[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Music Industry teaching the Game Industry (Was: A rant for Vanguard)

[Morgan Ramsay]

> Nick Koranda wrote:
> [A guitar] is generic and allows users to create ...

Having been a guitarist for more than 12 years, I'm afraid I can't resist
potentially useless commentary.
http://www.morganramsay.com/

Guitars are instruments, but they are certainly not generic. To a
nonmusician, each guitar is no different than other guitars. Sure, they
might be decorated in different, unique ways, but they all sound the same,
right? They all have strings, bodies, and necks. Every guitar is made from
wood, plastic, and steel.

But no two guitars are alike. They are all different. I have spent hours
upon hours, day after day, in Guitar Center playing every acoustic guitar in
every price range trying to find the "right sound". I'm sure if I were a
guitar manufacturer and was intimately familiar with guitar woods (cedar,
spruce, rosewood, maple, mahogany) that I could narrow down my options. I'm
not, so I have to play every guitar.

http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/woods.htm

Every guitar has a unique signature, a special sound. My Baby Taylor
acoustic guitar barely sounds like Raph's Baby Taylor, and they even look
slightly different too. This guitar also has natural stereo reverb that
really brightens the sound. I played this guitar overlooking wondrous
valleys in Idaho, and despite the vast space before me, the wind picked up
and carried the sound.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/morganramsay/

On the other hand, my Yamaha acoustic-electric guitar is slightly weaker as
a live instrument, but it works well for recording. You can hear every
string, but only in a dead environment. I play original traditional-styled
Scottish Celtic music, so there's a constant drone that serves as ambience.
On some guitars, this drone drowns out the tune. I have another Yamaha
acoustic guitar with a larger body. I found Yamaha guitars to sound
exceptionally well for blues and Celtic music.

I also have an Epiphone G-400 SG electric guitar that is light to carry.
Playing my music on pure electric guitars is difficult since you lose a lot
of control over the sound.

My 1958 Gretsch New York dual f-hole acoustic guitar has an old '50s sound.
This guitar actually sounds great for my music. It gives a certain ancient
treatment to my sound. Unfortunately, it's harder to play gently, and can
easily impair your fingers. The guitar also has a thick sound, and sometimes
I feel like the guitar doesn't want to cooperate. I guess that's how guitars
get when they get older!

I'd also argue that musical instruments don't "allow" users to create music.
People don't need tools to create music. They can create music in their
imagination. Instruments simply allow musicians to communicate that music to
other people.

Morgan