Two-Handed Tapping with Mobius Megatar -- It's Easy!
Mobius Megatar is the name of a company that makes an unusual electric guitar.
It is designed especially for a method of playing which is called 'touchstyle' or 'two-handed tapping.'
Two-handed tapping is most commonly done on the six strings of a guitar. The strings are just tapped to the frets, which produces rapid flurries of notes. While this can be very impressive, it produces music that *could* be played normally with picking, if the musician just had fingers fast enough.
But there is a another approach to two-handed tapping, a much more profound change in the way one plays the instrument.
In this more powerful method, the two hands operate independently, much as a piano player plays.
On a normal guitar, the left hand might play near the nut and might play chords, while the right hand plays melodies, more harmony notes, or improvises higher on the neck.
On a *specialty* instrument, like the Mobius Megatar Touchstyle Guitar, each hand is given its own set of six strings:
* Six lower-pitched strings ('bass') for the left hand; and
* Six higher-pitched strings ('melody') for the right hand.
By designing an instruments especially for the two-handed tapping technique, new advantages are gained:
* The two hands never have to compete to play a note on the same strings, and this makes playing music much easier;
* The effective range of notes is expanded to allow very low notes to very high notes, allowing a more orchestral, piano-like approach to music, on what is essentially a guitar; and
* Additional combinations become possible, such as playing basslines lefthand and 'rhythm guitar' right hand.
The Mobius Megatar manufactures such an instrument, in the factory shop in Northern California.
The instrument is called "The Mobius Megatar."
It is designed especially for a method of playing which is called 'touchstyle' or 'two-handed tapping.'
Two-handed tapping is most commonly done on the six strings of a guitar. The strings are just tapped to the frets, which produces rapid flurries of notes. While this can be very impressive, it produces music that *could* be played normally with picking, if the musician just had fingers fast enough.
But there is a another approach to two-handed tapping, a much more profound change in the way one plays the instrument.
In this more powerful method, the two hands operate independently, much as a piano player plays.
On a normal guitar, the left hand might play near the nut and might play chords, while the right hand plays melodies, more harmony notes, or improvises higher on the neck.
On a *specialty* instrument, like the Mobius Megatar Touchstyle Guitar, each hand is given its own set of six strings:
* Six lower-pitched strings ('bass') for the left hand; and
* Six higher-pitched strings ('melody') for the right hand.
By designing an instruments especially for the two-handed tapping technique, new advantages are gained:
* The two hands never have to compete to play a note on the same strings, and this makes playing music much easier;
* The effective range of notes is expanded to allow very low notes to very high notes, allowing a more orchestral, piano-like approach to music, on what is essentially a guitar; and
* Additional combinations become possible, such as playing basslines lefthand and 'rhythm guitar' right hand.
The Mobius Megatar manufactures such an instrument, in the factory shop in Northern California.
The instrument is called "The Mobius Megatar."
What is a Mobius Megatar?
The Megatar is a stringed musical instrument designed to be played with two-handed tapping.The Megatar is a fretted instrument in the guitar family. You could call it an 'expanded guitar,' because it has additional, low strings.
Or you could call it an 'expanded bass,' because it has additional, high strings.
Either way, you'd be right, for it has two stringsets, one for each hand, giving the left hand six low-pitched bass strings, and the right hand six higher-pitched melody or guitar strings.
Of course just as a piano can be played with many styles, so can a Megatar, but the simplest way to begin playing is bass notes with the left hand and melody notes with the right.
Both sides are normally tuned in fourths intervals, just like any bass or guitar. However, in the two-handed specialty universe, many musicians experiment with other tunings, and so many tuning variations are possible.
However, the simplest and clearest way to begin playing is to use the familiar tuning in fourths like any guitar or bass. This tuning will also permit very rapid learning and very rapid transference of any skills already developed on bass and guitar.
It is an 'electric guitar' type of instrument, and would be played through an amplifier. Because the instrument is played by merely touching the strings to the frets. And this small sound must be amplified to be heard.
Therefore the instrument has a stereo output, as many musicians prefer to use different effects on their 'bass' notes, and different effects on their 'guitar' notes.
From 2007 instruments are of neck-through design, because this gives the best tonal advantage, and the instruments feature dual truss-rods for very precise control of keeping the fretboard playing surface very flat.
Generally, the instrument is made from light colored maple and alder, which produces an inherently bright sound, or the instrument is made from dark woods such as African Mahogany with a Wenge fretboard, which produces a very warm and darker tone.
The instrument has a somewhat modular design, and are generally made to order (often in just 2-3 weeks time), and the modular approach and custom-assembly permits the musician to easily customize his own instrument.
A musician can select pickups, string saddles, active or passive pickups, piezo sound, MIDI-ready 13-pin outputs, the color of the metal hardware, straplocks, paint and pickguard color, and other features.
However, the most remarkable thing about the Megatar instrument is the learning method that is included free. It uses a unique new approach to learning two handed tapping, and this new method is faster to learn than normal guitar or piano.
The method is called the "Easy Touch-Style Methd."
Megatar Models: The "TrueTapper" series
Superior Design for Superior Sound
The TrueTapper is designed to provide a great sound, and it gets this sound through it's evolutionary design. For example the body may have an unusual appearance, but this body shape gives long sustain without adding a lot of weight to the instrument.It has the full twelve strings which makes learning fast, precision-crowned frets for a smooth playing surface, and it includes the Buzz Feiten Intonation System factory installed. This patented system makes the musician's playing sound more 'in tune' than normal guitars. (More information can be found on the Megatar website on the subject of better guitar intonation.)
The TrueTapper models are normally made of bright-sounding light-colored maple and alder, but choice of wood is one of the options. The instrument pictured here is the TrueTapper 'Dragon' model. However, the picture at the top of this page is a 'Dark Dragon.' It's the same instrument, only made with premium dark wood. (African Mahogany with Wenge fretboard.)
The TrueTapper comes in three models: The 'Eclipse,' which has custom flat-top dual rail pickups. The 'Dragon,' which has gold-case pickups with adjustable pole pieces. (Pictured here.) And the 'Storm,' which features world-famous Bartolini pickups.
Megatar Models: The ToneWeaver 'Dual'
Fanned-Frets for Tone Power
The ToneWeaver is unmatched depth and clarity, because the Novak 'Fanned-Fret' System makes every inch of your fretboard one big 'sweet spot' -- magnificent tone everywhere -- vasty deep bottom, and focussed clean highs.(More information about how the patented fanned-fret system enhances tone can be found on the Mobius website under the subject of better guitar tone.)
Pickups are available as shown here (the 'Dual' model), or as a 'Quad' system with two selectable pickups on either side (bass and melody).
Pickup are made by Bartolini, and can be either passive -- a popular choice, as shown here -- or dual active-circuit preamps can be installed, in which case there would be two output jacks, so that the bass and melody outjacks can serve to turn the preamp's battery off whenever the cables are unjacked.
This is at present the only instrument in the world that combines both the tonal enhancement that fanned-frets provide with the increased 'in tune' sound provided by the Buzz Feiten Intonation System.
Megatar Models: The 'Hammer of Thor'
The Hammer can Flatten Anything.
The Hammer is an unusual instrument.It's got everything.
First, all the features that make for great tone, great ease of play, and rapid learning. It has all the premium features: rich-sounding premium wood, world-famous Bartolini pickups, with dual active-circuit preamps, and Graph Tech charcoal-colored 'StringSaver' custom nut and saddles for best sustain and best tone.
But that's not all.
The Hammer is actually three instruments in one.
In addition to being the best-sounding touchstyle instrument in the world with its magnetic pickups, it also has two other audio systems --
* Factory installed Graph Tech 'Acoustiphonic' piezo sound, is switchable for either bass or melody audio output. Choose magnetic (Bartolini) sound. Choose full-frequency lovely piezo 'Acoustiphonic' sound. Or set the switches in the middle and use the magnetic volume pot and the piezo volume pot to mix the two signals together just as you wish.
* And dual 13-pin MIDI-ready outjacks to drive your favorite Midi brain or Roland Modeller. Get an entire universe of synthesizer, bass, or guitar sounds using only these two jacks, plus your outboard midi and modeller gear.
The Hammer is three instruments in one.
We call it the Hammer because, for any musical task, the Hammer can flatten anything.
A Simple Demonstration of the Simplest Megatar -- the TrueTapper Eclipse
U.S. Manager Traktor Topaz demonstrates the features of the Eclipse
TrueTapper Eclipse Touch-Style Electric Bass
New electric guitar and electric bass design makes two-handed tapping, or touch-style playing, easy and affordable. A demonstration with music to show how to play the two-handed touchstyle method on the Eclipse, from Mobius Megatar at www.megatar.com.
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_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/* More about Playing a Guitar with a Pick versus Two Handed Tapping.
* More about playing guitar with two hand tapping
* See more two-handed Tapping Performance Videos
* See video demo of the Easy Touch-Style Method
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by traktor
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