Arcade buttons are cool

but taking a plastic guitar into the crowd and taping away a solo is some next level fun. In the past 5 years I have experimented with just about every piece of midi gear out there so now its time to raid the game controller closet and continue to find new ways of mixing 2 songs together. The crazy thing is how well cue point juggling techniques translated to the Rock Star guitar. It may seem like a limited controller but with 5 buttons, a 2 way strum bar and some whammy action you can do a lot with a little. I tried every guitar made for guitar hero and in the end this Rock Band edition for the PS3 works the best and offered the most flexibility. Want to try it yourself? Yes, I will be posting pre-set files and instructions soon so you can get your own air guitar button tap on.

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Link: DIY Guitar Hero instructions


  • http://www.myspace.com/minoreffectmusic Matt

    simply..clap clap clap

  • Anonymous

    Ean mah man, you are a Midi-Macgyver. You should find a way to colaborate w/ DJ Nu-Mark. Let everyone bring out their toys!

  • P

    I've been thinking about this, cool!

  • Vic

    Very cool-

  • corporation

    ahhh shucks.. video not available…

  • corporation

    huh…. there it goes…

    thats odd. anyways – awesome as always.

  • http://www.thebulkdump.com Mr. Tunes

    that’s great! how do you convert the game controller into midi? man the crowd was really loving it ha. it reminds me of this project(Press Play on Tape):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7XiXQ6wEyM

  • DJ Elvis

    Man you certanly are one of a kind, I’m realy pleased to see that you do the most desirable tricks I can image, the coolest and always in the easy way, bay the way with a lot of creativity and style, so be even more cool sahring it with us, becouse as I’m a guitar hero adictved and now will be the most frustated DJ in the world until I be able to mix it toghether like you, we are waiting. Great video and performance, congratulation

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/specialavelin Avelin

    This is just great. It is great that dj come into the crowd and become one of them…One of my favorite dj videos on youtube. Go's directly into favorites! :D

    Good luck Ean and be even better!!! ;)

    p.s Are you maybe coming in croatia in some club soon????????????? I really want to hear you live…

  • DJ Elvis

    good question, will you be in Brazil soon? can you make avaliable a shedule to us how wanto to meet/see a live presentation?

  • http://www.bluegrassbeat.com DJ MoRice

    Can’t wait for the instructions and pre-set files. Ean did you use this with a mac or a PC?

  • http://N/A Average Joe

    God Damn…

  • http://www.thebeatworx.com thebeatworx

    Well the next logical step would be to hook up all the Rock Band instruments / controllers and have a samplefest of music / controllerism… Need any band mates Ean?

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    Totally!!!! i hooked up the drums and they worked really well. Not sure about the MIC though- that would be cool if it worked as a sampler.

  • http://myspace.com/djgrbs DJ G-R-Bs

    tap on!

  • rialler

    hi all!

    what’s the name of the song is EAN playing with the guitar?

    thnaks!

  • audiodestruction

    Hey Ean what are the stickers on our keyboard controller all about? Do you have and special system worked out for use of an actual keyboard.

    @rialler – i am pretty sure it is "sweet child of mine" by guns and roses

  • DJ Elvis

    <blockquote cite="#comment-1222">hi all!

    what's the name of the song is EAN playing with the guitar?

    thnaks!

    OMG — could this be possible? can somebody in this world do no know this song by hearing the frist 3 notes – I refuse to tell, I can't, I will not, no, no way, ok is Guns n' Roses – Sweet Child o'mine

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    Hey Ean what are the stickers on our keyboard controller all about? Do you have and special system worked out for use of an actual keyboard.

    Yes, I have been working on a new layout for the oxygen8 V2. Its just about ready to release and yes all the keys have functions. Everything you need to juggle mix, effect, loop 2 decks can easily be done from one oxygen 8 but it works best if you are mixing externally on a real mixer.

  • rialler

    <blockquote cite="#comment-1230"><blockquote cite="#comment-1222">hi all!

    what's the name of the song is EAN playing with the guitar?

    thnaks!

    OMG — could this be possible? can somebody in this world do no know this song by hearing the frist 3 notes – I refuse to tell, I can't, I will not, no, no way, ok is Guns n' Roses – Sweet Child o'mine

    sorry… sorry.. hehe

    but first of all… thanks DJ elvis!! ;-)

    I want to add… another grat EAN demonstration. He encourages me doing something diferent whith Dj software. I've been playing on dj software since traktor dj studio 1.0 and I had no idea these things were posible.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/specialavelin Avelin

    WHAT MIDI CONTROLLER ARE YOU USING EAN IN THIS VIDEO WITH THAT STICKERS ON IT???

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    oxygen 8 v2. painted black

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/specialavelin Avelin

    thx! and what is that midi that you used in video when you explain how to set up your gear in the club? that midi controller is very nice!

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/specialavelin Avelin

    I FOUND IT! NOVATION REMOTE SL! :D

  • DJ Ferg

    What is the name of the song that is playing….not guns n roses. the one in the background.

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    Thats Bob Sinclair "Love Generation".. yes, the cheesy club hit of a few years back… but they sound sooooo good together.

  • Ferg

    Thanks!! I really like the site and all of the info. Will you be playing in Texas anytime?

  • http://www.bluegrassbeat.com DJ MoRice

    Ean…what did you use to interface the guitar with Traktor? Joytomidi, puredata? Can you give us some info on how you did it?

    All I've found is a site or two for joytomidi that is very badly translated. Any help would be very helpful.

  • http://www.zikinf.com/blogengine/guitare-iphone-dj-rock-band-et-scratch-playskool Blog » Guitare iPhone, DJ Rock Band et scratch Playskool

    [...] Ean Golden de djtechtools.com a trouv? un moyen de rendre ses sets DJ plus vivants : il utilise la guitare du jeu vid?o Rock Band comme contr?leur Midi. La limitation ? 5 boutons et une bascule push/pull semble lui convenir, j’ai pourtant la sensation qu’on tourne tr?s rapidement en rond ? la vue de sa vid?o. Reste que pour un moment ?a peut ?tre rigolo. Ean promet d’expliquer prochainement comment faire de m?me et de mettre ? disposition les logiciels n?cessaires : http://www.djtechtools.com/?p=223 [...]

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    How to Map Guitar Hero Controllers to MIDI…

    A Band called The Guitar Zeros are using Guitar Hero controllers connected wirelessly to a laptop with special software to control software sounds. The end effect is the bands ability to play the Guitar and Bass with a great new…

  • Elad G.

    Hey Ean!

    did you play the guns n roses track from the original track ? was it in the same key as "love generation" or did you sample it and changed the key ?

    Is there a way to play a track in diffrent Keys using the keyboard ? or do i have to sampel a track to make it work ?

    Thanks !

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    Yes, i am just replaying the intro of the original guns and roses song. Yes, those 2 songs happen to be in the same key when key locked. Thats the easiest way to accomplish that but you could also change the key independent of the tempo and make any song work with anything. Theoretically.

  • Steel

    Hi Ean!

    Can you please post some instructions on how you do this.

    I really would like to try this my self.

  • Elvis

    Hey Ean, I was so impressed with your presentation that I did not realizes that you are not touching the strumbler, just pretending to be, am I Right ? besouse if I'm right I'm able to do the trick for a few days now, but if you are hiting the strumbler togueter wiht a note buton to make one midi code from thow buton in the controler this is the big deal that I'm burning my head and didin't make it work ! Can you give me some clues about it, I'm making it work perfectly with a PS2=>usb converter and any of this softwares: JoyToKey Ver3.7.4 or Rejoice, that are midi or keyboard translators, but just one button a time

  • Anonymous

    I am certainly using the strum bar, its working in many different ways including triggering playback and even pitch bends. I have aited on releasing my method for djing just yet because it needs to be perfected and then I will give out a plug and play template that will work for everyone. To be honest, there are a lot of ways to do this type of thing. i am going to post another way to do it in Ableton that one of our readers set up.

  • VAM

    Hey man.. I bought a PS2 to USB adaptor after I saw ur post.. but I cant do the mapping, do you think you can clarify the details with this Guitar ?Hero thing?

    Cheers.

  • Anonymous

    Im still waiting for the instructions :(

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    <blockquote cite="#comment-7799">Im still waiting for the instructions :(

    http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/05/09/how-to-dj-w…

  • Maxime

    Could you send me the sound you play with the guitar plz ? :(

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    [quote comment="17700"]Could you send me the sound you play with the guitar plz ? :([/quote]

    I am using the original song sweet child of mine and just sampling the solo

  • Maxime

    [quote comment="17713"][quote comment="17700"]Could you send me the sound you play with the guitar plz ? :([/quote]

    I am using the original song sweet child of mine and just sampling the solo[/quote]

    I know but I found this hard to take the same as u lol I'll retry.. xD

  • svbsfvb

    canu u use this with ableton

  • Dj.Tekno

    you amazing i am lookin up to you i turntabalist and pretty bad saww your vids decideed to do midi but so expensive

  • http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/05/09/how-to-dj-with-guitar-hero/ DJ TechTools  |  How to Dj with Guitar Hero

    [...] [...]

  • http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/05/02/dj-with-your-i-phone/ DJ TechTools  |  Dj tools for your I-Phone- Updated

    [...] to get a real midi keyboard? No problem just whip out your Iphone. It may not exactly create a rock star moment but some girl is bound to give you her phone number [...]

  • Dj_forcedhand

    We think alike… After playing with TouchOSC (on my iPhone) I saw that
    TouchOSC Bridge can handle nearly anything via bluetooth (and their subsequent suggestions of using Guitar Hero guitars (the wireless ones), the DJ Hero Turntable and even WiiMotes as controllers (there are some really options that come to mind with the last one). I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy working with WiiMotes as a virtual Theramin. Anyhow, I grabbed some clean guitar samples and mapped up strum as single notes and down strums as chords. It took a while (with some frustrations) but the guitar was a fun learning experience for MIDI mapping with Traktor (and then Ableton Live). 

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