I’ve been a musician most of my life, pre and post my diagnosis with psoriatic arthritis. I was introduced to music by my father, who had a wedding and party band while I was a kid.  He, my uncle (his older brother), my dad’s best man, and a couple of additional family friends played at least one gig a week since he was a high school sophomore and for the first eight years of my life.

While music is deep-rooted in my life – I played alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute in high school – the guitar has held a very special place in my life. I’ve been playing it – on and off – for over 40 years.  I say on and off as I have psoriatic arthritis, and it affects nearly every joint in my body, including both of my hands.

I’ve been living with arthritis and other rheumatological issues since 1982 – my sophomore year in high school.  That was the same year I started playing the guitar.  My hands weren’t the issue then.  It was my knees. The arthritis didn’t seriously start affecting my hands until after 2012.

I’ve been thinking about this device a lot, and I think the device has potential but needs a lot of work before it can be called a true guitar.  While nothing here is required, I believe AeroBand needs to take a lot of these to heart and should pick a few from this list.  They need to build credibility within the guitar community – the device’s current state and offerings have created quite a stir.  While some feedback has been positive, most has been negative, with MANY community members threatening to cancel the credibility of anyone coming out in support of the device.

In its current state, the device is struggling for an identity.  After speaking with AeroBand, it’s clear they want the device to be not only a guitar but a teaching tool, as well as a way to game with music. While the device is technically capable of doing ALL these things, it will require a bit of work to reach this lofty goal of satisfying all three use cases.  The suggestions below are certainly not required by AeroBand – obviously – but satisfying them could go a LONG way to adding some much-needed validity and credibility to the product.

Hardware Suggestions

I’m going to include some of the obvious stuff here.  I’ve got quite a bit more, but I’m trying to establish a formal relationship with Aeroband, and I don’t want to give the cow away if you get my drift.

1. The device needs a Wammy Bar – Giving users the ability to add tremolo to the device’s sound is a must-have.  This is especially needed if string bending is going to be difficult to implement.
2. String Bending – As I mentioned, music is a personal thing, and giving personalized sound to your music is a core need of any instrument. Bending strings on your guitar is something that every guitarist needs and wants to do.  I have no idea how difficult this will be to do, but I understand that AeroBand is looking into it.
3. Use Standard Strings – You shouldn’t need to change strings too often, but in a pinch, we should be able to use standard strings to restring my AeroGuitar. They are cheaper and a non-specialized part and are readily available wherever guitar supplies are sold.
4. Change the way the Capo Works – On a standard guitar, when you capo 5, you put your capo on the 5th fret and work the guitar from the sixth fret up. The neck from the 5th fret down is unusable.  The capo function on the AeroGuitar should function exactly the same way as it does on a regular guitar.

App Suggestions

Again, the obvious stuff is here…  but to be blunt, the app in its current state needs to be thrown out and completely rewritten.  It is nearly useless in its current form.

1. Change the Synth Sounds for the Accompaniment Track – The current instrumentation for the app’s accompaniment track sounds like a synth saxophone from the 1980s. It’s horrible, totally fake, and honestly, not easy or pleasant to listen to.  Clearly, something different needs to be used. I’m not certain what it is, but it’s certainly not this.
2. I Wanna Learn to Play < Insert Your Favorite Song Title Here > – Most people pick up the guitar because they heard a song they really like and want to learn to play THAT song.  The AeroBand app needs to be able to pull any song from your music library and then reverse engineer the chords from the streamed/downloaded music.
3. Change the Hit/Miss Logic – The device’s gamification is rooted in whether you strum either a standard or simplified chord at a single, specific time – at the start of the chord.  The targeting of this hit-or-miss seems very sensitive and, in my opinion, is not only difficult to hit but discouraging to new players.
4. Accessibility Settings – This device needs to be more accessible, friendly, and aware.  This is something that the AeroBand Product Management and Marketing teams need to embrace, explore and exploit.  Getting endorsements from The Arthritis Foundation or from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network (RASN) could go a long way to making the product find its legitimate space in the market. Focusing their Simplified Chords as an Accessibility Setting gives them serious legitimacy.
5. Guitar Firmware Updates – The app needs to be a place that can be used to manage the software on the firmware in the actual device.  The device is expensive in its current incarnation, and it needs to be updated with fixes and improvements in order to insure that the value customers receive from their purchase price is validated.

Accessories Suggestions

There are a number of suggestions that I have for the accessories that are included with the AeroGuitar.  These are just some of them.

1. Included Cords – The guitar needs to come with a USB-C to USB-C cable as well as a USB-C to USB-A cable (or include a converter). While many chargers are USB-C to USB-A, both the Guitar and an iPad use USB-C. You should make it easy to physically connect both devices with the included cable.
2. Headphones – The included wired headphones are AWESOME, but they are in need of a dedicated, custom-molded case for the headphones AND the extra earbuds you send.
3. Strings – It is fabulous that you include a replacement set of strings with the device. However, you need to figure out a way for me to convert REGULAR guitar strings to your special string format. If I care for this guitar correctly, it will be around for YEARS, and you may discontinue the device or change the string format. I may need strings for it and may not be able to find any.
4. Included Amplifier Cord – Thank you for including a standard guitar amp cord with the AeroGuitar. It’s greatly appreciated!
5. Guitar Case – I love this case.  However, while the guitar case is small and compact and awesome for showing off the device, as well as being easy to carry, it is in DESPERATE need of more storage space. All the cords and cables, as well as the strap, are a bit much for the one storage space in it.

Conclusion

There is a LOT of potential in the AeroBand AeroGuitar.  I like it a great deal, and I enjoy playing it.  However, it strikes me as a product that is as of yet, unfinished.  It needs work.  It needs updates and updating.  It needs a clear roadmap and needs to integrate with all the other AeroBand products.  Right now, that’s only Pocket Drum, but you would think that since the company’s name is AeroBAND, that they would have plans for other instruments.

As far as whether this is a good product to purchase at this time, I’m torn.  There’s a LOT of potential here, as long as there is a way for consumers to update the product, and as long as a clear roadmap is developed and implemented for it, it could really be a cool, cool thing.

 

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