February Songs for You Rock Guitar

“So take no broken strings” by Mister Sister
After 9 million impressions testing our right hand string mechanisms, there have been no breaks. These tempered steel strings might last forever. mmm

Of course we weren’t so sure of that when we did an engineering change to the string couplings the month before that. People said they should be easy to replace. But when we received this last batch of units the sensitivity was affected. We had to change them and we lost time again on this last bunch of units. We are sorry to all of you who have been patiently awaiting for your orders to arrive. Soon. We’ll know about when the next batch arriving.

“We’re so sorry, Uncle Quality” – Paul McCartney
We’d like to say we’re really sorry about the delays and we should be sorry, but we never want to regret the attention we are giving to quality.

“Money” – by Pink Floyd
We must however apologize for the PayPal payment issue. When we set up the credit card system it said no one would be charged until we shipped to them. That way you can easily get on the pre-sale list and voila, we only charge when we ship. We found out PayPal was immediately deducting from your accounts. If you would like off the pre-sale list and an immediate refund, please let us know at: info@inspired.com

“Glory Days” – Bruce Springsteen
As I draft this post, Cliff is on his way to China. Glory Days of full production ahead. The bump in the road that is Chinese New Year is over and everyone is anxious to get these babies out the door. Everything is final testing and changes.

“Hit me with your best shot” – Pat Benetar
We are in a very limited supply of units that are trickling out from February’s shipment. Many have to go to Reps for sales samples and product placements, so I know everyone wants to know the exact date their order will be shipping. give us another week to see when the next batch arrive. OK?

“American Midiots” – Green Daze
Guitarists, teachers, MIDI guys, rockin’ gamers who might want to help us in the testing and/or SDK dev side of things, we need you. Obviously, if you are on the pre-sale list, you’ll move to the head of the class. just let us know if you would be interested, we need about 10 more people: info@inspired.com

Digital Kodachrome momets – check out some shots from last weeks photoshoot, new guitars, new accessories, new models. P.S. Were looking for 18-27 year olds in Orange County or LA who play guitar and can model with the You Rock Guitar.

Production Update

We’ve had some major decisions to make. We heard, “you get one chance to make a first impression” so we changed the string triggering mechanism for maximum sensitivity. (Cost 4 weeks) We were told “if the ’strings’ on the fret board were softer, it would feel so much better”… that cost us over a month… but that is what we will be showing up at CES and NAMM with

Then there was going to 10 to 25+ guitars, 50 synth sounds, 10 to 50 Open guitar tunings, 5 to 15 Capo settings, 25 on-board songs (Custom jam-friendly Wav loops to jam within the You Rock mode), The You Rock programming and testing, then it has to work together, tack on another few months. We missed the year 2009, and that is very painful, but in fact you do only get one chance to make a first impression and we knew we could do better. And we have.

We made some tough choices. We apologize for the delays, and we will start delivering to the pre-order lists, friends, family, reps and the press in January after CES and NAMM.

So now we focus our attention on the CES, final coding, some big surprises at CES and our ability to re-invent what was often considered to be just a hybrid game controller or a digital guitar… the You Rock Guitar is much more than that. It is a game changer, it is a guitar that every guitar player will want to have for so many reasons. You’ll still want your Strat, your big body acoustic, your nylon, maybe even Les, but you’ll also want a You Rock Guitar, and for reasons you don’t even know yet.

The response to the $179 high-speed MIDI guitar has been outrageous. The sheer joy of going from mere buttons and a paddle to strings and frets for the gamers is a leap toward real music. (BTW, don’t buttons and a paddle sound like something you get when you’ve been bad?)

Ultimately we apologize for not being able to be under the tree for Timmy this year for the holidays. It pains no one more than us!!! We made some major improvements for the long term viability and flexibility of the You Rock Guitar and it cost in time and money, but we believe it was well spent. And as tough as the decisions were, we made them in the best interest of the gamers the rockers, the mom’s and dads and those who want to rock… anywhere, anytime.

Thanks for your patience and support,

Kevin Kent
CEO

P.S. Its my birthday so please don’t bash me for being honest!

The You Rock Guitar Pre-Sale Deal

Here’s how it works:
1. You place your order for a You Rock Guitar
2. You tell some friends and give us their email address.
3. We do the rest. We’ll email them referencing you.
4. If they also place a pre-order, you get a $10 discount on your order.

Here’s the totally cool part, you can refer a bunch of friends and save big on your purchase. All they have to do is ultimately buy a guitar and you had to refer them first.

What’s the hitch? No hitch. Your friends can do the same thing. This is that viral “friends-only” thing gone rock and roll gamer. Everyone wins.

The You Rock Guitar is the first guitar that connects the world of video games and playing real music by combining the best of both worlds. Plug it into an amplifier, a computer, headphones and play it like a musical instrument, or with GameFlex™ cartridges to any of the console video games. It’s ideal for the millions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band guys tired of being told, why don’t you learn a real guitar… OK, this is better than real.

With Guitar Hero – you became one.
With Rockband – you joined the band
With You Rock Guitar – YOU ROCK!

You can learn more at our website: www.YouRockGuitar.com, including links to several videos:

This video will show the major features and benefits of the You Rock Guitar.
http://www.youtube.com

This video is an interview with the Guinness Book of Records holder for Guitar Hero, Danny Johnson.
Danny Johnson Video

This last one is older, but it features George Pajon Jr. of the very popular band the Black Eyed Peas, playing a Rev 1 version of our guitar.
http://www.youtube.com

Our YouTube site
http://www.youtube.com/user/YouRockGuitar

Follow our tweets about gaming, the gaming market and guitars.
http://twitter.com/yourockguitar

Our pre-order form
http://www.yourockguitar.com/order-form/

Please become a fan on Facebook. Search for the “You Rock Guitar” fan page.

Have fun, Rock will happen.

The Inspired Team
info@inspired.com

Guitar Hero Phenom Danny Johnson visits Inspired Instruments to try the You Rock Guitar for himself and provide input into it’s final stages of development.

Guitar Hero Phenom Danny Johnson, checks out the You Rock Guitar

Irvine – September 2009 – World-renowned 5-time Guinness World Record holder Danny Johnson stopped by Inspired Instruments this past week to try the YOU ROCK GUITAR and provide valuable insights into the final stages of product development.  “Danny is undisputedly the best Guitar Hero player in the world, but he’s also a musician.  That qualifies him uniquely to test and help us review the finishing touches on the YOU ROCK GUITAR” said Kevin Kent, Inspired’s CEO.  A 5-time record holder, with 3 more records awaiting approval, Danny is the only player in recorded history to score 100% on every Guitar Hero game ever made by Activision, earning him records, the title of Guitar Hero Guru, and featuring him at the forefront of a growing number of players that are continuously striving for challenges and excellence in the world of musical video games.

Danny’s sizable following exemplifies the shared passion by millions of gaming enthusiasts around the world.  Like many players, Danny progressively mastered each of the songs, games, and levels.  After hearing about the You Rock Guitar at E3 in Los Angeles this summer Danny decided he had to see it and play it for himself. Here’s what he had to say.

“The YOU ROCK GUITAR is awesome.  It goes far beyond what a traditional gamer can do, but it’s so much more. It feels completely amazing,” said Danny after trying it for himself.  “When I first started playing Guitar Hero, I thought about playing real guitar, but I couldn’t do it with what was available.”

“As an aspiring guitar player I never found enough opportunities to truly enjoy playing on my own.” Says JR deSouza, Inspired’s executive VP.  “The guitar was often too loud or out of tune, and there were few digital tools at my disposal back then.  There was a big gap between my aspirations and my reality.”  The YOU ROCK GUITAR is designed for just that.  It combines the instant gratification and ease of use of video games with the ability to play, create, and share real music of the digital instrument.  “It’s the best of both worlds, guitar gaming and guitar playing.” says the original inventor Cliff Elion.

Cliff went on to say, “in addition to the feedback, Danny’s input helped with the final tweaks of the gaming aspect of the neck – hand positioning when playing as fast as Danny does is critical. Gamers will be glad Danny stopped by.”

“The YOU ROCK Guitar is flat out amazing” says Danny.  “It teaches kids how to play real guitar by playing real strings and frets, not just buttons and a paddle.  Now that I’ve seen it, I realize this is what I’ve been waiting for!”

“It’s interesting to see the exact same passion and desire coming from both ends of the spectrum, the video gaming and music playing worlds.  The YOU ROCK GUITAR allows players anywhere on that spectrum, from gamers to professional musicians, to benefit from all that a digital guitar has to offer,” says Kevin Kent, CEO.

JR adds “I’ve been involved with a number of new-to-the-market products in my career, but few with as many immediately recognizable benefits.  And it’s not just Danny.  People look at this product and they get it.  We’re hoping Danny will help us spread the word, passion is infectious.”

YOU ROCK GUITAR… Have Fun, Rock Will Happen.

About Inspired Instruments

Inspired Instruments is dedicated to providing customers with innovation at every opportunity, real music for real gamers. You Rock Guitar and GameFlex™ are registered trademarks of Inspired Instruments, Inc.

Guitar Hero Phenom Danny Johnson talks about playing with the You Rock Guitar on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/YouRockGuitar

Get ready to rock – The Pre-Order List is here.  For you and your friends. http://www.yourockguitar.com/order-form/

Danny Johnson, “GHP” Experiences the You Rock Guitar

We had quite a weekend playing with the You Rock Guitar. Scott Johnson, Danny’s dad, Scott invited us over to a big party they were having in the OC for gamers. We brought the You Rock Guitar, an amp, a Wii and a willingness to listen to what gamers at the top of their game had to say about the You Rock Guitar. Some big surprises? You bet. The first was the love of the frets and strings verses the paddles and buttons. Evidently the buttons fail these experts all the time. (Who knew?) OK, so we have a lot of new video to show you of Danny Johnson being interviewed, plus our pals Omar and Doug, both Guitar Hero experts.

Click HERE to see the video interview with Danny Johnson and JR DeSouza

Music Made Mobile for the Masses

First Timers:

• The You Rock Guitar is a great learning tool for anybody that wants to play because:

• No stringing required offers a smoother learning curve while maintaining the feel of frets & strings all the way up & down the neck.

• No tuning – Chords don’t sound ‘off’ because of the constant retuning requirements of strings.  The two features combined allow you to pick it up and play right away – no wasted time setting up or adjusting.  It’s truly plug & play.

• Ease of Use – Between the strings and the You-Rock Mode that auto-corrects common finger-positioning mistakes, early practice is a lot more rewarding as users sound good from the get-go.

• Versatility – It can emulate almost any instrument, providing the user with a wider choice of songs to play. The Chord-progression modes help the player growth and expand his/her musical horizons at their own pace.

Composers/Musicians:

The You Rock Guitar is a great compliment to any guitar player because:

It is small, lightweight, and portable – perfect for travel/on the road playing

Versatility of multiple sounds/instruments in one – don’t have to carry multiple instruments with me to write/compose different sounds on different instruments.

Plugs into headphones or amps so I can use it anywhere (plains, trains, automobiles)

Long battery life (~8 hours) – compose from LAX to Heathrow airports.

Fun; all the different effects, sounds, recourses of the instrument push the boundaries of creativity.

Video Gamers

The You Rock Guitar is the first instrument to truly bridge the worlds of gaming and real music, enabling you to use an actual instrument right from your game.

In 2009, those benefits are limited only by the games themselves.  While the instrument (combined with the Game Flex Module) works out of the box with existing games, there is no additional/incremental functionality to the experience other than hitting strings instead of buttons.

But as game developers/publishers takes advantage of a new peripheral that begins where today’s accessories end, there’s no limit to what kinds of innovation will be possible through the You Rock Guitar.  Here are some obvious examples:

Games will be able to offer modes that increase in degree of difficulty by more closely associating in game notes to real notes played in any song.

Speed, rhythm, number of notes, complexity of notes, chords, and songs, will enable a continuous transition from simple/easy beginners, to ‘playing along-side the real music’ as the actual performers would see fit.

Both developers’ and gamers’ creativity will drive game development and a natural evolution between 100% game (role play) and 100% performance (music play).

The game’s appeal will broaden, as more people of all ages & skills will relate to the experience.

Teachers/Educators

The You Rock Guitar makes teachers’ roles easier:

• The properties of the guitar inherently make it easier for students to immediately see results – the satisfaction comes quicker and hurdles are overcome more easily.

• Measure progress – when connected to a computer, the instrument can keep track of every note and chord that you play, and will provide you with ‘reports’ on what/how you did, what errors/mistakes were ‘corrected’, along with behavioral trends.

• Custom learning – The instructor can utilize the SDK to create customized learning plans that meet the specific needs of their students and that assist in measuring and analyzing their progress.

• Fun will drive more players into the market for real instruments; driving demand from more students and the desire for more lessons – translating into increased revenues.

XBox is here to stay! At least for a while…

Microsoft: No new Xbox coming next year
by Ina Fried

No matter what people thought they heard Steve Ballmer say in Chicago,
Microsoft is not planning to introduce a successor to the Xbox 360 next
year.

In a blog posting on Thursday night, Microsoft said that the Xbox 360 is
"not even halfway" through its current lifecycle and will be here long into
the next decade. The company is planning to introduce a new
gesture-recognizing controller, code-named Project Natal, and that is
expected next year, although Microsoft says it isn't talking timing with
regards to Natal.

"As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway
through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will
be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade,"
Microsoft's Major Nelson said in a blog post. "Project Natal will be an
important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at
this time."

Of course, that is what has opened the door to all the speculation. In his
posting, CNET colleague David Carnoy notes that Microsoft says it isn't
planning an all-new Xbox 360 either.

That doesn't completely shut the door on new hardware for 2010. Although
Microsoft has said it plans to offer Natal as an add-on to the Xbox 360, it
seems reasonable that the company might well come out with some new bundle
or set-up to accompany Natal's arrival as it looks to convert all of those
Wii owners.

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times,
changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.

CNET
Beyond Binary
June 18, 2009 8:52 PM PDT

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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