Post by thesoundmonitor on Apr 2, 2004 20:46:31 GMT -5
now i'm no guitarist, but as a fan of rock i'm, sceptical of the following: [taken from abc.net.au/news]
Gibson introduces the digital guitar
The digital revolution has invaded one of the last bastions of the analog music world - the guitar.
Gibson Musical Instruments, maker of legendary electric and acoustic guitars, including the iconic Les Paul, is set to begin shipping its new digital model in April.
The digital guitar initially is being manufactured exclusively in the Les Paul model and will carry a suggested retail price of $US4,000.
Gibson also will introduce a kit allowing standard electric guitars to be retrofitted with the technology.
"We are not creating something better than a Les Paul," Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said.
"We are building on an incredibly great instrument ... We're adding more ability and more colour.
"If, as an artist, you were used to working with three primary colours, and all of a sudden you had 256 to work with, your creativity would be enhanced.
"In the same sense, we're expanding the palette of possibilities available to the guitar player."
One clear application for the digital guitar is recording, a field now dominated by the digital audio workstation (DAW).
Capturing a digital signal within the guitar and sending it directly into the DAW bypasses the limitations of magnetic pickups and the standard electric guitar's reliance on signal-degrading cables.
The standard electric guitar's output signal is a mono "one quarter-inch jack going through various cables that degrade that sound," Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"Because an analog guitar cable is high impedance - [impedance is the measure of resistance in an alternating-current circuit] - every foot of additional cable adds capacitance and degrades signal."
Low-tech guys
The digital guitar's signal, Mr Juszkiewicz maintains, "sounds better right out of the box."
Whether that is enough to convince thousands of artists who play traditional guitars remains to be seen.
"That sounds like a great idea," said Frank Clum, guitars manager at the Sam Ash musical instrument chain's Manhattan store.
"I can tell you that guitar players are very sceptical about this stuff ... most serious guitar players are low-tech guys."
The solid-body electric guitar, developed in the 1930s, is still the standard.
The Les Paul has evolved very little since its debut in 1952 and still dominates rock 'n' roll and most popular music.
Fretted instruments and related products accounted for more than $US1.1 billion in US retail sales in 2002, according to NAMM, the International Music Products Association.
That figure is nearly double that of US retail sales of acoustic pianos, the second-highest instrument category.
Why tamper with success?
"It became obvious that here was an industry that literally had no technical progress," said Mr Juszkiewicz, who acquired Gibson in 1986.
In the end, three technology trends led him in one direction, Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"The electric guitar is fundamentally an analog device. Not only is it analog, it's bad analog: it's high impedance. All studio-grade stuff is low impedance and balanced."
As a result, guitars sold today cannot be fully integrated into the modern recording world, he said.
"Miniaturization is also driving technological progress ... it's critical to the development of the digital guitar, given the minimal space in which to install components," Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"It was clear that more and more things were connecting and converging, often eradicating boundaries between different industries."
To date, though, even professional guitarists, recording engineers and musical instrument retailers profess limited knowledge about digital guitars.
"I am always a little sceptical of digital," says engineer Tim Hatfield, who has worked with Keith Richards, Steve Earle and Marshall Crenshaw.
"I would love to check the thing out, though.
"The direct-to-DAW [aspect] is probably going to be cool for apartment dwellers wanting to record electric guitars."
Eddie Kramer, a producer/engineer best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, also has mixed feelings.
"It's great, wonderful technology," he said.
"But I'm not sure that guitar players will flock to it.
"I don't give a crap about hum and noise ... to me, that's part of rock 'n' roll; it was always dirty and nasty and rough and ready."
--Reuters/Billboard
Gibson introduces the digital guitar
The digital revolution has invaded one of the last bastions of the analog music world - the guitar.
Gibson Musical Instruments, maker of legendary electric and acoustic guitars, including the iconic Les Paul, is set to begin shipping its new digital model in April.
The digital guitar initially is being manufactured exclusively in the Les Paul model and will carry a suggested retail price of $US4,000.
Gibson also will introduce a kit allowing standard electric guitars to be retrofitted with the technology.
"We are not creating something better than a Les Paul," Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said.
"We are building on an incredibly great instrument ... We're adding more ability and more colour.
"If, as an artist, you were used to working with three primary colours, and all of a sudden you had 256 to work with, your creativity would be enhanced.
"In the same sense, we're expanding the palette of possibilities available to the guitar player."
One clear application for the digital guitar is recording, a field now dominated by the digital audio workstation (DAW).
Capturing a digital signal within the guitar and sending it directly into the DAW bypasses the limitations of magnetic pickups and the standard electric guitar's reliance on signal-degrading cables.
The standard electric guitar's output signal is a mono "one quarter-inch jack going through various cables that degrade that sound," Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"Because an analog guitar cable is high impedance - [impedance is the measure of resistance in an alternating-current circuit] - every foot of additional cable adds capacitance and degrades signal."
Low-tech guys
The digital guitar's signal, Mr Juszkiewicz maintains, "sounds better right out of the box."
Whether that is enough to convince thousands of artists who play traditional guitars remains to be seen.
"That sounds like a great idea," said Frank Clum, guitars manager at the Sam Ash musical instrument chain's Manhattan store.
"I can tell you that guitar players are very sceptical about this stuff ... most serious guitar players are low-tech guys."
The solid-body electric guitar, developed in the 1930s, is still the standard.
The Les Paul has evolved very little since its debut in 1952 and still dominates rock 'n' roll and most popular music.
Fretted instruments and related products accounted for more than $US1.1 billion in US retail sales in 2002, according to NAMM, the International Music Products Association.
That figure is nearly double that of US retail sales of acoustic pianos, the second-highest instrument category.
Why tamper with success?
"It became obvious that here was an industry that literally had no technical progress," said Mr Juszkiewicz, who acquired Gibson in 1986.
In the end, three technology trends led him in one direction, Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"The electric guitar is fundamentally an analog device. Not only is it analog, it's bad analog: it's high impedance. All studio-grade stuff is low impedance and balanced."
As a result, guitars sold today cannot be fully integrated into the modern recording world, he said.
"Miniaturization is also driving technological progress ... it's critical to the development of the digital guitar, given the minimal space in which to install components," Mr Juszkiewicz said.
"It was clear that more and more things were connecting and converging, often eradicating boundaries between different industries."
To date, though, even professional guitarists, recording engineers and musical instrument retailers profess limited knowledge about digital guitars.
"I am always a little sceptical of digital," says engineer Tim Hatfield, who has worked with Keith Richards, Steve Earle and Marshall Crenshaw.
"I would love to check the thing out, though.
"The direct-to-DAW [aspect] is probably going to be cool for apartment dwellers wanting to record electric guitars."
Eddie Kramer, a producer/engineer best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, also has mixed feelings.
"It's great, wonderful technology," he said.
"But I'm not sure that guitar players will flock to it.
"I don't give a crap about hum and noise ... to me, that's part of rock 'n' roll; it was always dirty and nasty and rough and ready."
--Reuters/Billboard
