Systems and methods for creating digital note information for a metal-stringed musical instrument

1. A method for capturing notes played on a stringed instrument, the method comprising:

detecting deflection of a string at a first location when a user of the stringed instrument presses on the string in a second location remote from the first location;

in response to detecting deflection of the string, producing a measurement of the detected deflection; and

in response to producing the measurement, correlating the measurement to a note to produce at least a portion of a digital output.

2. A system for capturing notes played on a stringed instrument, the system comprising:

at least one inductive coil positioned under at least one string at a first longitudinal position along the length of the at least one string;

a digital circuit communicatively coupled to the plurality of inductive coils to receive signals indicating displacement of the at least one string and to produce measurements of the displacement; and

a microprocessor communicatively coupled to the digital circuit and configured to receive the measurements and correlate them to musical notes.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting deflection includes receiving a signal indicative of the string deflection at the first location from an inductive coil.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting deflection includes detecting deflection at the first location, wherein the first location is on the body of a stringed instrument.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the detecting deflection includes detecting deflection caused by the user pressing on the string in the second location, wherein the section location is on a neck portion of the stringed instrument.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second location is associated with a fret on the neck portion of the stringed instrument.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting a pluck of the string on the stringed instrument.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising outputting the digital output corresponding to the note and the pluck of the string.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the detection of the pluck of the string provides volume corresponding to an amplitude of the pluck.

10. The system of claim 2 , further comprising an optical pickup array positioned to detect movement of the string on the stringed instrument.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the microprocessor is communicatively coupled to the optical pickup array and configured to detect string pluck using data received from the optical pickup array.

12. A method for capturing notes played on a stringed instrument with a neck and body, the method comprising:

measuring deflection of a string at a first location on the body when a user of the stringed instrument presses on the string in a second location on the neck;

in response to measuring deflection of the string, correlating measured deflection distance of the string to a musical note or expression to produce a first portion of a musical digital output;

detecting a pluck of the string; and

in response to detecting the pluck, producing a second portion of the musical digital output.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising outputting the musical digital output corresponding to a combination of the first portion of the musical digital output and the second portion of the musical digital output.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first portion of the musical digital output corresponds to a note.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second portion of the musical digital output corresponds to a volume.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein measuring deflection of the string includes measuring a movement of the string towards the body of the stringed instrument caused by a user pressing the string against a fret on the neck at the second location.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the measuring deflection includes receiving a signal indicative of string deflection at the first location from an inductive coil.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the detecting the pluck of the string provides volume corresponding to an amplitude of the pluck.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein detecting the pluck includes receiving a signal from an optical pickup array positioned to detect movement of the string on the stringed instrument.

20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first portion of the musical digital output is a pitch code and the second portion of the musical digital output is a volume code.