The Ethics of Fake Guitar 🎸

[Amberwolf]

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Anyway, apologies, the video's topic isn't about credited guest performances, it's about what is "authentic." If there are people on YouTube faking performances and selling them as being done live in real time to show what awesome players they are, that's lame as hell. People who do it should be called out.

I guess it's different when people like me are using bits**** other people played and sold to be used in other people's music (though I find it weird that most of the stuff says in it's license specifically to *not* credit them, that it is not allowed...so the best I can do is to name the company providing the bundle and the name of the bundle (unless that's also prohibited)). 

I'm sure there are those that don't even do that much to give credit elsewhere.

 

****I may significantly alter what's provided, and I certainly don't use it the way they probably intended, or with any of the other bits meant to go with it....but I didn't "play' it in, even if I did so much to it that it isn't the same bit of musical playing or singing anymore.  Most of my recent months' tracks are done with a lot of that; the most recent two are just about exclusively that. 

Edited 17 hours ago by Amberwolf

[T Boog]

18 minutes ago, Amberwolf said:

the best I can do is to name the company providing the bundle and the name of the bundle (unless that's also prohibited)). 

Cheers Wolf.  I'm not sure exactly how the legalities work with that stuff. All I know is, until I see you on the cover of Guitar World magazine taking  credit for someone else's playing, I personally have no beef with you.  😁

[Amberwolf]

4 hours ago, T Boog said:

Cheers Wolf.  I'm not sure exactly how the legalities work with that stuff. All I know is, until I see you on the cover of Guitar World magazine taking  credit for someone else's playing, I personally have no beef with you.  😁

Well, I'm safe...I'll never be on the cover of anything. :lol: 

[craigb]

I grabbed one of these, but gave it back.   Wrong color.  😁

[Rain]

I guess it's kind of subjective where we draw the line - but ultimately it's got to do with the musician's ability vs efficiency. Kind of like Michelangelo who had students handle some less important parts of his paintings. There is no question that he had the talent. Same with Gilmour. 

Personally though,  I would feel uncomfortable if I was credited for someone else's performance. I've no problem with Bob Kulick or Dick Wagner subbing for Ace Frehley on this or that solo on a KISS album, and it's been made public since, but I prefer when bands are more upfront about it and list who played what on each song. 

As for I, I tend to be a lot more scrupulous. To this day, I never could bring myself to punch in or even to do comps. I feel I should be able to at least get through an entire section in one take, whether it's a verse or a chorus or a solo. 

Reminds me...

My band had booked some time in the studio. My first time in a studio. When the time came for me to record my parts, everything went fine except for one lead that I just could not cut. It was the simplest thing, just a few bars of the most basic pentatonic lead you can imagine but I could not nail it. Take after take after take.

The engineer/producer said he wanted to try something. He had me plug my guitar into the other guitarist's rig - a MesaBoogie - which had tons more gain than my own rig which consisted of a tube overdrive into a 59 Fender Bassman. And with a classic single coil Strat.

I immediately nailed it. One take's all it took. 

Only, to this day I cringe whenever I hear it and feel like I cheated, because of all that gain. And it's not MY sound. From a producer's perspective though, I totally get it. 

Knowing me, we'd still be at it 28 years later...

Edited 11 hours ago by Rain

[T Boog]

6 hours ago, Rain said:

Kind of like Michelangelo who had students handle some less important parts of his paintings. There is no question that he had the talent. Same with Gilmour

That's a great analogy Rain. 

And yeah, Ace Frehley had already established himself as a great player and a great songwriter too. Ace was definitely the lead guitar sound of Kiss and he influenced many guitarists.

 All of my favorite Kiss songs have Ace on lead. And I loved Frehley's Comet too. I also heard that Ace didn't like their later producer and was planning to quit anyway.

So yeah, although Ace was no Ed Van Halen, he was def an original and a perfect fit for Kiss. Long live the Spaceman  😉

[Rain]

2 hours ago, T Boog said:

That's a great analogy Rain. 

And yeah, Ace Frehley had already established himself as a great player and a great songwriter too. Ace was definitely the lead guitar sound of Kiss and he influenced many guitarists.

 All of my favorite Kiss songs have Ace on lead. And I loved Frehley's Comet too. I also heard that Ace didn't like their later producer and was planning to quit anyway.

So yeah, although Ace was no Ed Van Halen, he was def an original and a perfect fit for Kiss. Long live the Spaceman  😉

I totally agree.

I'm a huge fan of his. In fact, even if my own music has practically nothing to do with KISS, I have this little Spaceman plush an ex gave me  that's always around when I record guitar, to remind me of what really matters. 

 

I had the chance to play with a few guys from his bands here for KISS Night - guys who'd been on the Bad Boys tour with him and Peter in the mid 90's and his current drummer. Heard some pretty cool stories.

The last year I went, Bob Kulick was there too, and I happened to be on the rehearsal call sheet the night he came in. It was pretty awesome to watch him play All American Man live in the rehearsal studio with just 5 or 6 of us.

Las Vegas has been synonymous with KISS from the day I landed here and I got to meet and play some pretty cool cats and old heroes because of them. I even got to hang out with Peter Criss' first wife. Her book is a must-read for any KISS fan.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Rain