We have to admit, gamers can be one talented bunch when they set their minds to it. Take Travis Chen and Sunny Chan for example. This pair of students from the University of California, Irvine, have figured out a way to turn the Guitar Hero controller into a synthesizer. We managed to get a quick interview with Travis to talk about his amazing project.

GameSpy: What made you decide to convert your Guitar Hero guitar?
Travis Chen: I really would like to first say that I am in no way the first person to have the idea to utilize the Guitar Hero controller outside of the game. There have been a variety of people that have done equally cool work using the Guitar Hero controller. A great summary of these various projects can be found here, www.pixelsumo.com/post/guitar-hero-hacks. I especially like the mod that incorporates the buttons into a real guitar! Personally, I really wanted to incorporate the Guitar Hero controller with a live band. The idea sounded fun in my head and that's how the development of the program came to be.
GameSpy: How hard was the process and what did it involve?
Chen: The first step was figuring how the input from the guitar could work. In regards to input handling, the logic for making the strumming work (i.e. holding down a button and strumming to play a wav) was a challenge. Once all the input was handled correctly, we could pretty much do anything with it. The looping sequencer and bank system took some time; however it is nothing overly complex.
GameSpy: How many loops can you have going at once?
Chen: As of now, the program has five separate loops which correspond to five separate banks of sounds. Each bank of sound contains five wav samples that are mapped to the colored buttons. Ultimately, a more complete version of the program would have the ability to add as many loops as your heart desires. The program was made as a proof of concept to show how the awesomely unique controller can be incorporated into a music application.



GameSpy: What would it take for everyone to be able to use this software?
Chen: To connect the Guitar Hero controller to the computer, you need a PS2 to USB adapter. From there, the computer interprets the input from the guitar as a Windows game pad. The software we wrote is programmed in Max/Msp which is a popular development environment for music and multimedia applications. You need Max/Msp to run our program (30 day trial at www.cycling74.com); however, when I update the program, I will make it into a stand alone application.
GameSpy: Has anyone created anything really cool with your creation yet?
Chen: The Internet world only recently found out about our work. I had no clue that it was going to get so big. I'd really like to see people taking the work we did as a basis for something amazing. I myself will continue to work on improving the program with a live performance in mind.
GameSpy: Do you hope to go into gaming as a career? What kind of gaming job are you looking for?
Chen: I have worked at a variety of game companies throughout the last four years primarily through internships. I love video games and I couldn't see myself working in anything else. I am currently in the beginning stages of working on a multi-user flash game (www.aristomatic.com) with a fellow UC Irvine student, Pedram Javidpour. It's such a challenging and exciting process building something independently from the ground up. Good times.
GameSpy: Has Harmonix shown any interest in your project?
Chen: I've seen some quotes from Harmonix employees in regards to the program saying that they really support this type of fandom that surrounds Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero really does have a cult like following and they seem to really appreciate their fans. I've loved Harmonix games ever since Frequency and I am really excited to see what else comes from the innovative team of developers.
You can check out a video of Chen's hack in action here.