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DAZED AND CONFUSED

by Tom Cantrell

Start ı BalkLANization ı Pain in the Pan ı Whatıs All the Buzz About? ı Rock Around the Clock ı Sources and PDF

ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

Isnıt it a right of passage for young people to be in a garage band? I myself twanged away as lead guitar in the ı70s with a band called Arrogant Rats. We must have played a few dozen gigs, mainly parties in somebodyıs back yard. Memory is a little, er, hazy, but I do recall our well-amplified sets rarely outlasted the beer, seeing as the cops invariably made for a quick curtain call.

Looking back, I do have to sympathize with the neighbors who were force-fed 500 W of dubious ditties like "The Pain in Spain" and my personal favorite, "Cerebral Enema."

Needless to say, I was intrigued when I received a MaGIC press release from Gibson Guitar. Between Gibson and Fender, youıve got the outfitters of most of yesterdayıs, todayıs, and Iım quite sure tomorrowıs, electric guitar players. Donıt let the name Media-accelerated Global Information Carrier, fool you. Itıs just a highfalutin way of saying they want to make a guitar with an Ethernet jack (see Figure 3).

I wonıt go into the details as you can read them in the spec on Gibsonıs web site. Suffice to say, MaGIC rides on the Ethernet physical layer (100 Mbps, CAT 5, RJ-45) but subsumes it in a higher-level scheme that delivers the precise and deterministic timing (44.1, 48, 96, and 192 kHz) that digital audio demands.

The key is a master/slave relationship, in which one and only one device in the network grabs the title role of system timing master. Furthermore, control is subservient to data. In essence, every packet is audio data delivered at the audio rate, with a few bits reserved to handle control transactions as needed (see Figure 4).

Iım reminded of USB because of the point-to-point cabling structure, dual-port types (i.e., A and B like USBs hub and node), and delivery of power over the bus. No more dead batteries making the fuzz box flake out in the middle of your epic solo!

Is MaGIC a good idea? The ones-and-zeros man inside me says sure. There are some concerns. For example, the specification indicates the need for hardening the flimsy RJ-45 connection against on-stage antics. The specification also calls for 24 V of power on the line to make sure the stomp box at the end gets 9 V, which complicates the design a bit because a device has to be able to work at either extreme. But even analog purists have to admit that, somewhere along the line to the CD or MP-3 you listen to, everything goes digital.

I should leave it there and start working on my letter to the Gibson PR department:

"Dear Gibson PR-Person:
Iım a fancy high-tech writer for a really influential high-tech magazine, so could you please send me a new fully-loaded MaGIC Les Paul to evaluate?
Thanks!
PS: I always liked black with gold hardware."

but I suspect MaGIC is one A/D conversion that may incur more than a bit of latency.

Brittney and boy bands aside, the legend of Jimi, Jeff, Eric, and all the rest arenıt going down easy. The fact is, the guitar business is weird in that form is way more important than function.

For instance, although Volkswagon (VW) did well when they reintroduced the bug, it certainly wasnıt the same car as the original. By contrast, for guitar purists, old is better than new. If they got their way, VW would reintroduce the original. Better yet, VW would not only sell you one that looked like it was designed way back when, but the company would sell you one that looks like itıs been driven hard since then.

Think I exaggerate? Flipping through a Fender catalog, I notice that you can buy "new old stock" guitars that are made today, but use exactly the same design and parts as yesterday. Then there are the "closet classic" versions, which are slightly aged. Best of all are the "relics" that feature "ınatural wear and tear of years of heavy use, nicks, scratches, worn finish, rusty hardware and aged plastic parts" (see Photo 2). Just think of the bragging possibilities. "Yeah, Jimi threw up on it, man!"

Ironically, business is even booming in the tube business. I heard they still make them in Russia, that hotbed of rock heritage. No matter, because a Marshall stack with a bunch of transistors and DSPs just isnıt the same as one with red hot tubes (itıs better, but thatıs worse).

To the most zealous, itıs sacrilegious to change anything, from the hummiest humbucker to the scratchiest tone control. But hey, even I have to admit that when I haul my old ax out of the closet, all the snap, crackles, and pops are annoying. And as I said before, it isnıt a question of whether or not music gets turned into ones and zeros, just where along the line it happens.

The move to digital is inevitable. But, I suspect itıll be a tough sell with a lot of "hope I die before I get old," "give me a quarter-inch phone jack or give me death," and "RJ-45ıwe donıt need no stinking RJ-45" sentiment to overcome.

Iım sorry if Iım deflating Gibsonıs PR balloon. Donıt worry PR folks, I might feel more positive about prospects for the whole MaGIC scenario when I get my hands on something to try. I might even see the digital light, especially if itıs reflected in something shiny, black, and goldı.

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