It may look like a space-age guitar, but the Jamma from Sunihama has the potential to be a useful component of on-stage MIDI performance. Rob Green tests the prototype - the latest in alien music technology

This prototype is based on a fairly simple idea. An external device triggering a sound module, drum machine or sampler. Simple maybe, but not previously applied with much imagination or style.

The Jamma not only expands the brains of a MIDI-trigger, but accommodates them in the body of something between a guitar and a Samurai weapon. Once you strap this triumph of woodcarving around your shoulders, you'll see some numbers in the little digital character display. They show all the modes and their relevant program numbers, and are all fairly self explanatory. Two pairs of increment/decrement buttons select the different modes and programs which appear in the character display. There is also a control knob that runs from Off up to 10.

This knob is used to govern the sensitivity of the trigger pads. At 10 it is at maximum sensitivity (Or 11, if you're Nigel Tuffnell - Ed). This is indicated by a LED, which barely lights up when sensitivity is low, and is almost full-on when sensitivity is high. When the knob is switched to Off, the Jamma will not trigger any MIDI messages, yet it remains powered up and the parameter settings are retained.

At the top of the Jamma's neck (or should I say fretboard), is a group of 8 fret switches. These are used for choosing which MIDI notes you want the Jamma to trigger. To actually trigger the samples, two playing pads are provided at the bottom of the neck which work best when slapped like a bass guitar. They do the same job, but allow for different playing postures.

The Jamma has nine modes of operation, changeable from the mode buttons on the front panel. The operating system is quite simple to use. It's basically just a case of flicking through option pages.

The Jamma's power supply unit incorporates a MIDI 'break out' box, from which you simply take a MIDI lead to your MIDI sound source. The connector socket on the back of the Jamma is a four-pin XLR, thereby rendering the Jamma only usable with its own adaptor.

In Use

As this is only the second prototype of the Jamma, its limitations have to be taken into account, but on the whole it is a competent tool. I found it quite useful for playing drum parts into the sequencer. It's a pretty intuitive way of doing this, as instead of tapping in maybe one or two drums on your keyboard, you can play a whole drum part from the Jamma, therefore saving valuable programming time.

"With sampled bars of drums, basslines, guitars vocals and synths, it's possible to build up whole songs from the Jamma"

I can see that the Jamma would lend itself to playing live drums. The bass player will also find it of some use, as the playing action is somewhat similar to that of a bass guitar. Only one octave can be played at a time however, but for playing a basic bassline from a synth or sampler it's fine, as most synth bass lines rarely creep outside a single octave anyway. Aside from this, it is possible to assign your own choice of MIDI notes to the eight fret switches, allowing you to set special notes for different tracks on separate programs, ready to be selected at any time.

Where the Jamma comes into its own, is in conjunction with a sampler. With sampled bars of drums, basslines, guitars vocals and synths, it's possible to build up whole songs from the Jamma. And the Jamma can trigger up to eight samples at once, allowing you to perform live mixes of your tracks.

When I first tested the Jamma, I had a sampler running samples from James Brown's 'Funky Drummer' and 'Sex Machine' all set at the same tempo. As the Jamma triggers all the samples from one playing pad system, I was able to build up my own mixes.

When you press one of the eight pressure pads at the end of the neck, the playing pads will play the sample assigned to that particular fret switch, letting you layer more and more samples on top of each other. The beauty of it is that the samples will always be triggered in perfect sync when you slap the playing pads.

Impressions

At the moment, the Jamma doesn't quite stand up as an instrument in its own right. But used creatively by musicians and programmers, it could bring new ideas and methods into the digital medium.

Synths and drum machines look somewhat boring on stage, and it's about time that someone gave us an alternative which allows freedom to move and perform. For MIDI-phobic guitarists it's the perfect entry-point to the world of programming. Of course there's room for development, but the Jamma is already more than interesting to anyone who is searching for new ways of getting their ideas off the drawing board.

The essentials...

Price inc VAT: £599

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