List of keytars
# List of keytars

A keytar is a keyboard or synthesizer hung around the neck and shoulders, similar to a guitar.

## List of keytars

* [no grip] ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ — keyboard model without control grip.
* [opt grip] ^ ^ — keyboard model with optional control grip.

| Dates | Model | Type | I/F | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1795 | Orphica | acoustic piano | – | a portable miniature piano in horizontal harp form. |
| 1963 | Weltmeister Basset | electric bass piano using struck reed | – | an electric piano bass, similar to Hohner Bass or Rhodes PianoBass, used by dance bands in East Germany probably late 1960s. |
| 1966 | Joh Mustad Tubon [de] (in the UK: Livingston) | electronic bass organ | – | tube-shaped monophonic electronic keyboard instrument with guitar strap. Used by Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk on the album Kraftwerk (1970), Swedish and Finnish bands during the 1970s, including Lådan. |
| 1977 | Hillwood Rockeyboard RB-1 | synth piano with VCF & volume pedals | – | influenced by Edgar Winter's style of hanging a keyboard from a neck. Used by Haruo Chikada (The Vibratones). |
| 1977 | Powell Probe | controller | (CV/Gate) | Roger Powell's keytar by Royalex |
| 1979 | PMS Syntar | synthesizer | (CV/Gate) | an earliest synthesizer keytar product, prior to the Moog Liberation in 1980 |
| 1980 | Davis Clavitar | controller | (CV/Gate) | used by George Duke, Herbie Hancock in 1980. |
| 1980 | Moog Liberation | synthesizer | CV/Gate | |
| 1980 | Royalex Probe | controller | (CV/Gate) | Jan Hammer's keytar by Royalex, ca. 1980. |
| 19821982 | Dynacord Rhythm Stick (Jamma) | percussion controller | MIDI & CV/Gate | used by Michael Jackson (1996-7), Billy Ocean, Sabrina Salerno (1988), Manu Katche, and Curt Cress. |
| 1982 | Roland SH-101 | synthesizer | CV/Gate | control grip was optional. |
| 1982 | Sequential Circuits Remote Prophet | controller | SCB | controller for Prophet-5 synthesizer using proprietary serial interface. Used by Geoffrey Downes of ASIA and Dave Stewart. |
| 1982 | Yamaha CS01 | synthesizer with optional breath controller BC1 or BC2 | CV/Gate | used by Chick Corea in the early 1980s. |
| 1983 | Yamaha KX1 | controller | MIDI | used by Herbie Hancock in 1983, George Duke in 1983. |
| 1983 | Korg Poly-800 | synthesizer | MIDI | |
| 1983c. 1983 | Yamaha CS01II | synthesizer with optional breath controller BC1 or BC3 | CV/Gate | |
| 1984c. 1984 | Korg Poly-800 MkII | synthesizer | MIDI | |
| 1984 | Casio CZ-101 | synthesizer | MIDI | a medium size keyboard with strap pins |
| 1984 | Korg RK-100 | controller | MIDI | |
| 1984 | Yamaha KX5 | controller | MIDI | a medium depth keyboard |
| 1985 | Lync LN1 (The Lync) | controller | MIDI | |
| 1985 | Roland AXIS | controller | MIDI | |
| 1985 | Yamaha DX100 | synthesizer | MIDI | a mini keyboard with strap pins |
| 1986 | Casio AZ-1 | controller | MIDI | |
| 1986 | Siel DK70 | synthesizer | MIDI | control grip was optional |
| 1987 | Korg 707 | synthesizer | MIDI | a synthesizer with strap pins |
| 1987 | Yamaha SHS-10 | electronic keyboard | MIDI | |
| 1987c. 1987 | Tyco HotKeyz | toy keyboard | – | a toy keyboard |
| 1988 | Lync LN4 | controller | MIDI | also Jan Hammer signature model existed. |
| 1988 | Yamaha SHS-200 | electronic keyboard | MIDI | |
| 1989 | Tsumura JD21 | percussion controller | MIDI | |
| 1990 | Lync LN1000 | controller | MIDI | |
| 1990c. 1990 | Formanta Mini | synthesizer | (MIDI) | |
| 1991 | Junost 21 | synthesizer | (MIDI) | |
| 1992c. 1992 | Baldoni MIDI Accord | accordion controller ? | MIDI | Strap-on keyboard controller in the keytar style, with the chromatic buttons on the left-hand, and piano keyboard on the right-hand. |
| 1993 | Roland AX-1 | controller | MIDI | |
| 1994 | Zendrum | percussion controller | (MIDI) | |
| 1995 | The Drumstick | percussion controller | (MIDI) | used by E. Dr. Smith |
| 2000c. 2000 | Suzuki MK-3600 YAMAHA YMK-80 | electronic keyboard | MIDI | a keyboard for marching band |
| 2000 | Lag LeKey | controller | (MIDI) | |
| 2001 | Roland AX-7 | controller | MIDI | |
| 2002c. 2002 | Casio SA-75 | electronic keyboard | MIDI | a mini electronic keyboard with handsfree microphone and strap pins |
| 2007c. 2007 | Zen Riffer Solo Axe | controller | (MIDI) | |
| 2008 | Behringer UMA25S | controller | USB & MIDI | |
| 2009 | Roland AX-Synth | synthesizer | USB & MIDI | |
| 2009 | Stoneboard | controller | MIDI | |
| 2010 | Politrep | controller | MIDI | |
| 2010 | Roland Lucina AX-09 | synthesizer | USB & MIDI | |
| 2010 | Mad Catz Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard | controller & video game controller | MIDI & console specific | |
| 2012 | Alesis Vortex | controller | USB & MIDI | |
| 2014 | Alesis Vortex Wireless | controller | USB & MIDI | first keytar with wireless USB connection to a PC or laptop |
| 2014 | Korg RK-100S | synthesizer | USB & MIDI | used by Rick Astley in 2016 |
| 2017 | Yamaha Vocaloid Keyboard | synthesizer | USB, Bluetooth LE | To be released in "Winter 2017". First wearable prototype in 2014; limited rental available in 2015 |
| 2018 | Alesis Vortex Wireless 2 | controller | USB & MIDI | |
| 2018 | Roland AX-Edge | synthesizer | USB, MIDI, Bluetooth LE | |
| 2019 | Behringer MS-101 | synthesizer | USB & MIDI | Clone of the original 1982 Roland SH-101 |
| 2019 | Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-500 | electronic keyboard | USB, MIDI, Bluetooth LE | Built-in speaker |
| 2019 | Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-300 | electronic keyboard | USB | Built-in speaker |
| 2018 | Yamaha Vocaloid VKB-100 | electronic keyboard | USB, MIDI, Bluetooth LE | Built-in speaker |
| 2020 | Korg RK-100S 2 | synthesizer | USB & MIDI | Wooden body and new programs |

## Custom/rare keytars

### Rare keytar products

   * Delmar Brown "Illuminator" (illuminating display attached to keytar)

   * Guess Musical Instruments "Schizotron", a product which combined keyboard and guitar/bass

   * "Nissin C-16", a custom keytar version of Casio SK-1, distributed as lottery goods for promoting Nissin Cup Noodles

   * Suzuki "Omnichord" and "QChord", electronic chord instruments inspired by Oscar Schmidt Autoharp

   * "Zen Riffer", used most notably by Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater.

### Drum/Percussion keytars

   * Dynacord Rhythm Stick (also known as "Jamma" since 1982)

   * Tsumura JD21

   * Drumitar / Zendrum (2008)

   * "Riday T91"

### Custom made keytars

    In alphabetical order:
   * "Alien Guitar Simulator", a selfmade keytar by Le Orme keyboard player Michele Bon.

   * "Arcadetar", a keytar-like keyboard controller combined a pitch sensor in 20 inch. (50 cm) long, developed by Italian musician Andrea Lomuscio of Teapot Industries in 2012.

   * Jeri Ellsworth's FPGA-based C64 keytar

   * Lady Gaga's custom made keytar during The Monster Ball Tour in 2010.

   * "Lag Circulaire" made for Jean Michel Jarre

   * "Lag Insecte" made for Jean Michel Jarre

   * "Lag Mad Max" made for Jean Michel Jarre

   * Matthew Bellamy's "Keytarcaster" Manson, made for playing Undisclosed Desires from Muse's 5th studio album, The Resistance

   * Prince's "PurpleAxxe", also played by Tommy Barbarella

   * "Politrep", a copy of the Zen Riffer keytar made by order at the website space4keys.com

   * "Remote" for Jean Michel Jarre's studio by Lag

   * "Syblade", a keytar designed to be unique and to inspire.

### Customized keytars

**Based on minimoog keyboards**


   * Custom minimoog keyboard used by Gary Wright and Steve Porcaro around 1976.

   * Cruder, Jan Hammer's early custom keyboard with block shaped controller.

   * Plexi minimoog keyboard used by George Duke

**Based on Yamaha KX series**


   * Jean Michel Jarre's custom KX5, two versions: Houston and Docklands Concerts.

   * Lights Poxleitner plays a rare Yamaha KX5 keytar.

**Based on Roland AX series**


   * Vadim Pruzhanov of DragonForce and Henrik Klingenberg of Sonata Arctica both use a custom Roland AX-7 (although nowadays Henrik Klingenberg uses custom Roland AX-1)

   * Christopher Bowes of Alestorm owns a Roland AX-7 which he has customised over the years with various stickers of animals.

   * Jeff Abbott, long-time keytar player and product demonstrator for MusicLab plays a custom wooden keytar based around a Roland AX-1.

## Gallery

* Orphica (18th–19th century)
* Royalex Probe (1977/1980) played by Lucy Hosking
* PMS Syntar (1979) by George Mattson
* Moog Liberation (1980)
* Davis Clavitar (1980) played by George Duke
* SynthAxe (1985) by Bill Aitken, et al.
* Yamaha KX-5 (1984)
* Korg RK-100 (1984)
* Yamaha SHS-10 (1987)
* Lync LN-1000 (1990)
* Zendrum series (1994)
* Roland AX-7 (2001)
* Zen Riffer Solo Axe (2007) by Roy Wooten
* Mad Catz Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard
* Korg RK-100s (2014)
* Alesis Vortex Wireless (2014) played by Jean Pageau (Mystery) in 2019
