See comment below and feel free to email me personally
Best
Roy
As pointed out in this thread, the video footage speaks for itself. Btw, just looked on your YT at, “G4” and it’s no different. 
All the guitarists on the G4 video did play through’s for their own solos. This is what I was asked to provide. So when you see a musician perform on a promo video, that’s usually a play through. That does not constitute an inability to play it live. We are getting into silly territory whereby anyone playing at extreme speeds will be accused of trickery when doing a play through. As I said, tune into the live streams coming soon, ask all the questions you like, video it, dissect it - whatever. Also note that on my YouTube channel my LIVE footage outweighs the necessary play through/s by at least 4 videos to 1. On those LIVE videos the technical facility demonstrated is often more advanced than what I actually apply to the play through’s you’re focusing on. You don’t mention all those live videos so in case you missed them - try the Allan Holdsworth/Art Tatum inspired phrases, Linear Legato Lines breakdown, Hybrid Sarod Technique and all of the Up Close series (Electric AND Acoustic All recorded live to an iPhone. No MIDI, NO EDITS etc etc etc
What’s a “play through”, and how is it different than sitting down, pressing “record”, and playing your guitar? Also, how does it account for the audio track being different from what your hands are doing in the video?
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Roy, there’s no doubt to me you’re a pro and a monster player. The live chamber orchestra video was enough to convince me of that - love your playing in that one. I think this drama would largely go away if you put this information you have here up front in your videos, e.g “this is a playthrough of a recording”. Agree in some cases it should be obvious, but when the title of a video is Solo Improv and the first clip is not an improv nor live, even though others in the collection are, I can see why that will bias people a certain way. Easily fixable though.
Regarding how many takes are combined and how the result sounds, you are the artist and creative master of that - I imagine there’s no balance between rawness and imperfection vs clarity and attention to detail that could please everyone while best representing your musical vision at the same time. Personally I prefer lean and raw given the crazy level of technique you have but it’s a matter of taste in the end.
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Hi Roy. Whatever my last response to you on Instagram was, that was the last thing I read on that thread. If you came back and wrote more stuff, I apologize but I didn’t see it. It’s almost impossible to navigate long threads on Instagram or even locate them once the comments stop piling up. They could use a better interface. Anyway, I didn’t start this thread here on our forum, and to be honest I was a little bummed to see it appear because I knew what road we’d all be dragged down yet again.
The long and the short of it here Roy is that you repeatedly post videos where your hands don’t in any way match what you’re playing and where the tones sound computer-generated. And I don’t mean, “sort of” don’t match up. I mean, way off, like totally different part of the fretboard, or not even touching the fretboard at all. The kind of thing where nobody even needs slow motion to see this or hear it. I mean, what exactly did you think people were going to say when you posted these things?
I’ve always been super straight with you about this, and my tune has never changed. I told you this directly when you guys first reached out to us a few years back. I said it again on Instagram, and I will say it again now. You have killer mechanics if you feel like using them, but continuing to post these kinds of videos where nothing lines up at all and the tones are all weird, I mean, you can’t reasonably expect people to have any other reaction than the one they’re having.
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Ok so let’s get this straight Troy - You are talking about play through videos for the videos I have done with Atma and the G4 play through I was asked to do. I have to disagree with you on the extremes of inaccuracy you’re trying to imply regarding match of fingering to track. It’s not 100% accurate that is true, but the fact it looks from time to time like my fingers don’t move is because the actions so low and economy of motion so slight it can almost look like its floating. It’s a legato technique I have dubbed ‘the unmoving finger’, no doubt you could repackage that in your own code.
However for the sake of argument let’s stay focused on what is the issue - the music is not created via midi. It is legitimately recorded as described. Again you don’t refer to any of the live to iPhone recordings that by FAR outweigh the number of play through’s. In fact in total the number of play through’s on my channel of over 40 videos amount to around 5. They are those with Atma and the one G4 solo. So I don’t ‘repeatedly‘ post up those videos - again gross exaggeration on your part.
I have to be totally straight with you Troy, I think the problem here is you like to be the one telling the players what they’re doing, not the other way around. In any case, you crack on with whatever your mission is. Yes, it is possible to cross strings accurately at speed without a ‘spasm‘, a ‘jiggle‘ or a ‘twitch’. I think there’s some merit in what you’ve produced in CTC especially for the younger player. You have your place in music tutoring and I have my place in music and it won’t be undermined by you having an issue with my five play through videos. Let’s not get dragged into ‘hyper picking tremolo’ as a competition/science. My very best to John and I am glad he’s learnt something from you. I look forward to the day we meet face to face, it’s bound to happen. We will have much to discuss.
Maybe you didn’t see this? Care to respond?
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Cheers Spyro. It was an experience with the chamber orchestra, talk about flying without a net! Guitar to a CS3 pedal and out to front house, no backline, nada, just a monitor mix. The new live footage on my channel is by FAR much better and certainly more advanced after 20 years. Those of my Up Close Guitar Technique series, the Monster Acoustic Picking technique, the Allan Holdsworth/Art Tatum inspired video etc are all live straight to iPhone.
The Improv Vid however WAS improvised as are all the solos I record. I have to break them down, work out what I’m doing and rerecord sections if some takes are good but flawed. Sometimes I multi track to get the various sections absolutely perfect. THEN I have the joy of creating a play through video if its asked for. Good point regarding the video descriptions 
Its basically recording a video of you playing along with a finished mix and sometimes mastered track. Some see it as miming, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Personally I prefer everything played live with everyone in the studio , but sometimes its not feasable and the client requires a play through for the session.
No Roy, that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m referring to low notes sounding when your hand is on a high string, or your hand moving from one position to another not touching the fretboard at all while multiple notes are playing. This is not “floating hand”. These are notes that were simply not played with the motions depicted in the video, period. Is that what you mean by “playthrough”, you mimed the motions but this isn’t the actual playing in the track? I just want to be 100% clear on this, because that “solo improvisation” video is not the video of the playing that created the sound we’re hearing.
But it’s not just the hands being off. There is no way the sound in that video was produced by live acoustic guitar playing. I just want to be clear here, you are trying to tell me that the super quantized plastic sound and bent notes that sound exactly like pitch bend on a synth patch came from a miked up acoustic guitar and was recorded as audio? Because I’m sorry but that is not credible. That I even have to type this all out blows my mind a little, like I’m Mugatu in Zoolander or something. (“It’s the same face!”)
Finally, the live playing. Yes, the iPhone stuff is real. Yes the playing with Rowan is real. Yes, your picking motion is real. I don’t think those motions are “sped up”. That playing doesn’t sound at all like a sample patch. It is also substantially less accurate than the other videos. It sounds about what I’d expect live playing to sound like at that speed.
And you know what, that’s cool! As others have stated, real and raw is fine. Lean into that. That’s why we sent you a Magnet, so you could film a few cool clips in real 240fps slow motion video with the camera down at string level. Nothing fancy. You don’t need every fret on the whole guitar to be free. You can put the camera at a lower fret which can capture more of what the wrist and forearm are doing, and play a few phrases that fit that fretboard space. The iPhone clips you have filmed currently are in regular speed video and have tons of rolling shutter and motion blur. They are not useful at all for understanding your technique.
I was willing to pretend the mimed videos didn’t exist. It’s a bad look, but if you filmed some stuff that was obviously real playing and sent it to us, at least that’s something we could work with. But your continued tap dancing around the issue of what is really in those videos, I don’t know man. It’s creating way more heat than light.
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At terminal velocity, it sounds like guitar pro midi with the tempo slider maxed lol
I’m not suggesting the playing is not “real”, it’s just so fast it sounds inhuman.
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Yeah Troy , you make a valid point, I understand your issue with playing to pre-recorded tracks. No Milli Vanilli intended here! Made a note to produce more LIVE footage, especially with this new Shawn Lane series. Must get on now. You have a Good Day!
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OK, so I am totally confused now.
Is the question that Roy plays on video to pre-recorded audio tracks of himself?
Or is it that he makes minor mistakes when he does?
Or is it that he’s using post FX on his actual audio recording that sound like MIDI?
(The years I spent with Shawn Lane in his studio enlightened me to the use and to the SOUND of MIDI …and I’m not hearing that.
What I AM hearing is a very tight compression with a high noise floor and fast noise gate.
Which to me, implies that the track was noisy and most likely mic’d up with a passive transducer. That or the direct line had ground noise in it.)
As for playing on camera to a recorded piece of music?
Isn’t it a promo clip?
I mean, if it was an instructional video or if I had been asked to PAY to watch it?
Yeah, I’d be pissed. Or “disappointed”, as someone said…
But as far as I can see?
All those clips are designed to do is to promote that very recorded music playing in the audio track.
And let’s say I DID pay for that record and it sounded different than it did in that video?
Well, wouldn’t THAT be the questionable issue?
I know this forum is geared towards the “Demystification” of guitar technique. I get that.
But to just attack a person for not meeting some subjective standards for that demystification seems counterintuitive to this website’s stated goal.
It sounds more like Roy’s biggest sin is that he hasn’t used a 240fps camera mounted on a “Magnet” guitar camera holder.
Therefore our only view of the mistakes he makes?
The number of times he misses notes playing along with his recorded tracks?
Well, they aren’t accurately revealed to be as HIGH in number as they truly are.
How dare you Roy.
How dare you not charge us money for these promo clips riddled with so many MORE inaccuracies that you refuse to display to us.
And how dare you sound like MIDI with your post compression settings.
But most of all, how dare you not follow the rules set forth here on CtC for your video before YOU POSTED your video here!
Oh wait, you didn’t.
Somebody else did.
I remain totally confused.
I do feel a bit like I’ve woken up in the wrong universe - is it common for mic’d acoustic guitar to sound like the first 20 seconds of that vid and I’ve just been unlucky never to happen across it in person?
When the strings are nylon and you gate the heck out of it and brickwall compress it absolutely it is.
What universe are you accustomed to living in?
Let’s hear the raw unprocessed recording in that case.
Why don’t you ask shawnmichael2790 up there to produce it for you, mate?
After all, HE was the one that posted the video, not Roy.
All Roy did was get attacked as though he did.
I’m not really sure where you’re going with this, the video in question is on Roy’s youtube channel.