Posts Tagged ‘drums’

As many of you probably already know, I’m more of a guitar/bass guy in Rock Band. On songs that I know the lyrics to and are in my VERY limited vocal range, I’ll belt out a tune every once in a while. But my usual last choice instrument is drums. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I dislike drums, I’m just saying it’s my least favorite. It’s like saying Michelangelo was my least favorite Ninja Turtle, because they clearly all ruled.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to get my Rock Band drumming acumen up lately, and I feel like I’m just now getting around to finally understanding the issue around “double bass” in Rock Band. To those that still may not understand it, and as a roundabout way for the community to confirm my understanding, when DLC is released, in complex songs where the drummer uses two bass pedals, Harmonix will typically author the drum charts only to include a single bass pedal. For the die-hards out there, they see this as undercharting of the song… and I definitely see their point of view.

First, the good news. Thanks to some good questions and solid understanding by @toymachinesh and @cena5401, we can now report some clarity on this issue. Cena has a very good explanation video below that talks about much of the issue. He explains that the “mystery port” on the Rock Band 2 drumset will be enabled in Rock Band 3 so you can connect a second pedal. He also explains that via the overshell options menu for drummers in Rock Band 3, you’ll also be able to assign whether the second pedal acts as a second bass pedal or a hi-hat pedal. Cena also mentions that the functionality exists in Rock Band 3 so you can tell the game if, for example, you only have two cymbals attached and need to remove the third cymbal from the Pro Drums lane.

And then there’s the bad news. Toymachine is able to get info out of Dan Teasdale at E3 that the current authoring methodology of only charting single bass pedal will remain for the foreseeable future (see below… about 3:20 in). Here’s where I try and spin it in saying that since Dan left Harmonix last week, the foreseeable future may have only been a few weeks out from E3. I know, I’m reaching on that, but a boy can dream, right?

UPDATE: Toymachine also pointed me “Laid to Rest” by Lamb of God, which shows up as Expert+ in Guitar Hero (with double bass), and Expert in Rock Band (without double bass). Here’s an image of an example of the charting between the two. I’ve also included links to the videos for you to compare the two for yourself.

OK, all you expert drummers, let me know your thoughts on this below in the comments!

This is very cool.  I have heard for awhile now rumblings around the web of companies trying convert/tweak real instruments so they are playable in Rock Band and Guitar Hero.  Here is a an interesting product that looks to modify a real drumset into a playable controller for Rock Band.  It’s called the Omega GM-1 system, and can be installed on most standard drum sets.  Light rolls and hard hits are tracked via the included hardware.  There are even attachments for the cymbals to convert them into a electronic cymbal (much like the Mad Catz cymbal add-ons).

Check out a full video of the Omega GM-1 system in action after the break…

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Hot on the delicious heels of our previous story about Rock Band drum cakes, comes this scrumtious pic.  Looks like someone over at Gizmodo got a few epic pics of a Wii version of the Rock Band drum cakes.  As good as they look and everything, didn’t anyone ever tell these people not to play with their food?

[via Gizmodo]

image via Engadget

With the release of NeverSoft and Activision’s third iteration (not counting Aerosmith & Metallica) of their version of Guitar Hero (remember, Harmonix made Guitar Hero 1 and 2), it looks like the drum set will have a significant overhaul, according to a blurred image sent in to the folks over at Engadget. Apparently, there is now a cross bar between the set’s legs, the controller panel has been moved to the front, and in general, it looks a lot like another franchise’s drum set…

[via Engadget]

It didn’t look like there were any during any of the E3 coverage, but Casey Malone from Harmonix confirmed that thinking today on Twitter. Instead, drum overdrive is activated simply by hitting a glowing green note.  The entire path will begin to glow green just before the note is to be hit, so you’ll know that it is an activation note.  What do you think? Can you do without the drum fill overdrive activation in The Beatles: Rock Band, or do you prefer the game more fiction-based with Ringo rocking out impromptu-style on the drums?

Click for bigger image

Here it is.  All of the Fab Four’s instruments together.  We’ve seen the announcements for the other instruments before, but a good close-up (see below) pictures of the drums is new.  It doesn’t appear to any significant changes to the drum set from previous versions of the Rock Band franchise, with the obvious exception of the large Beatles logo on the front of the set.  Official word from Harmonix was brief, but they did say it is a “…Ringo Starr inspired, Ludwig-branded Rock Band 2 drum set with a classic pearl finish and vintage replica Beatles kick drum head.”  With everyone playing together today at E3 with the instruments, it looked about as real as you can get with fake plastic instruments!