Not Practical Problems

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I'm an Engineering student, and this kinda shit blows me away.

Basically, robots that can recognize the color of the fret in Guitar Hero, and "plays" the note by flipping a switch and pressing the button.

You have, of course, the original, SlashBot:


Also, Cythbot:


Now, while both are amazing, I think the BIGGEST flaw is, as the later video shows, fast strums, or really alt-strumming in general. From observation, they seem to have the little piston that flips the strum bar to the perfect distance where the bar goes far enough to recognize the strum, but not so far that it comes back so that it can flip it as fast in only one direction as flipping it up and down.

One thing that I can reccomend to off set the "fast note" problem seen in the CythBot is to also allow for width detection. If the camera detects something the width of a note followed by something of the same color, but narrower, then hold the same fret(s), but if it's followed by something of the same width, then it strums really fast.

But which one is better, you ask?
All right, FACE OFF: CLIFFS OF DOVER!

96%, good job SlashBot!

99%? Cythbot Wins!

This Happened On The Watchtower

JOKER AND THE THIEF

This is one really easy song. All that's really a concern is the hammer-on/pull-off bit right here:

G--------0h5h7--
D-0h5h7----------

Everything else is really simple.

So Epic

EPIC

This song's a bitch because it swings between these really easy whole measure power chords, and sweep picking. It's impossible to play with one guitar, but somehow I managed to learn enough of it to get by. I'm going out in a bit, so I'll leave you with an Epic Mash-up with Faith No More, AC/DC and Queen.

And a proper tab.

I've Seen A Million Faces...

Yup. Sure have.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

For some reason, after I've been off a song for a while, I come back to it and it's like "Oh, this is easy!" This is one of those songs.

The chords I've shown you, and that's the bulk of the song.

A tutorial on how to play the intro is here. As well as here.

Spartan update, I know, but I'm busy with other stuff right now.

SETLIST UPDATED

Week O' Concerts

Nothing better to start August with a confirmation that rock is still alive and kicking, eh?

Monday and Tuesday I saw Green Day in Madison Square Garden, with the Kaiser Cheifs opening.

The only song I know by KC is "Ruby", but then I feel kinda "meh" about them. My biggest complaint though was that every instrument seemed to blend into each other, and not in a good way. They have a nice 80's pop/rock sound with a hefty dose of techno, but I skipped them Tuesday night.

The real meat and bones: Green Day. Let me say this- if you value fun, power chords, or music in general, see them live. Billie Joe Armstrong has enough energy to motherfucker around for 8 people. They hit on a lot of big songs from both the new album ("Know Your Enemy", "21st Century Breakdown") and the old ("Basket Case", "Brain Stew/Jaded", and "King For A Day", which they segued into "Shout", "Longview") and even a few suprises ("Static Age" and "Murder City" from the new album, "2000 Light Years Away", "Dissappearing Boy"). If you were disappointed with the setlist, then congratulation, you're a fucking snob.

There was some cool stuff going on in the background, with a light up city and background depending on the song, like war footage for "Holiday" and lyrics in graffiti for "Jesus Of Suburbia". Also, the Pyro showed up for "Static Age"

The best part was the very loose, fun atmosphere the show had. During "East Jesus Nowhere" they brought a kid on stage to be saved (complete with pyrotechnics), and ensured that kid would either grow up to be messed up or totally awesome. They invited people up to play Operation Ivy's "Knowledge" and "Jesus Of Suburbia". Like, their actual fucking instruments. One kid even got to keep Mike Dirnt's bass. Some kid jumped up on stage during "Know Your Enemy", danced on stage for a bit, then dove back off.

Compare that to AC/DC's show (C WUT I DID THAR) at Giants Stadium yesterday, where the floor security was an immovable force of... something, but it wasn't as, shall we say "intimate" as the Green Day show. But if you've heard an AC/DC song, they played it. The effects kicked ass, with a little movie playing before hand, to the actual Rock N' Roll Train, and all the classic props (The Bell for Hell's Bells, giant blow up Rosie for "Whole Lotta Rosie").

However the biggest moment in my mind was the final solo for "Let There Be Rock", where Angus Young went balls out shredding for a good 6 minutes. Arthritis? What the hell is that?

All in all, a pretty good week. I should have another song for you by tomorrow or Monday.