Unleash the power in your pocket.

The smartphone in your pocket or the tablet on your table has processing far, far greater than the computers that sent man to the moon and – when applied to making music – enables brilliant sound generation and other superb musical performance and compositional applications. The iTar has been imaginatively designed to showcase this processing power, allowing your musical creativity to bring your favorite sounds and music applications under the control of a 6-string MIDI Guitar fingerboard and into the real world.

Professional standard construction.

The iTar is not a plastic gimmick; it has been designed with the professional in mind. The look, weight, and feel of the iTar are reminiscent of a great Fender or Gibson guitar. Every iTar is made by hand and numbered in order of construction. It looks and feels impressive; you will love your iTar.

The most versatile musical instrument ever made.

With the iTar’s 120 touch-sensitive programmable keys and seamless access to on-smart-device sound modules via the BT4.0 BLE-MIDI connection between neck and device and MIDI 2.0 compatibility means the iTar’s potential for music creation is unsurpassed.

Equipped with USB 2.0 it can be used as part of a pro-studio setup or in a live performance context by guitarists, keyboard players, DJ’s* and beyond. But wannabes, dabblers and gamers will love the iTar too – learning to play the guitar as they endeavor to beat their last score.

Every key is lit with a 15-bit responsive color LED, making tablature and sample-finding simple and intuitive; for example the iTar has been engineered to be able to tell you the chord you are playing and to show you the chord you are looking for*.

The list of ways the iTar will be used will be limited only by the imagination and skill of the user and the modules we program.

*Coming soon.

PIONEERS ONLY! Limited BETA Edition first 100 now available.

The iTar is a step-change in guitar-based technology and the potential for innovative musical creation unsurpassed. However – this is the music programming equivalent of aviation software! It takes time and money to perfect and is likely to always be in a state of flux with new ideas and adjustments to existing ideas constantly being made: So only buy an iTar now if you have a PIONEERING MENTALITY.

LIMITED EDITION iTars are only sold on the clear understanding that you will feedback crash reports, your suggestions for surfaces and uses, even show us your videos etc. Your feedback will guide us, and every cent of your money will be poured back into the on-going development of the iTar so that it can realize its full potential.

There will be regular updates that you will be instructed to download until we are formally listed on the Apple Store (Android coming soon). Your early commitment will give you the advantage of being one of the first to showcase, perform with, and own an incredible iTar.

BUY ITAR

.01
Handmade

iTars are handcrafted in hard maple or beech woods and fitted with a machined aluminum frame

.02
Huge battery

15 hour USB chargeable battery provides a massive through-the night performance capacity

.03
Instant attachment

A patented magnet plate design snaps your mobile device securely to the iTar. I will not drop off until you deliberately remove it.

.04
iTar app

Automatically accesses the sound-based apps (such as synths) you have on your device to play on the iTar.

.05
Interactive surfaces

At the heart of the iTar are surfaces that allow for different performance techniques. Our developer kit will allow people to invent their own touch-surface behaviours. Very much a work in progress!

.06
Interactive LEDs

120 touch-responsive programmable LED lights enable learning, tablature, messaging, color-coding for navigation or just cool patterns that trigger during performances.

A step-change

in music performance

technology: expertise, passion, persistence, a dream realized.

The Creators.

Harvey Starr

Harvey is a seasoned jazz guitarist and a pioneer in MIDI controller design. With over 40 years of expertise in music electronics, Harvey has shipped over 4000 unique hand-built Musical instruments, including the world’s first key-based guitar fingerboard now displayed in the Smithsonian Institution, the London Museum of Science and the National Guitar museum. Since founding Starr Switch Company in 1986, his career has spanned extensive work in electromechanical design, electronic data acquisition systems, materials, and assembly processes, contributing significantly to the music tech industry. The iTar is the culmination of a lifetime of world-class expertise and slavery to perfection. He describes himself as a work in progress. He loves animals and has a picture of Steve Wozniak hanging in his bedroom.

Bil Bungay

Bil is a London-based creative entrepreneur, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Captivated by Harvey’s initial idea for the iTar, he has been an integral part of the journey, working through the entire concept and several prototypes in minute detail. Beyond his passion for the iTar project, Bil is an author, inventor and movie producer. He founded one of the UK’s fastest-growing advertising agencies and more recently, Velocity-Group, an investment company supporting emerging technology start-ups. Bil is the Steve Jobs to the portrait hanging on Harvey’s wall!

Very Limited Availability

Got what it takes to own an iTar?

The iTar has been inspired by the guitar, but is in NO WAY intended to replace the guitar!

Indeed, the iTar plays somewhat differently to our beloved guitar so allow a little time to adapt. Being able (for example) to play several notes at the same time on the same string is strange but somehow brilliant, and the XY pad is an incredible way to trigger the notes you select – you are unlikely to have played as fast before. But the PROFESSIONAL STANDARD of construction of the iTar will be familiar to any guitarist that owns a quality Fender, Gibson etc; YOU WILL LOVE YOUR iTAR.

Honestly, designing what might just be the world’s most versatile musical instrument that capitalizes on the intelligence and processing power of the smart devices in all our lives, hasn’t been easy. In fact it’s been bloody difficult; the software alone is the programming equivalent of aviation software and will likely need constant work to develop and maintain.

So we are at pains to ensure that potential buyers fully understand that we are still very much in a ‘figuring out/BETA TESTING PHASE’, and all our initial sales will only be made based on your UNEQUIVOCAL UNDERSTANDING that developments are ongoing, bugs are still being tracked down, and apps are still being built!!

As a creative person yourself, you’ll surely appreciate what we are attempting to achieve here and the importance of this humble message.

So, DON’T BUY from us if you are confrontational by nature and are inclined to reach for the red pen before speaking to us; this is a two-way street, like making a bespoke suit, and is an OPPORTUNITY for you TO DESIGN an iTar that works for you.

If you buy an iTar we will encourage you to communicate with us, share your thoughts on what the iTar could be for you, and we will do our utmost to accommodate your feedback – and of course if for any reason your iTar fails (none have yet!) we will replace it no questions asked.

In the PIPELINE, we have ANDROID* compatibility, LOOPER*, THE HUB* (for sharing), AUTO NOTE TRIGGERS*, GUITAR-E-OKE*, DJ STAR*, and lots lots more—all designed to enhance the iTar’s potential.

The iTar is COMPLETELY UNIQUE and is designed to allow your musical genius to find a truly new way of expressing itself and to perform; your imagination, inspiration, and creativity are the only limits.

If you choose to commit yourself to a pretty expensive HAND-MADE iTar now, you will be joining a VERY EXCLUSIVE CLUB. Your iTar will be numbered 1 to 100 and one day may well be worth considerably more than you pay for it if guitar launches are anything to go by.

Also, know that EVERY CENT of your non-refundable payment will be REINVESTED into continuing to develop the iTar into everything it has the potential to be.

Now we’ve built the iTar, we are really excited to see what you will do with it.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY: If you are a laid-back pop star or someone (laid-back) who really likes the iTar and has the instinct to see the potential of what we are doing here, contact us about investing in us and our factory line in preparation for unleashing the iTar to the whole world. We are only looking for one (laid-back!) no-BS partner with deep pockets! Perhaps you have what it takes to own a little bit of EVERY iTar…

I HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE ABSOLUTELY WITH THE ABOVE

I REALLY WANT TO BUY AN ITAR

Unleash the power in your pocket.

Professional standard construction.

The most versatile musical instrument ever made.