Artistic geeks often find creative ways to combine technology and art. A love for good software and beautiful guitars is what inspired Canadian luthier Mark Kett to begin the Linux Guitar Project.

Kett makes custom classical and steel string guitars from his studio in Port Perry, Ontario. He’s also a graphic artist who’s been “living and working around Linux” since 1996. But Kett really jumped into the “ecosystem” about six months ago through his patronage at the linuxcaffe coffee shop and Linux Internet café in Toronto.

Recently, Kett had an idea for a travel guitar. “It would have an iPod running Linux plugged in, that would allow me to record the music that was played on it.” He shared the idea with David Patrick, the proprietor of the linuxcaffe, and through some brainstorming came up with the idea for an “open source” electric guitar — designed from the ground up by community consensus and fitted with Linux technology. “We hashed out ideas about what the ultimate guitar would be — running a full Linux operating system and with all the capabilities of a recording studio.”

Patrick, a guitar lover himself, has been the major idea contributor to the project so far. “When Mark suggested that he could build an electric guitar with an onboard CPU, the idea caught on with several musicians and Linux programmers, and even a couple of people specializing in embedded systems,” he says. “This seemed to capture the imagination of both computer geeks and music geeks.”

The guitar’s touch screen interface will take the place of an effects box and a mixer, allowing on-the-fly changes and pre-programmed routines. It will also record whatever the guitar plays, or an entire ensemble of instruments. “The screen will be placed in a convenient spot for the guitarist to make any changes,” says Kett.

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