My New Forum

[TapperMike]

http://tappermike.com/forums

 

On average twice a week I get a private message from a fellow ztarist asking mostly about "Song" (the ztar system for patches) setups response curves and requests for more vids or tutes.  It seems like I'm the only one offering this stuff aside from Starr Labs (maker of the ztar)

 

I'm hoping that it will encourage other ztar players to share their knowledge as well.

 

[Jim622]

I don't play one, but good for you and good luck.

[justsoulin]

[TapperMike]

So this is interesting .....

 

After I open the forum I visit Starr Labs and find out. 6 of the 7 ztar products have been discontinued.as well as several other products.

Now all they offer is "The clipper" and wireless midi

[Jim622]

So your kind of playing the modern day ------Theramin

[TapperMike]

It's always been thin ice for starr labs. They've never had investors and everything is made to order with an american workforce.  Made to order means even though they say 6 to 8 weeks it can be up to 6 months for a highly specialized ztar. This pushes all production back as opposed to having a single product (like they have now with the clipper) where you can't get add ons and it may indeed be built in china and shipped back to so cal.  I know for a while Harvey went shopping overseas for a manufacturer paid up the wazoo and the company disappeared.  Same thing with the original iTar.  Harvey contracted a company to program ztars for ios through lots of money at them and then they ran for the hills.  It was only until the next installment of the itar that he hooked up with a company willing to work out iTar kinks.. But still that thing has yet to come to market.

 

 

The midi guitar market is a strange one.  People are so obsessed with a guitar looking and feeling like a guitar that they'll throw away the possibilities and accuracy of which a ztar has to offer. No glitches no unwanted ghost notes no latency, no pitch issues and a million and one other problems that arise from using a pitch to voltage system.

 

While I do complain about my z6's recent failings take a good look at my avatar. It's my baby z

This is the clipper (the model they still sell)

 

Believe it or not... My Baby z sans the light show is more powerful then the clipper.

The clipper limits midi output to three midi channels one of which is dedicated to controlling the live environment which leaves two for actual playing.  The baby Z has 32 midi channels (16 left and 16 right)

While the clipper does have more frets (24) then the baby z the baby z has six "string triggers" and 6 expression pads.  expression pads used to be available on the clipper they aren't any more.  As well while the demo shows a clipper with 6 pots (an extra that is no longer available) my baby z has 8 pots as a standard feature.  

 

While it's somewhat of a time consumer I can map the fretboard for live just like the video the only difference being the lack of a light show.

 

The top panel shows access to the 32 "songs" (presets) 8 at a time. As a song stores the value of what everything does one can easily have my 8 pots access 64 different values by simply clicking the soft keys associated with the name.  Imagine a midi controller device with 64 pots for mixing and effects just a push button away.  Not to mention all the other zoning and button features. I've had it for years and while I know how it all works it still amazes me the versatility of this little baby.

 

I got the first baby z ever released and it was 1100.  Before they discontinued it the product was selling for 600+ shipping.  My only issue with the baby z is lack of frets as the baby only has 16 frets and not 24.  The reason this is irks me so much is because I've developed several techniques/approaches which require the full 24 frets.

 

See this guy....

 

I've copied from Jeff a lot. Notice how he plays melody with the right hand while the left hand plays bass set to a bass patch and harmony set to a different channel.  I've expanded on that to where I'll split the 12~24 frets again at the 18th fret so I'll have one channel for a melody line and another one for a lead sound.  That I can't do on a baby z. nor could it be done on a clipper. For that I'd need a real ztar (eg: z5,z6,z7 or most preferably mini z the version jeff plays in the above video)

 

What's funny is I also developed an approach for "lap" ztar playing which would be similar to playing a z-board.

http://www.deviantsynth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/zboard.png

Edited July 2, 2014 by TapperMike

[TapperMike]

My point in all the above is this....

 

 

While "The Clipper" is more powerful for use with Ableton Live then any other midi controller on the market (including Push and Maschine) It does so at a cost to functionality over generalized midi control that standard ztars have had in the past. As well Having only two products for the market (wireless midi and the clipper) puts pretty much the entire workforce at starr labs out of work as other ztars are made to order.

[firestarter]

Looks like a great forum.  I might have to join.