Drum roll troubles.

[Hozuko]

Ok, first of all, I've been playing drums for nine years, and I know how to do a drum roll. Just wanted to get that out of the way. However, whenever I try to do a roll in parts that seem to require it (like cherub rock's intro on expert) it just doesn't register all of my notes. I've tested it on practice mode, and it seems that both my red and green drum heads don't register 16th notes, or rolls as well as my yellow and blue heads.

I tested both out by going into practice in cherub rock and doing lefty switch to see if it was only my red head...but it appears that my green one does it too. Whenever I roll on the other heads before any songs start, they seem to register all of the notes fine (seemingly, I haven't put forth enough effort to test those heads...finals are happening now) I was just wondering if this is a common problem (with the heads malfunctioning or if the heads just don't register drum rolls well enough), if this just happens after playing on the heads too much, if it's covered under the warranty, or if I just suck more than I think.

[CollegeDropouts]

I'm sure 80% of us are having this same problem. The first few gens of pads are weak. I got the first gen, and my yellow pad was broken. Second gen and my red pad hits about 90%, got my third get 2 days ago and my red pad hits about 10%. Just some faulty hardware. If it bothers you enough to where you REALLY WANT a different kit, I'd wait about 1 month, and then try to send it in. I don't know for sure, but I'm hoping by then they will have most of the faulty kits flushed out.

[Hozuko]

Ok, at least it's not just me. I mean....I know I can do the things the game wants me to do...so when it doesn't register...gah it was pissing me off to no end. Thanks though, you've made me feel a lot better. So do I have to send in the whole RB package or just the drum kit...or just the heads (please say just the heads)?

[shoombabi]

I replaced my first kit because blues were randomly not registering, and I was so thrilled on my 2nd gen kit that everything was perfect.

Then I started missing parts that I knew I had hit before. Namely, the drum rolls on red.

It would register every hit except ones that required a roll.

The fix (if you don't mind slightly imperfect looking drums): Duct Tape. I put 3 pieces around, holding the pad closer to the sensor. I'm hitting drum rolls left and right now.

http://davefier.com/images/DSC00335.JPG

[Hozuko]

oooh...(goes to get duct tape). Thanks man, I'll try that. I'll post later if it fixed mine.

[Frederf]

Ok, at least it's not just me. I mean....I know I can do the things the game wants me to do...so when it doesn't register...gah it was pissing me off to no end. Thanks though, you've made me feel a lot better. So do I have to send in the whole RB package or just the drum kit...or just the heads (please say just the heads)?

The best way is when they send you a whole nother drum kit (with security deposit) and you keep what you like and send at least a complete kit back. Whatever mixture of parts that happens to be.

[Hozuko]

That makes sense Fender. Oh and Shoombabi's fix worked perfectly. Now I can roll to my heart's content. Yay!

[shoombabi]

Glad I could help. Now you have no excuse when you miss it :D

RUN TOOOOO THE HII---- DAMN IT. FAILED AGAIN. It's the pad. Yeah.

[Xzyliac]

Ugh. I'm sick of being lost. What the hell is a drum roll?

[SoKGiX]

a bunch of drum hits in a row.

idk what they are.. 32nd's?

[ZkDotNet]

I have drum roll troubles too. But, I can't blame my pads (i've tested them as fast i could go... never stopped registering). I just don't really know how to do them.

[shoombabi]

Haven't you ever attended something with a big surprise and the host goes, "Drum roll, please!"

It's the rapid beating (in rhtyhm) of a percussive instrument, usually the snare on the drum set (at least for the drum rolls that you would know of).

Start hitting the desk in front of you with your index fingers, one hand at a time. Do it in quarter notes. 1. 2. 3. 4. now break it up so there are 8 in that same amount of time. Now double your efforts again, make it 16. Double it again. That's the extent of which drum rolls make an appearance in Rock Band.

[Xzyliac]

Haven't you ever attended something with a big surprise and the host goes, "Drum roll, please!"Oh yeah! DUHR!

[Hozuko]

a bunch of drum hits in a row.

idk what they are.. 32nd's?

Well...it depends on the bpm what they are considered...yeah. In cherub rock, which I think it 2/4 time, I assumed it was 16th notes, since you roll 16 times in one measure at 120 bpm. Jeez, it's been a while since I've had to sight read music and use this jargon, so I could be using the wrong word for measure..but yeah.

[ericL]

I'm not a drummer or anything but both my son and I were also having problems with the rolls. No matter how much we tried, they just wouldn't register properly. Today I applied CigDangle's mod to quiet the drums and... bingo. We're both hitting the rolls 80-90% now. Besides the benefit of quieter drums, the mod (to me) makes the drums feel a lot better (a little bouncier) and it's obviously doing something to make the pads work better. I highly recommend it:

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=13539

[Muppethero]

2/4 time is just called half time. other then that spot on.

[shoombabi]

2/4 time is just called half time. other then that spot on.

And 16th notes in half time are equivalent to 32nd notes in common :D

edit: assuming the tempo shifts to double from 4/4 -> 2/4. That's how it used to work back in my orchestra days. The conductor's arms would start falling off.

[batsu336]

I thought that 16th notes became 32nd notes in 8/4 (double) time and 2/4 (helf) time was slowing things down, making the 16ths into 8th notes. Am I thinking backwards again?

[PDMChubby]

I have the same problem, but now ill try the duct tape thing. It really pisses me off when I can't hit rolls. I do them more like double-stroke rolls though, so I guess I could blame it on myself rolling like an ass.

[shoombabi]

I thought that 16th notes became 32nd notes in 8/4 (double) time and 2/4 (helf) time was slowing things down, making the 16ths into 8th notes. Am I thinking backwards again?

Ahhh, I was thinking cut time: 2/2.

[aweekapaug]

the duct tape method works awesome... THANKS A TON Shoombabi!

It even registers 32nd note triplets now. :D

P.S. I am now sending back my replacement kit instead of my original as the red pad missing notes was the only issue I was having and the replacement they sent had a scuffed up red pad (and the same accuracy registering notes issue).

[XeroTalent]

The most common type of roll or fill is generally in 16th notes or triplets.

[Odwill]

the duct tape method works awesome... THANKS A TON Shoombabi!

It even registers 32nd note triplets now. :D

P.S. I am now sending back my replacement kit instead of my original as the red pad missing notes was the only issue I was having and the replacement they sent had a scuffed up red pad (and the same accuracy registering notes issue).


Same thing I did. Replacement was worse than original. I use gaffers tape, works awesome!

[sporkBrigade]

I don't know much about drum rolls, but I know Time Signatures.

x/y

x=the number of beats in a measure
y=what type of note gets the beat/tempo

So 4/4 means that quarter notes get the beat, and there are 4 of them per measure. 2/4 means quarter notes still get the beat, but there are only 2 per measure. So there are no timing changes between 2/4 and 4/4. There are simply now 2 quarter notes per measure vs. 4 quarter notes per measure.

Also, a 16th note is always a 16th note. An 8th note is always an 8th note. They never change, but sometimes something else will get the beat, and that can change the speed.

So if your tempo is 60 beats a minute, and you go from 4/4 time to 2/2 time without a tempo change, you now went from 60 quarter notes in a minute to 120 quarter notes in a minute. Your 16th notes will now have to be twice as fast, but they're still 16th notes.

Edit: To sum up our little lesson, Time Signature actually says nothing about Tempo. Your Tempo is your BPM(Beats Per Minute). 4/4 can be the exact same speed as 2/4 if the Tempo doesn't change. Also, 4/4 can be the exact same speed as 2/2 if the latter is at half the Tempo. And finally, a 16th note is called a 16th note because it's 1/16th of a Whole Note. It has nothing to do with Tempo, Time signature, or the Measure.

[v1g1lance]

I got my replacement kit today. The original was missing notes intermittantly. The new set registers hits everywhere and everytime....expect drum rolls. I'm going to try the duct tape mod because I like the replacement kit more for the consistent hits. If the duct tape works I'll keep the replacement, otherwise I'll send it back.

[nick585]

Another way to fix drum roll issues is hitting the pads with the other end of the stick. Somethind to do with the object being bigger causing more vibrations.

[JesusSilencio]

When I think of a "roll", I think of it as 32nd notes or sextuplets, but most people call 16th notes in this game rolls also.

Also, I'm pretty sure the rolls at the beginning of Cherub Rock are 32nd notes at around 95bpm (you can think of it like 16th notes at 190bpm, but the song itself feels like 95bpm to me.)

[shoombabi]

So if your tempo is 60 beats a minute, and you go from 4/4 time to 2/2 time without a tempo change, you now went from 60 quarter notes in a minute to 120 quarter notes in a minute. Your 16th notes will now have to be twice as fast, but they're still 16th notes.

Edit: To sum up our little lesson, Time Signature actually says nothing about Tempo. Your Tempo is your BPM(Beats Per Minute). 4/4 can be the exact same speed as 2/4 if the Tempo doesn't change. Also, 4/4 can be the exact same speed as 2/2 if the latter is at half the Tempo. And finally, a 16th note is called a 16th note because it's 1/16th of a Whole Note. It has nothing to do with Tempo, Time signature, or the Measure.

From wikipedia (Just for clarification, I was going to say this, I figure wiki is a slightly more reputable source):
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for "time", from Latin Tempus) is the speed or pace of a given piece.

So when you go from 4/4 to 2/2 "without a tempo change," but you're making things twice as fast, you've actually gone through a tempo change. I don't know how much sheet music you've read, but tempo is defined by the quantity of notes in a given time span. Your "60 quarter notes in a minute to 120 quarter notes in a minute" exemplifies this perfectly.

In the first case, the tempo would be read as "Quarter Note = 60" and the latter being "Quarter Note = 120". These are the distinct tempos. The latter however would probably switch to showing "Half Note = 60" as this accomplishes the same thing, but in terms of the time signature.

check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beats_per_minute for more info!

[Tarzanman]

Lets get this straight.

Time signature is NOT the same as tempo. You can play a 2/4 or 3/4 as fast or as slow as a 4/4 song.

What you must realize is that not all 8th or 16th notes are created equal.

Changing the the time signature for a specific song *may* alter the tempo, but then again it might not (depends on how it is being played). For the lay-person changing the time signature changes the 'feel' of a song. There is no good way to explain this without hearing a musician compare and contrast the same song in different time signatures by playing them for you.

[Odwill]

Most of the time when people ask me about changing time signatures in a song I refer them to listen to Money by Pink Floyd. Most of the song is in 7/4 time but when they transition to the guitar solo it kicks into 4/4 then back to 7/4 after it. It really gives someone a good idea of what changing a time signature does to a song with out changing the tempo.

[nivlac]

I taped a small neoprene drink coaster to my red head. It's a 4" square and it's about 1-2cm thick. The response is AMAZING and I'm hitting rolls left and right now. As soon as Circle Cutters are back in stock at Michael's I'm doing CigDangle's mod.

I was about to RMA mine and at the last second I decided what the hell I'll give it a try. It works like a charm. Ghetto as all hell, but it works :P

[ChaosElement]

Why dont you guys do this?:

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=15499&highlight=rubber


2. After trying the penny mod I realized the fault of the sensors. They have too much wiggle room. Like any Bemani fan can tell you, you can increase sensitivity by adding pads of some sort to decrease the room a sensor can move. This mod was free since I used the excess drum mat from the first mod. I cut 2 small squares out per pad for the red and green sensors.

http://i10.tinypic.com/6l18m1c.jpg

I carefully pulled the tops off and placed the pads on top of the the circle foam thingy. They are rubber based and sit nicely with no need to use any adhesive.

http://i4.tinypic.com/86tp9np.jpg

Put the tops back on and done!

[nivlac]

It's basically the same thing, just the extra padding is inside instead of on top. I receive the same response. I'm also going for a noise reduction and a slightly more aesthetic look too. :P

[a terrible drummer]

Haha I have like 5 different crosses across my snare all from scotch tape.

The rolls in dont fear the reaper kill me D: