Getting more into bodybuilding, I can’t help but draw the hilarious parallel of “oh yeah, definitely steroids,” except for this it’s, “oh yeah, definitely MIDI.”
Fastest dude I’ve heard that’s believable was Shawn Lane, and a few others (that were way less musical).
I don’t remember you even telling me I didn’t play at 600 BPM. What I do remember is when you told me how fast I picked out in NC, and then I took a look at my old “record” videos and saw that I didn’t pick everything, so I denounced anything that happened with Guinness.
But, the technique breakdown video of my playing you gave me certainly gave me valuable insight into what I can truly do, and what I can’t do. Makes for playing better riffs 
You’re right, I don’t remember specifics either. I might not have addressed the record specifically. But we talked about the lab test speeds and of course the other clips we filmed where we attempted to sync up simple patterns at these very fast speeds — all in and around that 300bpm range. So at some point it must have became clear what the real speed ranges for these techniques actually are.
And guess what, that’s still pretty extreme! There’s no need to represent them as anything different than that.
so wait a minute its fake? lol the acoustic did sound very midi like but i thought maybe it was do to the perfect technique
I’m afraid so. As Troy pointed out earlier, watch the first 30 seconds in 0.25 speed (under Settings) and you will see discrepancies where his picking is out of sync with the audio, where he frets notes that aren’t the notes played in the audio, or where there is a distinct slide… but he doesn’t slide, he only frets the note.
There’s one point at the beginning of the 14 second mark where he slides into a descending Fm pentatonic scale from the 7th (11 fret, 1st string). But if you watch his left hand, you’ll see that he doesn’t slide at all; he just frets the note (and early might I add). Additionally, when descending through the Fm pentatonic scale, he’s doing a wide-stretching pattern that isn’t even close the notes played in the audio, or in sync. To properly reflect the audio, he should be playing something like this (ignore tempo):
Yes, 300 BPM is PLENTY fast.
lol. I remember watching a similar acoustic video from him, and then wondering why he had so many down-votes. Then I looked at the comments… and felt like an idiot.
If you plan to create music this way you should just call it what it is: a duet, with guitar PRO on 1st lead g. Take that haters!
Troy. Wow, this is puzzling. You and I discussed, in depth, my technique and some of my videos on the CtC milehighshred post on Instagram on 21-22 July. That is 5 days BEFORE this thread appears on CtC. On Instagram I clearly explained exactly what is going on in the video posted here and in other areas you make suppositions about. Yet, five days later on THIS thread you speak to your subscribers about the same subject with what can only amount to amnesia?! In so doing you mislead your subscribers into thinking there is some kind of intended trickery going on? I am pretty confused you have taken this route. Not only do you insinuate an unnecessary defamation of my musical abilities and call in to question my personal integrity, but you have purposely ignored every single live example I signposted you to on that Instagram post - those of my Up Close Guitar Technique series, the Monster Acoustic Picking technique, the Allan Holdsworth/Art Tatum inspired video - the You Tube list goes on. Instead, you prefer to repeatedly direct your subscribers to one snippet of an arpeggio example within one Rowan video - in which you claim Rowan plays those few notes more accurately. That’s called grasping at straws even if you are correct! It leaves me and others wondering at the motivation behind your nicely worded but repeated attempts to, albeit, carefully and ‘politely’ discredit me in one way or another - whilst claiming you’re just being ‘honest’. If I, as an experienced musician, happen to disagree with your take on my playing, then that renders me someone you ‘can’t work with’ - interesting.
So, CtC subscribers, for those of you who didn’t catch the lengthy exchange between Troy and I on 22 July on Instagram, there I explained - In the solo improv compilation video posted here there is a MIXTURE of play throughs and LIVE work. Now the reason for the playthroughs (which have never claimed to be live) is that Atma Anur and myself live in different countries and work at different times of the day and night. It suited us to do this split screen to provide teasers for our forthcoming Modern Orchestral Jazz Fusion album (feel free to check out the full band on my website). Atma and I like MANY other players decided to do play throughs for the forthcoming album also to get the best audio. That is why all musicians sometimes do play throughs - I can’t believe I have to point something that simple out. Also, as I said on the Instagram exchange with Troy, neither Atma nor I write compositions we can’t reproduce live! To even imply that is beyond ridiculous. No one, not Holdsworth, not Lane, not Malmsteen etc play a track and certainly not a solo EXACTLY the same every single time which may account for any discrepancies you’re clearly hoping to find. Therefore, what you see in a play through is a representation of my technical facility and that is not in question - which Troy, you have graciously alluded to. Anyone who wants to understand my Hybrid Sarod technique can look at that and all my live to iPhone YouTube drill videos electric or acoustic etc. I don’t use the CtC Magnet device to record live as I find, for me, it obscures the upper registers where I like to play sometimes but the phone holders I do use give the same close up views such as you’d find on CtC. In my latest videos you can watch from three different angles. Indeed it IS possible and I do create music crossing strings at speeds of around 22 nps (if knowing speed is what you’re into!) my clean and accurate tremolo picking is around 25 nps. My legato max 32 nps - see my Live Linear Legato video. Now CtC can choose to disagree with any of this, but without actually ever asking they presume much and suffer some forgetfulness it seems. Troy, you can also go on claiming heavy edits, midi etc etc whatever insinuation you like. Without an in-depth interview with me, such as you’ve afforded many other interesting players, we can all understand insinuation is all you have. That interview we can safely assume is not on the cards. For the record people, what you’re listening to is audio, the sound of the guitar - not from a midi program or midi pickup. It is all played on a guitar with no trickery. I record over multiple tracks like any player does when recording an album. 3-8 tracks may be used depending on the solo. You seem to want there to be some trickery - the exact set up is for all acoustic guitars microphone direct to desk, piezo pickup to an Orange preamp to desk. Whichever electric is recorded - the set up is to a Roland VG88 to Fractal AX8 for CAB simulations, to desk. The pick up on the Yamaha Pac1221 that you assume is midi always ACTS in my set up, on all my videos and playing live, as a PASSIVE pickup, which can provide synth tones if I wish it.
Any more questions anyone’s free to email me. I am very busy but will reply to you.
As anyone can see I play a range of electrics with different kinds of pickups. I am through with explaining YET AGAIN! Those who have not been fully misled on CtC, tune in to the Shawn Lane and Eric Gales - a second look series that I have been asked to do. These released this fall. Plus, there will be interviews on my own in-depth analysis of my own technique - some of all this will be live streamed where you can get to see me play my solos LIVE, and ask as many questions as you like! Really that’s what you COULD be doing - getting in touch directly with me, then we wouldn’t have this kind of ‘drama’ going on, often occurring without my knowledge or opportunity to correct it. Case in point, I am here a week after this thread first occurred. This kind of thing is not being fair to any player. Bit sneaky tbh. So to the subscriber who felt momentarily let down, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed when you see those live streams 
Sadly though, I can also promise you the nit pickers will be out in force - noobs and arm chair warriors whose own technical facility is still developing and who have never asked me about my technique directly but prefer to judge and pontificate without qualification. As I said on Instagram 22 July - you have an embedded idea (and that’s all it is Troy) of what’s going on with my playing and for that reason I doubt very much you’ll ever be prepared to retract your current view. That’s not a problem as your validation is not a requirement for me to play cleanly and accurately at speed! However, I would sincerely advise you to stop with the inaccurate assumptions based on your ‘scientific findings’ from highly limited, hand- picked examples. Certainly anything that draws my personal integrity into question is dangerous ground. The impressionable subscribers on the forum or those one might term ‘haters’ (of which there are only a few thankfully) may well be prepared to believe your word but trust me, there are many now seriously scratching their heads at your attitude. There was a time I may have been able to work with you but your suppositions on here, however carefully worded, tell me and those with the knowledge and the will to understand my music, all we need to know. If you have any questions let’s be having them but don’t expect a reply right away I have plenty of recording to do! It’s such a shame there’s even the need to engage with this but it simply crossed a line that needed to be dealt with. A long response from me, as I would hope to not have to venture on here again. I invite you Troy to get in touch with me via the email on my website, it’s not like the answers you need have ever been beyond your asking. Incidentally, it was a student of mine who noticed the duplicate of your Instagram post on FB and then alerted me to this thread. Yes I am a nice guy Troy, but not one that’s going to stand back and let you misrepresent me again - even after you’ve had it explained to you. I’ve had a look at those profiles involved in this thread and have a handle on who’s involved … Remarkable.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.
