Support Original Artists

[Bolzen]

I just want to encourage everyone to NOT spend your money to download the cover songs that are being offered as DLC, and only buy the tracks that are original recordings.

Voting with our wallets is the best way to show what we want.

Also, think about it this way, would you be willing to pay $.99 for a cover song from iTunes? Then why pay $1.99 for a cover song for Rock Band?

[eVan_Diesel]

Well, that's dumb. You have no idea the circumstance behind the cover.

How do you know that some greedy record company or private investor does not own the masters?

Or how do you even know that the master exists at all anymore?

[hmxsean]

Every song for DLC is a master if the masters still existed. If the masters didn't exist but was still rad we put it in.

[ubikkibu]

I stand corrected by hmxsean's expertise. Thanks.

[resident360]

Although I'm sure most if not all of the covers have more to do with the original master tracks, I wish Harmonix would make whether a song needs to be a cover or original the primary factor in deciding DLC. I haven't bought Bowie's "Heroes" or CCR's "Fortunate Son" because they are covers.

[ubikkibu]

It seems in some of the cases (Black Sabbath?) that the masters are no longer available. (This is also why the Sex Pistols re-recorded "Anarchy in the UK" for Guitar Hero 3).

Without masters containing the separate vocal, guitar, bass, and drum parts, it can't be made into a proper Rock Band track. So at least some of the DLC songs were made as covers for technical rather than financial reasons.

[espher]

Every song for DLC is a master if the masters still existed. If the masters didn't exist but was still rad we put it in.

This! Yeargh!

[Bakkster]

Although I'm sure most if not all of the covers have more to do with the original master tracks, I wish Harmonix would make whether a song needs to be a cover or original the primary factor in deciding DLC. I haven't bought Bowie's "Heroes" or CCR's "Fortunate Son" because they are covers.

I don't. I'd rather have my cover of War Pigs than no War Pigs at all, same with Fortunate Son.

[ubikkibu]

I know it hurts a bit to hear Bowie and Sabbath covers, since we respect the original artists so much.

Having said that, the covers are nearly all excellent. And if you think about it, your Rock Band gang is really a cover band, so it's not odd to hear the vocalist trying to sound like Bowie, or the guitarist doing his best Tony Iommi imitation.

I can't wait for Who's Next, though. Really can't wait.

[Frederf]

Every song for DLC is a master if the masters still existed. If the masters didn't exist but was still rad we put it in.

Really EVERY time the songs were a cover instead of an original it was because the master tracks did not exist on planet Earth? There are 0 covers in Rock Band for which masters exist? Wow.

[resident360]

One of the things I keep hearing from my friends when they first experience Rock Band is how refreshing it is that they're now the real songs and not cover versions. All of my friends have had to endure bad imitations while I was playing old GH games, so there's no way now, even with great Sabbath and Bowie songs available, that I'm going to load up my setlists with more covers.

[Bakkster]

Really EVERY time the songs were a cover instead of an original it was because the master tracks did not exist on planet Earth? There are 0 covers in Rock Band for which masters exist? Wow.

Usable masters. That means the master must have separate tracks for Guitar, bass, vocals, Drums (with the kick seperated as well), and the rest of the song. Not all of the bands even ever recorded them that way to begin with, let alone have the masters survived. The Beatles recorded almost exclusively to 2 or 4 tracks, so there would be only Beatles covers in RB.

It's not like there were that many covers, and all of them are from the 80s and earlier. I don't know about you, but it sure makes sense to me.

[Muffster]

Every song for DLC is a master if the masters still existed. If the masters didn't exist but was still rad we put it in.

Is this true of the songs contained in the original RB game as well?

I'm specifically curious about "Tom Sawyer", since the "Moving Pictures" album was one of the first ever to be digitally recorded, mixed and mastered ("DDD" code on CD). And, I believe a remastered edition of it was also released years ago.

That said, why a cover of this song was used for RB doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

Note that this isn't necessarily a complaint, just a point of curiousity.

[markblasco]

Putting out a remastered album does not require the original multitrack tapes. In the recording process, the multitrack tapes are mixed down to the final mix, which is then taken through the process of "mastering" to polish the sound and get it ready to be pressed to a CD. A remaster usually comes from the final mix, which doesn't have the instruments separated out, and therefor doesn't require the original multitrack tapes.

[NeptuneTQ]

Although I'm sure most if not all of the covers have more to do with the original master tracks, I wish Harmonix would make whether a song needs to be a cover or original the primary factor in deciding DLC. I haven't bought Bowie's "Heroes" or CCR's "Fortunate Son" because they are covers.

You should really rethink purchasing Fortuanate Son, the cover for that one is amazing ^_^

Regardless, Harmonix is not trying to stiff artists by putting out covers, it's just because the originals don't exist. There really isn't much more to it then that.

[Muffster]

Yes, I totally understand that remastered CD releases don't necessarily require the master tapes, as well as the need for each instrument to be isolated to its own track(s) if it's to be used in RB.

But surely, Moving Pictures wasn't done on a 4 track recorder. I can't even imagine the number of tracks Rush used on that album, and they were recorded digitally to boot.

[Bakkster]

But surely, Moving Pictures wasn't done on a 4 track recorder. I can't even imagine the number of tracks Rush used on that album, and they were recorded digitally to boot.

Perhaps the drums were mixed down immediately. Some studios will use the mixing board to mix down the drums before it even reaches the Hard Drive. It's a lot easier to set how you want the drums, keep those settings, and record a stereo drum track than it is to record 10-20 different mics to their own tracks (especially if you're Neil Peart). If the kick drum wasn't separated out, it wouldn't be a usable master.

[resident360]

If the drums weren't usable but everything else was, why didn't they just rerecord those and not worrying about bringing a guy in to impersonate Geddy Lee?

[Bakkster]

If the drums weren't usable but everything else was, why didn't they just rerecord those and not worrying about bringing a guy in to impersonate Geddy Lee?

You need a derivative works license, which is usually more expensive. Also, it's harder for someone to rerecord just the drums, believe it or not.

[Ultrace]

I don't. I'd rather have my cover of War Pigs than no War Pigs at all, same with Fortunate Son.
Bingo - this says it all. If I love a song and the only way to have that song is through a cover, then give me that cover.

Original > Cover > Nothing

[cuddie]

I think whoever made the cover for Tom Sawyer did a damn good job. Actually, most of the covers sound amazing. Especially when you compare them to "Killing in the Name" from GHII. That was god awful.