Introducing Classical Guitar Hero

Alex writes "I've just uploaded the video of a piece of classical electronic music I wrote for 2 Guitar Hero controllers and software (which I created). More information about this piece, its software, and the notation involved in playing it is at alexwroten.com/works.asp and alexwroten.com/excuses.html. I just figured people might be interested in finding new ways to use their Guitar Hero mastery ... especially with the hot debate over whether or not it hinders people's musical instruction."

Robert Fripp Took Thorazine!

King Crimson ate a bunch of "Reds"! [wikipedia.org]

God. Such racket!

Re:Robert Fripp Took Thorazine!

I thought maybe if I skipped ahead, there would be some actual music in that video. Nope!

Holy shit

what the fuck is this doing on the front page of slashdot?

Re:Holy shit

Oh, nobody told you about the Digg merger?

Then don't post it

If there is no news, there is no news. Don't post stupid news to ruin the reputation of the site. All this is saying is that they are starting to value site traffic more than site reputation.

To be more specific I don't come here to see "BREAKING: NES Nudity Galore [VIDEO]!!!" It is the same reason why an investor doesn't expect to see scandalous pictures of Britney Spears on the Wall Street Journal.

Now if Slashdot does want to compete with digg and reddit for the top nerd sensationalist website then fine. People like me will simply stop visiting.

Classical 'hero' instruments

I'm not sure what nonsense I'm seeing there (in the first six seconds of video before I stopped it; it started to feel too much like RTFA), but it's not what I imagined which was bringing classical music and the associated instruments to Guitar Hero. I could dig that. Think about it, instead of endless rehashes of the same Guitar Hero game, you could have new ones, like: Lyre Hero, Recorder Hero, Viola Hero, and the always impressive Oboe Hero.

Re:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/activision_reports_sluggish_sales [theonion.com]

Nuf Said.

Re:Classical 'hero' instruments

Personally, I want Cello Hero and Sitar Hero.

Re:Classical 'hero' instruments

Followed by Skin Flute Hero.

Re:Classical 'hero' instruments

Followed by Skin Flute Hero.

You mean "Rock Band: Groupie Edition"

Sounds like shit

Kinda like abstract art. Throw some shit at a wall and call it a masterpiece.

Re:Sounds like shit

especially with the hot debate over whether or not it hinders people's musical instruction.

Yup, I think the video has ended that debate.

Re:Sounds like shit

Nah, the musical instruction debate is still going on, this has killed the musical appreciation debate.

YouTube comment sums it up

As much as I'm loathe to approve a YouTube comment as insightful, I believe this sums it up nicely:

I feel sorry for the crowd. At least I could skip through, see that this sucks, and move on.

take note timothy

Maybe you do not know how /. used to be like, but very rarely should the person that created the 'article' be the one who submits it. Slashdot should work where 'news for nerds, stuff that matters' is 'discovered' and then posted. There was another recent article (rather video) that made the front page which you accepted and it was of questionable interest as well.

So will someone stop saying 'hot debate' non stop?

Hot debate? I don't think the debate is so hot over whether this helps or hurts one's musical introduction. It's just a simple timing game. Only a few media boobs who like to repeat themselves over and over are the culprits behind your misinterpretation that there is actually a hot debate flaming over such things.

I play the keyboard and guitar. I don't think it's helped or hurt my playing in either. Just as Quake didn't make me any better or worse at hunting dove with a shotgun, or the countless hours of playing counter strike, my accuracy with my 7.62mm sport rifle never changed. It's a game, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. The 'real thing' in all cases is completely different.

 

That Guy

I hope you enjoy being "That Guy".

BTW, Stop with the youtube shit please.

I forgot to mention in my previous message that it's high time /. give up on the hip youtube linkage. Most of us read this shit at work and save the media filled garbage for a setting that allows for lots of bad audio and questionable content on the screen.

For years, if the boss walks by and sees /. on the screen, it's no big deal. If the boss comes by and sees two guys pressing buttons hardwired into a shitty synth, he won't be thinking I am staying up to date on the latest geek news that is pertinent, such as security articles, the latest drive technology and such.

But go ahead, if you want to turn this into fark and end up eventually blocked by the nanny proxies, keep at it.

Learning

If guitar hero could teach me to learn to read sheet music and recognize different pitches, notes and keys then I would fork over the money for it.

Re:To all the "Guitar Heros" out there....

Just followed your advice. Now I'm down $100 and I got the clap. Thanks.

Re:To all the "Guitar Heros" out there....

It's just a game, jerk wad.

Yeah, playing guitar hero, having some drinks and some laughs. Who wants that~

So in short, you suck.

Re:Answer me this...

Fuck you, and people like you.

It's a game, it's fun. My son and I have a great time playing it. It's like the game Simon, turned up to 11.

My son and I were playing a Black Sabbath song. At the end we both spontaneously threw the horns.
That was fun as hell.

Nobody playing Guitar Hero thinks they're playing a guitar, no one.

We have a good time, This should be a ***REAL BIG HINT*** to you.

Clue, Programming is boring to almost every one, listening to music and playing a game is boring to almost no one.

Considering real Rock Stars ALSO play and enjoy Guitar Hero, I think They get that it's a game to.

Guess what? Wii tennis, isn't real tennis either! And GTA IV isn't killing real people.
Why can everything else be emulated and extracted out onto a game, but not playing an guitar?

I can play Guitar Hero, AND go to a concert.

As a bonus, my children and I are now talking about music, and I can engage them in a conversation about guitar rifts on the radio, using Guitar Hero as a point of reference.

My children are 10 and 7, both know more about music than I did.

So Guitar Hero: Epic Win
You: Epic Lose

Re:Answer me this...

"Correction, you were playing a timing game to the beat of a Black Sabbath song."

Yes, I know that. You know that, everyone knows that.

"Clue number 2 - I program because I enjoy it & because it pays a salary so I can afford to buy CDs, go to concerts to see proper musicians (including Black Sabbath incidentally) and to buy games to play."

So do I, but I recognize most people would not enjoy it at all; which I am grateful because that keeps my salary higher.

"Yep. So by your logic you also treat yourself to the occasional bag of cocaine because Keith Richards does?"
Virtual cocaine would be the proper analogy. However it doesn't matter because you missed my point;which is Nobody thinks it's real guitar.

"Hey, guess what? You could also play them a Black Sabbath CD and end up doing precisely the same thing. Good isn't it?"

Not really. Kids are more interested in thing when they are doing something.
Not that it's a bad thing, but they would probably get bored listening to they CD and wonder off to read.

"Good luck to them."
Thank you

" But your point is what, precisely?"
You really are obtuse, aren't you?

My point is that it was another way to get my kids interested in music. Since my son is now interested in playing the guitar, I think it worked.

"So be it. I personally don't need to turn everything into a competition. Yes, you win, enjoy yourself."
and you just have to whine about what other people do so you can feel good about yourself.

Re:Answer me this...

Do you think Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton or Slash play "Linux Kernel Compilation Hero", "Perl Programmer Hero" or "Microsoft Service Pack Hero" in their spare time?

No.

And why?

Because they are ***NOT QUALIFIED*** to do all those wonderful things with operating systems that we Slashdotters are.

Are you insane, retarded, brain damaged, stupid, or do you just intentionally utter the most idiotic and wrong thing you can possibly think of?

The reason Eric Clapton doesn't play "Linux Kernel Compilation Hero" is because the game doesn't exist and if it did it would almost certainly suck. If you could actually make such a game that made Linux Kernel Compilation into a simple task that was also somehow also fun, then maybe Eric Clapton wouldn't play it, but some real guitar player somewhere would. Just like some of them play Guitar Hero because it's fun.

This should be a ***REAL BIG HINT*** to you.

Yeah, a hint that you're a delusional moron.

I'm PERFECTLY qualified to play Guitar Hero (not that I ever have, but that's not even the point). Why? Because just like your hypothetical "Perl Programmer Hero" isn't real Perl Programming, Guitar Hero isn't real guitar! It's a game!

I mean you're clearly suffering from one of two catastrophic mental deficiencies. Either:
1) You think that plastic guitar is actually comparable to a real guitar, with commensurate skill required.
or
2) You think that you should not be able to play a simple game based on an activity unless you are actually an expert at the real activity, and thus would issue the same tard-rant against racing games, war strategy games, FPS games, sports games, and hell basically every game that isn't "Being a Douche on the Internet Hero", the only thing you are actually qualified to do the real version of.

So which is it?

So put down the plastic guitar, go back to your computer screen, earn some money and go buy a CD or a concert ticket.

So, you've never in your life played air guitar to your favorite CD? Never sang along at a concert, despite not having any business being a professional singer?

Soulless, and stupid. You're quite the prize.

Re:Wow

It's funny to me how venomous all of these comments are, especially after the phrase "I only watched the first 6 seconds of it." Surely you must understand these people don't play guitar hero controllers all of the time; it's experimental. Obviously in your eyes the experiment failed. Enough said.

Buh?

They're performing a concert for the public. It's experimental, yes. It's original, yes. Many people will hate it, yes. But that's NO EXCUSE for not having practiced enough where they didn't play the piece properly. I counted at least five times (over the course of six minutes) where the performers fell out of sync with each other, not in a "post-modern atonal experimental" kind of way, but in a "I-have-no-fucking-clue-how-we're-supposed-to-be-playing-this-section" kind of way.

There are lots of valid reasons to justify this piece being performed, but there are no valid reasons to justify not playing it properly. If the classical guitarist and violinist can't hack it, then find people with less (but not no) classical training and more Guitar Hero training.