Gizmodo: gh

Wayne Coyne's Guitar Hero Controller Mod Is, Unsurprisingly, The Coolest We've Ever Seen

John Mahoney — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:10:00 EDT

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, what a guy. Befitting his eternally-brilliant-child-trapped-inside-acid-washed-adult self, he has built a fantastic looking Guitar Hero guitar mod that melds a Korg Kaoss pad, a working GH controller and a beautiful white Gibson double-neck guitar—a rig he's using to film a brief 8-second spot for NBC, of all things. The question is, how will Wayne's GH mod face off against Dwight Schrute's recorder?

"I've constructed this great looking Guitar Hero double-necked guitar thing here because there's a lot of kids out there that think this is actually how you play guitar now — that you just press a series of four or five buttons and and sort of different sort of sequences and it makes every sound that the guitar can make," Uncle Wayne says (will you be my uncle?) in this video for Entertainment Weekly (fast forward to the 2:00 mark). The Kaoss pad (a cool touchscreen-powered effects/sampler/sound processor, famously used by Radiohead on "Everything In Its Right Place" among others) is used to control a pretty gnarly synth tone, which can be modulated in true Guitar Hero fashion by the five colored neck buttons.

Whether he's using this on tour or not I'm not sure (anyone seen the Lips recently?), but it looks like it will be showing up playing the three-note NBC chime in a promo spot to be played during, hopefully, the two NBC shows I actually watch—The Office and 30 Rock. Now if we could just have a Schrute/Coyne duet, please. [EW Video - Direct Link via Listening Post]

Turn Your Guitar Hero Guitar Into a MIDI Controller

Sean Fallon — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:20:00 EDT

I can't tell you how many times I have looked down at my Guitar Hero guitar and wished that it could be used like a real instrument. The only problem was that I lacked the ability to build one. Oh, and I have no musical ability whatsoever. Fortunately, it appears that someone with skills has done the dirty work for me by figuring out a way to turn a Guitar Hero guitar into a full-fledged MIDI controller.

With the current version you can:

•Play 2 octaves of an 8 note scale at a time,
•Change the starting note anywhere in the range of a regular keyboard
•Change octaves
•Change keys
•Change tonal modes (Ionian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian)
•Change the timbre of a sound
•Change the resonance of a sound
•Use the whammy bar to pitchbend
•Play chords in the mode you have the guitar set to (major/minor/etc.)
•Rock out with a video game toy

And the best part of the deal is that you can put one together for yourself for less than $50 (assuming you already have the guitar). For how-to instructions, hit the following link. [Slapyak via MAKE]

Wireless Guitar Hero III Controller for PS3 Not Entirely So

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:40:11 EDT

If you're expecting to be undistracted by the smooth, seamless lines of your PS3 as you faux jam on your Guitar Hero III controller to "Cult of Personality," get ready for some eyesoreness. Since GH's controller doesn't work with the PS3's built-in Bluetooth, there's going to be some donglage hanging from the PS3's USB ports, taunting you with their non-conformity. Admittedly, not a huge deal unless you've got aesthetic OCD, but if you're at the multi-platform crossroads wondering which to buy, this little design boo-boo should help nudge you one way or the other. [Game Life via Kotaku]