Les Paul with his iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar.
Legendary jazz guitarist Les Paul, known for his contributions to guitar design and recording technology, has died at the age of 94, according to a joint statement released by Gibson Guitar, the company that produced his iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar, and New York's Iridium jazz club, where he continued to play weekly gigs almost until the end of his life.
Paul's reputation as a guitarist and recording artist are overshadowed by his contributions to music technology. He pioneered many sound recording techniques still in use today, and was also instrumental in developing the modern solid-body electric guitar, which formed the backbone of decades of popular music.
In the mid-1930s, Paul experimented with building an amplified guitar, using a plank of lumber as the starting point, and adding a pickup connected to an external amplifier (both Leo Fender and Adolph Rickenbacker developed similar designs for solid-body electric guitars around the same time). The Gibson Guitar Corporation eventually designed a solid-body electric guitar based on Paul's concepts and signed him to a long-term endorsement deal.
Perhaps more important, Les Paul was among the first musicians to employ multitrack recording--the basis for nearly all modern recorded music. His 1947 recording of, "Lover (When You're Near Me)," was made from eight separate guitar parts, dubbed over each other. While this early experiment was done with acetate disks, the technique moved onto magnetic tape and today's nonlinear hard-drive recording.
His work on multitracking also led to popular recording techniques such as phasing and delay, which were achieved by manipulating the actual magnetic tape used in the recording process.
While he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame, it was his work on the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording that earned him a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame--not the usual place you'd find a jazz guitarist.
A California court has tossed out Gibson Guitar's patent infringement lawsuit against Guitar Hero maker Activision, saying Gibson's arguments "border on the frivolous."
The iconic guitar manufacturer filed suit in March 2008, charging that Guitar Hero's mock guitars infringed on a 1999 patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,990,405 (PDF).
(Credit:
Activision)
That patent, also known as "The '405 Patent," covers "a system and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience." Specifically, it details a head-mounted display that includes stereo speakers and is worn while playing an instrument along with a simulated concert.
Earlier that same month, in a series of legal volleys preceding the suit, Gibson filed for declaratory relief--asking for compensation, in other words. But Activision decided it didn't need a license under Gibson's patent and said so in a legal countermeasure. Then came Gibson's suit.
In last week's ruling (PDF), a U.S. District Court basically decided that Gibson's patent only applies to devices that output an analog signal. "As a general observation, no reasonable person of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would interpret the '405 Patent as covering interactive video games," the ruling stated.
The court added that Gibson's interpretation of its patent could be extended to cover things from a "button of a DVD remote...to a pencil tapping a table."
But Activision isn't Gibson's only target. It sued major retailers--including Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart--that sell games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Plus, it added MTV, Harmonix, and Electronic Arts to its list of plaintiffs. MTV, which acquired Guitar Hero developer Harmonix in 2006, uses EA as the distributor for Rock Band and is likely turning up the celebratory tunes following the Activision ruling.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--For the gathering of curious onlookers eager to see what a Sony OLED TV looks like on the inside, officials at the Embedded Systems Conference had some bad news: The airline (no, they didn't say which one) lost their stuff. Unfortunately, their stuff included that TV.
Instead, as a last-minute replacement, we got Gibson's Robot guitar, which was scheduled for the teardown treatment later this week. (See our earlier coverage of the Robot guitar here and video of it in action.)
David Carey, president of Protelligent, a company that specializes in taking apart electronics piece by piece, took the stage with the electric-blue electric guitar and a variety of tools. Starting at the bottom of the instrument and working his way up the strings to the head, Carey explained how there's actually nothing robotic about the guitar at all.
The "robot" part of the name refers to the guitar being self-tuning. "It's not a robot," Carey noted. "Electro-mechanics join with embedded processing to achieve an automatically tuning electric guitar. It's one of the best examples of an embedded system I've seen in a long time."
The technology inside is licensed from German company Tronical, and it's integrated with what is essentially a standard Gibson Les Paul.
(Credit:
Gibson)
The idea of a robotic guitar that tunes itself seemed like an interesting concept when it came out last year but, much to our surprise, it generated more than a bit of controversy. That's not necessarily a bad thing for Gibson, which will probably reap the benefits of more publicity for the release of its second model.
In addition to the automated functions of the original, the SG version of the Gibson Robot Guitar is distinguishable by one blindingly obvious feature: It's purple. Not just any purple, but metallic.
Engadget says the SG will be more widely available than its predecessor, though that may not be necessary given its garish hue. In the meantime, you can see the original in action here.
Gibson is none too happy about Activision's 'Guitar Hero' pictured here.
(Credit: Activision)This post was updated at 4:12 AM on Monday to reflect the fact that Gibson has added MTV, Harmonix, and EA to the list of plaintiffs.
Legendary guitar manufacturer Gibson Guitar has sued six major retailers--Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Amazon.com, Gamestop, and Toys-R-Us--for selling Activision's Guitar Hero video game series, MarketWatch reported Friday.
The decision was made "reluctantly," according to a statement from Gibson.
Earlier this month, Gibson sued Activision over Guitar Hero, claiming that the game violated a 1999 patent for a virtual-reality guitar-playing device that "simulate(s) participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers." A copy of the patent included in Gibson's original lawsuit is indeed dated November 23, 1999.
Activision filed for declaratory relief on March 11, claiming that Gibson's lawsuit came about after the video game publisher nixed a marketing deal with the guitar manufacturer. "Gibson waited three years to make its patent allegations, and only did so after it became clear that Activision was not interested in renewing its marketing and support agreement with Gibson," the Activision filing stated. "Activision continues to believe that Gibson's claims are disingenuous and lack any justification."
But in Gibson's latest move, filed Monday, the Nashville, Tenn.-based company has chosen to target retailers as well--a tactic that Activision quickly criticized.
"Our Guitar Hero retailing partners have done nothing wrong," Activision said in a statement. "We will confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with Activision's relationship with its customers and its consumers."
On Friday, Gibson made it clear that it's after any guitar-playing game, as it added MTV, Harmonix, and Electronic Arts to the list of plaintiffs. MTV, which acquired Guitar Hero developer Harmonix in 2006, uses EA as the distributor for its Rock Band game. Rock Band, a Guitar Hero competitor that was released last November, allows players to team up on vocals, bass, and drums in addition to guitar.
I can almost hear the derisive laughter coming from the executive suite at Activision.
This after the video game giant, the publisher of the monster-hit Guitar Hero III, issued a scathing response to a lawsuit brought against it by its former partner, iconic guitar manufacturer Gibson.
Activision responded harshly Thursday to a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it by guitar maker Gibson.
(Credit: Activision)According to the video game blog, Kotaku, Gibson filed suit against Activision, claiming that it owned a 9-year-old patent for "technology to simulate a musical performance."
In a March 11 filing for declaratory relief (Click for PDF), Activision noted that in a January 7, 2008 letter, Gibson attorneys argued that Guitar Hero infringed on Gibson's patent.
"By continuing to sell any version of the Guitar Hero game software and/or instrument controllers for use with the Guitar Hero game software...Activision is taking advantage of Gibson's patented technology without properly compensating Gibson," the guitar maker's attorneys wrote. "Gibson requests that Activision obtain a license under (the patent) or halt sales of any version of Guitar Hero game software."
But Activision later decided it didn't need a license under Gibson's patent and on March 10 wrote Gibson saying so.
Gibson subsequently sued for patent infringement.
In a press release Thursday, Activision also went public with its assertion that Gibson has nothing on it.
"Gibson's lawsuit is a transparent end run around an impartial court that Activision asked on March 11 to rule on patent assertions that Gibson knows have no merit," Activision wrote in its release. "As Activision noted in its filing, Gibson waited three years to make its patent allegations, and only did so after it became clear that Activision was not interested in renewing its marketing and support agreement with Gibson. Activision continues to believe that Gibson's claims are disingenuous and lack any justification."
To be sure, one would expect language like that from any company in Activision's position. And one would expect a company in Gibson's position to file suit. Because that's how business gets done these days.
But usually, one side or the other in these cases has no real argument, and the courts tend to determine that awfully quickly.
In this case, it is probably too early to tell what the outcome will be.
But as one commenter called VeritasVierge on the Kotaku story put it, "The problem for Gibson is the patent says that the guitar would have strings which the Guitar Hero controllers lack...The idea of recording music and replaying it via a guitar is just to broad an idea to patent."
When I saw the MacBook Air in person this week at Macworld Expo, I was having a hard time figuring out what about it seemed so familiar. Then I remembered. The G4 Cube. "Overpriced and underconfigured" were the words we used to describe it in our review in 2000, and many of the same complaints could be applied directly to the MacBook Air.
G4 Cube: pretty, but dumb
Where the Cube had no PCI slots or additional drive bays, no standard audio input or output jacks, and wouldn't accept full-length graphics cards because of its diminutive size, the Air has no Ethernet port (!), no optical drive, no removable battery, and requires a micro-DVI connector for output to an external monitor. Both offer underwhelming technical specs--the G4's hard drive was legendarily slow, while the Air's 80GB drive is, hilariously, half the capacity of the largest iPod Classic. Even the price tag was the same: $1,799! And I think in the future, I'll be able to update this post with one more important comparison: the Cube, although a stunning piece of industrial design, was a commercial flop, and I think the MacBook Air will be, too.
The more I think about the Air, the less I am able to answer the grammatically torturous question, "Who is this for?" And that's an important question to answer when you're spending money and resources on a new addition to your lineup. Let's look at the Cube again. Most of its features, plus more power and expandability, were available for less money in the G4 minitowers. The top-of-the-line black MacBook offers the same sized screen as the MacBook Air, a more powerful processor, twice the hard-drive capacity, and with 2GB of RAM to match the Air's, still costs $150 less. And your tradeoff is what, 2 pounds and a little bit of baby fat?
No one who looks at the MacBook Air, even those who are smitten with its insane thinness and...well, mostly just that...believe it would function as their primary machine. No, they say, they want it for its portability. But that's a pretty expensive secondary machine, especially when you could have a smartphone or portable media player or Nokia N810 or heck, an iPhone that's very nearly as useful and a whole sight more portable. In fact, you could argue that the convergence of phone and computer is the dominant trend in consumer electronics right now, and the iPhone is one of the primary examples of how good things can get in that field. If you buy that argument, it would seem to suggest that developing an extremely-but-not-ultra-portable MacBook right now is a bit redundant, if not outright baffling.
So that leaves you in Cube-land again: with a very small and well-heeled potential audience willing to spend $1,800 or more (or just over $3,000 if they opt for the 64GB solid-state drive for maximum tech-forwardness) simply to bask in the glow of outstanding design. Oh, and a resurgent fetishist aftermarket capped by a series of glowing mentions in a William Gibson novel. There's nothing wrong with that approach, as long as you know it going in, and Apple certainly got its hat handed to it with the Cube. Let's hope they're not cranking out MacBook Airs by the hundred-thousand, because I just don't think they're going to need them.
Yesterday, Gibson Guitars released its self-tuning Robot Guitar. It'll add about $800 to the price of a new guitar (it's available only on mid-range guitars with street prices over $2,000), and will compete against a self-tuning guitar add-on from TransPerfomance, which runs about $3,000, including installation.
The technology behind self-tuning guitars is far from trivial--a CPU in the guitar neck must continually monitor string tension and adjust the pegs accordingly--and I'm sure the demos are fun to watch, but I think the vast majority of guitarists will get a lot more value out of a standard $100 tuner pedal. The main problem is intonation. When you buy a new guitar, somebody has set it up so that the strings are in tune with themselves--that is, when a string is in tune in the open position (no finger on the fretboard), it'll be in tune at every important interval above open, including third, fifth, and octave. But perfect intonation is rare, even on an excellent guitar that's been set up by a master. And more to the point, intonation changes over time--different strings lose tension at different rates (this can happen even with temperature changes), the bridge and nuts get looser, and in extreme cases (like if you frequently lean your guitar against walls instead of always putting it a stand or away in your case), the neck might bow.
So, while self-tuning guitars may be perfectly in tune on open strings, they won't be perfectly in tune all the way up the fretboard unless the guitar has perfect intonation.
With a chromatic tuner, you can aim for the best possible tuning throughout the entire guitar--maybe you let the open tuning be slightly flat on each string so that the third and octave are in. There are other tuning issues where manual control is nice--for instance, you might hear that another instrument has gone slightly out of tune in the middle of a song. If you're a small enough ensemble, and you trust your own ears, you might adjust your own tuning slightly to compensate, then indicate to the other person that it's time to tune up after the song's over. Or, like many lead guitarists (notably Eric Clapton--scroll down to "Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad?"), you might prefer slightly flat tuning so you stand out from the rest of the band, or so you can use thick strings (for a fatter tone) and still bend them (for blues licks).
Of course, the number one rule for tuning on stage is: always use the bypass! Nobody wants to hear you tune your guitar.
What do you get when you combine a guitar loaded with robotic technology with one of the most talented musicians of this day and age? Hopefully, one hell of a show.
Guitarist/musician/former choir boy Martin Luther will be showcasing Gibson's self-tuning Robot Guitar at a free show in San Rafael, Calif.
Luther, who recorded the critically acclaimed album Rebel Soul Music in 2004 and recently toured with The Roots, will play the Bananas At Large instrument store on Monday, December 3.
Following the show, which starts at 12:30 p.m., there will be a public question-and-answer session to explain the intricacies of the Robot Guitar. Gibson's guitar doesn't go on sale until December 7 at select stores. According to the guitar-maker's Web site, only ten of the new guitars will be available per store. Although there's no pricing info available yet, the combination of robotics and limited availability means it's sure to cost a pretty penny.
If you can't make it to the show, Gibson has a few promo videos of the Robot Guitar below.
(Credit:
Gibson)
It was bound to happen, given all the madness that appears to have gripped the guitar business: the world's first robot guitar.
The "Gibson Robot Guitar," to be exact, available in its debut next month in "an exclusive Blue Silverburst Les Paul model" before the regular version comes out later next year, according to the company. The robo-tar supposedly can tune all six strings "within a few seconds," Engadget says, with commands from the "Master Control Knob."
But first things first. We're holding out for a teaching version, as it would probably help if we learned how to play.
