The Yamaha EZ-EG Guitar Midi Controller Thread

[CapnLockheed]

Setting up the EZ is basically no different,(with the exception
of the scripts), than setting up ANY other MIDI controller.
There is tons of info on this site and many may others that
details setting up keyboard midi controllers.

BTW...I just bought a used AG and as soon as it gets here
I'm gonna mod the sh*t out of it!! YAY!!

Cheers....CL

[Markleford]

Do you have a plan for the mods, or are you just going to start poking at jumpers?

- m

[CapnLockheed]

I have some ideas.....somethings I would like to add are:

1)1/4" audio out

2)program change +/- (that does'nt also change onboard sounds)

3)program change +/- that will allow full internal GM bank
sounds to be accsessed.

4)midi channel merge switch - to allow all string outs to
be merged to a single channel - the Casio DG-20 has this
feature.

I've got the AG's schematics and if I'm successful
in developing any of these mods I'll document them
and post them to our Yahoo group's files section.

That's if it ever arrives....I've just spent the last 24
hours bitching at UPS. My package was shipped from Tempe
AZ on the 9th...for reasons unknown it was "re-scheduled"
to be delivered several days later than it should have been
final it supposedly arrived here in Knoxville and was
"out for delivery" on the 16th....UPS reps swore up and
down it was on the truck and even if took till 11:59pm
it would be delivered that day. It was'nt. Then tracking
showed it as rescheduled to be delivered yesterday...it
was'nt. Now they're finally admitting that maybe they
misplaced it and they're calling it an "exception"....
....GRRRRRRRR!!!

Okay...I'm done ranting now and I feel much better!!

Cheers.....CL

[pichonz]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if there are applications written for the ez???

Since the ez spits out midi messages, some one with good programming skills can create an unlimited of fun applications for the ez users. They can include educational apps to learn scales/chords. Maybe for research by recording every note you play on the guitar and analyzing the data major or minor intervals, etc. Games can be created for the yamaha ez similar to Guitar Hero". I think there are a million of cool apps that can be made for us...

What do you guys think???

-David

[mbncp]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if there are applications written for the ez???

Since the ez spits out midi messages, some one with good programming skills can create an unlimited of fun applications for the ez users. They can include educational apps to learn scales/chords. Maybe for research by recording every note you play on the guitar and analyzing the data major or minor intervals, etc. Games can be created for the yamaha ez similar to Guitar Hero". I think there are a million of cool apps that can be made for us...

What do you guys think???

-David

Would be cool, you can start here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/aa975050.aspx
It's free

[CapnLockheed]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if there are applications written for the ez???

Since the ez spits out midi messages, some one with good programming skills can create an unlimited of fun applications for the ez users. They can include educational apps to learn scales/chords. Maybe for research by recording every note you play on the guitar and analyzing the data major or minor intervals, etc. Games can be created for the yamaha ez similar to Guitar Hero". I think there are a million of cool apps that can be made for us...

What do you guys think???

-David

Would be cool, you can start here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/aa975050.aspx
It's free

Damn! I almost wet myself!!

It appears those !@#$%*&^%$#@#!@#!#%@! at UPS have well
and truly lost my EZ-AG. Now begins the months long struggle
to get reimbursed.....GRRRRR!!!

Cheers.....CL

[pichonz]

Hey guys,

Someone has already created a Guitar Hero clone for the PC. It works with the keyboard...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/gadgets/?p=160
http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/

-David

[pichonz]

Hey!

Found a good start guys...

http://www.synthesiagame.com/

have fun

-David

[mbncp]

Hi David,
Sorry about my previous "bad" joke, but if you check 2 pages back (aug 6), I put a link to my script for the ez-ag/eg (midix) that can display chords or scales on the guitar.
There is also a small script (NoteToEZSysex) that shows you how to turn on the fret lights on the ezg. If you have a sequencer that can record and play back sysex, you could use it for training, muting the notes and just sending the sysex back to the guitar.
Cheers,
Marc

[MrHen]

I have some ideas.....somethings I would like to add are:

1)1/4" audio out

2)program change +/- (that does'nt also change onboard sounds)

3)program change +/- that will allow full internal GM bank
sounds to be accsessed.

4)midi channel merge switch - to allow all string outs to
be merged to a single channel - the Casio DG-20 has this
feature.

I've got the AG's schematics and if I'm successful
in developing any of these mods I'll document them
and post them to our Yahoo group's files section.

That's if it ever arrives....I've just spent the last 24
hours bitching at UPS. My package was shipped from Tempe
AZ on the 9th...for reasons unknown it was "re-scheduled"
to be delivered several days later than it should have been
final it supposedly arrived here in Knoxville and was
"out for delivery" on the 16th....UPS reps swore up and
down it was on the truck and even if took till 11:59pm
it would be delivered that day. It was'nt. Then tracking
showed it as rescheduled to be delivered yesterday...it
was'nt. Now they're finally admitting that maybe they
misplaced it and they're calling it an "exception"....
....GRRRRRRRR!!!

Okay...I'm done ranting now and I feel much better!!

Cheers.....CL

Could you please send me the schematics to fjal1972@telefonica.net ? I'm lefty and i want to see if some kind of "rewire" could solve my problem so i can play with no computer attached. Thanks a lot !!!

[luka2807]

Hi all,

I have just found EZAG in one of local stores (it cant be ordered any more). So far, I am quite happy (i havent tried midi out yet) but there is one issue that is bothering me. Strings do not have same sensitity accros. Some strings are more sensitive on plucking/fingering than others (at least it seems so). Did you have same experience? Can it be tuned via some sort of software (Marc's?)

[mbncp]

If you downloaded the free MIDIX stuff, check for a file called "StringVelo.txt" in the EZ_AG_Data folder. It's not an offset, but more a remapping of the velocity curve.

[luka2807]

Marc,

you are really great...yamaha should put you on commision...

i dont know where is midix file but i ll try to find...i hope it is available...thanks

update: i found midix...thanks

ps
did you notice that strings sensitivity is slightly diiferent...or is it just me (or my unit)

when I am playing in fingerstyle mode sometimes (rarely) some strings just remain silent...hope this is not a malfunction because there is no other unit to replace with...i just took the last one

[mbncp]

Hi Luka, here's the link: http://homepage.hispeed.ch/mbncp/midix/MIDIX.zip
It's windows only though, and you need the software to run the ez. It's unfortunate that Yamaha didn't allow us to adjust that, as we may start to hit some strings to hard, slowly damaging the mechanism.
I too have the problem with one of my EZAG, the second one was better.
Cheers,
Marc

[luka2807]

what is your serial number (for old and new one)? mine is something around 78xx (i dont have it right here with me)

can it be caused by dust...mine was hanging on the music store wall for quite some time