Keyboards: played out with weekend bar bands for ten years. Guitar: but never progressed past just being okay. Sousaphone and Baritone: played in the grade school and high school band. Favorite songs to play: "Turn Up The Radio" by Autograph, "Runaway" by Bon Jovi and "Jump" by Van Halen. This is one reason that I like to hear everything in detail rather than just enjoying a song for what it is. I've spent most of my life dissecting songs (down to playing 45's at 33 rpm and buying a cassette recorder that could play back at half speed) and reading sheet music to learn to play them. |
Well I must add that that Rock Band is a revolutionary product. With 2.5 million songs downloaded and counting - this is a REVOLUTION in the making. Never have I had so much fun and the kids are just as keen (the teengaer is playing drums now and trying to catch up with the 8 year old) ....amazing that this closes the generation gap totally...even the wife plays! I have deliberately ONLY introduced drums, as this is the closest to a real instrument as you can get in a game. On "Expert" you are pretty much really drumming (just missing the high hat and its foot pedal - a significant difference but they did have to simplify it to get broader market acceptance) and no I am far from an expert... I plan to add microphone at a later date to try and maintain my kids interest (I have reservations about the guitar is it bears no relation to the real thing). If the interest is still there after three months...it will be time to get a real drum kit and invest in some lessons... if you don't believe me that Rockband drumming is at least half way towards real levdrumming - just google Youtube Rockband Expert Drumming and watch - it is mega-difficult! |
LOL does playing in an actual band count? Of course it does...congrats on the band - any road trips planned? ....but for those "musically challenged" - Rockband is an easy way to "pretend" to play without months of lessons/practice and immediately have some fun! It is no substitute for the real thing. The drums are at most about "halfway" towards real drumming.... |
Got Guitar Hero III for the kids for Christmas, although the wife says I really got it for myself. Anyway, got through "easy" fairly quickly, then passed muster on Medium. Got through the 1st bunch of songs on Hard and pretty much have turned the game over to the kids - I'm done Good for you Bob. I bet the kids were ecstatic getting the present and even happier when Dad finally stopped hogging the game!! I don't have Guitar hero but from what I gather it is single player. It is also with "fake" guitars. Rock Band uses "fake" guitars too but it also allows for a drum set and vocals. Furthermore you can all play together simultaneously as a "band": lead guitar, bass guitar, lead singer and drums...this is the aspect of Rock Band that is quite revolutionary (along with the downloadable material) ....particularly the drums (which are the least fake and approximate the real thing). Chances are your kids will soon demand RockBand if they are at all into Guitar Hero. In case anyone might dismiss the Rock Band drums as a mere "pretend toy" like the "fake Guitars"(which are nothing like a real guitar). I suggest you take a look at this, of course this is a trained drummer playing (with 12 years of practice and a college degree in percussion)...nevertheless it ain't a perfect score....it is that difficult!!! One thing I forgot to mention ....as an audiophile you can hook the game up to your main system, crank it, and eliminate the ugly pitter patter background sound of the sticks on the electronic drum pads (ugly sound heard on the video and unavoidable when using just the TV speakers). Better still, you can rock the entire house and drive the Wife absolutely NUTS...for some this may be even more rewarding than achieveing a high score! BTW- I have two daughters and they absolutely love drumming on Rockband....so perhaps, one day, they will drive their husband NUTS....or maybe that is a given anyway ;-) |
I bought guitar hero world tour over the Christmas holiday for myself... I have friends come over for a Wii night and we play all night. I like lead guitar and Hotel California on hard settings. The drums and bass guitar are also cool... Its funny to hear everyone sing on vocals. All connected to my HT system and played loud... Poor neighbors! I had no complaints yet... ;-) |
Yeah, was at a party and I was told I looked like the bass guitarist from guitar hero, I think most of the tunes were a bit old school rock (from memory and a state of 'too drunk to copulate').I remember 'Bulls on Parade' by the one and only RATM. Paranoid also, I suppose was ok, I think there was a Sex Pistols song also, can't remember, its the amber nectar you know.lol. Was fun though. |
Wow, I saw the commercial for Rock Band when it 1st came out. We did not have a Xbox360 so being that I love to rock and the 3 kids all like rock I thought this is a must have. So I take the older 2 kids and we set out to buy everything and everything we did. Fast forward to now, I have upgraded drums, wireless guitars, wireless mic, fog/strobe machine and 2 professional stage lights installed in party/theater room. We have alot of rock band parties with the friends and it just gets better and better each time. BTW I am 38 years young! |
I thought the same thing Tiggerfc. My 17 year old brother (I'm 34, a bit of a gap) was selling off his XBox stuff, so I jokingly asked him if I could have his Guitar Hero III game and guitar. He brought it by the next weekend and started jamming. I couldn't put it down. I bought Guitar Hero Metallica (I'm a big Matallica fan) a week later. Played through the stereo, it doesn't sound bad at all. Its a lot of fun. People bash the games. My cousin who is 15 started playing the game a few years ago. He was exposed to a lot of music that he wouldn't have been otherwise. Last Christmas when I visited, I heard Cream's Sunshine of Your Love playing in his room. I thought it was the game. Nope. He was playing an actual guitar. I asked him where he heard that one - "Guitar Hero." He played a bunch of other Cream and some Hendrix songs for me. |
Kbarkamian, I'm with Unsound on this one. I've watched people play it and I just walk away. It might be a game, which I understand, but hitting buttons and pretending to strum or drum? Maybe I'm just too much of a prude. Maybe it's because I've put so much time into getting to the level I'm at with the instruments I do play (violin for nearly 18 years now and drums for about 14 years) that it just feels like a mockery to downgrade it with a game that merely pretends to play. Either way I still can't even picture myself ever doing it. And absolutely nothing against those that do play it. If you are entertained by it then great. That's what it's about. And if it exposes people to new music, even better! And if it gets people into playing real instruments then I'm even more thrilled. |
I understand the 'looking down' on Guitar Hero (not that I'm saying you're looking down on it per se). Playing a real guitar or drums would be better. But not everyone has the time or money to do this. I certainly don't have the time. I also understand the musicians who refused to allow their music on it - Led Zepplin and Prince come to mind. Prince said 'why not play a real guitar?' and Jimmy Page didn't want kids fake playing John Bonham's stuff. But at the end of the day, it's just another way to enjoy music. That's how I view it anyway. |
