"You Rock Guitar" as a midi bass controller?

[TheSuzie]

Not sure if this is the right forum...

May be a weird idea but I was wondering if anyone had tried such a thing yet. I'm sure it feels like a toy but I bet it tracks better than many other cheap solutions.

You Rock Guitar | Learn Guitar | Innovative MIDI Guitar Technology

Peace,
S

[M0ses]

I find it hard to imagine it being anything other than toy, aimed at making people feel like rockstars. But maybe I'm just a snob.

[TheSuzie]

Originally Posted by M0ses

I find it hard to imagine it being anything other than toy, aimed at making people feel like rockstars. But maybe I'm just a snob.

I think you are right about their aim/target market. The thing is that I think the product was designed by a bunch of geeks and that there may be a pretty sophisticated controller hiding under there.

Looking at the faqs, manual etc so far I see.

* Selectable midi channel
* One channel per instrument or one channel per string
* Two octave transposition range up or down
* User defined tunings
* Tap mode for two handed techniques with adjustable attack
* Pitch bend via whammy bar
* Mute via a touch bar
* Standard midi connector and USB

Of course, how well all the features work on the midi output remains to be seen. Someone I know did some tracking with this device using the built in sounds. They sound very synthetic and have extremely limited editing. Still It may be possibly that there is some synthy goodness hidden in there when it is transposed into the bass range.

Can't tell at this stage if this thing is junk or a sleeper. Wish it was physically configured as a bass....

Peace,
S

[Distant Cousin]

I'd say it's entirely possible. The keys player in my band uses a Guitar Hero controller for one song; the You Rock Guitar is probably more flexible.

[gastric]

There's plenty of [bad] reviews on how these perform as a MIDI trigger/controller.

[Peredur]

I am sitting here triggering sounds in Logic.

Is it cheap and tacky? Yes.

Does it work as a trigger for all the synth sounds that we usually have to carry a board the size of a soccer pitch to get? Yes.

It works best with a plectrum. Is that allowed on bass? I believe the jury is still out.

Does it require a really clean picking/fretting technique? Yes

Do I have technical issues to work through? Yes, I only took it out of the box and hour ago.

Am I having loads of fun? Yes

Does it trigger instantly? Yes. Latency is yesterday's news.

[Matthijs]

So, Peredur, are you still using this toy? I'm looking for a alternative to a keyboard for inputting notes in Sibelius and have no wish to do synth bass on stage. As all my instruments are fretless I don't think a regular midi add on for bass would work. This thing looks like the cheapest tool for the job.

[Peredur]

Yes, it still gets used. If you have keyboard skill I would not bother changing, but if you are keys challenged like I am it would do the job for you. As I mentioned, there is a bit of technique adjustment, but it is not huge and it is a cheap and cheerful piece of kit. I guess if you were to buy online and it did not do it for you then you could send it back for a refund.

[Matthijs]

Keyboard challenged, that's me! I can use a keyboard, but it's much more fits my intuition to write melody on a bass or guitar. I think I will try this thing, although I'm also kind of temted to try out what a sonuus or a roland will do with a frettless bass. Will they just track badly, or would it result in lots of complicated glissando's and incomprehesible notation?

[Peredur]

The Sonus is OK above the D string. beneath that it is pretty unstable really. You could just transpose everything down an octave and that would work.

[Matthijs]

But does it need a perfectly intonated fretted instrument? I could live with transposing.

[Peredur]

I would guess that it would be a nightmare with a fretless. Others might have more experience. Perhaps you could lock down the sequencer you use to only read "true" (I'm sure there is a better word for this) notes?

[Matthijs]

It might be very good for training my intonation