The MechBass does a good job grooving to Muse’s Hysteria song

If you’re a fan of the band Muse, then you might get a kick from watching this video of a robot playing the bass line of the song, Hysteria. Dubbed the MechBass, this is a creation of James McVay and was created as a project for his honors year at the Victoria University of Wellington. It features an Arduino-compatible board that controls the plucking, fretting and damping of the bass strings in an attempt to realistically recreate the sounds one might expect from a bass guitar.  The entire setup appears to be more less custom with parts either being printed with a 3D printer or laser cut for a specific purpose. It’s pretty cool we have to admit and produces a rather faithful cover of the band’s song, although we’re sure that purists out there will probably argue that it’s not just about how precise we are with our techniques, but whether we have “groove”. In any case you can check the MechBass in action for yourself in the video above.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets