GU!TAR HERO MATALLICA

Guitar Hero: Metallica is a rhythm game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009 and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, 2009, with a European release expected in May 2009. Guitar Hero: Metallica is the second game of the Guitar Hero series to focus on the career and songs of one band following Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
The game is based on Guitar Hero World Tour, with support for lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game has many of the same features from World Tour, including single-player and band Career modes, online competitive modes, and the ability to create and share songs through "GHTunes". In addition to the normal difficulty levels presented in Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero: Metallica provides an "Expert+" difficulty for drums that requires the use of a second bass drum pedal to match the drumming style of Metallica's Lars Ulrich. The game features 28 master recordings spanning Metallica's career and an additional 21 songs selected by members of Metallica. The band performed extensive motion capture for the game for their in-game avatars and performances. The game includes several extras including behind-the-scenes videos of the motion capture sessions, tour and concert videos of the band, and Pop-Up Video-like facts for many of the songs on the game disc.
Guitar Hero: Metallica received positive reviews, with critics stating it to be a strong tribute to the band and Neversoft's best work on the Guitar Hero series to date. The difficulty throughout the game was praised, found to be more enjoyable to players of all skill levels than the more-difficult Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Reviewers noted the lack of additional downloadable content, save for the pre-existing Death Magnetic songs, the cartoonish storyline for the Career mode, and the overall value of the game as minor negatives to the experience

GUITAR IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Both licensed and indie bands whose works have been included in the Guitar Hero games have gained further popularity from this inclusion.[101] Both record companies[102] and retailers[103] have seen sales of songs and groups increase 200% to 300% after their inclusion in the series. Every Guitar Hero III song tracked by Nielsen SoundScan (62 of 70) saw an increase in digital download sales the week ending December 30, 2007, when many who got the game as a gift were playing it,[104] and every song included in Guitar Hero III and Rock Band saw downloaded sales increase during 2007 between 15% to 843%.[83] A survey conducted by Brown University's Kiri Miller found that 76% of the players of Guitar Hero bought the music they heard in the game.[105] Indie group Bang Camaro's recognition increased after their song "Push Push (Lady Lightning)" appeared in Guitar Hero II.[106] The band DragonForce, whose song "Through the Fire and Flames" is featured as a bonus song in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, saw a 126% increase in CD sales in the week after the release of the game,[107] and downloads of the song, selling fewer than 2,000 weekly, rose to more than 10,000 after Guitar Hero III's release and approached 40,000 the week ending 2007-12-30.[104] Even older, established groups such as Aerosmith saw an increase in sales at the same time Guitar Hero games containing their songs were released,[104] such as a modest increase in download sales for its "Same Old Song and Dance", which rose to 2,041 from 374 copies the previous week;[104] a 40% increase in the band's catalog was seen in the weeks following the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.[108] According to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has made more money for Aerosmith than any sales of their previous albums.[109] Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band are seen as new methods of music distribution; an analysis for market research company NPD Group states that "As the video games industry grows, it's becoming an ever-more attractive promotional outlet for all kinds of industries."[110] The games have also been seen as a way to introduce younger generations to music of the past; bands such as Living Colour, Warrant, The Grateful Dead, Poison, and Ratt have seen interest in their music rise due to the inclusion of their songs in the Guitar Hero or Rock Band, as well as other music video games.[111]
Bands or those that control the copyrights on bands works have been in talks with the makers and distributions of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band as methods of achieving more exposure for the band. Following the announcement of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Martin N. "Marty" Bandier, executive for Sony/ATV which owns the copyrights on The Beatles recordings, has stated that he is very interested in helping Activision to bring a Beatles-themed Guitar Hero title to the market in a similar fashion.[112] Both Activision and MTV Games have been in talks with representatives of the Beatles to create a themed games within either the Guitar Hero or Rock Band series, respectively, though any deal will also require permission from Apple Corps, Ltd..[113][114] Ultimately, MTV Games secured a exclusive license with Apple Corps to produce a standalone game based on the Rock Band platform featuring the songs of the Beatles.[115] Groups such as Van Halen, The Eagles, Steely Dan and Guns N' Roses have working deals with these companies to include their songs within future games.[116] However, not all bands are comfortable with this; Led Zeppelin has turned down offers from both games to include their music due to concerns that Jimmy Page and other members of the band have with releasing the master recordings of their music.[116] There are also cases where bands want to be included, but the master recordings have been lost or are unusable. Some bands such as the Sex Pistols, Living Colour, and Aerosmith have rerecorded these songs, while other bands have been able to provide concert "live" master recordings. However, some larger artists are unable to do so.[117] Neversoft director Brian Bright states that they do not expect to acquire songs from Pink Floyd and Prince due to such reasons.[117]
Guitar Hero and other rock music-based games work with record companies to license each song for its use, costing a per-song average of $25,000 for the rights to use a master recording and $10,000 for the rights to make a cover.[118] However, the music industry has raised concerns that the music labels are not receiving fair compensation considering the success of the games. Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and chief executive for Warner Music Group, stated that "The amount being paid to the industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content that we own and control, is far too small."[118] Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs at Activision, believes that the increase in popularity of the game series has lead more people, including musicians and music labels, to want to be part of the success: "The number of people interested in being associated with the game is probably a thousand times more than we can get into the game."[118] Activision CEO Robert Kotick has stated, in response to the record company's claims, that the impact that the Guitar Hero games have cause them to question if the game developers and publishers "should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse."[119] Mötley Crüe manager Allen Kovac noted that artists make a larger share of the sale of each downloaded game song compared to iTunes, and that bands that own their own master recordings earn even a larger percentage from music licensing rights.[70] Michael Pachter, an industry analyst for Wedbush Morgan, noted that Guitar Hero is not dependent on a single record label, as there is nearly a 2000-year supply of songs available at the current rate of content releases, and a full music industry denial to the game series could lead to anti-trust measures. Patcher also contrasted Bronfman's view, stating that users are not buying the games for the songs, but for the game, with each song providing its own challenge.[120] However, analysis believe that Activision's attitude on music licensing may have influenced the decision of Apple Corps, Ltd. to give the lucrative licensing agreement for The Beatles' music to MTV Games, who were more flexible in their negotiation

GU!TAR AMPLIFIER

A guitar amplifier (or guitar amp) is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder and modify the tone by emphasizing or de-emphasizing certain frequencies and adding electronic effects.
The amplifier comprises a preamplifier stage, which amplifies the voltage of the signal from the guitar, and a power amplifier stage which delivers a higher current to the speaker to produce sound. The simplest guitar amplifiers have only a power switch and a volume knob, such as the Fender Champ. More complex amplifiers, like the Mesa Lonestar, have more than one volume control knob and tone control knobs to contour the low, mid and high audio frequencies. Such amps may also have additional control knobs for adjusting presence, drive, gain and solo channels. The preamplifier stage may also have electronic effects such as distortion, chorus, or reverb and additional controls such as a graphic equalizer. Amplifiers may use tubes (or valve)s, or solid state (transistor) devices, or a mixture of both. Guitar amplifiers are usually designed to produce high power with relatively high distortion; a guitar amplifier with certain components will generally be rated at a good deal more output power than a hi-fi amplifier with the same components.
There are two configurations of guitar amplifiers: combination ("combo") amplifiers, which include an amplifier and one, two, or four speakers in a wooden cabinet; and the standalone amplifier (often called a "head" or "amp head"), which does not include a speaker. Combo amplifiers range from small practice amplifiers with one 6" or 8" speaker and a 5 to 15 watt amplifier, to mid-sized combo amps with a 12" speaker and a 50 watt amplifier (suitable for rehearsals or performances in small venues), to large combo amplifiers with four 12" speakers and 100 or more watts of power, which can be used for shows in large clubs or halls. Amp heads are used with one or more speaker cabinets, creating what is nicknamed a "stack". Some guitarists who use amp heads and separate speaker cabinets use a single 4 X 12" speaker cabinet with the amp head. In some styles of music, such as heavy metal and blues rock, guitarists may connect the guitar amp head to a number of 4 X 12" cabinets. Most combo amps also have provisions for connecting to a larger speaker cabinet, such as a 4 x 12", for playing larger venues.
Bass guitars, which can play notes an octave or more below a regular guitar, are typically amplified with a bass amplifier which is designed to handle the low frequency range. Acoustic guitar amplifiers differ from electric guitar amplifiers in that while electric guitar amplifiers are typically designed to modify the tone of the instrument--either by "rolling off" high frequencies or adding the warmth of tube overdrive--acoustic guitar amplifiers are generally designed to reproduce the natural sound of the acoustic instrument fairly accurately, without adding coloration or overdrive. A bass guitar should never be played through a regular guitar amplifier, since the low frequency audio produced by the bass guitar can damage the guitar amplifier. Conversely, it is quite safe to play a guitar through a bass amplifier.
Guitar amplifiers range in price and quality from small, low-powered practice amplifiers, designed for students, which sell for less than US$50, to expensive "boutique" amplifiers which are custom-made for professional musicians and can cost thousands of dollars.

GUITAR AN ACOUSTIC

An acoustic guitar is one not dependent on an external device to be heard but uses a soundboard which is a wooden piece mounted on the front of the guitar's body. The acoustic guitar is quieter than other instruments commonly found in bands and orchestras so when playing within such groups it is often externally amplified. Many acoustic guitars available today feature a variety of pickups which enable the player to amplify and modify the raw guitar sound.
There are several notable subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars; steel string guitars, which include the flat top or "folk" guitar; twelve string guitars and the arch top guitar. The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers such as the acoustic bass guitar which has a similar tuning to that of the electric bass guitar.

GU!TAR

Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides".[1] Instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least 4,000 years. While today's classical guitar first appeared in Spain, it was itself a product of the long and complex history that saw a number of related guitar types developed and used across Europe.[2] The roots of the guitar can be traced back thousands of years to an Indo-European origin in instruments, then known in central Asia and India. For this reason the guitar itself is distantly related to instruments such as the tanbur and setar, and the Indian sitar. The oldest known iconographic representation of an instrument displaying all the essential features of a guitar being played is a 3,300 year old stone carving of a Hittite bard.[3] The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from Spanish guitarra (German Gitarre, French Guitare),[4] loaned from the medieval Andalusian Arabic qitara[5], itself derived from the Latin cithara, which in turn came from the earlier Greek word kithara,[6] which is descended from the Old Persian word sihtar.[7]

Illustration from a Carolingian Psalter from the 9th century, showing a guitar-like plucked instrument.
The modern guitar is descended from the Roman cithara brought by the Romans to Hispania around 40 AD, and further adapted and developed with the arrival of the four-string oud, brought by the Moors after their conquest of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century.[8] Elsewhere in Europe, the indigenous six-string Scandinavian lut (lute), had gained in popularity in areas of Viking incursions across the continent. Often depicted in carvings c. 800 AD, the Norse hero Gunther (also known as Gunnar), played a lute with his toes as he lay dying in a snake-pit, in the legend of Siegfried.[9] By 1200 AD, the four string "guitar" had evolved into two types: the guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, wide fingerboard and several soundholes, and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the modern guitar with one soundhole and a narrower neck.[10]
The Spanish vihuela or "viola da mano", a guitar-like instrument of the 15th and 16th centuries is, due to its similarities, is often considered an important influence in the development of the modern guitar. It had lute-style tuning and a guitar-like body. Its construction had as much in common with the modern guitar as with its contemporary four-course renaissance guitar. The vihuela enjoyed only a short period of popularity; the last surviving publication of music for the instrument appeared in 1576. It is not clear whether it represented a transitional form or was simply a design that combined features of the Arabic oud and the European lute. In favor of the latter view, the reshaping of the vihuela into a guitar-like form can be seen as a strategy of differentiating the European lute visually from the Moorish oud. Meanwhile, the five string renassance guitar and the baroque guitar enjoyed popularity, especially in Italy and France, and indeed, much of Europe from the 15th to the 18th centuries.
The Vinaccia family of luthiers is known for developing the mandolin, and may have built the oldest surviving six string guitar. Gaetano Vinaccia (1759 – after 1831)[11] has his signature on the label of a guitar built in Naples, Italy for six strings with the date of 1779.[12][13] This guitar has been examined and does not show tell-tale signs of modifications from a double-course guitar although fakes are known to exist of guitars and identifying labels from that period.
The dimensions of the modern classical guitar (also known as the Spanish guitar) were established by Antonio Torres Jurado (1817-1892), working in Seville in the 1850s. Torres and Louis Panormo of London (active 1820s-1840s) were both responsible for demonstrating the superiority of fan strutting over transverse table bracing.[14]

GU!TAR PICKS

Plectrum
Main article: Guitar pick

A variety of guitar picks
A "guitar pick" or "plectrum" is a small piece of hard material which is generally held between the thumb and first finger of the picking hand and is used to "pick" the strings. Though most classical players pick solely with their finger nails, the "pick" is often used for electric and some acoustic guitars. Though today they are mainly plastic, variations do exist, such as bone, wood, steel or tortoise shell. Tortoise shell was the most commonly used material in the early days of pick making but as tortoises became more and more endangered, the practice of using their shells for picks or anything else was banned. Tortoise shell picks are often coveted for a supposedly superior tone and ease of use.
Picks come in many shapes and sizes. Picks vary from the small jazz pick to the large bass pick. The thickness of the pick often determines its use. A thinner pick (between .2 and .5 mm) is usually used for strumming or rhythm playing, whereas thicker picks (between .7 and 1.5+ mm) are usually used for single-note lines or lead playing. The distinctive guitar sound of Billy Gibbons is attributed to using a quarter or peso as a pick. Similarly, Brian May is known to use a sixpence coin as a pick. David Persons is known for using old credit cards, cut to the correct size, as plectrum.
Thumb picks and finger picks that attach to the finger tips are sometimes employed in finger-picking styles

GUITAR JHONNY A . GU!TARIST

Johnny A. is a guitarist, born in Malden, Massachusetts.[1] Growing up in Boston as a young child, he became interested in music, starting with drums at age 6. Upon being exposed to The Beatles in 1964 (age 12), Johnny bought a $49 Lafayette Electronics guitar and started his life-long affair with the instrument.
After forming a band called The Streets and playing mostly in the Boston area, Johnny played with former Derek and the Dominos keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, then began a seven year stint with The J. Geils Band front man Peter Wolf. He played on Wolf's albums, and co-produced one of them, as well as joining him on world tours. In 1986, Johnny's band, Hearts On Fire, placed second in the WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble edged out by Gang Green.
Gibson's Custom Shop designed a Johnny A. Signature Edition guitar per his specifications, placing him in an exclusive club with B. B. King, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins, and Les Paul himself.[2] [3]