“Sax” played on guitar, over GK3 Pickup and Roland GR 20 Guitar Synthesizer.

via MichaelSteinert

In this episode of Electro-Harmonix Effectology, Bill Ruppert takes a look at guitar reverb tricks and demonstrates how to create some amazing effects.

While the focus is effecting guitars, the same effects can be used with other sources.

via Effectology:

Electro-Harmonix Effectology, Vol.7 Reverb Tricks

Welcome to Electro-Harmonix’s “Effectology” series, in which we create a remarkable collection of sounds using just a regular guitar and EHX effect pedals!

No keyboards,samplers or midi pickups were used.

In today’s episode studio musician Bill Ruppert demonstrates some old and new effects using reverb. Each one of the four sounds in this video has the reverb positioned in unusual places within the signal chainproof once again there is no correct way to order your effect pedals.

There is a clip of the new Cathedral Stereo reverb using the brilliant “Infinite” switch.Its really a beautiful sounding reverb.

EHX Pedals featured:Soul Preacher,Holy Grail,MicroSynth,English Muff’n, Stereo Memory Man.

For more information on these pedals and actual settings please vist the Electro- Harmonix Forum:http://www.ehx.com

DJ Thomas White demos his resonant low-pass gate, a synth DIY project. More info on the project is available at White’s site.

via djthomaswhite:

www.naturalrhythmmusic.com

Here are some samples of what you can do with the Resonant Lopass Gate PCB I offer at my website shown above. You will find commentary about this DIY project including samples of running a guitar through it, a voice through it, and music from an iPod through it. Modules used include the Oakley Sound Preamp/Envelope Follower Module, and the Lopass Gate module with a bit of TC Electronic M350 reverb at times. Songs are shown for demonstration of this module only.

Thanks to Don Buchla for giving me permission to make these PCBs! A true gentleman and scholar of electronic instrument design!

Pettinhouse

Here’s a preview of WarmJazzFree:

Features:

• 7 Kontakt patches ready to use: 1 patch is dry for amp simulators and 6 patches are amped with the Kontakt effects processor emulating some of the popular guitarist sounds.
• 129 unique samples.
• 3 layers.
• Round robin played – upstroke/Downstroke.
• Release samples for each note.

You can download WarmJazzFree at the Pettinhouse site.

via rekkerd

The eighth episode of Electro-Harmonix Effectology series looks at recreating Joe Meek’s Telstar, and the sound of a vintage Clavioline, using just a guitar and effects pedals.  No keyboards,samplers or midi pickups were used.

Details below.

via Effectology:

In today’s episode studio musician Bill Ruppert recreates the classic hit Telstar using just a guitar and Electro-Harmonix effect pedals.

Telstar was one of the fist pop hits to feature a synthesizer.

The Clavioline was a very early synthesizer using vacuum tubes.

Bill Ruppert also demonstrates some very unusual effects through the video as well. actual pedal settings are found here:n http://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/1900/EHX

Pedals featured:Soul Preacher, Stereo Memory Man, Big Muff, Pulsar, Poly Phase, MicroSynth, Cathedral, Poly Chorus

Line 6

Record ships with built-in virtual Line 6 POD and Bass POD devices. On their own, the virtual POD and Bass POD offer three guitar amp models, two bass amp models and five cabinet models, respectively.

The addition of a compatible Line 6 audio interface, though, “unlocks” that hardware’s entire collection of amps and cabs, as well any user-made presets, for use within Record.

Compatible Line 6 effect processors and audio interfaces include the POD X3 family of products, POD Studio and TonePort interfaces. (Record users with iLok USB Smart Key-compatible POD Farm and POD Farm Platinum plug-ins from Line 6 receive the same functionality.)

Detail are available at the Line 6 site.

This tutorial looks at how to make music with Apple’s Garageband.

via PrimeLoops:

Garageband is a very powerful music-making package from Apple, and can be used to make, edit and remix many styles. Here we show you the Garageband interface, and how to get to grips with the basics.

In this effectology video, Bill Rupert demonstrates the sound of an electric guitar processed to imitate a Hammond B-3 Organ.

via Effectology:

Welcome to Electro-Harmonix’s “Effectology” series, in which we play a remarkable collection of sounds all with just a regular guitar and EHX effect pedals!

No keyboards,samplers or midi pickup’s were used.

In today’s episode Bill Ruppert transforms his electric guitar into a classic Hammond B-3 organ (pedals used: HOG and Soul Preacher).

For more details on pedals and actual settings heard in this video, please visit:: http://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/1387/

This review takes a look at the Moog Guitar, Moog Music’s guitar that incorporates elements of Bob Moog’s pioneering synthesizer designs.

via SoulisEchoes1984:

A review from the guitarist magazine for the new Moog guitar. It’s great but really expensive!!

This official Moog video takes a look at the Moog MF-105M MIDI MuRF in action.

I’m sold – what do you think of this bad boy?

via MoogMusicInc:

A closer look at the MIDI MuRF- 8 Analog Filters- MuRF and Bass MuRF Filter Bands- MIDI Clock Sync- Tap Tempo- MIDI CC Control- Pattern Editor

Line 6 is giving away POD Farm, its amp simulation software, for free, for a limited time to users with either an iLok USB Smart Key or a compatible Line 6 product.

POD Farm (for iLok):

• 42 guitar amps and cabs
• 10 bass amps and cabs
• 29 stompboxes and effects
• 6 mic preamps
• Dual Tone

POD Farm (with compatible Line 6 gear):

• Standard POD Farm model set
• Unlock all the amps, effects and model packs from your Line 6 gear and add them to POD Farm.
• Dual tone

POD Farm is Mac AU/RTAS/VST and Windows RTAS/VST compatible, for integration with all major recording applications.

This offer ends September 30, 2009.

Moog Music has released the production model of the Moog Guitar, the Moog Guitar E1.

The video above offers an overview of the Moog E1. It offers the same technology as the original Paul Vo Collector Edition of the Moog Guitar, but for $3,000 less.

That puts it at about $3,500, though, so it’s still out of the price range of most.

If you’re not familiar with the Moog Guitar, it combines a classic Moog synth filter with several new guitar technologies to open up new styles and sounds for guitarists. It’s not a true guitar synthesizer, but a hybrid that offers its own sonic palette.

Detail on the Moog Guitar below.

If you’ve used the Moog Guitar, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Here’s what Moog has to say about the unique electronics in the Moog Guitar:

• FULL SUSTAIN MODE – like no other sustainer; infinite sustain on every string, at every fret position and at any volume. You may have heard sustain before but not with this power (we call it “Vo Power”) and clarity.
• CONTROLLED SUSTAIN MODE – allows you to play sustained single or polyphonic lines without muting technique. The Moog Guitar sustains the notes you are playing while actively muting the strings you are not playing.
• MUTE MODE – removes energy from the strings, resulting in a variety of staccato articulations. The mute mode has never been heard on any other guitar; the Vo Power stops the strings with the same intensity that it sustains them. You feel the instrument transform in your hands.
• HARMONIC BLENDS – use the included foot pedal to shift the positive energy of Vo Power in Sustain mode and the subtractive force of Vo Power in Mute mode between the bridge and neck pick-ups to pull both subtle and dramatic harmonics from the strings.
• MOOG FILTER – control the frequency of the built-in, resonant Moog ladder filter using the foot pedal or a CV Input.

Moog Guitar Controls

There are five knobs:

• Vo Power Knob – Controls intensity of sustain and mute. The knob turned fully CW is full Vo Power and fully CCW is no Vo Power.
• Piezo Blend Blends the piezo bridge pick-up signal into the guitar’s output signal.
• Harmonic Balance Knob – Controls the balance of Vo Power between neck and bridge pick-ups. (When the Filter Toggle is in “Tone Control” position, this function is moved to the foot pedal and the Harmonic Balance knob does nothing.)
• Master Volume Knob – Controls overall volume (Moog and piezo pick-ups).
• Tone/Filter Knob- Adjusts the guitar tone when the Filter Toggle is in Tone Control position; adjusts the resonance of the Moog filters in the two Moog Filter Toggle positions.

There are three switches:

• Mode Selector Switch – Switches between Mute Mode, Controlled Sustain Mode and Full Sustain Mode
• Filter Toggle Switch Switches the Moog Filter between a standard guitar Tone Control – (toggle away from strings), a Moog Articulated Filter – (toggle centered), and a Moog Ladder Filter – (toggle towards strings).
• Five Position Pick-up Selector Switch: Neck, In-phase, Out of phase, Bridge, and Piezo. only. (The piezo signal accessed via the Piezo Blend knob passes through the Moog filter; “piezo only” does not.)

Floor Pedal- Function depends on the setting of the Filter Toggle switch.
- When the Filter Toggle is in “Tone Control” position, the floor pedal controls the harmonic balance. (Forward = high harmonics, Middle = full harmonics, Back = lower harmonics.)
- When the Filter Toggle is in “Moog Articulated Filter” position, the floor pedal controls the filter cutoff frequency that the articulated filter starts with.
- When the Filter Toggle is in “Moog Ladder Filter” position, the foot pedal controls the filter cutoff frequency.

Note about Harmonic Balance: Maximum Vo Power requires both pickups to act together. This only happens when the Harmonic Balace is set to the mid-point because then both pickups are fully active. (Harmonic Balance knob on the center detent and/or the floor pedal set to the mid-position.) If the Vo Power is fully CW and you sense less than full Vo Power, check the Harmonic Balance function at the knob or the pedal.

What is the difference between The Moog Guitar and sustainers?

1.) The Moog Guitar Technology is not a sustainer technology but a Harmonic Control System.

2.) In Sustain Mode, The Moog Guitar is like a sustainer on steroids. Previous sustainer technologies are limited both in their power and responsiveness.

3.) Unlike sustainer technologies, the Moog Guitar has the ability to simultaneously “listen” and “control” each individual string at exactly the same point. This allows the control system to affect the string coherently. For each pickup and string, there is a unique control system that is optimized for those harmonics happening at that point in time.

4.) This “coherency” gives the Moog Guitar a sustain capability that is un-paralleled both in power and responsiveness. There are no frustrating lags, or drop offs. And the sustain from the Moog Guitar is DIRECTLY related to what is happening on the string at that point, so it is very organic sounding and gives a feeling of connection to the instrument that has never before been felt.

5.) Sustaining is just the stepping-off point for the Moog Guitar. The same ability to coherently give energy to the string can take energy away. This is revolutionary: the ability to MUTE a string (or strings) changes the very way the string reacts to the wood and acoustics of the instrument. It feels like a different instrument in your hands when in Mute Mode.

6.) Combining the Sustain and Mute modes gives us the never-before achieved Controlled Sustain Mode. Players can sustain single-note lines while the Harmonic Control System actively removes energy from strings that aren’t being played. This allows fluid violin-like lines and counter-point that are not achievable with sustainers.

7.) The Harmonic Control System allows the player to affect different harmonics that are being occurring on the strings in real-time.

8.) Because of the direct action of the Harmonic Control System on the string at the same point in space and time, the Moog Guitar fits perfectly into your playing technique, it responds naturally to the way you play – it becomes part of the acoustic nature of the actual instrument.

9.) The Moog Guitar expands the soundscape of the guitar in ways that no sustainer technology can approach. Like all Moog instruments, the only limit is the imagination and inspiration of the musician.

This video series showcases the Ibanez IMG2010 X-ING vintage 24-pin guitar synthesizer controller, used with a variety of new and old guitar synthesizers.

via WayneJoness:

The IMG2010 is the most feature packed guitar synthesizer controller every made, with three continuous controllers, plus the virtual whammy bar.

Light Guitar is a free Audio Unit for Mac OS X that reproduces the behavior of the light guitar, a musical instrument that uses light to make music, and allows you to easily customize the sound of the instrument by adjusting various parameters.

Plug in your instrument of choice, load the plugin into your digital audio workstation and enjoy.

Options:

• Frequency Multiplier – Increase/Decrease the size of the guitar body, changing the frequency range of the instrument.
• Resonance Type – Two different configurations were measured for the Light guitar, one that excites waves on the outer surface of the instrument and one exciting internal modes – both are included and independently selectable.
• Instrument String – The strings on an acoustic instrument have a large effect on the instrument’s sound and the same effect applies to light instruments. However, a string for a light instrument is a coaxial cable. The real and imaginary impedance of the coaxial cable connected to the light guitar is user selectable.
• Response Time – The impulse slider lets you change how long the light guitar alters music played through the plug-in.

Download here.

This is an audio preview of Neil Nappe’s July – a rare album of 80’s guitar synth music.

According to the back of the album, it was done with “Guitar Synthesizer, M.I.D.I. and more M.I.D.I.” Released on a short-lived label and not re-issued to this day.

According to Nappe, “July was performed entirely on synthesizers of one sort or another (except for a bit of my trusty ‘74 Les Paul) and recorded in my home on 4-track cassette format.”

If you know anything more about Neil Nappe and his guitar synth music, leave a comment!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apogee Electronics has introduced GIO – a complete guitar interface for Apple’s new Logic Studio 9, MainStage 2 and GarageBand ’09. GiO delivers access to Logic’s guitar amps and effects in a single foot controller and interface.

Here are the details:

Built for Logic Studio 9, Mainstage 2 and GarageBand ‘09

Designed to work with the new Logic Studio 9 and MainStage 2, GiO allows guitar players to control recording functions, preset changes and plug-ins like Amp Designer and Pedalboard, along with new Playback and Loopback features in MainStage. With GarageBand 09, GiO is plug-and-play and lets users quickly connect their guitar, select and control built-in Amps and stompboxes, and record.

Software Control with GiO

GiO stomp

• Stomp on it. Effects control without the mouse. Imagine finding your sound without going back and forth from your guitar to your Mac. With GiO, you can audition effects presets in GarageBand, Logic and MainStage, and turn effects on and off while playing or recording… all without touching your keyboard.
• Hands free recording. GiO frees you from key-command recording allowing you to concentrate on your performance and not the space bar. The five transport buttons on GiO let you record, play, stop and quickly navigate thru your track without taking your hands off the neck of your guitar.
• “Next” preset please. Previous and Next preset select buttons let you quickly audition and toggle between guitar amps and effects presets in Logic and GarageBand and the patch lists in MainStage.

Connections

• Instrument input – GiO’s 1/4” instrument input features Apogee’s world-class instrument preamp and converters. Hear and record your guitar’s true tone straight into Apple’s GarageBand, Logic and MainStage without compromise. GiO is optimized for all pickup configurations from the most basic single coil to sophisticated active electronics setups.
• MIDI Expression pedal input – GiO’s Expression control pedal input allows access to traditional effects like wah-wah, and volume. Also, control effects parameters like the length of a delay or the speed of a tremolo. (Expression Control Pedal not included)
• USB – GiO is fully powered by the USB connection to your Mac eliminating the need for an external power source. Simply plug into an available USB port on any Mac and you’re ready to go.
• Output: Headphones, monitors or instrument amplifier – Hear your guitar and recording like never before. Connect your headphones, powered monitors or instrument amplifier to Apogee converters via GiO’s 1/4” stereo output and listen to your guitar and mix with incredible clarity and dimension.

Apogee GiO is expected to ship in September 2009 and to retail for $395.

The video for Techno Flamenco, an original composition written and performed by Ricardo Griego.

Ever get tired of going to Guitar Center, or your local music store, and hearing guitarists “shred” on Smoke On The Water?

Check out this strange and wonderful cover of Smoke On The Water, on keytar & Melodica.

It does nothing to disprove the theory of the curse of Herbie Hancock.

But let us not forget, there is hope.

via chuuta2003:

I give it to Mrs. Kusumi of my fan first (and last?) in the “REAL” world.So,,Sorryyyyy,,,,I’m a Foolish man in JAPAN……:(

Synthesizers + Lasers + Guitars = The Prism Laser Guitar Synth

The Prism laser guitar synth is a DIY project that has everything it needs to achieve instrumental awesomeness, except for an awesome demo laser guitar synth jam.

The instructions for this DIY project are available at Instructables.

If you happen to build a version of the laser guitar synth and make an awesome laser guitar synth jam video, leave a link in the comments!

via digitalfalcon00

Summer NAMM Show: Moog Music introduced the MF-105M MIDI MuRF – an advance, MIDI-controlled successor to its previous MuRF Moogerfoogers.

The MF-105 MuRF is a unique effect designed by Bob Moog. MuRF is short for Multiple Resonance Filter Array. The MuRF creates sequenced filter effects.

The Moog MF-105M MIDI MuRF retails for $449.

via MoogMusicInc:

The evolution of the MuRF continues with the MF-105M MIDI MuRF. The MF-105M combines Bob Moogs classic MuRF and Bass MuRF to make one powerful Moogerfooger. Its warm, resonant, 100% analog Mid and Bass filter bands bring you everything from shimmering timbral morphing and rhythmic stuttering to deep bass grooves, and like all Moogerfoogers, its built like a tank to stand up to the toughest touring and studio use.

We didnt stop there. In addition to the full range of Control Voltage inputs, it also sports an extensive MIDI implementation. Create tempo-synced filter sequences with MIDI Clock Sync. Change patterns with MIDI Program Change messages. Control front panel knob settings with MIDI CC messages and play the filters in real-time with MIDI Note On commands.

Its equally at home on the floor, table-top or rack mount, and with all this sound and control in one package, the MF-105M MIDI MuRF connects you to a world of sonic expression, with tight integration into todays performance, production, DJ and remix environments.