Just tried the drums.

[HoT_FuZz_08]

Harder than it looks.

[dady5000]

Yep, it sure is.

Practice does wonders though.

[HoT_FuZz_08]

Yeah but I'm gonna buy it soon.I just played the drums at my friends house.

[dagware]

Harder than it looks.

And for me, the most fun and satisfying thing I've ever done in video games. And that says a lot for someone who has been playing games as long as I have (*cough* 51 years old *cough*).

Dan

[PaperMario21]

playing rockband drums it's basically playing real drums, here's a video of someone who is playing on real drums while following rockband pattern song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwKx2GCIrt8

[Hyjynx]

Def. the most fun you will have in a game, especially on Hard and Expert

[Rod_Stixx]

They're a lot of fun, but they do take some practice. I played lots of drums early, then played some guitar for a long time. It took me a few sessions of playing the drums again to get back into the swing again. If you don't play much, you won't keep those skills up.

[moneyp]

And for me, the most fun and satisfying thing I've ever done in video games. And that says a lot for someone who has been playing games as long as I have (*cough* 51 years old *cough*).

Dan

C'mon, I bet that first session of Pong was EPIC.

[lanceuppercut55]

stick with it and practice. you'll have some songs you're good at, some you'll be stumped on.

for example, i'm stuck midway through the hard solo tour on blitzkrieg bop/detroit rock city as i still have trouble with offbeat bass notes and not practiced the songs much but WGFA/dani california on hard i can do without thinking as i know and like the songs irl so have spent a fair bit of time learning them.

i came across these songs that totally stopped me progressing on the solo tour, until i learnt a particular skill that helped me pass it:

-GG&HT/medium: the bit where you have to R+Y, BASS+Y, R+Y for a few minutes, first time i got to this song, i just couldnt handle the speed and repetition of the above pattern (ironically GG&HT on hard its much easier than it was on medium as you'll have picked up enough skills and tricks by the time you get there on hard)
-maps/hard: wow this annoyed me a for ages, the every other bass notes means you'll need to be able to control your leg independently of your arms, not easy at first, horribly satisfying when you beat it for the first time though!
-vasoline/hard: simple pattern once you know it, the offbeat bass notes made it seem much more harder than it is.

[noobert]

i hear ya...thats for sure...damn hard

[Mr. Tate]

stick with it and practice. you'll have some songs you're good at, some you'll be stumped on.

for example, i'm stuck midway through the hard solo tour on blitzkrieg bop/detroit rock city as i still have trouble with offbeat bass notes and not practiced the songs much but WGFA/dani california on hard i can do without thinking as i know and like the songs irl so have spent a fair bit of time learning them.

i came across these songs that totally stopped me progressing on the solo tour, until i learnt a particular skill that helped me pass it:

-GG&HT/medium: the bit where you have to R+Y, BASS+Y, R+Y for a few minutes, first time i got to this song, i just couldnt handle the speed and repetition of the above pattern (ironically GG&HT on hard its much easier than it was on medium as you'll have picked up enough skills and tricks by the time you get there on hard)
-maps/hard: wow this annoyed me a for ages, the every other bass notes means you'll need to be able to control your leg independently of your arms, not easy at first, horribly satisfying when you beat it for the first time though!
-vasoline/hard: simple pattern once you know it, the offbeat bass notes made it seem much more harder than it is.


Anyone noticed how some songs are easier, or have easier sections, when played on EXPERT instead of HARD? I own a drum kit but I can't call my self a drummer, but a few songs to me are basically easier to understand on EXPERT. In example, Enter Sandman to me is easier on EXPERT.

[zztodd]

Have fun! The drums are my favorite part of RB. I have never played drums before. Now I am playing on expert level. Almost finished with Hard. Keep practicing. I hope you enjoy the game!

Sweet! I just noticed POST 100! No longer on the Merch-table :)

[pmpboarder]

playing rockband drums it's basically playing real drums, here's a video of someone who is playing on real drums while following rockband pattern song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwKx2GCIrt8

Thank you! I was wondering how it would sound to do that. Now I know!

By the way, this is how I'm gonna have to do it for a while when I transition from Rock Band drums to real drums. :cool:

[dagware]

C'mon, I bet that first session of Pong was EPIC.

Actually, I hated Pong. And yes, I realize you were trying to be funny, however I *am* that old. :p

Dan

[dagware]

Thank you! I was wondering how it would sound to do that. Now I know!

By the way, this is how I'm gonna have to do it for a while when I transition from Rock Band drums to real drums. :cool:

I'm playing RB on a full set of electronic drums now, albeit a DIY one. Click the bottom link in my sig.

Dan

[pmpboarder]

I'm playing RB on a full set of electronic drums now, albeit a DIY one. Click the bottom link in my sig.

Dan

Damn. That's pretty epic, man. I like it.

[sandswipe]

Yeah but I'm gonna buy it soon.I just played the drums at my friends house.

What are you getting it for? Make sure and don't get it for PS2 or Wii unless you have to, because the Band World Tour and DLC make the game a lot better.


I mostly play drums anymore. Such a fun instrument. I wish I had the money or space for a real kit right now.

[mikejl46]

playing rockband drums it's basically playing real drums, here's a video of someone who is playing on real drums while following rockband pattern song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwKx2GCIrt8


I do that often. I play Rock Band game on my mini kit one side of the room and play Rock band in practice mode on my Roland TD6 Bucket drum kit on the other side of the room (http://www.edrums.info/a.htm).

I can almost play "I think I'm paranoid" On the real drums with out looking at the scrolling notes.
.
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GHWT Xbox 360 Midi Wireless Drum Controller (http://www.edrums.info/for_sale_items.htm#GHWT) ........................Rock Band 2 Xbox 360 mesh drum kit. (http://edrums.info/for_sale_items.htm)

[WhiteHot]

playing rockband drums it's basically playing real drums, here's a video of someone who is playing on real drums while following rockband pattern song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwKx2GCIrt8

I just have to say something about this. This is actually, probably the most useful video game ever in terms of "...to life" training. I worked from easy, to medium, hard and then nearing completion of Expert drums with no previous experience and LOVED IT!. Bought a real kit, and learned songs like 'Buddy Holly', 'I Think I'm Paranoid' and 'Franklins Tower' by sightreading them just like this guy.

Eventually you learn how to transform the notes [sometimes blue is not actually the blue tom, nor an open high hat, but a splash!] specifically to the song. I can play 'Ten Speed', 'Tom Sawyer' [expert intro, rest hard haha] and 'Limelight' so well that many people come over and don't realize that I'm reading it off the screen.

Let me tell you first hand, that feeling of accomplishment of going from 0 to 100mph in less than 4 months is awesome, and simply CANNOT be said if someone picked up a GH guitar and wanted to say...learn guitar?! Heh.

[asdfghjk]

I bet you think it sucks. Starting out you're probably on easy or medium... it's much more fun on expert, don't let that fool you.

[asdfghjk]

Anyone noticed how some songs are easier, or have easier sections, when played on EXPERT instead of HARD? I own a drum kit but I can't call my self a drummer, but a few songs to me are basically easier to understand on EXPERT. In example, Enter Sandman to me is easier on EXPERT.

As soon as you said "easier on expert than hard" I immediately thought "enter sandman is easier on expert than medium"

lol. It's pretty much the only one, wtf were they thinking?

[OppoKaze]

playing rockband drums it's basically playing real drums, here's a video of someone who is playing on real drums while following rockband pattern song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwKx2GCIrt8

Not true. Rock Band drums is to real drums what a Rock Band guitar is to a real guitar.

[nobloodyname]

There is a world of difference between following a note chart and actually drumming yourself.

I speak from experience: I had never played drums before importing Rock Band back in March but am now playing on hard and expert, depending on the song.

I bought myself an electronic drum kit last week and am awaiting my adapter to enable me to use them with Rock Band.

Prior to going to see Iron Maiden on Saturday, I entered practise mode and played along on the 'real' drums to Troublemaker. Sure, I basically managed to play through the song but as soon as I stopped looking at the notes, I did not have the timing skills to keep it going. Of course, I'll improve over time but I really don't think the skills picked up in Rock Band are as translatable as some would have us believe.

[erickOnasis412]

Harder than it looks.

Everybody gets a new appreciation for drummers after they actually try it!

[princeofcups777]

Harder than it looks.

I've been busting my balls on drums since the game came out, and I'm almost through expert solo tour, with lots of 3 starred songs. I tried playing bass a few weeks ago for a change of pace, and I'm playing expert already. That about sums it up. :-)

[princeofcups777]

Not true. Rock Band drums is to real drums what a Rock Band guitar is to a real guitar.

Let's see. Hit pad with stick verses hit drum with stick. Or hold 2 buttons while pushing a switch verses finger a cord while strumming particular strings. Yeah, pretty much the same. :-) I agree that there is a long gap between RB toy drumming and real drumming, but the gap between RB toy guitar and real guitar is a chasm.

[TheGodFather73]

Let's see. Hit pad with stick verses hit drum with stick. Or hold 2 buttons while pushing a switch verses finger a cord while strumming particular strings. Yeah, pretty much the same. :-) I agree that there is a long gap between RB toy drumming and real drumming, but the gap between RB toy guitar and real guitar is a chasm.

I agree with you as well. I bought an acoustic guitar a few weeks ago, and am nowhere near being able to play a simple song yet (memorizing where my fingers have to be for each chord and contorting my fingers to do them is hard enough as is). However, I can jump on a real drumset NOW and play simple beats and if I have the music to go by, I can sorta play along.

Or put it this way:

I can play something that would sound somewhat like "Wanted Dead or Alive" on the drums. What I would do on guitar would not even closely resemble the song in any way, shape, or form.

[rob l]

Yeah the drums are fun and it is all about that damn limb independence. I am on medium drumming (got the game in late march, started on easy, stayed on easy too long, moved to medium a few weeks ago) and the disc track that annoys me the most is enter sandman because I simply have issues with the intro part that occurs 3 times in the song. I get about 85% on this song but it is frustrating because i see the notes and know how easy it would be if my damn brain would have my leg do its own thing.

The first time I did GGaHT on medium I failed out around 6:30-7 min mark not because I found it hard but stamina. I did it a 2nd time the same night and just zoned out what i was doing not thinking of the burn running through my leg (and to lesser degree wrist/hand) and and got 87% then 89% my third time a couple days later.

My problem right now is I am in between medium and hard. I tried a few songs on hard and on one I kill on medium I failed out 19% in. It was only in tier 3 too so I have a ways to work on getting there. MY problem is I still do not have awesome limb independence but I know that more practice it should keep getting better. I remember the first time I did ballroom blitz on medium. I almost failed out and finished with 77%. I was getting pumped so bad and simply couldn't get my brain to handle the y+r, y+bass jig that the song has. well sure enough, 2 sessions after that I had to hit ballroom blitz and dominated it so it was nice to see how much I improved in that short time.

So far on medium I find the two hardest songs blackened and next to you. I failed out blackened early on because like sandman, I can't get my limbs to do do the stuff it needs there in the beginning. I have however, only played blackened once (in world tour so I got saved when i failed out and finished the song with 84% or something) so hopefully with more practice on it I can get the intro.

I got 95% on a perfect drug the first time so that made me happy. I thought I'd struggle but I found it easy. Hopefully I can hit 98%+ the next time I try it.

Anyway, it has been nice to see the improvement over time as the first few weeks I had the game I could barely keep a beat on the yellow and do a y+r hit every few notes and my first experience with medium back then (probably the 10-12th time playing) I failed out of a tier 3 or something son.:)

I'll keep practicing away and hope I can get to the ability to pimp out hard mode but I have no doubt it'll take some time. I'll keep playing on medium until I get 99% on every song and feel I can hit hard because right now going to hard and struggling so much would be frustrating and I play games for fun.

Oh and I doubt I'll ever 100% a song on medium and above not because I get confused in every song but because I just start thinking about it and then screw up.:)

[rob l]

Oh and I think it is silly to say rock band drums to real drums is like rock band geetar to real guitar. The reason is simply because to play RB drums you NEED limb independence and the ability to hit the notes at whatever speed they are thereby using the same method you would in real life. Obviously being able to play RB drums well doesn't mean someone can play real drums as well since you have the notes to follow and stuff but there is no doubt that being able to do well on RB drums will give you a good starting point for real drums since you'll have the independence and wrist/hand technique, especially expert. I can't imagine anyone who can do well on expert couldn't go play real drums with decent ability with a bit of practice to get used to not following a chart.

The guitar is way different. The only positive you get there is the RB guitar should give you a bit better hand dexterity but still, it is way diff than guitar.

[PhantomXX]

Yea. I am a drummer my self and i still stink.

[FultonPub]

Harder than it looks.

thanks for those words of wisdom......:rolleyes:

[Tsavo]

The only RB instrument that is remotely realistic is the vocals, for obvious reasons. Real drums have actual rebound, you must improvise/keep time yourself, etc. Guitar you actually have several strings/combinations to strum, build up finger strength/speed that you wouldn't gain from RB, etc. The list can honestly go on. But if you decided to buy RB to learn a real instrument via plastic, you're already in trouble :eek:

[HoT_FuZz_08]

What are you getting it for? Make sure and don't get it for PS2 or Wii unless you have to, because the Band World Tour and DLC make the game a lot better.


I mostly play drums anymore. Such a fun instrument. I wish I had the money or space for a real kit right now. For the PS3.

[spidoman]

Enter Sandman was the bane of my existence for the longest time. However, going to practice mode and getting that stupid foot beat down helped out a ton.

I've 5 starred all but two song songs on medium now (been playing for around a month) But I just suck so much at alternating foot and hand beats. ("This ain't a scene" annoys me so much because it shouldn't be hard!

[Nuggie]

It most definitely is harder than it looks. I remember when I first started on Medium, it was just so damn hard, I couldn't really enjoy it but when you get the hours in and start moving up to Hard and Expert, it gets really enjoyable (apart from the songs which are just stupidly hard obviously)

Watch out for Next to You and RttH on Hard/Expert, they will kill you

[xXMrMattMattXx]

I beat all the songs on medium on drums so Im happy. :)

Hard.....well...it doesnt lie. But i beat WGFA on hard somehow??? I dont know how but I did so thats an accomplishment for me too! They look so easy when your just watching but when you actually play its bad.

[dagware]

The only RB instrument that is remotely realistic is the vocals, for obvious reasons. Real drums have actual rebound, you must improvise/keep time yourself, etc. Guitar you actually have several strings/combinations to strum, build up finger strength/speed that you wouldn't gain from RB, etc. The list can honestly go on. But if you decided to buy RB to learn a real instrument via plastic, you're already in trouble :eek:

If you're saying that playing drums in RB doesn't teach you anything at all that would be useful with real drums, then you're just trolling. Of course they aren't the same. Yes there's a big gap. But you certainly CAN learn some sort of limb independence, as well as the ability to hit round targets with sticks, and stomp a pedal at different times than when you hit the round targets. You can even get (or build) drums with better rebound. Yes, there's a lot more to real drums than that. But it's a start.

And I know of what I speak. IANADIRL, but I'm learning, and it's all because of Rock Band. Yes there's a lot I need to learn, and if anyone underestimates how hard it is to keep a beat by yourself, without on-screen help, then you're in for a big surprise. :eek: But I'm a hell of a lot better IRL than I would be if I hadn't learned RB drums.

Dan

[karaokefreak]

I love the drums too! It was an instant love ^^
Before I got to play Rock Band, I never thought I could play drums (or something very similar to it) that well. Thanks to the excellent learning curve I got into it very quickly. After four or five days I was able to beat "flirtin with disaster" on Hard with 5 Stars. Today i really love that song, although I'd never consider myself someone who listenes to "Southern Rock". If it hadn't been for the drums, I'd never gotton to like that song very much.

Actually strange that I find FwD not hard at all. I had A LOT more problems with "Run to the Hills" (drum for your life ;) ) The drum rolls in FwD were hard in the beginning, now I love to use them in fill ins in many songs ;).
I wonder what the RB 2 drums are gonna be like. One thing is 4 sure: If they improve them remarkably, I am definetly going to buy them (I WANT CYMBALS!!)

cheers from Berlin, Germany

[dagware]

For anyone who is finding it difficult going from Medium to Hard, make sure you're calibration is set correctly. You really start noticing the difference, once you get into Hard and Expert.

Some other random tips:


Leg independence becomes much more important in Hard and Expert. If you keep working at it, you WILL get it eventually. Trust me. Just don't give up. Right around the time you're ready to quit (or maybe the 10th time you're ready to quit), it will suddenly start to click.
Don't get stuck on one song. For example, I've gold-starred 19 songs, and I *still* have trouble with Creep for some stupid reason. So if you have to, just find any way to get through a song -- you can come back to it later.
Run To The Hills sucks.


Dan

[dagware]

"Run to the Hills" (drum for your life ;) )

LOL! Now I'll never hear that song the same way again. :p

Dan

[karaokefreak]

LOL! Now I'll never hear that song the same way again. :p

Dan

Don't say it didn't come to your mind when you played that freaking song and lost for the 10th time or so ^^. I was even singing it in the vocal part...
"Run toooo theeee Hiiiiiiiillllsss (rumdadadaaaa rumbdadadaaaaa daaaaa)... Drum foooor youuur liiiiife....(dumodumodumodumododumo -splash)....


I hate that song, it is a b***h, but I got through it eventually, which means, I have beaten hard by now. I'm just not into 80s metal I guess :D

btw: I've got a little vid of me playing FwD - but i suck in this recording, got only 4 stars because I did "too much" in some passages more to the end.


http://mygamersvideos.onlinewelten.com/videos/WTlkgFDolOa7/


Have fun... :P

[v1g1lance1]

LOL! Now I'll never hear that song the same way again. :p

Dan

RTTH is the only song on the setlist I STILL haven't 5* (I have plenty of G* and good career score)...but this one - screw it :)

I just can't be bothered with it - it's miserable to play and no fun, at all, in any way for me.

[dagware]

The funny thing about RTTH is that I *loved* it on medium. It was a blast to play on medium. But hard and expert? Fugettaboutit.

Dan