It truly amazes me how some people come up with this kind of stuff.
Incredible job by the ‘Guitars Zeroes’ on this one (apparently that’s the bands name. I couldn’t find a related Myspace page). Thinking about the whole process and going through the programing is one thing, finding the time, effort and motivation to put it all together is quite another. This maybe wouldn’t seem so complex if I knew a little more about the software they used, MAX MSP. The name rang a bell s
o I googled it up and found something I had badly wanted to get into a while back. MAX is a graphical development environment designed for the audio and visual arts. The first versions were created in the eighties to help composers and performers manipulate, patch and control different instruments with computers and weird outboard audio processing devices. Now many artists use MAX to do just that along with lots of other experimental stuff. Highly modular and customizable, the software allows third-parties to toy with its libraries of data and create new extensions to its features. So if you’ve got a band, you’re into programing and that image above doesn’t scare the hell out of you, then tweaking around with MAX MSP is worth a shot. I’ve never seen a band perform with it live but I’m sure it would impress the audience. Unorthodox setups and crazy sounds often make up for good shows and good buzz. I’ll leave you to this Johnny Greenwood video (Radiohead) jamming out on MAX.
Maximum mruff.
That is incredible. I used MAX back in college on a basic level but never really understood its deeper capabilities for improvisation and synthesis. That guitarist who rigged the system is quite ingenious.
But all that labor and thought just for the novelty of having a band that plays on the video game controllers? That is good marketing, if nothing else…Doesn’t seem to have helped their singer…
Hmm.
haha
yea indeed
In an interview, here is what the guitarists responded when asked how them decided to launch the project:
“We hadn’t played once, had no songs; we had only the spark of the idea and a glimmer in the eye.
This was a good recipe: 3 guitar players and a singer (who’d never sang outside of a karaoke box before) and a deadline. Christian was the best on the drums (and the worst at Guitar Hero)”
Concerning MAX, it really seems to be one hell of a tool. Wish I would finally get into it and set-up my own NES zapper rock band or something.
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