Freestyle Drum Practice Mode

[vlas]

I hope HMX thru a patch gives us Freestyle Drum practice mode. I need to work on the freestyle part, and playing a current songs freestyle part in practice is too short.

[RBrafter]

I agree. My fills are terrible and I'd also like to practice snare drum rolls.

[davidshek]

I agree. My fills are terrible and I'd also like to practice snare drum rolls.

You do realize you can take your drumsticks and practice on ANY surface, or even on the pads themselves when the game is not on, right? :)

That seems pretty "freestyle" to me...

[pntbllrspdr]

I'm really hoping they add this too. Not only to practice drum fills, but so I can play some White Stripes!!!

[ixFatalDeathxi]

I wouldn't mind playing a freestyle mode to get better.

[XeroTalent]

I think you're looking for this:
http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=14053

[RBrafter]

You do realize you can take your drumsticks and practice on ANY surface, or even on the pads themselves when the game is not on, right? :)

That seems pretty "freestyle" to me...

You are 100% right of course hehehe. I just find myself a total dufus at fills and have a hard time coming out of them to hit the Overdrive.

I just wish there was a practice mode for fills so those of us without talent could copy a few. :)

[Micker]

It would be fun, not just to practice, but to be able to use the drums as an electronic drum set and have fun playing some beats.

[vlas]

I think you're looking for this:
http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=14053

Thats a nice thing that guy did, but first off I dont want to always be unplugging and moving the drum kit. I toyed around with a Mac version of that and was ok. I just want to keep it attached to my console.

[Tarzanman]

Practice your rolls on a table or mouse pad or something. The drums have a noticeable lag (even when calibrated properly) that isn't quite true-to-life compared to a drum kit.

[shoombabi]

Are you guys serious? Help with the fills? Just hit the stick four times in rhythm if it's such an issue, and then add on pieces as you go.

[RBrafter]

Its not an "issue". Id simply like to my fills to soud like those I hear from real drummers. Not my half-assed bam-bam-uh-uh-bam-click I get every time.

Isnt there an unofficial set of fills drummer use?

[XeroTalent]

Practice your rolls on a table or mouse pad or something. The drums have a noticeable lag (even when calibrated properly) that isn't quite true-to-life compared to a drum kit.

Practicing rolls on a table or practice pads will not really help you.

The hardest part of drumming is your meter, your timing... to be a human metronome. THAT is the hardest part of druming, not the technicalities. In the percussion community, the "best" drummers are not the ones with giant kits and flamboyant fills and solos... it's the rock-solid 4-on-the-floor guy who never speeds up or slows down a song. THOSE guys are the masters.

If you do practice, practice along with a CD or music. The real drummer in the music is 99% of the time playing with a metronome. If you play along with the CD, you are ensuring you're both keeping in time with the music, and as an added bonus, practicing your chops.

Honestly, getting left/right/left/right is the easy part. Staying in time, now there's the real challenge. Even professional drummers work at this constantly because it can always be improved.



Isnt there an unofficial set of fills drummer use?

Definitely not. It's 100% creativity. Speaking from 14 years drumming experience, and a music degree in percussion.

[tombrady]

when in doubt, play 8th notes on the snare :P

[CollegeDropouts]

You could do what I do when I want to mess around.

Practice
Won't Get Fooled Again
Any Difficulty
Organ Intro
50% speed

This gives your a good ammount of time to mess around without the worry of getting "clanks" for missing notes. There are no notes in this whole thing, so drop your own beats and have fun with it. There is no background music except the pendulum (sp) sound which can be avoided by your drum beats. I wear headphones for max effect. Have fun and I hope this helps some of you guys.

[maxx77]

You could do what I do when I want to mess around.

Practice
Won't Get Fooled Again
Any Difficulty
Organ Intro
50% speed

This gives your a good ammount of time to mess around without the worry of getting "clanks" for missing notes. There are no notes in this whole thing, so drop your own beats and have fun with it. There is no background music except the pendulum (sp) sound which can be avoided by your drum beats. I wear headphones for max effect. Have fun and I hope this helps some of you guys.

I'm going to try that tonight, thanks for the tip! I actually like having the metronome sounds, but if the game is running at 50% then they probably won't be very useful. Can't you do the game slower than 50% though? *edit: 50% is the slowest*

Side note: if you play a song in practice mode as the lead guitarist, but don't actually play any notes, all you're really going to hear are the drums, bass guitar, and singer. It's kinda useful if you want to just listen to the drums. Being able to clearly hear when the song's drummer is hitting the various parts of the drum helps you learn it, which leads to you being able to properly anticipate what's coming in the song you're playing.

[CollegeDropouts]

haha, I do this a lot. I really like almost all of the Silver Track List so I just go into practice mode with the Vocals and listen to them while I'm browsing forums, it's a little bit more of a hassel than actually downloading, but hey, I'm too lazy to DL, and my comp speakers sizzzuck

[Tarzanman]

Practicing rolls on a table or practice pads will not really help you.

There's a blanket statement that isn't totally true. It may not help your timing, but it can certainly help your speed and the ease with which you play rolls (technique). There are also exercises related to limb independence that you can practice without a metronome... the way you talk you would think that drummers have no way to practice without a metronome (which is absolute BS...drumming has been around a lot longer than metronomes have).

14 years of drumming is nice, but it doesn't mean squat if you don't have enough of an understanding to impart the information that a budding musician might need.

I'm not even a drummer, and I realize this... why can't you with all your 'knowledge' and experience?

[maxx77]

haha, I do this a lot. I really like almost all of the Silver Track List so I just go into practice mode with the Vocals and listen to them while I'm browsing forums, it's a little bit more of a hassel than actually downloading, but hey, I'm too lazy to DL, and my comp speakers sizzzuck

I really like a lot of the Silver track list songs too. It's odd. Normally I don't go for the "bonus" songs in the Guitar Hero games, but I really liked *most* of the ones in Rock Band.

Anyway, that thing you said about Won't Get Fooled Again on 50%, Organ section, really does work. No other instruments, it's just you and the simulated drums. Only shame is that you're stuck with the 5 sounds: snare, two toms, crash, bass. Be nice if we could force it into giving us the hi-hat or ride, but, gotta take what you can get.

[vlas]

You could do what I do when I want to mess around.

Practice
Won't Get Fooled Again
Any Difficulty
Organ Intro
50% speed

This gives your a good ammount of time to mess around without the worry of getting "clanks" for missing notes. There are no notes in this whole thing, so drop your own beats and have fun with it. There is no background music except the pendulum (sp) sound which can be avoided by your drum beats. I wear headphones for max effect. Have fun and I hope this helps some of you guys.

Thanks for the tip, Ill give it a shot tommorow.

[BearFan51]

There's a blanket statement that isn't totally true. It may not help your timing, but it can certainly help your speed and the ease with which you play rolls (technique). There are also exercises related to limb independence that you can practice without a metronome... the way you talk you would think that drummers have no way to practice without a metronome (which is absolute BS...drumming has been around a lot longer than metronomes have).

14 years of drumming is nice, but it doesn't mean squat if you don't have enough of an understanding to impart the information that a budding musician might need.

I'm not even a drummer, and I realize this... why can't you with all your 'knowledge' and experience?

Good points, but I will vouch for playing along with CD's, for the exact reasons previously given. I don't have the drumming degree, but I've got 30 years behind a kit, more, if you include dashboard, back of the car seat, tables, etc....lol

I'm self taught, but playing to LP's & CD's made the transition to working with a click fairly seamless. Essentially, it's the same thing. (when you get good at it) Counting is great, but eventually, you have to convert that to an internal pulse, and feel the time, or you'll be next to worthless without the external click.

Back to the original topic: Free form practice modes are a bad idea. IMO

Drums; you have 4 pads, the sounds assigned for the pads in the game are different for a lot of songs. You'll get no benefit, beyond practicing moving around the pads, which you can do with the sound off.

Guitar; Same thing. How much jamming can you do with 5 notes? I know AC/DC made a career out of 3 chords, but they're not always the same chords!

If you guys really want to fool around and create music, get a real instrument and put in the time.

[vlas]

Back to the original topic: Free form practice modes are a bad idea. IMO

Drums; you have 4 pads, the sounds assigned for the pads in the game are different for a lot of songs. You'll get no benefit, beyond practicing moving around the pads, which you can do with the sound off.

Guitar; Same thing. How much jamming can you do with 5 notes? I know AC/DC made a career out of 3 chords, but they're not always the same chords!

If you guys really want to fool around and create music, get a real instrument and put in the time.

I understand what you are saying, however I dont want to play the real drums. I want to be able to just play the freestyle within the game better.

[BearFan51]

I understand what you are saying, however I dont want to play the real drums. I want to be able to just play the freestyle within the game better.

Go into practice mode and place fills wherever you think appropriate, and work on staying in time. Yes, the drum sound will cut out, but if you come out of the roll clean, the sound should return immediately. Sometimes ya just gotta work with what ya got. You can count the beats as you are doing your fill. The thicker lines are 1/4 notes and the ones in between are 1/8 notes.

[Bluvox]

Thats a nice thing that guy did, but first off I dont want to always be unplugging and moving the drum kit. I toyed around with a Mac version of that and was ok. I just want to keep it attached to my console.

Dunno if this was written in XNA or not, but it *could* be sent to the 360 if Microsoft can be convinced to release it through XBLA... dunno if there is a homebrew option for the PS3.

Right now XNA isn't compelling (to me) because everyone that wants to use the app you developed needs to purchase a XNA license from live.. at over $100 a year.

[Keebler]

You want practice mode? Here you go.

1.) Choose Practice Mode for Drums
2.) Choose "Won't Get Fooled Again"
3.) Choose any difficulty
4.) Choose "Organ Intro" as the start and finish (it will loop this part forever)
5.) Chose 90%

Enjoy

[maxx77]

You want practice mode? Here you go.

1.) Choose Practice Mode for Drums
2.) Choose "Won't Get Fooled Again"
3.) Choose any difficulty
4.) Choose "Organ Intro" as the start and finish (it will loop this part forever)
5.) Chose 90%

Enjoy

That's exactly what CollegeDropouts said on page two, but yes, this is the best way to do what you're wanting to do vlas. I tested last night and it works just the way you're wanting. Don't do 90% though. It'll end too quickly (there's a pause between when the song ends and begins again). Set it to 50% for minimal interruptions.

[NattyLight]

If you want to practice your fills, go to practice mode and just play a Big Rock Ending over and over again.