Circle Instruments Wins 2025 MIDI Innovation Hardware Protype Award for Circle Guitar
Circle® Instruments’ are proud to announce the Circle Guitar has won the 2025 MIDI Innovation Award in the Hardware Prototypes / Non-Commercial Products category.
The MIDI® Association has recognised Circle Guitar as one of the year’s most forward-thinking musical technology product. The awards, hosted by The MIDI Association, celebrate groundbreaking uses of MIDI that push the boundaries of music creation and performance.
Described as an electric guitar fused with a MIDI-programmable sequencer, the Circle Guitar reimagines how rhythm and automation can live inside a performance instrument. Its patented motorised wheel can be programmed via MIDI to strum, pulse, and accelerate at speeds and patterns impossible by hand—bridging analogue performance with precise digital control.
Each string can route through its own effects path, powered via a Cycfi Research Nu Series Modular Active Pickup, sync to MIDI clock, and be shaped in real time via on-body faders or DAW control. The result is a guitar that blurs the line between a traditional instrument, sequencer, and modular performance tool.
Hand-built in the UK the Circle Guitar has already earned praise from artists such as Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), Paul Epworth, and Lee Kiernan (IDLES).
Ed O’Brien called it “an extraordinary new guitar that makes you think in a totally different way.”
“We’re honoured to be recognised by The MIDI Association,” said Anthony Dickens Creator, Founder & CEO of Circle Instruments,. “Our goal has always been to expand the capabilities of a guitar with technological exploration that provides limitless creative possibilities, this is just the start we can wait to share the future of Circle Instruments.”
Circle Instruments plans to release the second batch of guitar production in January 2026 and are inviting prospective customers to be added to the pre-sale waiting list here, and will be providing exciting content and news of Firmware upgrades to subscribed users.
The team is also developing a broader family of instruments for exciting future product and are looking for future collaborations with innovative music tech companies to further the possibilities of Circle.
To find out more visit: https://circleinstruments.com
For more details on the MIDI Innovation awards visit: https://midi.org/innovation-award/circle-guitar
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Source: musicinstrumentnews.co.uk
