It's really rather amazing how well these MIDI controllers from the 1980s and early 1990s have not only survived, but they still interface just fine with modern equipment. There aren't too many standards from that era that have aged so well. I converted a Quickshot MIDI Composer by slapping a MIDI-to-USB interface into it (hard wired, entirely in the shell) and that gets used far more than my real synth that weighs 30 kg because I can easily wave it around with one hand and put it exactly where it's convenient. I also have more modern inputs like a Korg Nanopad and an EWI USB, and they all play nice together.
Memories ! I worked for Yamaha Dealers as a musician from 1985 - 2010. I remember this guitar, also the 'breathe controller keyboard " ( play sax on your synth, breath is velocity /attack control ) .Great video !
I picked up a Yamaha EZ-AG while stationed in Okinawa. From what I've read, it can do this midi stuff? (really new to guitar and music production in general). Any recommendations on a cheaper beginner midi controller, ideally one that can interface with a computer? Also, I read its possible to add new sounds to it, how would I go about doing that?
I have the Rolantd GR-55. It is just a guitar synthesizer. it kind of combines the midi and sounds box into the same box, and frustratingly does not really generate or send out usable midi, so to use it with a computer like you did with drums. It is an odd unit as well, since it is fairly modern, but still has a bit of that hard to find information or documentation about the many options for each effect and setting for pickup sensitivity. You can still get cables and pick ups though.
Check out Godin, a fellow Canadian brand. They make relatively inexpensive gear at amazing quality, and most importantly some of their guitars have a 6 piece transducer pickup and a 13 pin output, in addition to a regular output. The 13 pin can be sent into a converter and then sent into your interface for example and you can control virtual instruments with it, that come with pro tools! I don't believe I can post links in the comments section but definitely check them out.
Oh wow, I love both this and the Casio that you covered, they're so bizarre and gimmicky, but I think that's why they're interesting and fun to me, I'd love to own one someday. This one also gives off a video game music vibe with the sounds it can put out, that last song sounds like it could be the theme to a town in an older Pokémon game.
I bought myself a second hand Yamaha EZ-AG this summer, cheaper and a bit more easy to plug to say your iphone or computer. Just takes a 16 € Thomann MIDI to USB unit for a PC, plus a 7 € USB to lightning cable to plug it into your iPhone and have hours of fun on Garageband synths and drum kits. Plus the onboard piano sound is acceptable if you use the 1/4" jack output. You just have to be patient with all those bum notes...
the TX18Z is a rack version(no keys just a tone generator) of the DX11 synthesizer from Yamaha(the breath controller might have given some people the hint it was a DX synth) and the g10 essentially just adds back the keys to the dx11. It's good if you can't play a piano but in reality it's an over complicated and more expensive version of one of Yamaha's budget models of DX synthesizers.
YouRock Guitar. Doesn't do the breath controller part and costs a fraction of the price. Or Fishman's Triple Play, which is like the Roland GK pickup, but USB instead of requiring a separate module.
(1:02) I would never be so presumptuous as to correct the Samurai Guitarist's pronunciation, but I always thought the name of this company was "Yah-mah-hah" not "Yeah-mah-mah." ruclips.net/video/GOAmMGb6huQ/видео.html
5:29 Holy shit, either I just realized he shaves off the very ends of his eyebrows to actually look like a samurai...or they may actually grow like that, but Im sceptical🤔
Funnily enough, I actually wanted to play accordion instead of guitar around the time when I first started hahaha. My Grapa very kindly bought me a guitar and started lessons for me at a very small local instrument shop, which was absolutely littered with accordions. Gus, the store owner, was always playing/repairing accordions when I walked in and he would talk to us about his favorite musicians. He got me really into Frankie Yankovic and other polka/folk artists, as I'd write down every artist he mentioned and rent out their CDs from the local library. I think it was all I listened to or played guitar along with. As a result, for the first year or two into my lessons, I secretly wanted to play the accordion instead of guitar but never had the heart to tell my Grapa hahaha. Part of me has been meaning to pick it up someday.
That was actually incredible.... if I could describe it?.... if the 80's beat the 90's in a thunderdome-esque version of "2 musical eras enter, 1 musical era leaves"... (and the 80's won) I.e.- what the late 80's would sound like if the 90's (as we know them) never existed
That Yamaha is pretty sweet! Speaking of accordions. 😄 The Schaller strap locks I bought are listed on Amazon as being for an *accordion* 🤣 They were $19 USD so I can't really complain 🤷♂️😁
Had a similar idea i would like to give yamaha. Make a guitar with touch-sensors inside the frets. So that you can play chords on one string with 4 fingers on the 4 frets of a String. That way some ot the chord fingerings used on piano would also be accessible by guitar players. The sensors should use the same technology used by touchscreens, they should sense the touch of a fret by electric currents, so you dont have to press hard. They could also make this a way to play guitar easier if you dont have enough strenght in your fingers or athrosis or smth. because touching the frets would be enough to trigger the digital sounds, and by making it adjustable through software we could make the guitar ignore things like fret buzz.
This is just making me want to get a Fishman Tripleplay now! Basically the same thing except maybe $400 xD Very cool though, those sounds were pretty impressive even from over 30-year-old gear!
I’m not sure but I’ve seen a couple of just the guitar part in pawnshops . I’ve seen other synthesizer guitars but passed I’m more into Fender style guitars .
If you really want a great midi guitar system get the Fishman Triple Play it tracks chords and single notes flawlessly! More guitarist should know about it.
Unfortunately, I was an accordionist that wanted to learn guitar, not a guitarist that wanted to learn accordion
Ahhh yes I've heard that one before
2 days ago????
@@wearethehappyones18 patreon member probably
@@sahbiah ahh I see lol
IT WAS ME! I HAD A GUITAR AND WISHED I'D SPENT ALL THAT TIME LEARNING ACCORDION!
very cool , wacky, neat, zany, quirky, nutty, silly, and just a little goofy
i just wont like cause ya know 69
C'mon man you really went and hurt Orange Juice, you know it's fragile all it takes is a singular word dude be considerate smh 😂
Yeah and the guitar is pretty cool too.
@Orange Juice
Quirky toothpaste.
bizarre, some may say
It's really rather amazing how well these MIDI controllers from the 1980s and early 1990s have not only survived, but they still interface just fine with modern equipment. There aren't too many standards from that era that have aged so well. I converted a Quickshot MIDI Composer by slapping a MIDI-to-USB interface into it (hard wired, entirely in the shell) and that gets used far more than my real synth that weighs 30 kg because I can easily wave it around with one hand and put it exactly where it's convenient. I also have more modern inputs like a Korg Nanopad and an EWI USB, and they all play nice together.
Whenever you do these more unorthodox guitars, I can never help but think of how Steve Vai would have used these.
I wouldn’t doubt he owns most of the guitars in this series just for fun. Would love to see what he could do with this one.
I think guitar would be a completely different universe if artists like him had this stuff from the start.
He at least has a sitar guitar like what SG did earlier in the series
@@Scarlett8Music Same. Steve is just out of this world.
@@LiMCRiMZ Interesting outlook!
Buying this solely to play that fart noise sample on a guitar. Going to add some delay to it also. This is the plan.
That is the plan.
This is the way
Plan -> Poster,
Poster -> Plan...
Mayor!
There is a MIDI pickup for guitar you could use instead... way cheaper.
This is the way
SammyG writing anime ending credits for the 80s, in 2020.
SammyG time travel confirmed.
Memories ! I worked for Yamaha Dealers as a musician from 1985 - 2010. I remember this guitar, also the 'breathe controller keyboard " ( play sax on your synth, breath is velocity /attack control ) .Great video !
I remember the first Roland guitar synths from 1979, The world of analogue, or analog ;-)
I picked up a Yamaha EZ-AG while stationed in Okinawa. From what I've read, it can do this midi stuff? (really new to guitar and music production in general).
Any recommendations on a cheaper beginner midi controller, ideally one that can interface with a computer? Also, I read its possible to add new sounds to it, how would I go about doing that?
At this rate, if I wait long enough, the samurai theory series will be bundled 3 for the price of free. Sounds worth it to be honest
Oh, man. The TX81Z was an awesome FM synthesizer. Like a Yamaha DX11 without the keyboard component. Super cool.
That last song was catchy as hell though, could use that as a theme song for a show with a little tweaking
Please do New Complexity guitars soon! They are 100% the weirdest guitars being made right now!
You've cursed my brain, i can never see a guitar the same way again!
I looked it up. Man, I could barely call them guitars. They're like a whole different instrument.
Imagine a live performance from an entire band but everyone one is playing this guitar 😂😂
For being an obscure instrument it actually sounds really awesome. Very retro video game like. Great work Sammy G!
For as respected as the man is, I still feel he's crazily underappreciated.
I have the Rolantd GR-55. It is just a guitar synthesizer. it kind of combines the midi and sounds box into the same box, and frustratingly does not really generate or send out usable midi, so to use it with a computer like you did with drums.
It is an odd unit as well, since it is fairly modern, but still has a bit of that hard to find information or documentation about the many options for each effect and setting for pickup sensitivity. You can still get cables and pick ups though.
Check out Godin, a fellow Canadian brand. They make relatively inexpensive gear at amazing quality, and most importantly some of their guitars have a 6 piece transducer pickup and a 13 pin output, in addition to a regular output. The 13 pin can be sent into a converter and then sent into your interface for example and you can control virtual instruments with it, that come with pro tools!
I don't believe I can post links in the comments section but definitely check them out.
Only problem is that the 13 pin MIDI ties it to the Roland ecosystem.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino it does ? so if i don't want to use roland hardware i need a USB MIDI port ? I really thought the 13 pin was the MIDI standard
@@ItsYourBoiUhh Standard MIDI uses a 5-pin DIN connector.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino thanks, thats the clarification i was looking for !
That design definitely started as a cordless vacuum.
When u get enough weird corky stuff, u can make an album using only this different instruments, pedals, etc. That would be dope! hahahahaha
Corky?
Behold: THE ENTIRETY OF THE LISA THE PAINFUL SOUNDTRACK
Turly a masterpiece of a game.
I would have died if you played the Wii music on the fart sample
We have let you live another day my friend. Spend it wisely.
Would have loved to hear this going through a DAW instead.
I was hoping he'd use a guitar patch for maximum Inception value.
Oh wow, I love both this and the Casio that you covered, they're so bizarre and gimmicky, but I think that's why they're interesting and fun to me, I'd love to own one someday. This one also gives off a video game music vibe with the sounds it can put out, that last song sounds like it could be the theme to a town in an older Pokémon game.
1:24 that is some impressive mixing there...
Oh man, that MIDI goodness. Really takes me back.
I actually own one of these. They're great fun.
When Sammy G pronounces "Yamaha", his Japanese identity yields to his Canadian identity and it comes out "yam-a-ha".
My Japanese is leaves something to be desired. Despite a few phrases and world's my grandparents used I don't know any
Yam-a-eh
The font you use to show instruments makes “organ” look like “dagan”
Honestly that's what I thought it was and I just kinda went with it
I love a dagan in the mix.
Dagabo na
Ben Tennyson, you’ve defeated my physical form (Vilgax). Now I shall destroy you with my omniscient power
This thing is awesome. Thank you for taking the time to hunt this down and do a video. You should collaborate with "The Midnight."
This is a technical guitarists dream come true, I wanna see what people like Steve Vai, John 5 or Buckethead could do to one of these things
Your my favorite RUclipsr!! Great vid
I bought myself a second hand Yamaha EZ-AG this summer, cheaper and a bit more easy to plug to say your iphone or computer.
Just takes a 16 € Thomann MIDI to USB unit for a PC, plus a 7 € USB to lightning cable to plug it into your iPhone and have hours of fun on Garageband synths and drum kits.
Plus the onboard piano sound is acceptable if you use the 1/4" jack output.
You just have to be patient with all those bum notes...
I’ve been watching him for 2 years and literally just realized I was never subscribed the whole time.
Guess being subscribed doesnt make a difference
Please make a full song with this. You make it sound awesome!
8:24 loved it
the TX18Z is a rack version(no keys just a tone generator) of the DX11 synthesizer from Yamaha(the breath controller might have given some people the hint it was a DX synth) and the g10 essentially just adds back the keys to the dx11. It's good if you can't play a piano but in reality it's an over complicated and more expensive version of one of Yamaha's budget models of DX synthesizers.
The song at the end was absolutely amazing, damn.
i actually know someone who almost stopped playing guitar when he inherited an accordion
This is actually really cool. Seems like a great replacement for a keyboard midi controller
You can get midi pickups for real guitars, and the end result is basically the same
@@oskarileikos I didn't know that, sounds useful
YouRock Guitar. Doesn't do the breath controller part and costs a fraction of the price. Or Fishman's Triple Play, which is like the Roland GK pickup, but USB instead of requiring a separate module.
Man that tune at the end is a certified banger, it actually hit me in the feels somehow.
(1:02) I would never be so presumptuous as to correct the Samurai Guitarist's pronunciation, but I always thought the name of this company was "Yah-mah-hah" not "Yeah-mah-mah."
ruclips.net/video/GOAmMGb6huQ/видео.html
I’m gonna get this so I can cover Gene Belcher tunes
Im sorry u have poor taste
@@crussteasock4047
What’s up your butt?
5:29 Holy shit, either I just realized he shaves off the very ends of his eyebrows to actually look like a samurai...or they may actually grow like that, but Im sceptical🤔
He rocks the hair as well with a top knot and the further back forehead
4:33 Straight up Transport Tycoon!
5:10 You just took me back to Sim City 2000
I love that demo at the beginning!!
You created the opening theme song from late 80s sitcoms. All on one guitar. Good job.
Thanks to you and this series I have been doing my own weird in interesting gear series. Thank you good sir.🙏
8:20 is so relaxing like in digital guitar
it looks like a vacuum from Star Trek
Funnily enough, I actually wanted to play accordion instead of guitar around the time when I first started hahaha. My Grapa very kindly bought me a guitar and started lessons for me at a very small local instrument shop, which was absolutely littered with accordions. Gus, the store owner, was always playing/repairing accordions when I walked in and he would talk to us about his favorite musicians. He got me really into Frankie Yankovic and other polka/folk artists, as I'd write down every artist he mentioned and rent out their CDs from the local library. I think it was all I listened to or played guitar along with. As a result, for the first year or two into my lessons, I secretly wanted to play the accordion instead of guitar but never had the heart to tell my Grapa hahaha. Part of me has been meaning to pick it up someday.
That's amazing and congrats on just getting 700k subs!
Coming from an area where Celtic and pub songs are popular I can see the use of that accordion sound, lol.
Nice score.
You should make a video comparing midi guitar controllers over the years I'd love to see how the jammy compares to these older synths!
man i love this series. keep it up ninja mandolinist
You know a content creator cares about what he puts out for his audiance when he spends a year and 1000 dollars to make a single video
That was actually incredible.... if I could describe it?.... if the 80's beat the 90's in a thunderdome-esque version of "2 musical eras enter, 1 musical era leaves"... (and the 80's won)
I.e.- what the late 80's would sound like if the 90's (as we know them) never existed
That Yamaha is pretty sweet!
Speaking of accordions. 😄 The Schaller strap locks I bought are listed on Amazon as being for an *accordion* 🤣 They were $19 USD so I can't really complain 🤷♂️😁
The effort that he has taken is what is so appreciable 🔥💯💯💯💯🔥🙌🙌
An ensemble of MIDI guitars would be handy when serving as the orchestra for a show or as a group of worship musicians for a church service.
The sparkle in your eye when you recount Derek playing Wonderwall at the Christmas party...
Congrats on the 700.000 subs
I'm pretty sure Jan Hammer used one of these to record music for Miami Vice. That outro theme sounds very MV.
Cool. When I finally get tried of kick ass guitar tones, and want to sound like a Casio keyboard from the '80's I know what to get.
When are you going to cover the Casio EG-5? Part tape deck, part guitar, all awesome.
The song you perform towards the end sounds like the type of song you’d hear during the finale of a show
8:24 That end song
I'd love to see you try a Fishman Tripleplay. I love the idea of turning a real guitar into a midi instrument.
Had a similar idea i would like to give yamaha. Make a guitar with touch-sensors inside the frets. So that you can play chords on one string with 4 fingers on the 4 frets of a String. That way some ot the chord fingerings used on piano would also be accessible by guitar players. The sensors should use the same technology used by touchscreens, they should sense the touch of a fret by electric currents, so you dont have to press hard. They could also make this a way to play guitar easier if you dont have enough strenght in your fingers or athrosis or smth. because touching the frets would be enough to trigger the digital sounds, and by making it adjustable through software we could make the guitar ignore things like fret buzz.
Every f*cking time a new Samurai video comes up I stop whatever I am watching to watch your videos
Sammy.. maybe this isnt the weirdest guitar but it blew me away. You should so a video on the Line6 Variax
Loved your demo at the end 💕
"That would be a helicopter" had me bust out laughing, holy shit Sammy G
Next time you get invited to do a shred collab video, please use this, SG.
that trumpet bit you did really reminded me of the original Blade Runner soundtrack
The dustbuster of electric guitar! Good stuff Samurai!!
I like to imagine thunderstruck being played in with some of these effects
Does your online courses cover different chords? Also chords in a Drop tuning? If so then I’ll try them out.
The veins popping out of your head when you play with the mouthpiece is hilarious 😂
That lead was so heavy! Sounds like Mike Oldfield’s dodgy 90s era.
This is just making me want to get a Fishman Tripleplay now! Basically the same thing except maybe $400 xD
Very cool though, those sounds were pretty impressive even from over 30-year-old gear!
The synth song at the end was great man
Great stuff Sammy G !
there's actually an audio to midi converter that you plug your guitar into and it gets you midi signals.
that last song sounds like it could be a pokemon town theme. love it
Wild stuff!
I agree.
@@samuraiguitarist so do I.
I’m not sure but I’ve seen a couple of just the guitar part in pawnshops .
I’ve seen other synthesizer guitars but passed I’m more into Fender style guitars .
Just out of curiosity, are there synth pedals that you can just slap on your guitar and get grooving or is it more complicated getting synth sounds?
The base of it looks like a early 90s handheld portable vacuum
I'm pretty sure I've seen an alien play one of these things in bar
4:40 I actually am a guitarist that wished I could have also learned accordion
It really will allow you to control the world if you fully unlock its potential. Please have mercy on me Sammy G if you get there.
I look forward to your future roadside museum of weird guitars that will cost a dollar entry for passers by
That sample clip was an absolute bop
5:25 you mean the blade runner soundtrack setting right
4:41 Krist Novoselic
*That accordion tone is so spot on.*
If you really want a great midi guitar system get the Fishman Triple Play it tracks chords and single notes flawlessly! More guitarist should know about it.
congrats on 700k samurai!!!
(1:24) Sega, I got a new music composer for you!
Ik it's not a synthaxe but as a huge Holdsworth fan this still makes me happy