Shadow Wolf Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 In this shining example of foot in mouth disease, Josh Randall of Harmonix posits a future wherein rhythm games can be played directly from the instrument, totally without the use of a console! Imagine a bright future where you and your friends can make music without the need for a major gaming platform. Take it a step farther! Imagine if WIRELESS instruments were available, and you and your friends could even write, play, and record your own songs! In other news, archaeologists in Vienna have uncovered startling new evidence that Ludwig Von Beethoven himself may have in fact used a WIRELESS PIANO to compose his music. But how could he have obtained such technology? Time travel? Visitors from the future? Wormholes? The Illuminati? Or did he conjure it from DARK MATTER? I thought the honest to God musicians here would get a kick out of this. Coming next week, new technology that allows you to hold a conversation with another person, face to face, without the need for an IM client! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vyse of Arcadia Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Allow me to be the first to say: Bwahahahahahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Haha, and here I was sad that Tycho wasn't around to lampoon that article this week. I forgot about that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Final Hero Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I seriously LOL'd so hard when I read this that my dog got terrified and ran away to hide from me. Can I borrow some beef jerky from someone to lure her out of hiding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 And yet truth is stranger than fiction or posits.... The wireless world is already here..... under government wraps.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinewav Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hilarious! Though I do think it's important to recognize the difference between a music game and making real music. I enjoy both thoroughly. Guitar Hero will never replace a real guitar for me, but it's still fun. I for one would enjoy playing a music game without a console (all I have is Wii )... thought the way he said it sounds utterly ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Oh yeah, I agree with you. It's just hilarious to listen to techies talk about their "interface advancements", etc. When they're really just reversing the tech and bringing us closer and closer to what we had in the first place. See the "Book" comic above. Sad but true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 wow, i'd be good at those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nase Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hilarious!Though I do think it's important to recognize the difference between a music game and making real music. I can very well imagine though that this difference is going to become smaller and smaller in the future. Hell, who knows what kind of musical interfaces are gonna show up, possibly making the old keyboard/mouse paradigm seem counter-intuitive and boring. It should be possible to think up a software that offers all kinds of game-like approaches to perform music, while still allowing the user to dig as deep into the parameters as he wants if needed. Combining such software, for example, with a guitar-like interface that's usable for the game part as well as recording wouldn't be such a bad idea now, would it? I'm not even the biggest proponent of edutainment, but I for one wouldn't think for a heartbeat if I could get my hypothetical kids one of these or a regular guitar hero type of game Back to the initial quote, there will always be a difference between playing a game and making music, of course, but the program and interface you do it with could very well be the same. Take this more as a little train of thought than a direct response to the article. I do get the joke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Huh? What Randall said isn't stupid (at least, what is quoted in that article). Why wouldn't there be a market for rhythm games that don't use consoles? Obviously this is moving more in the direction of being a real guitar which I guess is the joke, but I would love it if I could plug my Fender into a TV and have the sheet music and tempo and backing track there for me to play along with. Call it Guitar Hero that's more like a guitar, or a guitar with video game-like features, but it sounds good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 In other news, archaeologists in Vienna have uncovered startling new evidence that Ludwig Von Beethoven himself may have in fact used a WIRELESS PIANO to compose his music. But how could he have obtained such technology? Time travel? Visitors from the future? Wormholes? The Illuminati? Or did he conjure it from DARK MATTER? Liar! Pianos are so wired! They have to be, or else how will they be powered by the wall socket! How dare you try to mislead everyone here, you no-good charlatan! But in all seriousness, he was talking about stand-alone devices, meant to connect directly to your TV. I don't know why people are so reactive about this. He's not saying anything stupid; stupid people are just purposely taking his quote out of context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSnowStorm Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Hey guys! I got one of the very first wireless consoles music games. It's this amazing thing call the violin and you just only need sheet music and other shit to play! Okay, I am just wondering: Was the author of that little essay retarded? I mean, was he in special education during his school years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fratto Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 My trombone is wireless. I'm trying to do the same for my tuba, but it's just so big... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vyse of Arcadia Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 He's not saying anything stupid; stupid people are just purposely taking his quote out of context. We're all, I'd like to think, all quite aware of what he's saying. But it's really hilarious if you take it a bit out of context. It's not even all that far outside of context. My thought are, when does it cross the line from entertainment to edutainment? Obviously it never will with the five buttons and strum bar, but I think I see the line on the horizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 We're all, I'd like to think, all quite aware of what he's saying. But it's really hilarious if you take it a bit out of context. It's not even all that far outside of context. Thank you. Haha I knew I was gonna take heat for this. What he said wasn't expressly idiotic. I was just making a bit of a jump, because if you take it only very slightly out of context, he was eagerly describing a logical end result for their current product that leaves you with the actual analog instruments we've used for most of recorded history. Tycho and Gabe nailed it in their comic posted above, making fun of the Amazon Kindle. That said, I do see a LOT of potential for being able to plug an actual Fender guitar into a TV and learning the fingering for real songs based on the kind of "Guitar Hero Method," where it scrolls across the bars of music at the top of the screen and highlights fret fingering at the bottom. It would be even more useful if the neck of the entire guitar was pressure sensitive and told you where YOU were going wrong if and when you did. There's certainly applications. The article just struck me as hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level 99 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I see where they're going, and it definitely made me chuckle a bit, though I also had to stop and say "wait a minute", because maybe I'm the only one thinking that there's a company doing things from an opposite approach (I'm taking major liberties in comparison here, but hear me out): Line 6. Look at some of their products: digitally modeling different guitars, amps, cabs, and effects in their products, especially their POD product line. The main focus here, for better or worse, would be the Line 6 Variax. While far from being the great product it could be, it's giving the creative freedom of different guitars without the need for most analog connections. That's a few hairs away from having the strings monitored or replaced with sensors, and having all guitar "data" being transmitted over MIDI(or, as would be more likely the case if it happened, some proprietary data format to handle all the dynamics and subtleties of what a guitar can do). That's not a far cry from the opposite approach theorized. Or, maybe it's just me making improper connections between the two theories. In any case, sooner or later the gap is going to be bridged between these music games and music creation programs. I wouldn't be surprised if, at some point, Line 6 teamed up with Harmonix to sell Line 6 digital guitars that function as both a fully-playable instrument and as a controller for these types of games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Nova Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Wow, what will they come up with next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Line 6..., especially their POD product line. I'm not sure if you knew this already, but there's actually a video on the GH World Tour disc advertising the POD. So Activision and Line 6 already have some manner of working relationship, it would seem. Your predictions may not be very far fetched at all. I'm far more interested to see how some of the concepts in these games affect the way things are done with REAL instruments, rather than the advancements in the games themselves. For example, If there WERE eventually a guitar released with the internal capability of emulating all these analog line effects, and I'm sure you're right and there will be, I would definitely predict a big new split among musicians. You'd have the digital artists who use the "self-contained" effects to create all their music, and the "analog-electric purists" who insist that using actual stomp boxes, line effects, modulators, etc. gives a more realistic sound. But I agree that the idea of being able to apply all your effects directly within the guitar rather than the line itself would be very intriguing and significantly cheaper in the long run. It would make a LOT of otherwise very expensive effects available for the simple cost of the guitar, perhaps even with an iTunes type store where you can plug your guitar into your computer and download new effects for it. Great idea, even if it would put a lot of roadies out of a job. Furthermore, if you could take a high quality instrument like a Fender or Martin guitar and have completely digital output, what's to stop you from applying a simple Soundfont effect and turning it into any instrument you want? Music and chords are all the same, no matter what instrument you play. But HOW the instrument is played is hugely different of course. Up to now, the keyboard has been the only way to "play" any number of instruments using a soundfont. But what about a more focused musician who, for example, plays the guitar incredibly well and knows that neck like the back of his hand, but wants to express himself with sounds that aren't guitar related in any way? How wonderful would it be for that guy to be able to apply a piano soundfont to his guitar and fingerpick a song to reverse what the keyboardists have been doing for years? Or even better, think about the differences in how the instruments are played and imagine the possibilities. There is arguably a much greater ability for playing extremely fast music on a guitar, or for strumming very quickly, etc. depending on who is playing. The dynamics of how it's played are (duh) vastly different from a piano. But imagine playing the guitar and OUTPUTTING the sound of a piano instead. The possibilities would be mind numbing. There's definitely a lot of exciting ideas to throw around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level 99 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I'm not sure if you knew this already, but there's actually a video on the GH World Tour disc advertising the POD. So Activision and Line 6 already have some manner of working relationship, it would seem. Your predictions may not be very far fetched at all. I'm far more interested to see how some of the concepts in these games affect the way things are done with REAL instruments, rather than the advancements in the games themselves. For example, If there WERE eventually a guitar released with the internal capability of emulating all these analog line effects, and I'm sure you're right and there will be, I would definitely predict a big new split among musicians. You'd have the digital artists who use the "self-contained" effects to create all their music, and the "analog-electric purists" who insist that using actual stomp boxes, line effects, modulators, etc. gives a more realistic sound. But I agree that the idea of being able to apply all your effects directly within the guitar rather than the line itself would be very intriguing and significantly cheaper in the long run. It would make a LOT of otherwise very expensive effects available for the simple cost of the guitar, perhaps even with an iTunes type store where you can plug your guitar into your computer and download new effects for it. Great idea, even if it would put a lot of roadies out of a job. Furthermore, if you could take a high quality instrument like a Fender or Martin guitar and have completely digital output, what's to stop you from applying a simple Soundfont effect and turning it into any instrument you want? Music and chords are all the same, no matter what instrument you play. But HOW the instrument is played is hugely different of course. Up to now, the keyboard has been the only way to "play" any number of instruments using a soundfont. But what about a more focused musician who, for example, plays the guitar incredibly well and knows that neck like the back of his hand, but wants to express himself with sounds that aren't guitar related in any way? How wonderful would it be for that guy to be able to apply a piano soundfont to his guitar and fingerpick a song to reverse what the keyboardists have been doing for years? Or even better, think about the differences in how the instruments are played and imagine the possibilities. There is arguably a much greater ability for playing extremely fast music on a guitar, or for strumming very quickly, etc. depending on who is playing. The dynamics of how it's played are (duh) vastly different from a piano. But imagine playing the guitar and OUTPUTTING the sound of a piano instead. The possibilities would be mind numbing. There's definitely a lot of exciting ideas to throw around. I do remember now someone mentioning the Line 6 ads in one of the Guitar Hero series (I was never that into them, I've only played a few times at some friends' places). Uh oh, the future may be unfolding right now! As for the idea of the musical split, I'm sure that it will also further divide the current split between modelers and "tubers". I understand that there are many guitarists that will swear by tube amps and play nothing else, dismissing them as sounding inferior. But the future is digital; there's no arguing against that. There will always be vintage fanatics, and on that same token, probably people who will never play guitar hero just because they see it as a bastardized version of the family game "Simon". The lines become blurred the moment you put content creation in the hands of the player. Little Big Planet players are just players until they make something in the level designer. At that point, you could call them level designers, but as to what effect, level of quality, and experience, is relative. When musical color-matching games become self-contained within the digital instruments that are used to play them, as well as being untethered, and most importantly, adding the ability to write/create content, the players are no longer players. Consider it a "gateway" game: turning players into musicians. It's definitely not a bad way to further music's reach and range, but it'll become harder to determine a musician's status. I'm not saying that there's a definitive line when someone is a musician. I think anyone who sings along in the car can be called a musician. But, eventually, if all those lines are blurred, someone calling themselves a guitarist could really only be a five-button-'plasti-tar' player who's created their own songs. So would you call them a guitars, a midi-writer, or create a new definition entirely? Wow, suddenly I have taken this a bit too far, haven't I? It must be Thursday. Oh, and quick idea: instead of having the guitar's output turned into piano via soundfont, imagine someone playing drums that way? If people can play drums using soundfonts on keyboards, and the ability to makes it's way onto those other interfaces, watch out for some insance guitar player slamming out beats like crazy via fretboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Furthermore, if you could take a high quality instrument like a Fender or Martin guitar and have completely digital output, what's to stop you from applying a simple Soundfont effect and turning it into any instrument you want? That would be a MIDI guitar or a MIDI pickup They exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salluz Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Guitar Hero's cool but I can't desecrate my real guitar's value with some blasphemous practices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I, for one, would really like this idea. (Well, if they supported keyboards anyway, so I could play the instrument I'm good at). Right now, the only opportunities I have to play are at church. The music is standard rock/pop most of the time, and on the average Sunday morning, is very under-rehearsed because of people's lack of time. We also have a night once a month where we have a much better band (the bass player recorded and toured with Bruce Cockburn in the late 80's) with a lot more rehearsal time, and I often get to play with them, but it's obviously infrequent: one long rehearsal on a Thursday, one long rehearsal and then performance a few days later. And even still, the style is still rock/pop, with the odd minor deviation into funk/soul/gospel. I would *love* the opportunity to play regularly in a variety of styles with a solid band. Since I don't have that right now, the opportunity to play along with a pre-recorded band would be great. No, it wouldn't be as creative as being able to write our own stuff or even choose whichever songs we like, and you wouldn't get the group dynamic you do when playing with real people, but it'd still be a big improvement over what I have now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixto Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 For example, If there WERE eventually a guitar released with the internal capability of emulating all these analog line effects... There have already been a few electric guitars with built in effects. They were horrible. It just doesn't work because of how much tastes in different effects vary. Furthermore, if you could take a high quality instrument like a Fender or Martin guitar and have completely digital output, what's to stop you from applying a simple Soundfont effect and turning it into any instrument you want? Yeah, that's been out for a while. Midi-pickups come on certain guitars and can be bought and placed on almost any guitar. Plus, Line6's Variax technology is there and Fender has kind of done the same thing with one of their Strats. Also, Gibson's weird digital output thing lets you use a different amp for each string on the guitar. Sounds cool on paper but it's not very practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Oh, and quick idea: instead of having the guitar's output turned into piano via soundfont, imagine someone playing drums that way? If people can play drums using soundfonts on keyboards, and the ability to makes it's way onto those other interfaces, watch out for some insance guitar player slamming out beats like crazy via fretboard! ... http://www.zendrum.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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