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Hardware Hacking Input Devices Open Source Build

How To Use a Real Guitar With Rock Band 3 180

Posted by CmdrTaco from the bet-it-knows-minor-chords-too dept.
wirelessdreamer writes "Using a real guitar, with a hex-aphonic pickup, and guitar synth rock band 3 pro guitar mode can be played NOW with a real guitar. Thanks to the game2midi project for makeing g2ghpro a multiplatform release. Selfless promotion as the submitter is the game2midi project lead :)"
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How To Use a Real Guitar With Rock Band 3 More

How To Use a Real Guitar With Rock Band 3

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  • Lame (Score:4, Funny)

    by theshowmecanuck ( 703852 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:33PM (#34841260) Journal
    Real guitars are for old people.

    • Re:Lame (Score:4, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:37PM (#34841304) Journal

      Real guitars are for people who don't want to look like fucking retards with a toy that vaguely resembles a guitar.

      • Re:Lame (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Jeremiah Cornelius ( 137 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:39PM (#34841334) Homepage Journal

        Real guitars keep you from wasting time with "Rock Band".

        • Real guitars are for people who can gain a sense of accomplishment from playing their first barre chord flawlessly.

        • You know, I bought one of these "YouRock" electronic guitar controllers that's mostly meant for games like guitar hero, and it's an absolutely great little instrument for making music. Have to go back to shoveling snow or I'd go get the link. It makes a fantastic guitar-like controller for synthesis and MIDI.

          There's another great-looking digital non-guitar guitar, I think made by an outfit called "Misa". I'm dying to get my hands on one but haven't yet, mostly because I'm getting pushback from the wife f

        • I think you are missing the point.

          You can play real guitars (in every sense of the world) with games like Rock Band.

      • Re:Lame (Score:5, Insightful)

        by TheL0ser ( 1955440 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:40PM (#34841340)
        It was a difficult decision posting this xkcd [xkcd.com] here or on a comment farther down.

        • I think that comic strip pretty much captures my feelings about Rock Band. I don't know why guitar players are so defensive about Rock Band. I don't see anyone making comparisons between rock band and real guitars except for people who play real guitars. We get it guys. Rock band is not like playing a real instrument. Just like playing Madden is not at all like playing real football. But it's still fun. Why does it offend you so much that people are having fun? Move on with it.

          The funny thing is, wh

          • I don't know why guitar players are so defensive about Rock Band.

            I think this is usually due to a case of LGD, Lead Guitarist Disease. As some other posters have pointed out, these are usually guitar players who aren't nearly as good as they think they are, or they're people who don't really care about playing music, rather they take up an instrument in the hopes that people will think it's cool and like them.

            And before anyone tells me how full of it I am, I have been playing guitar for 25 years, played in several bands over the years, and overcame my own case

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Desler ( 1608317 )

        Yes, because using a real guitar to play a game is totally hardcore, bro! I'm sure all the chicks just are falling at your feet over that.

        • No, playing a real guitar is totally hardcore. Fuck the game. Kids from my generation dreamed of being rock stars, not of sitting in front of the boob tube playing what amounts to a nursery school game.

          • Re:Lame (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Monkeedude1212 ( 1560403 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:03PM (#34841622) Journal

            Kids from my generation dreamed of being rock stars, not of sitting in front of the boob tube playing what amounts to a nursery school game.

            So what you're saying is that Kids in the past sat around day-dreaming while kids today sit around pretending.

            Isn't technology amazing?

          • Re:Lame (Score:5, Insightful)

            by enderjsv ( 1128541 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:03PM (#34841624)

            Why all the hate? It's just a game. Do you get so angry at people who play racing games rather than trying to become an actual racer?

            And that "kids from my generation" thing just screams "get off my lawn." Thought you should know that.

            • The problem isn't the game. The game is basically a Simon game, just with rock music. Wonderful, that is fine if that sort of memory/reaction game is your thing. The problem is that far too many people think they are badass because they can "play" a song in GH/RB. There are so damn many videos online of people showing off at how good they are at a song. They really seem to have the idea that they are talented by being able to do it and that they are actually "playing" the music.

              It can get annoying, in parti

              • Re:I kinda understand the hate (Score:5, Insightful)

                by enderjsv ( 1128541 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:41PM (#34842024)

                Or maybe they're just proud that they're good at the game? Maybe it has nothing to do with playing real music. Maybe you're reading too much into it. I've seen people who are really good at call of duty, and was fairly impressed with it. But I don't immediately disregard it with the claim that "they think they're actually shooting people." I'm pretty sure most of them realize that what they're good at is the GAME ITSELF, and not the subject the game emulates. The same is true with Rockband.

                Besides, if you really look at all the posts in this thread, you won't see anyone making the claim that playing Rockband is equivalent to playing a real instrument. The only people who bring up real instruments when discussing rockband are people like you, who are for some reason are incredibly defensive of the game. Relax. Someone being good at a game isn't going to distract from you impressing people with a real guitar. There's no threat.

              • And if you look online, you'll find plenty of other people on there with videos showing off how good they are at COD, or Halo, or Pacman, or whatever.
                People are showing they are good at the game - they are not saying it makes them able to play the actual instrument.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by geekoid ( 135745 )

                SOme of them are baddass for playing some of thiose songs. I mean, some of them are freaking hard.

                Most peopel who play 'real guitars' think theya re badass, when in fact they don't do anything as difficult as gthe ahrdest stuff in those games.

                Most people who play the guitar end up being the slighted shunned guitar guy at parties there a tad too old for.

                So while there not actually playing and instrument, some of that shit is hard:
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0qM6-HLuk [youtube.com]

                Warning - Anecdote:
                My son has more in

              • Re:I kinda understand the hate (Score:4, Interesting)

                by RobDude ( 1123541 ) on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @12:54AM (#34844616) Homepage

                Ummm, I think you are a bit behind the times.

                RB3 will teach you to play a real guitar. And if you can 'play' a song in pro-mode with the Fender RB3 controller; you'll be able to play that song on any guitar you want. Because it's a real guitar.

                Yes, it will still take time and effort to learn guitar - but RB3 is going to make it significantly more welcoming to new comers. It will be a game, with easy to visualize progress, rewards, and immediate feedback on how well you are playing. And if you play enough, you'll learn real songs and be able to play them on any guitar you want.

            • Re: (Score:3)

              by edremy ( 36408 )
              I think I understand some of the hate

              I can be a wizard in a fantasy game and shoot fireballs from my hands. I can't do that in real life

              I can be a badass merc in a shoot-em-up and mow down enemies. I can't do that in real life. (Or rather, I can, but as the results of this past week show, it's not really very much fun)

              I can fly between the stars in a space sim. I can't do that in real life.

              But I *can* play those songs in real life. I can also drive cars and fly planes as well, but the racing/flyin

          • Back in my day, kids joined the military when they wanted to shoot stuff, not any of this Modern Warfare shit.
        • The reason why I'm likely to do that is because, unlike the stock controllers, the real guitar actually has some potential for transferring the skills to something that will get you laid.

          Don't get me wrong, if you really like playing with the game controller don't let me stop you, but just don't pretend like you're going to be getting any action with women that like guitar players.
          • Does playing a guitar really get you laid? Even after high school and college?

            If getting laid is what you're after, then I think you'd be better off with a Wii Fit (healthy) and some sort of business simulator - like Railroad Tycoon (rich).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        Apparently real guitars turn you into a duchebag.

        It's a fucking GAME people spend some time playing and then walk away. NO ONE IS PRETENDING IT"S A REAL GUITAR. Not everyone wants to play a guitar, mostly because they don't want to be self inflated douche bags that have a compulsion to miss a point of an activity solely to make a post about being 'better'.

        Probably to cover up the fact that they spent years of there life practicing something that got them no where..or maybe that's just you.

        • Except RB3 has a pro-mode that uses a real guitar.....so it really will be a real guitar. And people who play RB3 with the real guitar will be able to play a real guitar without RB3.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by juhaz ( 110830 )

          Apparently real guitars turn you into a duchebag.

          Nah, but getting a real guitar won't turn a douchebag into a nice guy.

          Most musicians enjoy the games, but this is slashdot, it's no surprise we have an abundance of bitter assholes who think they're great guitar players.

    • The only thing the rock band game controllers teach you is timing; I'm still undecided how useful that experience is in learning to play real music. Rock Band also forces you to concentrate on a single instrument in the music which may be useful for memorizing the song, but then it teaches you a completely false senses of what the actual notes are.
      • The only thing the rock band game controllers teach you is timing; I'm still undecided how useful that experience is in learning to play real music.

        Well, we have some evidence the opposite direction. Apparently being a famous rock band doesn't translate into an ability to play the rock band game. One "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" episode had Kiss playing against Nick the newbie rock wannabe and his pals. Nick and pals creamed Gene and the pros.

        Every game I've ever played or seen has nothing to do with doi

        • Agreed, real guitar and Guitar Hero are different skillsets. I've played the guitar for more than 5000 hours over a period of almost 18 years, and I suck at Guitar Hero. I can do the easy numbers pretty well because I have a good sense of rhythm and I can anticipate most of what's coming at me. But Reign In Blood ? I would have to unlearn the real guitar version and practice for days.

        • Joe Perry also refuses to play Aerosmith Guitar Hero against his son, because he knows he'll get creamed... so there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that being the guitarist that actually recorded the track in the first place is not much help in playing the game!

          That still leaves as an open issues whether or not being good at the game is a help or a hindrance in learning the actual guitar riffs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

      Real guitars are for musicians, and I know quite a few young musicians. My daughter Patty's 23, and she plays a few instruments. One is guitar.

      Or by "old" do you mean "over puberty"?

  • Personally.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by froggymana ( 1896008 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:36PM (#34841292)

    I think this is a pretty good idea and would be nice if it could be made more main stream. It gets kinda annoying when you have a bunch of kids bragging about how could they are at guitar hero, even though they can't play a real one at all. It could also help kids learn an instrument that they would otherwise look past since that it would be a video game and therefor automagically cool.

    • As posted by someone else above, obligatory xkcd [xkcd.com].

      • Having fun isn't a problem. It's this idea that there's anything particularly musical about Rock Band.

        But if we have to measure things in "cool" and "fun", I'll wager a sixteen year old who can play in a real rock band with even minimal competency is going to get a lot more chicks than some sixteen year old who has figured out how to press colored buttons in the appropriate sequence.

        • Having fun isn't a problem. It's this idea that there's anything particularly musical about Rock Band.

          Oh come on now. At the VERY LEAST you get a sense for rhythm.

          Plastic Guitar/Bass? Yeah probably the least realistic of the 3/4 piece band they try to imitate, but it does at least open the idea to people that the guitar is more than just knowing your chords, as strumming timing proves to be one of the more difficult parts of expert mode.

          The Vocals? A little glitchy here and there, and no you don't have to even be in the proper key, but thats the same for every Kareoke game out there, I treat Rock Band no di

        • Sure, but who cares? I don't EVER hear anyone who plays rockband comment that they expect to get chicks or look super cool while doing it. No, quite the opposite, I only ever seem to hear real guitar players bitching that playing a real guitar is so much cooler and that playing rockband is dumb and fake and blah blah blah... Fine. Great. Playing a real guitar is 100 times more awesome. I concede. You don't have to point that out EVERY TIME the game is being discussed. Just let us rockbanders have our

        • True, it's not music, it's rhythm. Do you hate the drums and singing and keyboard (which are all somewhat similar to the real thing), or just the guitar peripheral?

        • Re:Personally.... (Score:5, Funny)

          by migla ( 1099771 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:08PM (#34841680)

          I know what you mean. I used to think I was a cool Wizard when I played nethack, but then it dawned on me that I wasn't, because it wasn't real. So, I went to the basement of my grandparents house to walk around instead. That was more like the real thing. That got kinda boring pretty soon as there was only one level and it's the same every time, not randomly generated, like it should be. Of course, I haven't died, so maybe it's saved when I ascend the staircase, I don't know.

          And there are no monsters. Not any more. I did run across a few, well, I guess they were gridbugs, but I haven't seen any more since.

          I realized there must be some secret passages somewhere, as I've only discovered three rooms so far. I've tried searching and searching and my legs are pretty sore from kicking all the walls at every, well, foot. (btw, ever noticed how the real world is 3d and nethack is 2d?), but I just can't find the secret doors.

          Anyway, I think it's gonna get better, because I've got myself a pick-axe now. I've started chipping away at the walls and the floor too. I'm bound to run into a secret passage or dig through to the next level soon, but man, digging with a pick-axe is way harder and time-consuming in the real world than it is in nethack!

    • I agree it's one of the greatest things since sliced bread, but it's important to keep the "fun" context of Guitar Hero/Rock Band as well. People don't play it because they want to play a real guitar; they play it because it's fun. Now, I happen to think that learning some real skills from the game is insanely awesome. I started working on the easy difficulty levels having never touched a guitar before. Three weeks later, I can play power chords, and I've borrowed an acoustic from my father-in-law and I

  • Other devices and their horrible consequences. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lord_of_the_nerf ( 895604 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:36PM (#34841296)
    I was the project lead for a similar project for Call of Duty. Didn't go so well for my TV.

  • Expensive! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Grond ( 15515 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:48PM (#34841430) Homepage

    The Axon Ax 100 that he's using lists for ~$650. The pickup he's using (Roland Gk-3a) is another $200. Pretty neat trick if you've already got the equipment, but for the same price you could buy the Rock Band 3 guitar controller and a semi-decent regular guitar.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dastardly ( 4204 )

      Yes. I did the same thing and went hmmm.... free software plus $1000 in hardware to get my 20 year old $600 guitar to play with Rock Band.... Ain't gonna happen.

      • You'd be better off getting one designed for that purpose. Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Mustang PRO-Guitar Controller for Xbox 360 [amazon.com]

        • I'd wait and get the real Fender Squier Stratocaster for Rock Band 3 [fender.com] when it comes out, as the Fender is a real guitar you can hook up to an amp while the Mustang is just an approximation.

        • I'd much rather have a guitar that was designed for that purpose and is played by pressing a string against a fret instead of pressing a button.

          Thankfully Fender has that exact thing coming out in March

    • Re:Expensive! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lord_of_the_nerf ( 895604 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:04PM (#34841634)

      I'll be a rock star my own way.

      For the same price, you could probably pick up a couple of groupies and an eightball.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      Or, for $280, you can buy a Squire Stratocaster Guitar for RB3.

      http://www.fender.com/promos/2010/rockband3/index.php [fender.com]

      It's a proper electric guitar, with a phono jack for plugging into an amp, but it can also be used as an RB3 controller via the official MIDI adapter.

      Of course, the same is true of *any* cheap MIDI electric guitar, but this thing costs half as much as the cheapest MIDI guitars, and has some game-related buttons on it too that get properly mapped via the guitar->MIDI->RB3 chain.

    • I've bought a used Roland GK-2A (works just as well) and a used Axon Ax 100 for about EUR 280.
      And they are useful on their own anyway.

  • Doin' it backwards (Score:5, Interesting)

    by billcopc ( 196330 ) <vrillco@yahoo.com> on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:50PM (#34841444) Homepage

    This is real cute, but what I really want, and I'm not alone in this, is SOFTWARE that incorporates guitar lessons into a game. Have it process the audio input and evaluate my performance in real-time, like a guitar prof would do. I don't want the instrument to be dumbed down to a 5 input game controller, I want the game to get smarter so I can learn with that abstract carrot dangling on my screen, in the form of a high score.

    • Re:Doin' it backwards (Score:4, Informative)

      by yincrash ( 854885 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @06:53PM (#34841488)
      Have you seen or played pro mode for guitar or keyboard? The instrument is not dumbed down to 5 inputs.
      • Have you seen or played pro mode for guitar or keyboard? The instrument is not dumbed down to 5 inputs.

        Have you ever tried to play a metallica solo on a real guitar? It may as well be...

    • That's exactly what pro mode is in RB 3. I play with the Fender mustang pro midi controller in pro mode on RB 3. There are lessons that show you how to play. There are different difficulty songs for you to work through.

      There are high scores, stars your performance is rated, you also have achievements, your friends pro scores show up for you to try and beat. I also play real guitar and when you play a song in RB3 in pro mode on expert you are playing the song note for note but it also scales down so on easy

    • I'm not sure if you are serious or trolling; but that's pretty much exactly what Rock Band 3 does.

      There hasn't been nearly as much buzz about this as I would have expected (probably because the guitar, being made by Fender, isn't out yet). Anyway, if you buy RB3 and a midi adapter and the special guitar from Fender - you can play the game in 'pro mode'. When I say 'special guitar' I want to emphasize that this is not a 5 button or even 125 button 'fake' guitar. It is a real guitar. It has six strings (y

      • To elaborate; what this software does is basically the same thing as the Fender guitar. Notice that they have a Roland Gk-3 Pickup on their guitar. That will, effectively, turn any guitar into a Midi guitar.

        While it's really 'cool' in a DIY sense; you'd still need to go out and buy a regular guitar. Then you'd need to modify it to use the GK-3 Pickup (which will run you $199 - on the first site I found it). And you still need the RB3 game and midi adapter. And you've got to deal with the additional com

        • You don't actually have to replace the pickups in the guitar, you just attach the GK-3 to the body next to the existing pickups.
  • Stephen Colbert, I've got a new word for you: selfless: it's a combination of selfish and shameless.

  • To use a real guitar... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Charliemopps ( 1157495 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @07:15PM (#34841766)
    To use a real guitar... Simple have someone else play rockband, plug your guitar into your half stack and shred all over their pathetic video game playing ass.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      You're a real joy at parties. Hey you people having fun! stop it because I have suck low esteem I'll even be an asshole for attention.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ari_j ( 90255 )
      I did this to my neighbors once, to get them off my lawn in a sense. But the downstairs neighbors wanted me off their lawn, too, so the generation wars took a turn for the worse that week.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Next up, how to use a *real* hammer in WoW or how to use a *real* gun in $insert_first_person_shooter. Television makers the world over - OK, so they all come from China anyway - will rejoice...

  • HAHAHAHA (Score:4, Funny)

    by Weaselmancer ( 533834 ) on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @12:12AM (#34844342)

    From the project page:

    g2ghpro (guitar synth to guitar hero pro) - has full multiplatform support (windows,linux,osx) so Guitar Synthesizers can be used for pro guitar mode in rock band 3. I think some bugs still need to be worked out, so feedback is welcome.

  • I played a crapload of GH2/GH3/RB/RB2/RB:Beatles before deciding I wanted to learn how to play a real guitar. It's been over a year since I made that decision and I haven't played the game once.

    With projects like this, though, I'd love to pick up the games again and start learning those real songs on my guitar.

    I don't know if I ever would have started playing real guitar without those games, and now that I play guitar I don't look down on those games or insult the people who play them. Not only are they j

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