THE GUITAR ZEROS FAQ




QUESTION:
How did The Guitar Zeros come to be?


Owen Grace was an enthusiastic early adopter of the Guitar Hero game.
Re-purposing the Guitar Hero controller for genuine musical
composition was a natural next-step, given Owen's perennial interest
in innovating musically in combination with his technical aptitude for
making it happen.  Paired with a traditional drummer and front-man /
singer, Owen decided both bass and lead guitar would be implemented
with GH controllers (after all, he had not one but dos)!

Introducing The Guitar Zeros:

Christian: My background and current employment is in software engineering.
During the past years I've increasingly made music
more of a priority, even if informally.  I met Owen about 8 years ago
when we were both new to San Francisco.  Since then, we've worked
together through numerous bands, each project a renewed effort towards
the unexpected and the original.  I did not know Alex or Ryan before
The Guitar Zeros, and it's been a special journey so far.  I hope I
stay involved with music my entire life.

Ryan: I'm a video game marketer by day and a comic-book writer/artist
by night. I have been singing for years (in my car when no one can
hear me), but this is the first time i've been part of a band.  Alex
and Owen and I worked together: we all sat next to each other at work.

Alex: I've played bass in a couple of bands in the past, and I'm
always juggling a couple of music-related efforts.  The band likes to
give me sh!t for being the youngster.  I don't mind -- they envy my
youth and my button mashing skillz.

Owen: I've been writing/recording music since i was 17 or so.  By day,
I build web sites on the internets. I recently unemployed myself so i
could dedicate my time to making web sites and web-tools for aspiring
artists.  There are a lot of awesome, unsigned bands out there, trying
their hardest to get heard.  I want to help them all.  And I don't
think bands must "get signed" to succeed.  Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm
gonna do my best to change that using the world wide supernet.




QUESTION:
There is very little information on you guys that explains how exactly
you use the controllers as instruments. Can you walk us through the
mods you've had to do, and the programs you use to make a song?


ANSWER:
We didn't mod the guitars at all. All the magic happens using software
and fully intact GH controllers.  Here's the skinny:

Two Guitar Hero controllers go straight into a laptop via USB.
The laptop runs Max/MSP audio software. The left audio output goes to
the bass amp. The right audio channel goes to the guitar rig.  PlayStation2
controllers will also work with the addition of a PS2->USB adapter.

"Fretbuzz" is the name of our software, written in the Max/MSP
programming environment.  Max/MSP makes it easy to read the button
states of joystick controllers, and then make sounds in response to
various button combinations. The 5 "fret" buttons can certainly
represent more than just 5 sounds: there are 32 combinations of those
buttons that can be used however you like.   Fretbuzz assigns the
first 4 buttons to represent 16 different pitches in a particular key,
with the 5th button reserved for arbitrary purposes like pitch
transposition, for example.  Finally, the flipper is used to trigger
the sound, much like a guitarist's plectrum plucks the strings.
Further signals from the start/select buttons and tilt-sensors can be
interpreted to varied musical effect.

From that point on, they are instruments like any other: all music is
performed 100% live.  We jam out riffs, keep the ones we like, write
some words, and build songs from there.

It takes practice and rehearsal just like any other instrument
and--just like in Guitar Hero--there's skill involved.  In judging the
controllers against more traditional instruments, the important
distinction to make is the 'expressiveness'.  A good instrument must
be versatile enough to express more than the notes being played; it
must communicate with character, dynamics, subtlety and restraint.
The Xbox360 GH controller has 3 axes of "analog control" (whammy bar +
two-dimensional tilt sensor) which can be mapped to 3 dimensions of
timbre/volume/effect/what-have-you.  All this is before the signal
goes through traditional analog effects pedals (distortion, phaser,
delay, etc.) and amplification.  The final
result is rich and new.




QUESTION:
What is the crowd reaction like to the live shows?


ANSWER:
People have been really receptive to us live.  From the second we pick
up our plastic axes, people pay attention and generally seem to have
fun with it. Of course when people are having fun, it makes performing
more exciting, so overall it's been a great experience for us.

We should add: some people might be confused at first, and I think
there are some assumptions and misunderstandings about what exactly
we're doing.  Some people accuse us of pretending to fake-play on top of
pre-recorded riffs (particularly in response to online videos).
Others are simply bothered that we are not playing a "real"
instrument.  Owen has shown that he can turn the GH controllers into
playable instruments, and as a band we've demonstrated that we can
write interesting, quality music with these things.




QUESTION:
What are your plans for the future?


ANSWER:
People often ask us if we plan to use the Wiimote for a drum stick, or
the Donkey Konga drums or something.  The answer is "nah".  We're
already at risk of being labeled a gimmick band as it is.  We
appreciate that a lot of our publicity has come from the game and how
we've improvised with the hardware; but as any band, we would invite
listeners to look closer, and ideally get a real kick out of the music
we make regardless of how we're making it.

There will surely be advancements in "Fretbuzz", the software we use.
One of the most exciting things about being The Guitar Zeros is all
the feedback from people who were inspired by what we have done.  Many
have downloaded the software and write us with enthusiastic setup
questions (Note: Fretbuzz is posted for free download on our website
and accompanied by a thorough setup guide).

Many people are intimidated by the long and arduous path associated
with musical education, but anybody who has played Guitar Hero has
kindled or re-kindled an innocent and instant enthusiasm for music.
We hope The Guitar Zeros bring such people even closer to the real thing.
We promote creativity as the end with music as the means.  Music can
be very special and empowering if approached with playfulness,
patience, and purity of intention.

We just plan to keep pushing: more songs, new sounds, more gigs and
videos, and more fun.