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SO I'M SURE WE HAVE SOME GUITAR PLAYERS OUT IN THE CROWD.
GOT A FEW MUSICIANS?
GUITAR PLAYERS?
SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF MIDI GUITAR SYNTHESIZERS.
SOME OF YOU MAY NOT HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING
ABOUT, BUT TODAY I JUST KIND OF WANT TO CHRONICAL
MY -- KIND OF MY JOURNEY, MY MUSICAL JOURNEY AND MY
JOURNEY HERE AT SCC, AND HOW I'M MERGING GUITAR,
LIVE SOUND, AUDIO RECORDING, AND ELECTRONIC
MUSIC, WHICH ARE KIND OF THE TRACKS IN THE AUDIO
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY HERE AT SCC.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A BIT OF A BACKGROUND, MY
MUSICAL BACKGROUND, SOME OF THE BANDS I'VE BEEN IN.
I HAVE, LIKE LISA SAID, I'VE TOURED NATIONALLY
WITH CLAN DESTINE.
THERE HERE FROM ARIZONA.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF THEM.
I'VE DONE THE BLUES ROCK TRIO THING, CLAPTON, BECK,
PAGE, HENDRIX THING ALL AROUND TOWN, THAT WAS FUN,
FUNK, R&B, SONS OF SOUL BAND.
THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE YEARS I'VE PRIMARILY BEEN
PLAYING IN JAZZ, MOSTLY IN MY JAZZ BAND MELLOLAND.
SO THAT'S BEEN KIND OF MY PLAYING GUITAR EXPERIENCE.
I'M ALSO DO QUITE A BIT OF STUDIO RECORDING.
SO I DO THAT AT HOME AND IN OTHER STUDIOS AS WELL.
SO THAT'S A SHOT OF ONE OF MY FUN'ER RECORDING SESSIONS.
SO BEFORE I GET INTO THE TECHNICAL ASPECT OF MIDI
GUITAR, I KIND OF LIKE TO JUST BRING UP SOME OF THE
EARLY PIONEERS AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE THAT WERE DOING
IT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING,
REALLY, WHEN THIS TECHNOLOGY WAS NEW, WE'RE
TALKING EARLY '80S.
SO JIMMY PAGE IS A BIG FAN OF MINE -- A BIG FAN OF
MINE -- I'M A BIG FAN OF HIS.
SOME DAY HE'LL BE A BIG FAN OF MINE.
AND LED ZEPPELIN, I KNOW EVERYONE'S
HEARD OF LED ZEPPELIN.
AFTER LED ZEPPELIN KIND OF FELL APART, JIMMY PAGE
JUMPED INTO THE MIDI GUITAR TECHNOLOGY.
HE ACTUALLY PUT OUT AN ALBUM THAT FEATURED A
SOUNDTRACK FOR A FILM "DEATH WISH 3" THAT
PRIMARILY FEATURED GUITAR SYNTH.
PAT METHENY, SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, HE'S BEEN
PLAYING GUITAR SYNTH FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, SINCE
THE EARLY '80S; 17 GRAMMY AWARD WINNING MUSICIAN,
JAZZ FUSION. AND THEN STEVE STEVENS IS KIND OF
FROM THE POP ROCK ERA OF MTV ERA.
BILLY IDOL, HE WAS A GUITAR PLAYER FOR BILLY IDOL.
HE WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST GUITAR PLAYERS THAT TOURED
WITH THE EARLY GUITAR SYNTH SETUPS. AND ALLAN
HOLDSWORTH WAS A -- ONE OF MY BIG INFLUENCES.
HE'S A VIRTUOSO JAZZ FUSION GUITARIST THAT HAS
DELVED DEEPLY INTO GUITAR SYNTHESIST.
SO THAT'S BEEN A BIG INSPIRATION, AND JUST KIND
OF GO THROUGH MY STUDIES HERE AT SCC.
I'VE REALLY ENJOYED RETURNING TO SCHOOL.
I NEVER WENT TO COLLEGE WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, REALLY.
SO AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE I'D LIKE TO TEACH
IN MY AREAS OF EXPERTISE.
SO THAT'S WHY I'M BACK GETTING MY DEGREE AND
GOING THROUGH THE PROGRAM.
SO SOME OF MY INSTRUCTORS THAT OF NOTE FOR ME WOULD
BE DR. ESLER, LIVE SOUND.
HE'S AN AWESOME TEACHER, AND THEN ELAINE WALKER THE
ELECTRONIC MUSIC TEACHER HERE AT SCC AND COMPUTER SYNTHESIST.
SHE'S A MICROTONAL LIST AND AN INVENTOR AS WELL.
ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THE FACULTY HERE IN THE
MUSIC DEPARTMENT THAT I REALLY LIKE IS THAT
THEY'RE NOT JUST TEACHERS, BUT THEY'RE REAL WORLD
MUSICIANS AND A LOT OF THEM ARE CREATING OTHER
THINGS OUTSIDE OF EVEN JUST MUSIC INVENTORS.
CRAIG SCHUMACHER OWNS A RECORDING STUDIO YOU MAY
HAVE HEARD OF IN TUCSON CALLED WAVELAB.
AND HE'S BEEN DOING THAT FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS.
SO HE'S A HIGHLY SOUGHT OUT ENGINEER RECORDING PRODUCER.
RON MARSCHALL IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE RECORDING
PROGRAM HERE AT SCC, AND HE'S ALSO A DRUMMER IN A
KIND OF A '90S INDIE ROCK BAND.
HE STILL TOURS OVER THE SUMMER; DOES SHOWS.
SO I FIND THAT INSPIRING AND I KNOW THE OTHER
STUDENTS FIND THAT INSPIRING.
THEY KIND OF GRAVITATE TO INSTRUCTORS WHO ARE NOT
ONLY TEACHING, BUT THEY'RE STILL ACTIVE IN THE
PERFORMANCE END OF IT.
HERE'S A SHOT OF THE RECORDING STUDIO AT SCC,
AND THEN HERE'S THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC CLASS.
SO THIS -- I'VE HAD GUITAR SYNTHESIZERS -- AND
I'LL KIND OF GO OVER WHAT THAT IS -- FOR PROBABLY
ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE YEARS, BUT IT WAS IN MY
ELECTRONIC MUSIC CLASS THAT I WAS REALLY ABLE TO
BRING MY GUITAR SYNTH INTO CLASS AND START PLUGGING
THAT INTO THE COMPUTER AND ACCESSING
DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WAY.
WHEN MY ELECTRONIC -- ONE OF MY PROJECTS FOR A
ELECTRONIC MUSIC CLASS WAS THIS REMOTE LAPTOP SYSTEM
WITH A SMALL CONVERTER THAT I WAS ABLE TO DO
GUITAR SYNTHESIS AT LIGHT GIGS.
SO I'M -- I'M ALSO THE LAB MONITOR IN THE MUSIC
DEPARTMENT OVER THERE.
SO IF YOU'RE EVER AROUND IN THE MORNINGS IN BY 138
I'M USUALLY IN THERE.
NOW, AS LAB MONITOR I WAS ABLE TO TAKE SOME OLD
EQUIPMENT THAT WAS JUST OF KIND LAYING AROUND AND
WASN'T BEING USED AND PUT TOGETHER THIS LITTLE
PERFORMANCE MIDI PERFORMANCE STATION.
SO NOW STUDENTS NOT ONLY HAVE THEIR INDIVIDUAL
WORKSTATIONS BUT THEY CAN PERFORM AS COMBOS IN GROUPS.
SO WITH MIDI INSTRUMENTS THERE'S AN ELECTRONIC DRUM
SET, THERE'S THE KEYBOARDS, AND THEN
THERE'S ALSO A THEREMIN, AND A GUITAR SYNTH AS WELL.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO GET EVERYBODY TO PARTICIPATE MORE.
AS PART OF MY DEGREE FOR AUDIO PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY I HAD TO INTERN AT A STUDIO AND MY
INTERNSHIP WAS AT FULL WELL'S STUDIOS IN PHOENIX;
AN OLD FRIEND OF MINE ACTUALLY OWNS THAT STUDIO.
SO I DID COMPLETE THAT THIS SEMESTER, THAT WAS
FUN, AND ACTUALLY I ENDED UP GETTING SOME RECORDING
SESSION OUT OF THAT WHOLE GIG.
SO A LITTLE BIT OF A TECHNICAL SIDE.
HOW DO GUITAR SYNTHESIZERS WORK AND WHAT IS MIDI?
YOU KNOW, LISA KIND OF ALLUDED TO IT A LITTLE BIT.
MIDI IS SIMPLY THE INFORMATION PROTOCOL.
IT'S THE SYSTEM THAT ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS
TALK TO EACH OTHER.
IT HAS NO AUDIO IN ANY OF THE DATA;
IT'S STRICTLY PERFORMANCE DATA INFORMATION.
SO AS YOU HIT A KEYBOARD, IT'S THE NOTE YOU PICK,
IT'S HOW HARD YOU HIT IT, HOW FAST YOU HIT IT, IT'S
ALL THE PHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF THE
PERFORMANCE, EVERYTHING OTHER THAN THE SOUND.
THAT INFORMATION IS THEN TRANSMITTED TO THE
SYNTHESIZERS THROUGH MIDI CABLES AND THAT'S THE
SYNTHESIZER IS THE SOUND CREATOR.
IT'S A DIGITALLY -- IT'S BASICALLY A COMPUTER OR
CHIPS AND IT CAN BE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE NOW, TOO.
NOW, WHEN GUITAR SYNTHS FIRST CAME OUT EVERYTHING
WAS HARDWARE, BUT NOW IN THE COMPUTER WE HAVE ALL
VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE I'M EXPLORING.
SO I'LL GIVE YOU JUST A QUICK RUN DOWN OF THE
EVOLUTION OF GUITAR SYNTHESIZERS.
LIKE I SAID, THEY START OFF HARDWARE.
NOW, YOU NEEDED TO USE THAT -- THAT GUITAR WITH
THAT ACTUAL GUITAR SYNTH BOX.
THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ROLLING GUITAR SYNTHS PAT
METHENY USED FOR MANY YEARS.
IT'S KIND OF ARCHAIC BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BUT IT
WAS THE FIRST AND IT WAS WIDELY USED.
NEXT, AND THEN THIS EVOLUTION HERE -- I'M GOING
TO PRIMARILY FOCUS ON ROLAND GUITAR SYNTHS.
THERE ARE MANY OTHERS, BUT ROLAND WAS PROBABLY
THE MOST POPULAR.
ANOTHER ONE HERE, THE SECOND GENERATION. YOU CAN
SEE HOW BIG THAT CONTROLLER BOX IS COMPARED
TO THE GUITAR.
IT'S PRETTY BIG AND CUMBERSOME AND IT WASN'T
VERY PROGRAMMABLE.
HERE'S THE EVOLUTION OF ROLAND GR GUITAR SYNTHS.
THAT'S ABOUT 25 YEARS WORTH OF GUITAR SYNTHS
REPRESENTED THERE.
UP UNTIL 2011, WE CAME OUT WITH THE GR 55, WHICH IS --
THE NEAT THING ABOUT THIS NEW VERSION OF SYNTH IS
YOU DON'T NEED A PROPRIETARY GUITAR.
YOU CAN ATTACH THAT GK-3 PICK UP TO ANY EXISTING
GUITAR WITHOUT PERMANENTLY ALTERNATING IT.
WELL, I SHOULDN'T SAY ANY, BUT A GOOD MAJORITY OF
GUITARS, EVEN ACOUSTICS.
SO THAT ALLOWS ANY GUITAR PLAYER TO HAVE ACCESS TO SYNTH SOUNDS.
SO IF WE TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THAT, THAT GR 55
ACTUALLY HAS TWO SYNTH ENGINES IN IT.
SO IT'S LIKE HAVING TWO SYNTHESIZERS.
AS WELL AS SYNTHESIZERS, THERE'S MODELING SO YOU
CAN EMULATE OTHER SOUNDS AS WELL.
SO THE WAY THE SOUND GETS FROM THE GUITAR THROUGH
THAT PICK UP INTO THE SYNTHESIZER IT'S FAIRLY
STRAIGHT FORWARD, BUT EACH STRING HAS A PICK UP.
THAT'S WHY I HAVE THE ARROWS THERE FOR TO
REPRESENT THAT AND WHAT THAT ALLOWS ME TO DO IS TO
HAVE EACH STRING HAVE A -- ITS OWN SEPARATE TRACK.
NOW, I CAN USE THIS SOUNDS IN MY GUITAR SYNTH AND
THOSE ARE GREAT SOUNDS, BUT WHAT I'M REALLY
INTERESTED IN AND KIND OF CONCENTRATING ON IN MY
ELECTRONIC MUSIC CLASSES IS HOW I GET TO ACCESS
SOUNDS ELECTRONICALLY IN THE COMPUTER, AND WE USE
PRO TOOLS FOR THAT.
PRO TOOLS IS THE -- IS THE SOFTWARE.
IT'S PRETTY MUCH THE INDUSTRY STANDARD.
THE THING WITH PRO TOOLS IT'S LIKE -- IT'S -- IT'S
BASICALLY JUST AN AUDIO RECORDER AND AN AUDIO
EDITOR, BUT IT GIVES YOU CONTROL OVER EVERYTHING.
NOW, IT'S NOT JUST AUDIO, BECAUSE IT ALSO LETS YOU
EMULATE CERTAIN INSTRUMENTS THAT YOU
WOULDN'T NORMALLY BE ABLE TO PLAY.
HERE'S A DATA TRACK FROM ONE OF THOSE PICK UPS INTO
A MIDI TRACK IN PRO TOOLS.
SO VIRTUAL-SUBTRACTIVE SENSE; SO THESE ARE
BASICALLY SOFTWARE EMULATIONS OF REAL WORLD
ANALOGUE SYNTHESIZERS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO PAY
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR OR PERHAPS
COULDN'T EVEN FIND ANYMORE.
I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL OF THESE SOUNDS IN PRO TOOLS,
AND THEN THERE'S A LOT OF SOUNDS THAT COME WITH PRO TOOLS.
THERE'S A LOT OF THIRD PARTY THINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE;
SO NOT ONLY THE SYNTHESIZERS SOUNDS, BUT
EMULATIONS OF AMPLIFIERS, STOMP BOXES.
SO ALL THE STUFF THAT I GREW UP WISHING I HAD WHEN
I WAS A KID, I HAVE IN A COMPUTER NOW, WHICH IS AN
AMAZING THING FOR ME.
IT'S NOT JUST GUITAR AND SYNTHS THOUGH, TOO.
IF YOU CAN SEE UP THERE DRUMS, DRUMS SETS ANYTHING
YOU CAN POSSIBLY THINK OF, THERE'S SOME SORT OF
EMULATOR IN THE RECORDING WORLD NOW DIGITALLY.
MORE SYNTHESIZERS, FMA, THESE ARE ALL SCREEN SHOTS
MOSTLY FROM PRO TOOLS, AND PRO TOOLS IS WHAT WE'RE
USING OR WHAT SCC HAS IN THE MIDI LAB.
SO STUDENTS ARE USING THIS SOFTWARE EVERY DAY NOW.
THAT'S WHAT THEIR LEARNING ON.
THERE'S ALSO A BUDGET DIGITAL, AUDIO
WORKSTATIONS THAT GENERALLY COME WITH
HARDWARE WHEN YOU BUY IT.
THESE HAVE COME ALONG WAY.
THEIR KIND OF NOT QUITE AS IN DEPTH AS PRO TOOLS, BUT
THEY DO -- THEY GET THE JOB DONE AND THEY'RE MUCH
MORE AFFORDABLE.
ALSO, SOFTWARE EDITOR FOR MY SYNTHESIZER SO I HAVE
COMPUTER CONTROL OVER MY HARDWARE SYNTHESIZER.
I CAN CREATE PATCHES, BACK THEM UP, SAVE THEM IN WAYS
THAT I WOULDN'T JUST BE ABLE TO DO RIGHT ON THE
UNIT THEMSELVES.
GUITAR PRO SOFTWARE TAKES THE MIDI INFORMATION AND
SPITS OUT AUDIO OR MUSICAL NOTATIONS SCORES, WHICH IS
WHAT SIBELIUS DOES.
SIBELIUS IS ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT SCC HAS
INSTALLED ON THE COMPUTERS.
SO THERE'S ACTUALLY QUITE A BIT OF THINGS OVER THERE
IN 138 IN THOSE IMAX THAT -- THAT ARE CURRENT AND
APPLICABLE TO WHAT'S BEING DONE TODAY IN THE FIELD.
SO NOW I'LL -- I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS STUFF.
I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT SOME OF THESE
THINGS SOUND LIKE.
SO THIS IS A HARP THAT I MADE, AND I'VE GOT IT
TRIGGERING SYNTHS IN PRO TOOLS.
OKAY.
SO THAT'S A LITTLE OFF THE BEATEN PATH THERE.
SO IT'S COOL TO BE ABLE TO DO THINGS IN THE STUDIO
AND IN THE LAB, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, FOR ME, I
NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS STUFF AT A GIG.
SO THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY AND THAT'S
KIND OF WHERE THE LIVE SOUND REINFORCEMENT
KNOWLEDGE COMES IN.
THIS IS A CLIP FROM ONE OF MY JAZZ TRIOS AND I'M
PLAYING A DIZZY GILLESPIE HORN PART ON MY GUITAR.
SO IF YOU'RE NOT USED TO SEEING THAT, IT KIND OF
TAKES YOU BACK A LITTLE BIT. AND SO MANY TIMES AT
A GIG, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO'D BE LOOKING AT THE
STAGE AND THEY'LL BE WHERE THE HORN PLAYER GO, AND
I'LL BE LIKE YOUR LOOKING AT HIM.
SO -- SO IT'S A LOT OF FUN AT GIGS.
HERE'S CRAIG SCHUMACHER AGAIN.
WE KIND OF RESURRECTED AN OLD YAMAHA GUITAR SYNTH
THAT WAS LAYING AROUND AND BEING UNUSED.
WE GOT IT WORKING OR I GOT IT WORKING AND HERE FOR
THE FIRST TIME CRAIG FIRING IT UP.
CRAIG'S -- CRAIG'S A GREAT GUY.
OKAY.
SO IN MY LITTLE MIDI STATION I ASSEMBLED THERE
IN THE LAB, I KIND OF COMPILED SOME
DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS.
SO HERE'S JUST SOME DIFFERENT SOUNDS I'M
PLAYING THE SCHOOL'S YAMAHA GUITAR SYNTH, AND
I'M TRIGGERING SOUNDS IN A KURZWEIL KEYBOARD.
A LITTLE HARP SOUND THERE.
THANK YOU.
SO I SHOULD SAY -- I SHOULD ALSO SAY I'M USING
A LITTLE LOOPER PEDAL SO I'M ABLE TO LAY DOWN LIKE
A BASE LINE AND THEN HAVE THAT REPEAT AND PLAY OVER
THE TOP OF IT.
SO WITH THAT TECHNIQUE I CREATED THESE BASE
AND PIANO CLIPS.
SO THAT'S ENOUGH TO GET A LOT OF KEYBOARDS PLAYER
UPSET AND PROBABLY A BIG PART TO THIS FOR ME REALLY
IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MORE SOUNDS I HAVE --
SOUNDS FOR ME AS A MUSICIAN ARE LIKE COLORS
FOR AN ARTIST. SO THE MORE SOUNDS I HAVE, THE MORE
DIFFERENT KINDS OF EMOTIONS I CAN CONVEY.
SO I TRY TO GET AS MUCH -- MANY THINGS IN MY PALLET
THAT I CAN.
HERE'S A XYLOPHONE SOUND.
THE CLIPS WITH JUSTIN ARE FROM MY -- MY HOME STUDIO,
AND THEN JUSTIN'S ALSO A MUSIC MAJOR.
HE'S A GUITAR PERFORMANCE MAJOR HERE.
STRING SECTION BACK AT THE MIDI LAB HERE.
I LOVE THAT SOUND ON THE KURZWEIL.
THERE'S ANOTHER EMULATION OF AN OLD GUITAR SYNTH.
THIS IS WHAT THE EARLIEST GUITAR SYNTHS KIND OF
SOUNDED LIKE.
TRUMPET.
AND THAT'S MY PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.