Band Turns Guitar Hero Controllers Into “Instruments”

California-based electronic noise rockers The Guitar Zeros take fake plastic instruments to a whole different level of weirdness.

When unabashed creativity and gaming pop culture collide, amazingly bizarre things can happen. It’s quite surreal to see an actual band making original music in a live setting with a drum set, a microphone, a stack of amps, a laptop, and two Guitar Hero controllers. That’s exactly what The Guitar Zeroes are all about.

The band has programmed its own software that turns Guitar Hero controllers into playable instruments. Though there are only five colored buttons on the controllers, they can be pressed in 32 different configurations, allowing for a broad range of scales and sounds. Plugging the re-tooled controllers into distortion pedals and other effects units also amplifies their rocking capabilities.

For the technically minded, the band has even posted a comprehensive guide detailing the meticulous process required to turn your own Guitar Hero controllers into “music instruments.” Granted, the sounds these devices produce under your novice tutelage are likely to fall under the excruciating category, unless you dig your electronic rock-n-roll in the jagged vein of wild and wooly squawks and bleeps. It’s cool nonetheless.

If you have the aural constitution, check out The Guitar Zeros’ tunes at their myspace page.