StarrBoard, the predecessor to the Harpejji

I neglected to mention the StarrBoard, developed by John Starrett in the seventies.  The Starrboard has 24 strings, 25 frets, and a semi-tone tuning system.  Starrett also created acoustic and midi versions of the Starrboard.  The Starrboard predates the Steinberger String Console, but the designs are quite different, both in tuning system and orientation to the player.

The Harpejji on the other hand,  is most definitely based on the StarrBoard, as acknowledged by Tim Meeks of Marcodi.   The most immidiate differences between the  difference between the Starrboard and the Harpejji are changes to the number of frets and the tuning system.  The Harpejji traded frets for wider intervals, losing 10 frets, but keeping the same 5 octave range by using a whole-tone tuning system.  It seems this change would encourage lateral movement as opposed to distal (yes, I looked that up) movement on the part of the player, but I can’t say for sure as I haven’t played either on of them yet.

On that note, I’m planning a trip to Marcodi world headquarters this weekend, so I should be able to report out in a little more detail on the Harpejji.