Music is About Fun – a la YOU ROCK MODE

No rulers across the wrist here, no boring repetitive droning of your scales and tabs.  The great thing about getting into Guitar Hero and Rock Band  is that you “feel” the emotional impact of performing. OK, you only end up with some very fast rhythm experience, but your long way from really rocking.  And let’s face it, it’s not any fun playing on an out-of-tune electric guitar, or crashing though some bad partial riffs and misfinger chords.

So what if there was a way to NEVER have to tune the guitar and what if you could go into a mode where you could only play the correct frets for the chords you were jamming to?  Guess what my young Padawan?That’s exactly what we did with the You Rock Guitar.

First, you never need to tune a You Rock Guitar.
Second, in the You Rock Mode jamming with our loops, we map the frets out so you can literally run your fingers up and down or if you want to really get to rockin,  you learn the main patterns and pentatonic riffs that every guitar player needs to know. It’s all about muscle memory and we make that part fun. Here comes guitar 2.0.

Doug Morton, Audio Guru – Powers up the Guitar

Since 1982, Doug Morton has been spinning heads, CD’s and chips when it comes to digital audio. Doug’s company Q-Up Arts is one of the stalwarts in the sampling industry. Now, Doug Morton and Kevin Kent are working together again for the first time in years. Doug and Kevin worked together at E-Mu and a few years later Doug helped Kevin master his solo piano CD, recorded at the Record Plant Recording studios. Doug got the once over from Cliff on the tool kits for the custom chips that make up the audio portion of the You Rock Guitar, the three have been pounding away at the sounds since February. Session after session, one guitar after the other, the boys have finally settled in on their top guitars for the sound library built into the You Rock Guitar.

Inspired Instruments, Inc. announced the introduction of its hybrid guitar the ‘You Rock Guitar’ designed specifically for those who want to migrate from video games like Rock Band and Guitar hero to playing real guitar music. The You Rock Guitar’s patented technology bridges the gap between rhythm based video games and real music.

According to Kevin Kent, CEO of Inspired Instruments “The transition between video games and real music performance has been elusive and real holy grail for the millions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band players who want to step out of the game box and onto a real stage.  Playability must be immediate.  Never having to tune the guitar is essential.  The feature set must include incredible sounds and game-like fun in the jamming. The integration of multiple levels of technology makes the You Rock Guitar the most advanced game and music controller in history – all at an incredible value. This is guitar 2.0”

Inspired Instruments, Inc. is proud to announce that prestigious sound designer and composer, Doug Morton has agreed to produce the sounds and music for its breakthrough new product, the You Rock Guitar.  The You Rock Guitar will include custom internal sounds, including such classics and Les Pauls’, Stratocasters, Telecasters, Hamer’s, ES335’s, Washburn Acoustics,  12 Strings, and some metal and grunge and punk guitars that will melt the paint off your walls. Morton states, “We’re putting in about 20 grand worth of guitars in this thing, its a game changer, its rock and roll.”

The You Rock Guitar, is not just a controller for such hit games as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but it’s separates the rockers from the wanna-be’s because it is also a fully functional live performance instrument. It has both stereo mini-out for use with an iPod and ¼ hi-impedance output for plugging right into your guitar amp or mixer.

The world’s best guitar sounds included

Morton has promised realistic acoustic guitars ranging from Punk grunge to screaming Les Paul leads as well as nylon, steel and 12 strings, but Doug’s specialty is outrageous electric guitars. “They called it You Rock Guitar, that was the mission. This has been an outrageous project starting with the sampling sessions to modeling the sounds and recording the loops to spec. The only problem is it all sounds so cool, I spend way too much time playing once I get a great sound, and hey, I got a deadline!”

he Chord Progressions That Changed the World and the “You Rock Mode”

Every new guitar player needs to learn and play some basic chord progressions so they can jam with their friends. Start with just two chards then three chords and then on to the major blues in 12 and 16 bars.  And if that’s not cool enough, how about “You Rock Mode” where you can run your fingers up and down the frets without ever making a mistake.  Learn the solo and pentatonic modes by playing, not studying some dry charts. This mode lets you play like a real rock star with the background tracks blazing away. Have Fun, Rock will happen.

According to Kevin Kent, CEO of Inspired Instruments “Doug and I first worked together almost 25 years ago. His work and quality speaks for itself, and when you get your hands on a You Rock Guitar and just play the sounds and music, you just may forget that you bought a real electric guitar that doubles as a game controller.  This instrument will take you and your family to new levels of music entertainment.

Kent, goes on to say “Having Doug produce the sound library and music says one thing about the You Rock Guitar… it will rock.  He is a good friend and at the top of his game, there is no better person in the world to develop these sounds.”  

To hear just a few of the guitars and You Rock sound loops:

Why did we call it “YOU ROCK GUITAR?”

With Guitar Hero, you felt like a real guitar hero within the first ten minutes you started playing. With Rock Band, you joined the band. How cool was that?  Now, just a few short years later, there are 35 million gamers out there wanting to know what’s next. They want to really play. They want to Rock. They want to play guitar. 

With the You Rock Guitar in “You Rock” mode, YOU will really ROCK in the first 5 minutes of play. We guarantee it. And you won’t be out of tune, and you won’t be playing any wrong notes. And all that time playing rhythm only games will pay off in metal, punk, blues and rock and roll and in fact– YOU WILL ROCK!

Danny Gokey is the better man – heart and soul

Gokey said he tried to rearrange more songs, but those didn’t always make it on the show.

“People want to see a creative element,” he said. “They want to see an old song made fresh again. I think ‘Idol’ from this point on, ever since last year, you can’t go on singing the same arrangement of a song. You’ll get bashed.”

Gokey auditioned for the show only four weeks after his wife, Sophia, died last summer from surgery for a congenital heart defect. Sophia loved the show, and they had agreed he would try out.

 

Slideshow   It’s down to 2 on ‘Idol’  Kris Allen and Adam Lambert will compete for the season 8 crown on “American Idol.”

Besides touring this summer with the top 10 finalists, Gokey plans to grow Sophia’s Heart Foundation, which he started after she died. The foundation helps children who need “restoration in various areas of their lives,” according to its Web site. 

Gokey, known for his assortment of spectacles, plans to start his own eyeglass line or even model them to raise money for the foundation. He said he has about 50 pairs now, up from the 15 at the show’s start.

He also wants to make a “soulful” album with rhythm and blues beats and a hint of salsa and meringue.

Gokey said he was proud of his accomplishment, although there were things he would have done differently. Not only did he try his best despite his insecurities in competition, but he had to deal with his grief.

“I saw strength in me that I didn’t know I had,” he said.

Now he wants to tell people: “If I can do it, you can do it.”

GUITAR GAMES INSPIRE KIDS TO TRY THE REAL THING, SAYS INSTRUCTOR

A lot of kids have been getting into [guitar lessons] because of games, especially ‘Guitar Hero. Kids who might never have become interested in learning to play the guitar are now coming to us… The game is a completely different concept from playing a real guitar, but it does help with dexterity in their fingers.

Kids are coming to me wanting to learn to play, which is wonderful… It’s nice that bands like Foghat, the Steve Miller Band and the Rolling Stones are cool again. Kids come here focused and with a game plan.

For guitar players, it’s all about songs like ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama…’ And what’s great about some of those power chords – the garage rock songs – is that they’re relatively easy to play. If that inspires a kid to pick up an instrument, I think it’s great.

SOURCE: GamePolitics.com

Educators Hail Jimi Hendrix As Role Model for Teachers

Are the San Francisco school district in a purple haze?

Because they have chosen one unusual role model to grace the cover of their new education guide, and some residents are questioning whether the decision is a good message to send to the city’s youth.

On the cover of the new district guidebook – aimed at changing the educational “experiences for every child in each of our schools” – is a portrait of 1960s rock legend Jimi Hendrix, known as much for his fatal drug habit as his revolutionary take on rock music.

The district’s manifesto asks readers to remember “the first time you heard Jimi Hendrix,” before proclaiming “our plan is as transformational now as his music was then,” according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

But the image of Hendrix – who didn’t make it through high school – is not limited to the cover. Indeed, Hendrix’s face appears on nearly every page and the manual, which also comes with a Hendrix poster and canvas tote, all distributed to hundreds of administrators in Superintendent Carlos Garcia’s district.

Garcia told the Chronicle that he was simply trying to “revolutionize” the district and felt comfortable with Hendrix’s controversial image because “Hey, we’re in San Francisco.”

But not all administrators feel the same.

One concerned “liberal hippie educator” in the district – who went unnamed for fear of retaliation – told the Chronicle, “I find the choice of Hendrix as inspiration to be used in an educational setting rather strange and out of touch.”

Born in 1942, Hendrix rose to fame after delighting audiences with an innovative, experimental sound and his remarkable skill as a guitarist. His shows often included outrageous stunts such as playing the guitar with his teeth or lighting it on fire.

He enjoyed short-lived but significant success until his untimely death at the age of 27 whe he died after choking on his own vomit after a drug overdose.

SOURCE:FOXNEWS 5-7-09  http://bit.ly/Nld8z

iTunes as your back-up band?

Wanna practice quietly in the room, dorm or on the train, plane or automobile?
Simply plug you iPod stereo-mini output into the You Rock Guitar.
Next, plug your headphones (another stereo-mini) into the guitar too.
Find the song you want to jam with and hit play.
You can adjust the volume on the guitar for the overall mix and adjust the iPod level for the balance between the two.

YRG TIPS & HINTS

Go to some of the chord or tab web sites and download a few songs you want to learn, print them out and take them with you for learning “on the road”

Your band’s got some new tunes you need to learn? It’s time to learn your part. Put the song in your iTunes library and set it to loop.  Play it over and over till your your rockin “just like the record.”

One last tip. OK, we know you can’t bend our fretboard strings, but if you use the whammy bar you’ll get it down the same way, then when you switch to your electric, wham bam, thank you Mam, let’s rock.

Lastly, our batteries will take you from LAX to London on a 747 (without too many stopovers) but if your on a long haul over 9 hours, bring an extra set of batteries.

Learn – Create – Share

Life is about learning new things, creating and then sharing that with other people. It doesn’t matter if its finger painting at 5, guitar 101 at 13 or jazz at 70. Humans of all ages have an innate desire to learn, create and share.

We have gone the extra mile to make those three legs of expression integral to the way the You Rock Guitar will walk you through learning, creating and sharing a guitar-like experience.

The You Rock Mode is unique in that you will learn your finger positions and modes by doing rather than studying. You will not make a mistake and want to stop because you sound bad. The whole idea of muscle memory is essential to learning the guitar. The patterns and outright fun you will have with the You Rock Mode will transfer directly over to a real guitar.

You Rock Mode and recording. Imagine learning a new chord progression and you have created melodies for them. Then imagine recording your performance with what you have learned. Now play the recording or play live to your recording and share your expression. In the You Rock Mode, you will sound good. You will want to play more and you wil want to create more.

Learn – Create – Share

SDK for Games & Education

We will be releasing our first release of the SDK soon.  If you are interested in the Beta program or feel as though you can make a contribution to the development process, please contact us.  Programmers with existing MIDI games or music based computer games might take great delight in our SDK program. We expect it to be a lot of fun and likely profitable for those early adopters.

The current platform integration with the You Rock Guitar includes: MIDI, APPLE, WINDOWS, Wii, X-Box, Sony Playstation, iPhone, and BlueTooth.

Application SDK Gamers
The You Rock Guitar Software Developer Kit Gamers (SDK) will allow a new generation of music game developers, or those with existing computer and gaming applications, to develop and market their games and programs for the You Rock Guitar platform.

Application SDK Education
The You Rock Guitar Software Developer Kit Education (SDK) will allow a new generation of guitar teachers and music education developers to convert previous work or teaching ideas into products that can be offered on the YouRockGuitar.com web site, much like Apple™ sells songs and movies.

YOU ROCK GUITAR… the perfect wave of learning, creating and rocking.

Fast MIDI Guitar? Oh yeah, the fastest…

USB and MIDI are two of the most important standards for music. MIDI has been around since the early 1980’s and is all those keyboards and drum machines.  Dig this; plug the You Rock Guitar into a MIDI keyboard and play any of those sounds. Guitar voicing sounds cooler and uncluttered.
Check out the recent video interview with Berklee School performance grad, teacher and author Karl Aranjo.

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