Bitnik
October 21, 2022, 8:06pm
3930
AriaSalvatrice:
Those keytars were produced a decade ago at the height of the Rock Band craze, that video game with the plastic guitars. However, those keyboards were legit music gear: produced to the same standards as entry-level keyboards, with MIDI out. But unlike music gear, they lost value as fast as old-but-not-retro videogame gear does: about €30 shipped, and it seems new.
I bought a couple around 2015 for £9 each. If you have the wireless dongle there is software (written by my son) to allow you to play it as a wireless MIDI instrument.
This is a program my son wrote a few years ago. We had converted this versatile two-octave keyboard to USB MIDI, but realised that if we could only crack the keyboard’s wireless packet format we could use it without a cable. The keyboard is a “keytar” style device that comes with a shoulder strap, and it’s light and easy to perform with in the manner of an electric guitar.
My son had some spare time so he connected the dongle and started analysing incoming signals. This is the result of his wo…
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