calibration (Global Settings > Actions column). Look in that section of the Panel Settings page for a link to a video demonstrating how to do it. Each unit is calibrated at the factory, but I think sometimes a recalibration is needed, perhaps due to differences in temperature or humidity.

Regarding playing in the standing position, it’s pretty much the same challenges as playing a Chapman Stick and is best played at the same angle as Stick for two-handed play. Stick players look down at first then eventually lose dependence on looking. And on LinnStrument you’ve also got the Braille dots on all C note pads for tactile feedback. For solo play standing, check out the 2nd, 3rd and 4th videos at the top of the LinnStrument Videos page > Jeremy tab.

[pabaker85]

Thanks to Roger and everyone for sharing your experiences and insight. Very helpful!

[UnWorldly]

Calibration did the trick. I suspect that I threw it off in the first place my inadvertently pressing the calibration a long time ago. I went for a few months assuming that the keys just worked that way, lesson learned it is better to ask.

Thanks!

[Roger_Linn]

Yeah— if you ever suspect a problem in future, just email me st the support address.

[Rouby44]

Here's a fairly comprehensive guide to chord voicings on the Linnstrument that I created. I grouped them by voicing family - what inversion the chord is in and whether it's a relatively closed versus open/spread voicing.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

[Roger_Linn]

That's a good one, Aaron--thanks. I've just added a link to it at the bottom at the Chord & Scale Shapes page.