RMC Acoustic Pickup

RMC Acoustic/MIDI System

Bear Meadow offers an integrated saddle element piezo-electric acoustic pickup with optional MIDI interface by RMC. We chose RMC for this pickup for its solid sound at all volume levels. The RMC's on-board preamp preserves the acoustic "woody" feel of the sound even while busking on urban streets, flawlessly delivers acoustic signals to both a synthesizer via MIDI interface and mono audio out, and handles the onboard mixing of audio and synth outputs.

Here's a MP3 of this Baby Grand being played: "Laliya Beach". The owner and player is James Maguire, of Perth Australia. "Laliya Beach" is one of his first explorations of this new Baby Grand equipped with advanced electronics and pickups.

The RMC Pickup is a high quality piezo-electric element cast into a conventional saddle shape, available in a variety of configurations, either as individual string saddles or as double course saddles. The pickup is fed into an on-board pre-amplifier where the individual inputs are balanced, ganged and sent to a standard audio jack output.

As shown here, the RMC is installed with an optional built-in MIDI interface for Roland GK Series or compatible synthesizers. This creates the equivalent of an onboard sound system, and presents the musician with a variety of exciting signal processing options. From instrument-mounted controls you can fully control synthesizer program, blend the synthesizer output with the audio output, and control levels of both mono and synth outputs. Or you can switch to synth alone, or audio alone. Or, you can turn it all off and enjoy a superb acoustic instrument. At left is a view of the system controls, with functions detailed. Click for a larger view.

The system is powered by a standard 9-volt battery. A fully accessible battery pocket makes changing batteries a snap. Also, a battery saver feature is incorporated in the output plug: if no jack is inserted the battery is turned off. An alkaline battery will give about 200 hours of service, and will benefit under certain conditions from recharge current, slightly extending its life.

The mono audio output jack for the system is mounted in the tailblock.

For ordering info and price see the Order Form

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