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New Developments in Music Technology
jonerik writes "The Christian Science Monitor has this article on acoustic and electronic music technology, including a visit to MIT's Hyperinstruments lab, which has developed a series of Music Shapers; ball-shaped musical toys which are covered with 'a patented thread containing sensors that react to the way the child handles them. The child manipulates a preprogrammed "little seed" of music and helps it "grow" by the way he or she shapes it.' Also worth a read is this article (free reg required) on the Line 6 series of bass and guitar amp emulators, which do a pretty decent job of mimicking various amp or amp/stack combos; from a '53 Fender Deluxe to a mid-'60s Vox AC-30 to the sludgy murk of a '70s Orange stack. 'Line 6 uses a technology called modeling to measure the characteristics of a particular vintage amp, from the distortion of its original tubes to the resonance of its speaker cabinet. The company has developed a way to reproduce those measurements in a powerful D.S.P., or digital signal processing, chip that contains models of dozens of classic amps.'"
This sounds (no pun intended) like that musical instrument played by Magnificus in Isaac Asimov's Second Foundation... I just hope it doesn't have the same consequences :)
Actually, I'm not sure if he was called Magnificus in the english edition (I have the spanish one) but you know who am I talking about...
My website
Do we look forward to the day when the recording industry has intervened with guitar manufacturers and the only guitars you can buy are MIDI guitars that have embedded technology to prevent playing of copyrighted music?
Even more interesting is the Variax, a guitar that contains a software algorithm to model other guitars. Plugged in, the guitar can sound like a banjo, sitar, '58 Gibson Les Paul, Telecaster, Acoustic 12 string, you get the picture. As in the amps, its not 100% of the original, but this terrain is akin to where we were with computers in 1980.
Amps come and go, but I stand by my reasons for keeping the Fender Deluxe that I've had since 1976. I do like to use cab simulator effects, but there's something important about the gestalt of a guitar, an analog distortion pedal, and a tube amp, that you just do not get with any other gear.
There's also the fact that my Deluxe is loud as fuck and has only failed me once in almost 30 years (a power supply problem in 1981.)
it sounds like a cool toy, and i couldn't find it on thinkgeek. and as long as its as cheep as it looks, i would get one ($25US max)
This stuff has been around for years and although it is getting quite good, the experienced guitarist can still pick apart a digital and analog amplifier easily. Modeling amps have a limitation where they model only one setting of any one amplifier. They only sound correct at a given setting, and don't respond well to picking dynamics the way a real tube amp does. Tube amps sound so different from day to day, depending on so many variables, and there's just nothing that can come close to emulating that yet.
I use a Line6 POD in the studio, but outside of headphone jamming and last-second recording, I would much rather plug into my Mesa Mark IV or my Rivera TBR-1SL. Digital amplifiers just don't "feel" right. They don't seem organic enough and sound overprocessed and compressed. They're getting better, and the replacement of tube amps by digital equivalents is inevitable, but that day is not today. Maybe in 5-10 years.
If you honestly cannot tell the difference between the best digital modeler and the real deal, you do not have a ear for the guitar.
Thing is, with analog tech, there's always some randomness. A DSP produces the same output every time. The randomness adds a lot of ambiance and reality to the sound, especially when it comes to good old rock n' roll; a little feedback here, a little pop there, a little bit of speaker hum there, and so on.
The new stuff suits an age where music is created in a boardroom. I guess the days are gone when the guitarist would go into the studio and just 'wing it' (like Jimmy Page winged the Stairway to Heaven solo in 4 takes)
I dont want my music scientifically created and produced by computers.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I agree Line6 amps sound about a thousand times better. But after about 0.32 seconds, I went and gat a real tube amp. Later I got a brand new SG. Then a Musicman bass. And I still spent less money than I would have if I got the Line6.
On a side note, I'd much rather get decent wah modelling. Why does all modern wah (analog or digital) sound like dog shit when compared to a really old wah (one of those 2 square foot ones)? I know the old inductors used non-linear cores, I know that was a large factor in the response. I know other people know this. But I don't know why nobody makes a good wah wah!
And as to the Variax being "plug and play", the Roland synth system is available factory-installed on a multitude of guitars, including Fenders.
You raise good points. Today's "squishy toys" and "stupid Flash toys" aren't as effective as the holy "Suzuki method". What about tomorrow? Things change. And consider the possibility that you may be overpaying and wasting time in your traditional art education. Not to mention, sealing your mind off to cheap, simple, unconventional techniques.