The Baby-Z, A new Ztar model is born
This news is hot off the press. Harvey Starr who builds custom MIDI instruments and sells them direct from his website www.starrlabs.com has unveiled a new web site design and also an attractive small-form Ztar called the Baby-Z.
There has been some small yet excited murmurings about the new compact model as it promises some unique features that have not been included in any other model as of yet.
Perhaps for many guitar orientated musicians and sound designers the aspect of the small Baby-Z to get the most excited over is the small price-tag. It is the first time a Ztar will be debuting at under $1000. More details and specifications following the break…
The basic announced specifications listed on Harvey’s website so far include:
- 16 Fret Fingerboard. Touch-sensitive rubber strings offer a smooth linear feel similar to real strings.
- 6 Touch-sensitive rubber Trigger Bars for fingerstyle performance.
- 6 programmable Expression Pads
- 8 programmable Rotary Pots
- Encoder Wheel User Interface
- Sustain Pedal Jack
- Volume Pedal Jack
- MIDI IN, MIDI OUT
- USB 1.0 . The instrument may be powered by a USB 2.0 port.
- Internal MIDI Wireless optional
What’s intriguing on this model are the rubber triggers and how they now extend out across the whole 16 frets which should induce a more guitar-like sensation of fretting strings. It remains to be seen how well these will suit the legato playing styles that the other models suit best.
Aside from the official release information, I have been privy to more infomation direct from Harvey Starr about the forth-coming baby addition to the Ztar family.
He mentioned that the two buttons below the rubber "strings" are for Octave+/- and the strip is a programmable Ribbon Controller for Pitchbends. Since the fretboard is shorter with fewer frets, you will now need access to lower or higher octaves, it is similar to function found on small-form MIDI keyboard controllers that are only 2 octaves wide, popular with laptop musicians and other road warriors available from the likes of Novation and M-Audio.
Regarding the Keytriggers (where you will be picking with your fingers); there’s a new twist in that you can tap a trigger with your fingers to execute a note. you will even be able to do a mandolin-tremolo, like drumming your fingers on a tabletop. But the draw-back with this is that you can’t use a flat pick which may prove irksome for some guitarists.
I for one am excited by the possibility of being able to pull off guitar-like riffs by playing with an adapted tapped/finger-pick technique. It should provide for a unique and rewarding musical experience only found on a Ztar. For some new the the guitar, they may even find tapping the triggers to pluck the strings even easier to master than picking real strings.
As for the availability and tempting price — the babyZ is due to hit production early April at $995, with wireless being an additional $250.
Glide over to: http://www.starrlabs.com/babyz.php and then place your pre-order now, this one is going to be popular and in demand so best to get in early if you’re in the rare position of wondering what to do with that tax refund.
