CES 2013

Las Vegas, NV | January 8 - 11, 2013

Artiphon Instrument 1 Is An Ultra-Swanky Multi-Instrumental Music Gizmo

John Biggs

Biggs is the East Coast Editor of TechCrunch. Biggs has written for the New York Times, InSync, USA Weekend, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Money and a number of other outlets on technology and wristwatches. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com and lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. You can Tweet him here and G+ him here. Email him directly at... → Learn More

Thursday, January 10th, 2013

This CES has been a surprisingly musical. Aside from the usual headphones and speakers, we’ve already seen a number of electronic musical instruments including the Artiphon Instrument 1, a well-made electronic guitar analog with a pressure sensitive fretboard.

Unlike the Jamstik, the Instrument 1 doesn’t have real strings but instead you play on the raised ridges on a pressure sensitive surface. The iPhone receives MIDI input from the device and you can even plug it into a computer.

The Instrument 1 is made of hardwood and can be played like a guitar, banjo, bass (by tapping on the strings), or even a fiddle. It should cost under $1,000 and will be made in and around Nashville by the creator, Mike Butera.

We spent a few moments playing the instrument on stage at CES 2013.