Comments on: Rock Band and Xbox Live

By: Tipa

Tipa — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:12:10 +0000

I enjoy it too :) And I get on Xbox Live and drum an hour a night :)

By: JC

JC — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:03:39 +0000

I wasn’t aware of that, but regardless I still enjoy Rock Band.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:45:09 +0000

So, Rock Band drums really are valuable for an actual musician? That's pretty cool :) But wouldn't a set of practice pads work better? I saw a set of digital drums that look like the Rock Band drums except they had a couple more cymbals (all digital) at BJs for less than $300, and you could headphone them or put them out to an amp, preset kits and everything -- I think this was the one. My son was playing with it. And you can take that setup, practice silently at home, and then when you got a couple other people together, you could add an amp and use that as a real budget kit with no worries about busting a drum head or denting a cymbal :)

By: JC

JC — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:25:00 +0000

Tipa, in response to your earlier post, I learned how to play drums a few years ago but can’t afford a real set. This actually gives me a chance to develop my skills. I think, if nothing else, It’s a good tool for someone who wants to work on their timing and independant motion.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:36:14 +0000

I believe with the headset and controller combo. I believe the person on vocals can talk freely.

By: giigiigoo

giigiigoo — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:24:56 +0000

wait if it goes on live, how do you talk to each other?

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:59:37 +0000

Drummers are actually fairly common — not like guitarists, but you’ll usually have a drummer. Vocalists are the ones that are in demand. Aside from being challenged to play above your level, there’s nothing to commend going online — getting 800,000 points in multiplayer doesn’t unlock any goodies for you. I never tried playing songs on Expert playing at home or solo, but couldn’t let myself be shamed by sticking to Hard if I thought there was any chance I could play it, so the pressure to excel is definitely stronger online. Still, playing guitar on Expert doesn’t teach you anything about actually playing the guitar, so it’s kinda pointless nonetheless.

Now, if there were some easy was to chat, or if they way they have actually worked, that would maybe add something to it. But listening to Drew on Xbox Live as he plays Lost Planet makes me never, ever want to talk with Xbox Live players.

By: Genjer Leigh

Genjer Leigh — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:47:26 +0000

Well – if I were a drummer I’d still have fun trying to follow the color bars on the screen. And, not only that, you could garner all these points for your band effortlessly. Not to mention skilled drummers being in demand in the online version of the game.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:00:11 +0000

I don’t understand why a real drummer would play rock band. On real drums, you can play what you want, and experiment. On Rock Band, you just play what they tell you to play, how they tell you to play it. What I would, as a musician, want to play, is a “game” that did all the instruments but mine, but listened to what I played and followed along. There was a program called “Band in a Box” I used to use to accompany me on flute, but it didn’t listen to me. If I drummed in real life, I would want a program that would be a band, minus a drummer.

By: Genjer Leigh

Genjer Leigh — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:23:53 +0000

Perhaps the person who could actually play drums on expert plays the drums in real life, so it’s not a challenge.