Patent ID: 7812244

Claim:
A method for producing a signal from data collected by at least one sensor coupled to a string instrument, said method comprising the steps of: (a) detecting in real time the string deflection of at least one string of said string instrument; (b) analyzing said string deflection in accordance with string state calibration and predefined parameters to determine the performer's actions, wherein at least some of said analysis takes place before a sound is actually generated on the string instrument; (c) producing a signal representing sound characteristics of the performer's actions in accordance with said analysis, wherein said string deflection is at least one of the following: vertical string deflection, horizontal string deflection, wherein said vertical string deflection over time of each string is used to determine the selected fret position for each string, and in which said horizontal string deflection over time of each string is used to determine the bending position and picking characteristics for each string.