Playing and Singing

[Hade01]

Anyone try playing an instrument and singing at the same time? And, if so, how difficult is it?

[Feigned]

I've been playing bass and singing quite a bit tonight, it's a ton of fun! :D

[Hade01]

I've been playing bass and singing quite a bit tonight, it's a ton of fun! :D

That was my plan originally. :D That or play the guitar parts for songs like "Detroit Rock City." Y'know, something that appears pretty easy.

[travmeatwad]

I played drums on hard and sang Say It Ain't So on medium.

I didn't do too bad, but it was fun.

[n8rocker82]

I've been doing it for a while now. The biggest issue you'll run into is finding out that you don't know the lyrics of a song quite as well as you thought you did. Because obviously, you won't be able to memorize the instrument part, and it's nearly impossible to process the notes and read the lyrics at the same time. I can do it pretty well for a select group of songs ("Say It Ain't So", "In Bloom", "Creep", "Wanted Dead Or Alive"), but with a lot of these songs, I've found that I know choruses far better than I do the verses. It's still really fun to try though, but there's no way I could get through the whole game doing it.

[I_Coma_I]

The biggest problem I found was when I was lying back in the recliner, playing the bass while trying to balance the mic on my chest, holding it up with an empty water bottle so it was near my mouth.

The mic kept falling off. :o

[n8rocker82]

The biggest problem I found was when I was lying back in the recliner, playing the bass while trying to balance the mic on my chest, holding it up with an empty water bottle so it was near my mouth.

The mic kept falling off. :o

*SOLUTION

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Friend-Tripod-Mic-Stand-with-Fixed-Boom?sku=450827

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Friend-ClipType-Mic-Holder?sku=276011

[Invincible]

*SOLUTION

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Friend-Tripod-Mic-Stand-with-Fixed-Boom?sku=450827

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Friend-ClipType-Mic-Holder?sku=276011

Or you could just use the XBox Live Headset if you're playing on 360. It's not as good as the mic the game comes with but it makes it easier to sing and play an instrument at the same time.

[manuelang]

Can do the sing+guitar on expert and vocal on medium for

dead or alive
roxanne
cant stand losing you
creep

Use the halo like usb headset for ps3

works ok. Basically its less of a challenge if you know the song well -- Duh but also if the bad is one with an instrument player/lead singer since they usually dont really do solo phrases during the song.

[Nukewater]

actually, i didnt think i was a very good singer (might still not be) but i didn't find too much difficulty doing dual expert on guitar and vox on most songs.. However, ive been listening to alot of these songs so for the most part i got the tune down pat...


question.. if you use a headset... where does it plug into

[ziggy stardust]

I can do it to songs I already know the words to like In Bloom, Suffragette City, Blitzkrieg Bop, and Cherub Rock.

[NoobHealer]

I can do everything on hard guitar and hard vocals.

I can also do the songs I know on hard guitar and expert vocals.

Sadly the lyrics distract me a bit too much to do the guitar on expert while singing... but it's just a matter of time.

[LankanLatino]

actually, i didnt think i was a very good singer (might still not be) but i didn't find too much difficulty doing dual expert on guitar and vox on most songs.. However, ive been listening to alot of these songs so for the most part i got the tune down pat...


question.. if you use a headset... where does it plug into

it plugs into the bottom of the xbox controller

[mojodamm]

I've gotten to where I can play most songs on Hard/Hard vocals and drums, expert vocals if I know the song well.

Only because I have no friends locally and have to make due with what I can...

=(

[Dreaded Vega]

The biggest issue you'll run into is finding out that you don't know the lyrics of a song quite as well as you thought you did.

Amen to that!

But I did it from starting a band to finishing the endless songset on expert AND i still managed to stay 90% and higher on all the songs.

the problem i found other then not knowing the lyrics very well was Im better at JUST singing or JUST playing Bass then doing them together...

my % suffered when i did both at the same time as compared to if i did it seperately.

[Greyveil]

a few comments::

I am a much better singer than guitar player (I do vocals and bass), it is alot easier if you know the lyrics and the song, once you get the vocals down, they become second nature and you can concentrate on the guitar.

When I can't get my kids to drop what they are doing (17, 18 and 20, yea I am an old cuss) and play, I play bass sitting down with a mic stand (you can pick one up relatively cheap).

The only draw back to this is you want to stay away from cowbell/tamborine songs (unless you like pounding your forehead against the mic, or putting the controller on the floor so you can tap it out with your big toe ala bass pedal)

[Tadasco]

I can do pretty well with Expert guitar and Hard vocals together. The strange thing is, I get higher singing %'s when I'm also playing a guitar than I do when I just sing without also playing guitar.

It's actually taught me how to sing some of the songs better. I sing the Black Sabbath songs much better when playing the guitar at the same time, and the same thing with Learnin To Fly. Most of the others its a coin flip, but for the most part I usually dont fail unless its a song I normally struggle with anyways. Dont Fear the Reaper, Paranoid, Learnin to Fly, Dani California, Gimme Shelter and Flirtin with Disaster are ones I've enjoyed the most so far and can do pretty well on. I still have plenty of songs to try out though.

[mojodamm]

The only draw back to this is you want to stay away from cowbell/tamborine songs (unless you like pounding your forehead against the mic, or putting the controller on the floor so you can tap it out with your big toe ala bass pedal)

You can make any kind of noise into the mic to simulate the cowbell/handclap stuff. Which of course usually leaves me out of breath when the lyrics come back, but at least you get some freebie points ;)

[Vexinator]

The biggest problem I found was when I was lying back in the recliner, playing the bass while trying to balance the mic on my chest, holding it up with an empty water bottle so it was near my mouth.

The mic kept falling off. :o

Haha!Your awesome!I tried it too:PKinda hard, right?
:D

[buddymoops]

i play guitar on expert and sing on hard at the same time almost exclusively...be careful though, once you start doing it it becomes addictive and you get too bored playing an instrument by itself

[depthdefy]

I haven't been too daring with drums/vocals. I just do easy vocals, medium drums. I'm more interested in just getting through the band world tour mode rather than really challenging myself. I used a spare cymbal stand for my real drumset I had laying around and just taped the mic to the top of the stand. It looks alright, and can be adjusted so that it's not in the way of my arms.

[HeadHunter67]

The only draw back to this is you want to stay away from cowbell/tamborine songs (unless you like pounding your forehead against the mic, or putting the controller on the floor so you can tap it out with your big toe ala bass pedal)
I just say a word like "bass" or "boom" or "pum" into the mic for percussion notes.

Good advice - if you want some extra points for percussion notes without having to look at the vocal track, either make the sound every time you play a note (works especially well when playing Bass) or find the beat and do it all the way through. Spamming too much will make you miss some notes, though.

[Tadasco]

Yeah, a place for the mic can be a pain. My first MacGuyver mic stand was propping my hockey stick against a chair, then sliding the cardboard cylinder from a roll of wrapping paper around it. Then I just wedged the mic in between the stick and the cylinder.

Now I have a little hook that allows me to hang the mic from the ceiling. I seem to sing alot better this way too.

[Hozuko]

Since I usually have to play alone, that's how I've played through all of my Band World Tour mode so far. I usually play guitar on expert and vocals on medium. I can usually do vocals on hard if I'm not playing guitar, but it's tricky enough for me to do two different things at once, heh.

I will say though, after getting used to it, it's hard to go back to only either singing or playing guitar.

[S1ckH4nds]

Heh, that's kinda funny... my drummer friend was out of town this weekend, so I ended up playing through the Endless Setlist myself (med bass/vocals) and didn't fail out once. Which is a decent result considering I sing like utter crap. Also managed to get the Big In Boston and Big In Moscow achievements. I've tried it using the "reclining with mic laying on chest" method in the past, and that never worked out for me, so I just plugged in the 360 headset, wrapped the cord around the back of my head, and rocked out. I definitely have trouble doing more than one thing at once -- could get decent streaks going on bass if there were no vocals, but as soon as I started singing, I'd be missing notes left and right. I doubt I'd do very well if I tried to attempt it on any higher level, respect to those of you that can.

[DannyBoy]

I did this yesterday with the 6 boston songs and what a friggin' blast! And I couldn't agree more with the guy who said that it makes playing guitar on its own kinda boring. To be honest, I never really got into the guitar aspect of this game too much (drums all the way!) but singing at the same time...its my new favorite thing! :D

Now the true test if I'm brave enough to do it the next time I have people over. :eek:

[TheKT]

I play expert guitar and sing most songs on hard... I can't do any of the Bowie songs on hard though, and I can't figure out why. But I digress, my first mic stand was me sitting in a chair and holding a tube of wraping paper between my knees, with the mic droped down the center of the tube. And after a few hours that is none to comfortable. After a little thinking and some rigging I came up with this...<a href="http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/TheKT84/?action=view&current=258660977_871812367_0.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/TheKT84/258660977_871812367_0.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/TheKT84/?action=view&current=258660805_871811808_0.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/TheKT84/258660805_871811808_0.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

It's an old lamp with a belt wraped around the end of it and the mic. The best thing is that it has a swivel head on it so it can be adjusted to work with most anyone. I know, I know... I'm awesome. HAHA




p.s. I did have one problem with it. I was rockin out one night and totally getting into charactor, and I wound up getting to close to the "mic stand" and it was hitting the lower fret buttons and breaking my streaks. At first I thought my guitar was messed up, and I was super pi**ed. I had just got the guitar that I have now from EA, but after I figured out what it was I stoped hitting the guitar... and felt like a douche. haha

[RiversDuritz]

After some procrastination, I finally went out and bought a mic stand on the weekend for this very purpose. It was worth every penny, no doubt about it. For the moment I am only doing medium vocals and medium guitar to get the feel for it, but I typically sing on expert (at least for songs I am familiar with) and play guitar on hard/expert... so, I'll move up soon enough. It is definitely quite a challenge though. On the same token, no previous RB experience I have encountered makes you feel more like a real rock star.

Has anyone tried making a mod with the mic/bass pedal to take care of the tambourine parts? After taking a look at some of the ingenious stuff people have done, I imagine it has at least been attempted. I tried blowing into the mic to get those notes, but practically passed out - I didn't realize that you could use the controller. Which button is it?

Of course, now I am keeping my fingers crossed for some more DLC tomorrow that I know quite well. A Nirvana download, or Zero would make my week. :)

[DSOTM]

play guitar/bass on expert and sing on easy
because i cant sing for **** so playing an instrument at the same time would make it harder
and it sucks because i have to put the headset on the controller and get the controller into my hood of my sweater so i dont have to hold it and it gets hot here in california
they shouldve shipped the game with a mic stand :(((

[Chthonic]

I think it's quite do-able. Just be sure to practice with vocals on Easy or Medium while you're getting used to multitasking. Also, I've heard that playing bass and singing is quite fun.

[Tadasco]

I cant be sure about using the bass pedal, but I imagine it wouldnt be too hard to rig something up so that you could use your foot to hit the A button on the controller.

I think one of the best things to do is learn to sing the songs you dont know first. Thats what I'll do anyways once I get to the point I have to do other songs. I did a mystery setlist once and got Blackened....HA! I cant even beat that on expert guitar alone, now I had to try with guitar and singing....didnt work out too well.

Also, it might seem wierd, but having the mic hanging down actually feels better than when I used my makeshift stand. I felt much better singing up to a mic than standing in front of it trying to play guitar.

[mortification8]

I can do Expert Drums / Expert Vocals on songs I know really well (songs I knew before Rock Band), Expert Drums / Hard Vocals on songs I've learned from playing Rock Band, and Hard / Hard on pretty much anything (except for a few talky songs that I can't pass on Hard Vocals alone).

We use a mic stand that I got off e-bay for about $15.

Also in our band we experiment with Bass / Vocals and sometimes Guitar / Vocals. We don't have a dedicated vocalist but rather a drummer (me), two gutarsts and a bassist, so we all rotate at vocals.

For some songs Drums / Vocals is really easy, like:

Say it Aint So
Creep
In Bloom
Fortunate Son
Wonderwall

For other songs that I know really well it is pretty do-able such as:

Orange Crush
Dani California
Don't Fear the Reaper (very little singing, but the Expert Drums by itself is a real challenge)

And for some songs it is really really hard, like:

Ruuuuuuuuuuun to the Hills
Next to You

[FrankieZ]

I've been doing it. I usually switch back and forth between bass and lead guitar along with vocals. It's so much more fun than just playing one instrument. I've got about 11 million fans doing it. I bought a mic stand at best buy and it works perfect.

[TrooperJ79]

My girlfriend bought me a mic stand for our 1 year anniversary, so I fired up a new band (aptly named Loading...Please Wait) and started on my solo band world tour. I finally cracked the million fan marker last week, now I just need to focus on going back and getting more stars on the sets I did horrible on :)

[Hazmat]

Mic stand is the way to go. They are pretty cheap and you can get a decent one at any music store.

I've been singing any playing the guitar since I bought the game and find it much more fun than doing just one instrument. I end up humming some of the song that I don't know the lyrics to and still am able to score well.

My only gripe is that you are unable to use the same character to sing and play the guitar at the same time. I'm sure that HMX is aware of this and will make that option available for RB2.

[bloozman]

I tried to play hard guitar and medium vocals and didn't do well at all. I passed, but it was painful to see a red flashing screen the whole time. I now sing and play bass on medium. It is a real challenge to multi-task. Like someone said, the key is to know the lyrics. Once you are able to nail them, it is a lot of fun. Right now, I am too focused on doing two things at once, that the fun factor is low. It is more challenging than fun. Once I get the hang of it, it will be a blast.

[mao2192]

My advice is to kick each down one difficulty from where you are used to. Maybe even easy on vocals until you get used to it. For songs where the vocals are natural to you, you'll get to the point where you don't really think about it anymore. It is typically more difficult, and to me less fun, when you don't know the lyrics.