Guitar Sidekick
Sunday, October 14, 2007 12:46 PM
You’ve played Guitar Hero, it’s breakthrough follow-up, that ‘80s edition and your fingers are, no doubt, tingling with anticipation for the impending threequel later this month. But while GH turns guitar playing into a game, Ubisoft’s new Nintendo DS title Jam Sessions does the opposite.
Dubbed Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 in
its original Japanese incarnation, this niche music title offers no
faux-fret buttons to press in rhythmic time nor a cheering crowd to
congratulate a riff well done. There aren't any back-up instruments,
either. Instead, the touch screen features virtual guitar strings which you strum up or down with the stylus (or a guitar pick) while changing chords with the thumb-pad.
It’s essentially a pocket-sized acoustic guitar simulator--complete
with built-in effects processors and 100 possible chords, though you
can't pick individual strings. In fact, while you can play songs
ranging from Beck and Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash and Amy Winehouse, those
tracks are there primarily as a tutorial to teach you the ropes.
Similar in philosophy to cult fave Elektroplankton,
the real goal is to create new music via "Free Play" mode and this time
the DS can record and save several five-minute-long compositions.
Montreal’s DJ Champion and his G-Strings have jumped onboard, recording an original track with the device (watch video of their Jam Sessions performance at Toronto rock club Lee’s Palace) which they played out on their recent tour. Ubi has also posted footage of other musicians playing Jam Sessions, including Taking Back Sunday, Vietnam and Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin.
One imagines electronic-minded live acts may soon start using it to bolster their beats while songwriters can treat it like a guitar notepad to jot down and save chord progressions while out and about. At the very least, Jam Sessions will teach you more fundamentals than guitarHero's brightly coloured button-mashing.
Oh, and Ubi is holding a YouTube contest--submit your performances by October 23--and will be re-releasing the game in December bundled with a mini-amp.