{"id":317992,"date":"2018-05-07T10:42:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T14:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=317992"},"modified":"2018-05-09T08:24:01","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T12:24:01","slug":"engineering-better-guitar-317992","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/engineering-better-guitar-317992\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering a better guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making their mark: This is\u00a0one in a series<\/a>\u00a0of profiles celebrating members of Rochester\u2019s graduating class of 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

Juan Estrella \u201918 is a classical guitarist who chafes at the constraints traditional instruments place on artistic expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can still create great art, but not as great as it would be with better tools,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And that is why Estrella is in the audio and music engineering program<\/a> at the University of Rochester. He is attempting to create a \u201cnew electronic musical interface\u201d that would free musicians from those constraints \u2013 and set a new standard for instrument design.<\/p>\n

This is not just a senior design project, Estrella says. \u201cI regard it as my life\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0musical equivalent of a Model T Ford<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A traditional six-string guitar has a range of only three octaves. Two hands are required to produce a single note: One to fret, the other to pluck. \u201cThat\u2019s really inefficient,\u201d Estrella says.<\/p>\n

So, what does he have in mind?<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, think of an elliptical guitar neck, two feet long, with 48 frets and 14 strings that go all the way around,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cRetractable legs on both ends lift it off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

This instrument will produce tones over 12 octaves\u00a0\u2013 using just the three strings on top of the neck. Tones are generated by simply pressing the strings against a touch screen wrapped around the underlying surface. In other words, no more plucking. Because this requires only one hand, both hands are free to fret chords and scales, while simultaneously adjusting pitch, volume, vibrato, speed, loop, distortion, or any other user defined effect, thus making guitar foot pedals obsolete as well.<\/p>\n

\"man
Unlike a traditional guitar neck, Juan Estrella\u2019s design would produce notes with just one hand, and would cover a range of 12 octaves to a traditional guitar\u2019s three. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The idea is to create tones that merge together in a continuous sequence, like a singer\u2019s voice \u2013 not in discrete notes, or \u201cchunks,\u201d which is still the case even with many of the new musical interfaces on the market, Estrella says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical interfaces of the guitar, and the piano, have been more or less the same for more than 200 years,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cPlaying these instruments is the musical equivalent of driving a Model T Ford. They have too many limitations of range, expression, timbre, dexterity, you name it. We\u2019ve discovered electricity since then, and it\u2019s time to leverage that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estrella has completed the neck and the stands, and has attached the strings. The next challenge is creating a touch screen and coming up with the electronics needed to process as many as 672 inputs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tough engineering problem,\u201d concedes David Anderson, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering<\/a>, who supervises the audio and music engineering senior design projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s a neat path that Juan\u2019s going down.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the Navy to a master\u2019s degree<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Initially, Estrella thought he would gain the electrical engineering skills he needed by joining the Navy as an electronics technician.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey taught me a lot about missile launchers, and radar transmitters, and servo controllers, but if my toaster broke down, I don\u2019t know that I would be able to fix it,\u201d Estrella says. \u00a0\u201cIt was very specialized.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six years and three deployments, he left the Navy, and applied to the University of Rochester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hiking the Appalachian Trail when I found out I got in,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the first and only college I ever applied to.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s glad he did. \u201cAll in all, it\u2019s been a great experience. I\u2019ve got nearly all the information that I came for. Audio and music engineering is an eclectic department with many passionate and talented professors.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, he\u2019ll enter the University\u2019s Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) master\u2019s program<\/a> \u2013 the next step on his path to eventually starting his own company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never felt any ambiguity about my purpose in life, or what I\u2019m supposed to be doing,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cThere is nowhere else I\u2019d rather be.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a classical guitarist, Juan Estrella \u201918 chafes at the constraints traditional instruments place on artistic expression. 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