Higher Quality Drums

[R33DH4M]

I hope later on down the road a company will develop a higher quality drum set like this...
http://www.drumscape.biz/introd1.jpg

I would pay good money for a quality set like this for Rock Band. These things are beaten on all day
with plenty of people probably with some hitting the drums really hard so i'm pretty sure they are very durable. A more cost efficient version of this would be great.

PS.
I played this at the arcade and it was freakin sweet they have Slipknot - Spit it Out and a bunch of other awesome songs to play to. I wish I still knew an arcade that had one of these.

[RustableMilk]

Wow. That would cost a hefty amount. Don't think I would be able to afford it even if it was develpoed.

[phulcrum]

I haven't had a problem with my launch day drums. And I've beat the hell out of them, especailly when I got frustrated when I couldn't beat Run To The Hills for three days straight.

[No_Skill]

I see and expanded kit for Rockband v2.0. My guess...fall 2009

[ckovanda]

on the drummania forum they're working on having arcade replica drums made for about 4-500 bucks

talk is now turning to rock band and they're planning on making them compatible.

they're pretty sweet, they light up just like the arcade. no firm date on when they'll be available tho'

http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/254500-post119.html

[AdamWill2]

there really isn't much wrong with the RB kit (and this is coming from someone who plays regularly on a Drummania kit that's very well maintained). A DM / Drumscape quality kit would feel more solid when you hit it and make less noise, but I really find the RB kit is perfectly good in practical terms. So yeah, an arcade-quality kit would be nice but not essential and you're not missing *that* much without one.

Fun fact - Rock Band could only possibly have been done with MTV's involvement, as they hold a patent on drum-based video games in the U.S. That's why MTV's crappy and massively unpopular Drumscape is the only such arcade game in the States. Konami would likely have done a U.S. version of Guitarfreaks / Drummania a long time ago but for MTV's patent.

[LethalParadox28]

theres not much wrong logically with the RB kit, but it could be improved greatly in key areas. The two that I would consider most important would be head construction and that would also take care of the other one, noise reduction. Wafer thin plastic is not the best thing to be repeatedly hit in what amounts to the same exact place probably over 100,000 times in ...a months worth of solid playing. Factor in the force behind each hit that you will inevitably have by the time you get to hard and expert....therein lies the problem. Fundamentally they are smart...low cost, very functional, easily accesible, but could be a lot different.

I'm hoping that 3rd party drum kits AND guitars get made for the game. Not that I don't like HMX's stuff, but theres plenty of room to make very cool instruments with this game. I hope HMX is up to it being done. Maybe we'll see rubber drum heads that are gonna stay solid, metal reinforced foot pedals, things like that.

[R33DH4M]

http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/254500-post119.html

Wow, I wish Rock Band went ahead and made the drum heads with the quality of these. These look like they would last a very long time.

[snwns26]

on the drummania forum they're working on having arcade replica drums made for about 4-500 bucks

talk is now turning to rock band and they're planning on making them compatible.

they're pretty sweet, they light up just like the arcade. no firm date on when they'll be available tho'

http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/254500-post119.html

I surprised/disappointed that they didn't have those cymbal like pads. I guess it makes sense though because sometimes a blue is a tom and sometimes it isn't.

[AdamWill2]

r33h4m: well, uh, check the expected price again. $400-$500. That's not because Dao is ripping people off, it's because that's how much it's going to cost to make them.

If the RB kit was like that one, an RB box would be about $600. and a lot bigger. :)

snwns: it would add a lot to the cost, too. having four identical pads is a lot cheaper to fab than two different types. it's a reasonable compromise I'd say.

[R33DH4M]

on the drummania forum they're working on having arcade replica drums made for about 4-500 bucks

talk is now turning to rock band and they're planning on making them compatible.

they're pretty sweet, they light up just like the arcade. no firm date on when they'll be available tho'

http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/254500-post119.html

OK, the price has been revealed and it seems like the whole thing is going to cost $700 shipping included. I think i'll pass and see if the Ion drums will cost any less.

[ckovanda]

that's a damn shame, you can get a real electric drumset for that.

too bad you can't buy just the pads and the brain without the rack, and make the rack yourself. it would lower the cost of the set, plus lower the cost of shipping.

[AdamWill2]

Contact Dao and suggest it; they may just not have thought of doing it that way. I'd like it too, to be honest, though I'll pay the $700 if they won't do that.

[eachann]

My foot pedal cracked along the hinge and broke off within a couple of weeks of playing medium and hard drums, and I don't really beat on my controllers at all... it was pretty moderate play. That was very disappointing... hopefully the new one from warrenty will be better. I may have to look into one of the pedal re-enforcement mods. When you pay nearly $200 for a game with controllers though you really shouldn't have to do your own mods just to make them last a month... :(

[Sskitzzo]

Fun fact - Rock Band could only possibly have been done with MTV's involvement, as they hold a patent on drum-based video games in the U.S. That's why MTV's crappy and massively unpopular Drumscape is the only such arcade game in the States. Konami would likely have done a U.S. version of Guitarfreaks / Drummania a long time ago but for MTV's patent.

Drummania V4 and Guitar Freaks V4 were recently legalized and are now in American arcades, legally, aka versions of the game made by Konami specifically for USA arcades. They even connect to the home servers in Japan so e-amuse works with them.

Unfortunately almost nowhere has them, but still, yeah.

Also, drumscape is a terrible game with terrible pads. I don't think you can even call it a "game".

[AdamWill2]

sskitzzo: not really. they're doing a location test in one particular arcade (which has been extensively discussed at bemanistyle). It's not on general sale to U.S. arcades yet. I don't believe they need to license the MTV patent to do a location test, but IMBW. Either way, they'd only do a location test if they were seriously considering a full release, so they must either have a license for the MTV patent already, or be reasonably confident they can get one if needed.

Every other cabinet I'm aware of in North America is a grey import from Japan or one of the other markets where GF/DM are sold.

[the_joker15]

the problem with the drum kit is that the pedal snaps in half. mine just broke last night and i have heard of others breaking also. the plastic is too weak, and the spring is too strong.

[AdamWill2]

yes, um, this comes under the heading of 'not news'.

there is an entire eBay cottage industry based around reinforcing Rock Band bass pedals. you could say that the word is on the street, yo. :D

[SamStone]

What I want are 'Mesh Head' drums like the Roland V-Drums. They're supposed to feel very similar to real drums and be virtually silent since air can pass through the mesh.

Has anyone tried buying a Roland V-Drum pad and seeing if it will work in Rock Band? I think they use the same kind of piezo crystal for the sensor.

[AdamWill2]

yes, there's a thread on adapting the output of real electronic drum heads to feed into the RB brain (tricky) and just disassembling the RB drums, taking the sensors out, and attaching *those* to real electronic drum heads (simpler).