Gear Wire’s Coverage of the You Rock Guitar at NAMM’10

GearWire stopped by our booth at NAMM to check out the YOU ROCK GUITAR. They were impressed and put together a little article & video Inspired Instruments You Rock Guitar In Action At NAMM NAMM was an incredible event for Inspired.  Several renowned musicians stopped by to see it.  Nuno Betterncourt, Les Robot, Yogi Lonich, and Peter Tork, and others spent a little time with us.  So did the crew from Sepultura.  Everybody’s getting it right away.  We thought there might be resistance from skeptics, but there were few of those and the skepticism changed into smiles once they tried it for themselves.  We’re posting images & video on our Facebook & You Tube Pages.

“>video. Check it out.

Seeking Guitar Teachers

We realize with a high speed affordable MIDI guitar like ours it opens up a whole new world with your budding guitarists. We want everyone to play numerous guitars and enjoy acoustics and electrics galore. We also understand that new guitarists are often coming from gaming and to them just having to tune a $150 guitar can be a lesson in patience like no other.  We want to help. (Our guitar never needs tuning)  Please let us know about yourself and how we can help you.  info@inspired.com

Also see what Berklee performance grad, author, teacher Karl Aranjo has to say.

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You Rock Mode – Sound Loops & Theory

Did you ever just want to pick up a guitar and rock out and always sound like you knew what you were doing? Or did you want to go straight from Guitar Hero to playing a real guitar without having to tune the dang thang or practicing over and over… well were not saying you still don’t need to practice, but were going to make learning guitar more fun that anyone ever thought possible. You see we have some of the greatest rock and roll chord progressions ever built right into the guitar. (and you can download more) and with each progression comes a type of digital fretboard overlay. It allows you to only play the right notes for those chords. That is the You Rock Mode. You push the You Rock button on the guitar and voila, never make a mistake, and if you do? The guitar sounds more like a video game with a little scratch sound, but not a wrong note.

It’s Show Time – CES & NAMM 2010

“Inspired Instruments, Inc. (LV Hilton suite 2549; LVCC, North Hall booth #5627; www.yourockguitar.com) introduces the You Rock Guitar, which lets anyone rock right out of the box. It works seamlessly with Guitar Hero and Rock Band on Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 gaming platforms, but can also can be plugged into a standard guitar amplifier or headphones and played like a conventional guitar using any of 100 pre-set guitar and synth sounds. Incorporating a super touch-sensitive neck and real strings for fast, accurate picking, the You Rock Guitar effectively delivers the performance and feeling of a real six-string instrument.”

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

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

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!

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.

What does a You Rock Guitar sound like?

CD quality rock and acoustic guitars with music loops to jam with. The best electrics perfectly recorded clean and grungy for great rock sources. Pristine acoustic, nylon and 12-string guitars and that’s just the beginning.

The sound loops are developing nicely.  Check out the splash sound, a few of the loops and guitars, and the obligatory screaming fans.