A keytar is a musical instrument that combines features of a keyboard and a guitar. It works like a synthesizer or electronic music device and is held with a strap around the neck and shoulders, just like a guitar.

Overview

The word "keytar" has been used since the instrument was created. A major company did not start using the term until 2012, when Alesis called their first product of this type, the "Vortex," a "USB/MIDI Keytar Controller."

Keytars let players move more freely on stage than traditional keyboards, which are usually placed on fixed stands or attached to heavy, floor-based structures. The keytar has a keyboard to play musical notes and sounds. Controls for things like pitch bends, vibrato, portamento, and sustain are located on the instrument's "neck."

Keytars can have built-in synthesizers or work as MIDI controllers. Either way, they must be connected to a keyboard amplifier or PA system to make sound that performers and audiences can hear. MIDI controller keytars send notes and other MIDI data to an external synthesizer, sound module, or computer with synthesizer software. Although keytars are usually used to make music, like other MIDI controllers, they can also control devices such as lighting systems, effects units, and audio consoles.

History

The earliest version of the keytar may be the orphica, a small, portable piano invented in Vienna in 1795. It was played in a way similar to how the modern keytar is used. The piano accordion appeared in 1852. It was a smaller version of the Reed Organ, worn on straps and operated with the player's left hand. In 1963, the East German company Weltmeister introduced the Basset, an electric bass piano shaped like a keytar. In 1966, the Swedish company Joh Mustad AB created the Tubon, a tubular electric organ. This instrument was worn with a shoulder strap and could be played while standing or sitting. The Tubon had a half-keyboard on one end for the right hand, controls on the opposite end for the left hand, and a speaker at the end of the tube. It was sold in the UK as the Livingstone. It was used by Kraftwerk and Paul McCartney in the 1960s and early 1970s.

In the early 1970s, Edgar Winter performed with keyboards slung around his neck, but these were not keytars because they lacked a "neck." He used an ARP 2600 keyboard and a lightweight Univox electronic piano with added shoulder straps.

Keytars first sold commercially in the late 1970s and early 1980s included:
• The Hillwood RockeyBoard RB-1 (a synth piano with VCF), released in 1977, influenced by Edgar Winter.
• The PMS Syntar, an early keytar synthesizer created by George Mattson (Performance Music Systems) and shown at the 1979 NAMM International Music & Sound Expo in Atlanta.
• The Davis Clavitar (a controller) used by George Duke and Herbie Hancock in the early 1980s.
• The Powell Probe (a controller) designed by Roger Powell.
• The Royalex Probe (a controller) developed and used by Jan Hammer in the early 1980s.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jan Hammer, a composer known for his work on Miami Vice, often used keytars, including the Royalex PROBE, which he helped develop. He used the PROBE in the Miami Vice Theme music video. In the 1980s, Wayne Famous of the band The Producers strapped on an Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, which caused back problems.

The most well-known early keytar was the "Moog Liberation," released in 1980. Early users included Spyro Gyra keyboardist Tom Schuman. Although Devo is associated with keytars, they only used them in music videos and ads for the Liberation. The word "keytar" first appeared in print in 1980 during an interview with Jeffrey Abbott (Keytarjeff) by Tom Lounges of Illianabeat magazine (now Midwest BEAT Magazine).

Steve Masakowski is often incorrectly credited as the inventor of the keytar. In an interview with Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle on December 11, 2009, Masakowski said he invented an instrument called the Key-tar, which was a string-based instrument.

The keytar became popular in the 1980s among glam metal bands, synthpop, new wave, and electro musicians. Its popularity declined in the 1990s but grew again in the late 2000s, thanks to artists like The Black Eyed Peas, Damas Gratis, Flight of The Conchords, Motion City Soundtrack, No Doubt, and Steely Dan. In 2008, Snoop Dogg used a keytar in his music video for "Sensual Seduction," as a nod to older bands.

Companies that made keytars include Moog, Roland, Yamaha, Korg, and Casio. As of 2013, the Roland AX-Synth, Roland Lucina, Alesis Vortex, and Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard were mass-produced keytars available for sale.

Starr Labs created a variation of the keytar called the Ztar. This instrument is designed for guitarists and has piano-style keys arranged on the fretboard instead of strings.

Examples

The Moog Liberation was released in 1980 by Moog Music. It was the first mass-produced strap synthesizer. It had two monophonic VCOs and a polyphonic section that could play organ sounds. The neck had spring-loaded wheels for filter cutoff, modulation, and volume, as well as a ribbon-controlled pitch bend. The Liberation had a single VCF and two ADS envelope generators.

The Roland SH-101 is a small, 32-key, monophonic analog synthesizer from the early 1980s. It has one oscillator with two waveforms, an 'octave-divided' sub-oscillator, and a low-pass filter/VCF capable of self-oscillation. When a shoulder strap is connected and the small handgrip with a pitch bend wheel and a pitch modulation trigger is used, the SH-101 becomes a keytar.

The Yamaha SHS-10, released in 1987, has a small keyboard with 32 minikeys and a pitch-bend wheel. It includes an internal frequency modulation (FM) synthesizer offering 25 different voices with 6-note polyphony. Onboard voices include keyboard instruments (pipe organ, piano, electric piano, etc.), strings (violin, guitar, double bass, etc.), and wind and brass (clarinet, flute, trumpet, etc.). A larger model, the Yamaha SHS-200, was released the following year and came with 49 keys and dual stereo speakers.

The musician Prince held the patent for a specific ornamental design of the keytar, which was granted on July 26, 1994. He named it the ‘PurpleAxxe,’ and it was played extensively on stage by Tommy Barbarella, a member of his New Power Generation band.

The Roland AX-7, manufactured from 2001 to 2007, contains many advanced features compared to early keytars. It has 45 velocity-sensitive keys (without aftertouch) and a 3-character LED display. Features for stage performance include a pitch bend ribbon, touchpad-like expression bar, sustain switch, and volume control knob on the upper neck. It also has a proprietary "D-Beam" interface with infrared sensors that detect nearby motion to trigger and control effects.

In August 2009, Roland released the Roland AX-Synth, a keytar model that includes its own synthesizer sounds and functions as a MIDI/USB controller. In 2010, Roland released the Roland Lucina AX-09. This model does not have a traditional neck but is still considered a keytar because it is a strap-on model and part of the AX line, with features similar to earlier AX models. It includes a front panel USB port to connect a USB flash drive for playback of MP3, WAV, or AIFF files. The Lucina has 150 internal sounds and can also be used as a MIDI/USB controller.

In 2010, Mad Catz released the Wireless Pro Keyboard for Rock Band 3, a 25-key velocity-sensitive MIDI-compatible keytar controller. Despite its sub-$100 price, it is designed for serious use outside of the game. The synthpop band Freezepop has used it on stage.

In 2012, Alesis released its first keytar and became the first major manufacturer to use the term "keytar" in the model name and description. The Alesis Vortex USB/MIDI Keytar Controller is unique because it includes eight velocity-sensitive drum pads/sample triggers, allowing performers to create beats or trigger clips directly on the keytar. It also features an accelerometer that lets performers control MIDI parameters by tilting the neck. Although Alesis claims to have made "the first USB keytar controller," the Roland AX-Synth and Roland Lucina had USB connections with the same function and were released three years earlier.