BEWARE Slide Guitar Robots are here!!!

Mike Ihde · Post by **Mike Ihde** » 24 Mar 2005 8:59 pm

Check this out... http://www.lemurbots.org/guitarbot.html
I don't think we have to worry YET.
Scroll down and click on "Theme" to see it in action.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 24 Mar 2005 9:14 pm

I could see it replacing my door chimes, or as an icecream truck music up grade on "Pimp My Ride"
I want one!

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 24 Mar 2005 9:24 pm

Awesome!!! That is one of the most nutz things I have ever heard and seen!!!

Ed Altrichter · Post by **Ed Altrichter** » 24 Mar 2005 9:46 pm

Aw gee... what's next, a "player piano". . . ? How 'bout a barrel organ an' a monkey with a tin cup ???

Ed Altrichter · Post by **Ed Altrichter** » 24 Mar 2005 9:53 pm

"Bow" ? "Wheel" ? Shades of the Hurdy-Gurdy !

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 25 Mar 2005 1:00 am

Hmmmmm..... some interesting musical ideas for a Diddley Bow quartet!

I can't quite figure out what the utlimate purpose the builders have in mind since the end result could very nearly be duplicated by the same midi data fed to a sound module, ...or litterally by a Didley Bow quartet. But it will be interesting to see what applications evolve from such ingenuity, ...and more power to such work.

Aloha,
DT~
[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 25 March 2005 at 01:00 AM.]

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 25 Mar 2005 5:10 am

I can see it coming: www.steelguitarrobotforum.com

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 25 Mar 2005 5:53 am

"What tha hell is that thang?"

"I don't know, but it plays fast and slow!"

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 25 Mar 2005 6:20 am

I just watched the movie that demonstrated that instrument. The first movie 'Theme' wasn't bad. Kind of a psychotic steel guitar nightmare. It's a good lesson for all steel guitarists on why you should'nt slide into every note.

The second movie, the duet with the violinist...I'm not impressed.

Let me further qualify that by saying, I've never understood or been impressed with avant garde' atonal music. Its self righteous, self conscious, over-educated, lacking of talent noise if you ask me. I'm all for self-expression, but come on, give me a break. Does anyone really listen to that crap? Or do they put it on at parties just to impress people with how hip they are?

I'd be more impressed if the violinist and the slide instrument played a duet on a familar tune... something like 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'. Then I'd be impressed.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 25 March 2005 at 07:06 AM.]

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 25 Mar 2005 7:12 am

Well Gerald,

Have to disagree with you there. Some of the most exciting concerts I've been to have been by the late avant-guard composer John Cage. And I love listening to Glenn Gould play some of the more 20th century atonal composers as well as his brilliant Bach interpretations.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 25 Mar 2005 7:38 am

Couldn't relate to it and hey! I grew up in the sixties..."if you remember the sixties, you weren't there"

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55" Fender Stringmaster T8, 54" Fender Champion, Carter D-10, two Oahu laps, two National laps, and two Resonators

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 25 Mar 2005 7:53 am

Ok, I went out to this site and listened to a bunch of John Cage compostions.
http://home.flash.net/~jronsen/cagelinks.html#sounds

It's not my cup of tea, what can I say? It reminds me of times when I was a teenager and I would sit at a piano with two of my friends and say... let's just play C#, B, Eb, F and Ab for 2 minutes, then let's play the black keys for 30 seconds and then play all the G# keys as fast as we can. Yes, it was a fun and freeing experience but it was the equivalent of creating art with a paint-ball gun.

I can see though how this music has influenced film and theatric incidental music.

I took a music theory class in High School. For one assignment we had to create an atonal composition. I wrote a duet. I randomly played the lower octaves of a piano while my friend randomly played the upper octaves. I called it "Johnny Cash vs. Donovan".

As a matter of fact, a well known forumite who is now a Western Swing fiddler in Austin, Texas was in my class and played the piece with me.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 25 March 2005 at 08:01 AM.]

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 25 Mar 2005 7:59 am

I sent the Guitar Bot link to my friend Jim Sain, who teaches electro-acoustic music and composition at the University of Florida (and is also a fine electric bass player). He e-mailed the following response:

"I saw Eric's Guitar Bot in action at the International Computer Music Conference this past fall. Though an interesting idea, it's not putting any guitarists out of work any time soon!"

Anyhow, I'm glad these folks, as well as others, are experimenting. Right off, it could be well-suited for film music.

Reminds of an article I saw years ago (Guitar Player mag?) where Ry Cooder made a giant slide guitar thing for use in film music. As I recall, he said something like it took a big instrument to get the big sound needed for film.

Bob[This message was edited by Bob Stone on 25 March 2005 at 08:06 AM.]

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 25 Mar 2005 9:11 am

I'd be more impressed if they used Shubb bars.
I sent the link to a friend in NYC, Philip Glass' sound man, thinking it'd be new to him. He replied, "Mari Kimura performed on her violin with GuitarBot on last year's MATA festival.
This is a festival I help with as technical advisor." (Oops, sorry, Dan....)
"Here's a whole ensemble of robot instruments that was also exhibited in
a previous MATA festival..." http://www.pamband.com/

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 25 Mar 2005 9:30 am

Gerald,

Don't want to highjack this thread and it's not the appropriate topic for this forum but one day, we'll meet and I'll give you the download on Cage. The first time I ever played slide guitar for an audience was in a Cage piece that he conducted when I was in college. It was "composed" by having us interpret drawings by Henry David Thoreau. Interestingly enough there was this long upward moving squiggle that was perfect for slide. When I didn’t play it loud enough Cage asked “Who had the upward moving squiggle?” I raised my hand and he told me to play it louder.

In Cage's post-1950s work you really needed to be in the audience to appreciate it since it was made to be heard once, and recordings never capture the immediacy of the work. Roaratorio for instance was a piece for Irish Musicians and the words of Finnegan’s Wake. You haven’t hear anything until you’ve heard some of the best Irish Musicians in the world playing on top of each other with abandon. It was an amazing evening.

However, take a listen to the pre 1950’s work, especially the works for Prepared Piano. This are very beautiful works and are very accessible (I think!).

All of this is to point out that there are some of us who do listen to this type of music, not to be cool or hip, but out of a genuine love of the music.

I might add that many of your comments are echoed by many people when they hear Hawaiian music. To each his own.

For me: I've almost never heard a music I didn't like.

Cage actually has an story along these lines: In his early days he was invited to a party by a rich dowager who had also invited a Buddhist monk. After diner the dowager began to sing some 3rd rate opera as entertainment and according to Cage, she was awful. He looked over quite embarressed at the monk to see how he was taking it. Cage said the look on the monk's face was beatific.
[This message was edited by Bill McCloskey on 25 March 2005 at 09:41 AM.][This message was edited by Bill McCloskey on 25 March 2005 at 09:43 AM.]

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 25 Mar 2005 10:09 am

OK Bill, truce.

Steer me towards some of Cage's more accessible works, I'll have a listen.

I see you also commented on my Bob Dylan rant & rave.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 25 Mar 2005 10:22 am

John Cage's music isn't as bad as it sounds.

Seriously, when computers can feel emotions, that's when they'll be able to play music. Real music is an artistic expression of emotion. Anything less isn't music.

Robots are fun anyway. I don't feel threatened by them at all.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
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Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 25 Mar 2005 10:30 am

"Its self righteous, self conscious, over-educated, lacking of talent noise if you ask me. I'm all for self-expression, but come on, give me a break...."

Gerald, believe or not there are a lot of us who are open to these experimentations with sound and vision. Don't insult us.

I'm also interested in the works of Harry Partch, Conlin Nancarrow, Stockhausen, Xenakis and Milton Babbit. As a musician, I don't see how you can close your ears to any sounds--there's something in every sound you hear, whether it's nature, industrial, or just plain pretty music.

Grant Johnson · Post by **Grant Johnson** » 25 Mar 2005 10:39 am

"A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, lays down a bill.
Bartender says 'We don't serve robots.'
Robot says 'Oh, but someday you will.'"
-David Berman[This message was edited by Grant Johnson on 25 March 2005 at 10:40 AM.]

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 25 Mar 2005 10:42 am

OK, OK.

It's just my opinion. That's what this forum is all about.

If we didn't disagree on things all threads would be the equivalent of "I just heard Joe Steeler and he's incredible!" or "Isn't steel guitar great!".

All musicians are highly opinionated. It's a natural outgrowth of spending so much solitary time learning your instrument.

This is the non-peddlers area but not every style of non-pedal is loved by all in attendance.

Mike you know it. There are people who absolutely hate all forms of Hawaiian steel. Even among Hawaiian steelers you get firm opinions. There are Hawaiian steelers who dislike pre-war acoustic steel because it's not smooth and creamy and pre-war enthusists who think post war is too loungey. And then you get the Slack Key guitarists who think Hawaiian Steel is a repressive tool introduced by the Hoale.

There are Dobro players who think electricity is a sacrilege. There are non-peddlers who think pedal players cheat by not slanting. There are pedal players who think non-peddlers play a primitive instrument. There are people who think using a bottleneck is not really playing the steel guitar.

And let's not get into the "Does JB really play Hawaiian steel?" debate.

I'm sorry if I insulted anyone with my opinions.

And my ears are open to new sounds. In my teenage years I thought Jimi Hendrix's music was total garbage, total noise. It's only been recently, since my teenage son starting playing Hendrix's music on guitar that I've appreciated his work and realized the genius Hendrix was.

And I do listen to sounds in nature, industry and the like. When my electric garage door opener first starts up it sounds exactly like the opening two chords of Jimi Hendrix playing 'All Along The Watchtower'. I KID YOU NOT! Come to my house and I'll push the button for you.

So Educate me on atonal music.

BTW - I met my wife at a Frank Zappa concert (his Billy The Mountain stage featuring the Fluorescent Leech and Eddie).


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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 25 March 2005 at 12:12 PM.]

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 25 Mar 2005 11:20 am

Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 25 March 2005 at 11:47 AM.]

Ed Altrichter · Post by **Ed Altrichter** » 25 Mar 2005 11:21 am

I sent a copy to the Vatican and they traced it directly to hell.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 25 Mar 2005 12:36 pm

Okay, Here are three:

John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano.

Morton Feldman: Music for the Rothko Chapel.

Harry Partch: The Delusion of the Fury[This message was edited by Bill McCloskey on 25 March 2005 at 12:42 PM.]

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 25 Mar 2005 12:43 pm

There is actually some great slide work in all of Partch's work.

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 25 Mar 2005 3:11 pm

That "theme" thing,sounded like 3 steelers,at a jam,tryin' to get tuned w/ each other. Let's see 'em do "Remington Ride" or "Four Wheel Drive"!!

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