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Music Toys Idle Games

Theremin Guitar Hero 79

Posted by samzenpus from the still-waiting-for-bassoon-hero dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Greig 'Theremin Hero' Stewart has developed a way to play Guitar Hero with a theremin, like an air guitar. The results speak for themselves, in this rocking video complete with awesome costumes and some sweet artwork. It even has a Co-op mode. ROCK ON! This needs to be a real product!" The beginning is a bit annoying, but this has to be one of the coolest "projects" I've seen in a long time.

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Theremin Guitar Hero More

Theremin Guitar Hero

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  • Hey! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Itninja ( 937614 ) on Thursday June 10, 2010 @11:35AM (#32524076) Homepage
    They stole my idea [unlettered...dinary.com]! I am so calling the President of the Internet.

  • Saw the still frame of the video... (Score:5, Funny)

    by IANAAC ( 692242 ) on Thursday June 10, 2010 @11:36AM (#32524090)
    and decided, no.

  • Activision - Sluggish Sales For Sousaphone Hero (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/activision-reports-sluggish-sales-for-sousaphone-h,2246/

    • http://www.theonion.com/articles/activision-reports-sluggish-sales-for-sousaphone-h,2246/

      You know, back when Guitar Hero was made by Harmonix, Harmonix joked about the possibility of "Accordion Hero"...

      I guess what I'm saying is, I love The Onion, but it's a very old joke. :)

      • There were a few of us at my last job who wanted to take that idea and crank out a prototype USB accordion peripheral. Even more sad is how much time I spent researching the appropriate sensor tech to make this work :P

        I think it still needs to be done, dammit! Break out the lederhosen! (and Pilsner)

        -SL

  • I'm still hoping for Shamisen Hero [wikipedia.org].

  • Nice, but overly complicated (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mbourgon ( 186257 ) on Thursday June 10, 2010 @11:51AM (#32524254) Homepage

    Looking at it, there's NO reason for him to move his fingers. Interesting mod, though. (Yes, I have played a theremin. No, it doesn't work like that. Yes, the movie is hilarious)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cHiphead ( 17854 )

      Incorporate a theremin into an actual guitar hero guitar and use the buttons for real wtih 'air' strumming. Or Maybe a wireless powerglove deal for your other hand to play the notes

    • I think he's mapped the guitar hero accessory's buttons to glove sensors.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Creepy ( 93888 )

      yeah - it looks like he's using the volume for picking (when the hand is lowest it picks - it may pick at highest volume too - I wasn't paying that much attention - too busy laughing - that part is the metal loop if you aren't familiar with a theramin) and the tone hand handles position (that is the rod, if you aren't familiar with a theramin) - the finger waggling is just for show, since it is air guitar in a lot of ways.

  • You can't tell me that doesn't look like fun :P

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jayme0227 ( 1558821 )

      Yes I can.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Chih ( 1284150 )
        Well, you don't count then :P

        Guitar Hero is a portal to get more kids interested in music, and not just listening to it in their iWhatever. Imagine if even 1% of those kids were shown this instrument. Regardless, I'd take a music game over many other popular genres of mehware.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Tetsujin ( 103070 )

          Well, you don't count then :P

          Guitar Hero is a portal to get more kids interested in music, and not just listening to it in their iWhatever. Imagine if even 1% of those kids were shown this instrument. Regardless, I'd take a music game over many other popular genres of mehware.

          Hold on, there... I think he was saying that playing with this particular controller setup looked dumb - not that music games in general were dumb.

          (Forget Guitar Hero... Rock Band is better.)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e4g4 ( 533831 )

            Forget Guitar Hero... Rock Band is better.

            ....why? Do you prefer rectangles to circles? They're the same damn game. The differences between them are only the music selection (though they do have quite an overlap, at least across different, not necessarily contemporary, versions). Any other differences are indistinguishable from statistical noise. (I own several versions of both, and the controllers for either work on both).

            • Forget Guitar Hero... Rock Band is better.

              ....why? Do you prefer rectangles to circles? They're the same damn game.

              Different implementations of the same idea, yes. Of course, it's quite possible for one implementation to be better than another. I think Rock Band is better, that's all. :)

  • Wow, that's some excuse for the chord cheats (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Thursday June 10, 2010 @12:06PM (#32524404) Homepage

    If I hooked up a 1 axis motion sensor to my head, presumably it wouldn't be "cheating" either if I played all the notes by moshing in time and having the "bot" hit all the notes and chords for me?

    Still, nerd chick in corset and candy wig, so partial credit.

  • You mean THAT'S what the game is all about? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Fantastic Lad ( 198284 ) on Thursday June 10, 2010 @12:08PM (#32524430)

    I am at a loss for words.

    I had that game on my old TRS-80 Color Computer.

    I keyed it in from Rainbow Magazine. It was less than 1 Kb.

    Things fell down from the top of the screen and you had to catch them. The end.

    Later on they remade this game a few thousand times. Stuff comes down and you have to catch it. Or shoot it. Or bounce it. Or tetris it. If you made enough mistakes, the music would stop playing.

    The only difference here is that the music happens to be licensed and your joy stick looks even dumber than a joystick.

    I can't believe this is what all the fuss is over. People pay HOW MUCH for this? They made a South Park episode about this?

    Okay. Thanks for that. I feel informed now. And rather silly for being human.

    -FL

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Mod parent +1 insightful curmudgeon.

        Dang it! Yeah, I'm old. I don't take well to lots of ruckus no more! A good film is one about. . , row boats! Nice and smooth and quiet. But there better not be any splashin' or I'll want my money back!

        -FL

    • I miss Rainbow magazine.. I keyed in many a game from that magazine on my trusty old coco2 and coco3.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jfengel ( 409917 )

      The key novelty behind Guitar Hero is that the objects aren't falling randomly. They fall in a predictable pattern, guided by the music.

      For previous games, you're catching random things. The randomness is part of the fun. If it were predictable, it would be boring. The music is just there for entertainment; shut it off and you're not losing anything.

      You can't really play Guitar Hero without the music. You need to be precisely on the beat, and the music guides you to that beat. Playing the game has a k

      • You'd do better learning a real instrument, but that means months of Mary Had A Little Lamb rather than jumping straight to thrash metal.

        But why?

        Why not hook up a midi-converter to a regular guitar and have some Guitar-Hero-like "game" that guides you at least to "lady in black" on the first day?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jfengel ( 409917 )

          That would make an interesting game, but it may not move quite fast enough to grab people.

          A chord in Guitar Hero is a single button, at least at the early stages, and there are only 5 buttons. (Several chords map to the same button, and not in a particularly musical way.) You get big bang for very little effort, nothing compared to the effort of getting even from G to Am and back. That isn't terribly difficult, as guitar things go, but it still involves getting 4 different fingers to move to different pl

          • Thats why I didn't have a "game" in bind, but rather a guitar tutorial that uses a guitar-hero like feedback mechanism.

            Of course it'll be harder than those 5 buttons, but you could use the usual game-mechanics ("levels", unlockable songs, online ranking, guitar battles) to increase learning motivation.

            And unlike the book/cd guitar tutorial you get instant feedback or the accompaniment could react to your own style and tempo.

            Rockband will ship with a full blown MIDI Keyboard. The Band Hero Drumset has a MIDI

    • You got it wrong, it's not a button masher, it's a sim game. They have bottled up the experience and excitement of being a rock star and put it in a game. This movie shows it a bit better [youtube.com].

      See the crowd? See the stage? It's hard to describe the feeling you get being on stage, but they do a pretty good job simulating it. If you mess up, the crowd boos, and it's really depressing, but if you do well, the crowd cheers. Then there is the awesome feeling that comes when amazing music comes from your fingers.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by schon ( 31600 )

        It's hard to describe the feeling you get being on stage, but they do a pretty good job simulating it.

        From your post, I have a *very* hard time believing that you have any idea what it really feels like to be on stage.

        there is the awesome feeling that comes when amazing music comes from your fingers.

        Except it's not coming from your fingers. (And music doesn't come from the fingers anyway.)

        If you don't play the notes right, then they don't come out on the stage.

        See this - right here. Playing music has almost *nothing* to do with "playing the notes right", because "right" is subjective and dependent on the moment. There can be a hundred different ways to "play a note right", and often "right" wouldn't be the way it would be presented by a computer. The fact

        • From your post, I have a *very* hard time believing that you have any idea what it really feels like to be on stage.

          You're very wrong.

          Except it's not coming from your fingers. (And music doesn't come from the fingers anyway.)

          Duh, it's a simulation. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT SIMULATION MEANS? How are you not understanding this?

          No wonder recent music sucks.

          Oh, you're a curmudgeon. Don't you realize people have been saying this kind of thing since the time of Beethoven? (probably earlier but that's as early as I've verified it). Seriously, the variety and depth of ideas in popular music recently is the greatest it's been since the 30s. If you don't realize that, you haven't been paying attention.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by schon ( 31600 )

            From your post, I have a *very* hard time believing that you have any idea what it really feels like to be on stage.

            You're very wrong.

            About what, exactly? You think I *don't* have a hard time believing it? How do you know what I have a hard time believing or not?

            Duh, it's a simulation.

            No, it's not a simulation. It's a game. I understand perfectly what a simulation is - it's you that seems to not understand. If it was a simulation, it would simulate. It would include expressive and improvisational elements, and include performer/audience interplay. Being on stage is *nothing* like sitting on your ass hitting buttons.

            How are you not understanding this?

            How are you not understanding what I w

            • Hmmm, not only are you a curmudgeon, you also have trouble keeping track of different themes in a comment. You said specifically

              No wonder recent music sucks.

              The fact is, recent music doesn't suck, at least no more than any other music has for the past 60 years.

              No, it's not a simulation. It's a game. I understand perfectly what a simulation is - it's you that seems to not understand. If it was a simulation, it would simulate. It would include expressive and improvisational elements, and include performer/audience interplay. Being on stage is *nothing* like sitting on your ass hitting buttons.

              It's really hard for me to believe you've been on stage and connected with an audience. It is exciting to get in front of people like that. Sorry you seem to be devoid of this basic experience, even if you have been on stage.

      • Actually, I know exactly what you're talking about.

        The best video game I've seen in almost a half decade was one about setting off fireworks by Popcap games. Here. . .

        http://www.popcap.com/games/rocketmania [popcap.com]

        Competing for audience appreciation (cheers for bigger explosions) was by far the happiest and most exhilarating reward system I've ever encountered. Very positive and very fun. We're tuned as a species to seek approval noises from people. I'm surprised it hasn't caught on more as a game reward featur

    • And speaking of being at a loss for words....

      I just played this game called Gears of War 2.

      I had that game on a computer running DOS in 1985. I got it on a floppy from a shareware bulletin board.

      You had a gun. Things came at you. You shot them. The end.

      Later on they remade this game a few thousand times.

      You shot Nazis, aliens, Bond villain henchmen, etc. If you got shot enough times, you would die.

      The only difference here is that the graphics are better and the controls are more complicated.

      I can't

  • Hey!!! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by NetNed ( 955141 )
    What Guitar Hero has the Zelda theme in it????

    As a side note, it looks like it either makes the game too easy or it's impossible to master. Would have to see more to fully judge though.
    • I was wondering that myself....

    • What Guitar Hero has the Zelda theme in it????

      Frets on Fire, I'm guessing?

      I never really played the free implementations of the guitar games, so I can't say for sure...

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by NetNed ( 955141 )
        I don't know, the screen looks like Guitar Hero and frets on fire doesn't. It does look like it's running on a PC though, so it must be a mod perhaps or maybe you can't create your own songs on the PC version? I have only played the console version, so I'm not sure.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Tukz ( 664339 )

          Frets on Fire lets you customize your UI to look like GH or RB afaik.

          But I searched around on the intarwebs, apparently Guitar Hero II had a Custom Song mode, where you could import custom songs and such.
          I assume that's what he is using.

  • Having played - or having attempted to play - a song on on one of those, anybody who can make music on a Theremin is a hero in my book. It's easy to make random noise (very cool sounding random noise, but random nonetheless), but not so easy to play a recognizable tune.
  • Cool idea for a project, but a terrible idea for a game. Part of the allure of the Guitar Hero games and that genre is that you can sometimes get the sensation of actually being a rock star (a stretch, but work with me here). How many rock stars are on stage with a Theremin? Having the physical device in your hands is what makes everything more realistic.

  • Kind of unrelated to the device, but the first tune he plays (from Final Fantasy), where did he get that?
    Maybe I am looking for a different title on the music store.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tukz ( 664339 )

      Ah wait, I made a mistake.
      I skipped the first song somehow the first time (that video loads extremely slow for some reason).

      It's the SECOND tune he is playing I am referring too.

      • It's Nobuo Uematsu's metal group The Black Mages. They do covers of Final Fantasy songs, and I'm pretty sure that one was off their first (self-titled) album.
  • Remember that Theremin was an effective, and unsuspected, German spy prior to WWII. Does this hack include spying on your country as one of its play modes?

  • i would love it if anyone could write down how to do that so others can recreate that. it would be so cool to show that off in front of your friends.

  • Seems like the best a nerd guy could hope for. A talented artist, gamer. Awesome. Also, fat chicks give the best head, because they're hungry. Trust me on this.. they're great!

  • My idea for Accordion Hero is safe.

    Just to screw around with the staff I went into the local game store attached to the Hollywood Video and asked for Accordion Hero. The kid actually started a stock check. His cohort was all excited because he thought such a product must be stock full of Weird Al songs.

    How many keys and buttons are there on an accordion? How big of a TV would it take to effectively play Accordion Hero?

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