Advice for Quickplay with a Singer

[BStu78]

I hate to post another thread verging on vocalist complaining about the online experience, but I imagine those of us who play vocals for online quickplay have noticed little things that would be good for other players to know. I'll start off with one thing:

1. Yes, you know the singer has a mic, but he might not have headphones. I caught a bit of someone complaining that I wasn't chatting on vocals. While yes, I obviously have a mic, I use the USB mic when I play online so the voice chat is coming through my TV speakers and getting garbled with the game audio. Especially with multiple people chatting, its hard to really hear anything like this, so I usually don't chat since I can't keep up with what's being said. So yes, you know the singer has a mic, but that doesn't mean they can easily chat, either.

Any other singers know of good advice for other players?

[Artemecien]

2. We do not want to 'hold the triggers' so everyone can hear us. Aside from putting us off and putting us under pressure,the lag would make it sound horrendous and ultimately pointless. Furthermore,we are not going to do that kind of crap to entertain you.

[moneyp]

Don't select Green Grass and High Tides.

Actually, that's good advice for Quickplay, period.

[drakkahn]

Feel free to select GGHT. I will sit back and enjoy watching you work your buns off (and if you aren't good enough, fail it)while I FC it.

For all new guitarist, learn to control your OD. Just because you got OD ready doesn't mean its time to go always. Especially when the drummer and vocalist are still gaining OD. 8X is > anything. Granted don't waste OD notes. If you are maxed, and the only one with power, then maybe your bandmates are struggling and you should activate.

New vocalist, same goes for you. Try to hold out until others are ready. If you hold out and max your meter don't burn OD phrases go ahead and start it. It may just mean that your fellow players are having problems.

Drummers, you are the backbone of the whole band. Please, please, please play the appropriate level of difficulty. That goes for everyone but especially drummers.

It's a thing of beauty when the drummer activates then all of a sudden the vocalist and guitarist activate while everyone has something to score points off of.

Morale to the story: Play your appropriate difficulty and learn when to use your OD and when not to use your OD.

[ChoirChronos]

2. We do not want to 'hold the triggers' so everyone can hear us. Aside from putting us off and putting us under pressure,the lag would make it sound horrendous and ultimately pointless. Furthermore,we are not going to do that kind of crap to entertain you.

Seconded.

Also, there's a common courtesy to let the singer pick. That's cute and all, but I get this alot:

Me: *wanting to sing Moving to Seattle, or other DLC song*
Curiously Irritated Band Leader: *press continue and immediately snarks* Singer, what do you want to sing?
Me: *waits to see the list to see if we have matching DLC* Um . . .
CIBL: *still on random and more upset* Well, Singer??

Now I just ask if the person has any DLC at the beginning, but a quick once over for any DLC would help in any situation a leader's asking for suggestions.

[RichieRB]

Wait, people don't want to hold down the trigger for others to hear them singing?

That's the only reason I play online :)

[Icemage]

Oh, the stories I could tell... I spend most of my time in Rock Band in vox BQP.

- Songs with broken or semi-broken talkies annoy Expert vocalists. Next To You, Timmy & TLotU, I'm So Sick, When You Were Young, and Sabotage are the big offenders off the main disc. Zero, Blinded By Fear, The Kill, There Goes My Gun, My Iron Lung, and more than a half dozen other DLC songs that I can't think of off the top of my head also have horribly broken talkies. If your vox is on Expert, don't play too many of these songs back to back if you want to keep your vocalist around.

- Just as with most other instruments, Dani California, Welcome Home, and Enter Sandman will very likely be horribly overplayed and will cause your vocalist (and other band members) to leave.

- Don't pick a song you suck at that has long tambourine sections and expect your vocalist to save your bacon. Foreplay/Longtime, Green Grass and High Tides, Working Man (both versions), Shockwave, Rock Rebellion, Afterlife, and Baba O'Riley all have extremely difficult drum or guitar parts while vocals are in taps where there is no chance to activate overdrive from vocals even if the energy is available. If you're depending on your vocalist to swoop in and save you on any of these songs, prepare to be unpleasantly surprised.

[BStu78]

In general, you should never count on the vocalist saving anyone. If the Vocalist saves someone, its either a fluke or a really bad band.

By the same token, I get that some people want to reserve energy to save a bandmate. That's good. Very smart playing. BUT, try to know how you're doing it. Know the hard parts so you can throw up the energy with enough time to build it back to have it to save someone. I can't tell you how many times I've had bands miss 5 stars because a guitarist was burning energy trying to hold it to save someone. That's really frustrating as a singer when you go an activate and no one follows suit. The bass and guitar just sit there with full energy even though everyone in the band is holding their own. Yes, its a good thought, but if you're going to try to play strategically, make sure you use an actual strategy when doing so.

Though I'm still weak Expert singer on the higher tiers, I've started jumping up to Expert whenever a band picks the "usual suspects". I sing them so much online that I have gotten substantially better at just them. I actually kick butt on Welcome Home and Dani California, I'm sad to say.

I'm starting to wonder if the chatter I'm not hearing is asking me to hold down the trigger. I keep hearing people complain about that, but its never happened to me. At least not that I knew about. I can't for the life figure out why anyone would want me to do that.

[vsTerminus]

I've been asked on a few occasions (demanded on one) that I hold down the trigger (he threatened to kick me if I didn't...), but typically they don't ask until I do something like FC More Than A Feeling.

It puts pressure on me as a vocalist, first of all, and I know it won't sound good with the lag being anywhere from 1 - 5 seconds behind the rest of the song.

I've given up trying to "lead" the band with activations, since nobody notices when the singer activates, apparently, and they all just sit there until they have a full bar and see white notes approaching..

So now I try to time my overdrive with the drums, or whoever's OD is matching up with mine the best. It's hard though, since there's so few chances to activate. Some songs (Crushcrushcrush, Beethoven's C***) only have one chance in the last half of the song, and if you miss it, that's it. No more.

Also, as much fun as it is to scream along with DOA, I don't want to play the rest of the thrash pack right after it!

[bandaddy]

1. Yes, you know the singer has a mic, but he might not have headphones. I caught a bit of someone complaining that I wasn't chatting on vocals. While yes, I obviously have a mic, I use the USB mic when I play online so the voice chat is coming through my TV speakers and getting garbled with the game audio. Especially with multiple people chatting, its hard to really hear anything like this, so I usually don't chat since I can't keep up with what's being said. So yes, you know the singer has a mic, but that doesn't mean they can easily chat, either.

True enough...I go with sound through the speakers as well. I just stay quiet until the screen is to a quiet screen (after a song on the score screen or on the "pick song" screen-on a non common dlc spot), and then talk. I'd say there's no reason any singer using the USB mic can't talk during those times. Probably a good idea for all band members, since it is much easier to hear each other with out the music blaring in the background.

[trg007]

1. Yes, you know the singer has a mic, but he might not have headphones. I caught a bit of someone complaining that I wasn't chatting on vocals. While yes, I obviously have a mic, I use the USB mic when I play online so the voice chat is coming through my TV speakers and getting garbled with the game audio. Especially with multiple people chatting, its hard to really hear anything like this, so I usually don't chat since I can't keep up with what's being said. So yes, you know the singer has a mic, but that doesn't mean they can easily chat, either.

I always have the headset hooked up to my controller so I don't hear others chatting through my speakers, just through the headset. I wish everyone would do the same, because I hate hearing my voice echo back when I say something and it gets bounced back through someone's headset because they have their chat coming through their TV.

Thankfully, I've never had anyone ask me to hear my singing. They'd be sorry for asking, since even though I can FC many songs I'm no American Idol material. LOL

[BStu78]

True enough...I go with sound through the speakers as well. I just stay quiet until the screen is to a quiet screen (after a song on the score screen or on the "pick song" screen-on a non common dlc spot), and then talk. I'd say there's no reason any singer using the USB mic can't talk during those times. Probably a good idea for all band members, since it is much easier to hear each other with out the music blaring in the background.

Its not that I can't speak. Its that I can't hear others through my TV. While those quiet sections are easier, its still hard to hear what others are saying. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. The point is, don't assume a singer is ignoring you if they don't respond. They might not have made out what you said.

[shaybo]

Thankfully, I've never had anyone ask me to hear my singing. They'd be sorry for asking, since even though I can FC many songs I'm no American Idol material. LOL

I have just switched to 360 so I haven't experienced this yet (didn't have to worry about it on PS3). But I'm in the same boat. I had 30 or so gold stars and all 5 stars on expert vocals but singing for points doesn't sound all that good!

[bdfootball63]

2. We do not want to 'hold the triggers' so everyone can hear us. Aside from putting us off and putting us under pressure,the lag would make it sound horrendous and ultimately pointless. Furthermore,we are not going to do that kind of crap to entertain you.
Amen. I ****ing hate when *******s do that. I have to mute them in the middle of the song or I get really pissed and I have to quit in the middle of the song.

[Froggy21786]

Yeah, I really despise it (as a guitar/drum player) when vocalists hold the triggers down. It throws me off hearing the lyrics half a day later.

My only other complaint here is that 99% of the time when I ask for requests and then go through the list slow enough that everyone can see it, nobody says anything. In fact, 99% of the times that I play, nobody ever says anything over chat at all. That frustrates me, because half the time I lose the vocalist due to song selection after asking what they want to play.

So vocalists, if a band leader asks what you want to play then goes through the list, respond or live with what they pick.

[dirty_bird32]

When I sing I will never, ever, hold the trigger down on the basis that it annoys the crap out of my when I'm not singing.

Also, if you're playing guitar/bass/drums don't sing along either, please.

There's this thing called lag, which means that everybody else hears you 5 or so seconds after you say anything, which means you just sound confused (not to mention the fact that nobody sounds good singing over live, even if you can sing irl)

[BGM]

Yeah I hate when people hold the trigger down when I play drums. It throws me off my beat sometimes, especially on tricky songs (Dead on Arrival, here's to you).

In hindsight, when I'm doing expert vox and people ask me to hold down the trigger, I effing hold down the trigger. They ask for it, so they'll get it. And I'll hold down the trigger until I'm kicked or muted.

[osteofight]

I always have the headset hooked up to my controller so I don't hear others chatting through my speakers, just through the headset.

Well shoot I've never thought of that. *Runs to plug i headset*

[zack10house]

Well shoot I've never thought of that. *Runs to plug i headset*

make sure you mute it or your beautiful singing voice will be broadcasted for all to hear :p my friend connor was incredibly embarassed on live for that reason lol

[trg007]

make sure you mute it or your beautiful singing voice will be broadcasted for all to hear :p my friend connor was incredibly embarassed on live for that reason lol

Isn't it automatically muted unless you hold the trigger? I've never known for sure how this works so I always keep the button on the headset on mute just in case.

[BYC]

MOST IMPORTANT

Vocalist is the leader.

[BStu78]

MOST IMPORTANT

Vocalist is the leader.

You mean in overdrive use? You know, I thought the general consensus on that was that ideally the drummer should lead the overdrive use.

[vsTerminus]

You mean in overdrive use? You know, I thought the general consensus on that was that ideally the drummer should lead the overdrive use.

You'll get more points if you can get 8x while the vocalist is leading the activations.

1000 pts per phrase, x4 individual multiplier, x8 band multiplier, the singer is getting 32,000 points per phrase if the whole band activates with him/her.

But, because the vocalist gets less OD than everyone else, it's often just easier to activate with the drums, and hope the vocalist can follow suit.

[rab39]

Let me reiterate:

If you have no DLC, me no singee.

[trg007]

You mean in overdrive use? You know, I thought the general consensus on that was that ideally the drummer should lead the overdrive use.

I've heard that too, but I'm not sure why that is. The difference between the two is that the drummer can skip a fill and will always get another one shortly thereafter, whereas on vocals if you skip an activation you may not get another one for a LONG time and end up hitting gold phrases when you already have a full bar.


But, because the vocalist gets less OD than everyone else, it's often just easier to activate with the drums, and hope the vocalist can follow suit.

That seems to be the fundamental flaw in full band OD paths. Instrumentalists start playing and earning OD well before the singer's first phrase in some cases ("Any Way You Want It" will be a nice exception :)). And with the lack of unison bonuses for singers, you often run into situations where the G/B/D are all with a full bar and more energy phrases coming up, while the vocalist hasn't acquired 1/2 yet (or a chance to use it).

[moneyp]

Yeah, I always let the singer decide the songs and an (experienced) drummer choose when to OD (tries not to make Keith Moon joke).

[BStu78]

Let me reiterate:

If you have no DLC, me no singee.

Again, its not one person not having DLC. It's 3 people all needing the same DLC. That's why its so hard to get DLC online. Especially for singers since we're almost always in full bands.

I get that DLC is sadly a luxury for singers, but if you have some, play it. I swear I had a band today pass over 3 DLC tracks and instead went with Sabotage. That's just singer hostile right there.

[Transbrak]

i love it when I tell someone I dont the song, they pick it anyway and then i proceed to do bad and they come back with some smartass remark...:rolleyes:

and everyone wonders why its so hard to find a vocalist

[jeccaneko]

Yeah, I really despise it (as a guitar/drum player) when vocalists hold the triggers down. It throws me off hearing the lyrics half a day later.

I've actually never heard a vocalist hold triggers down. It's always a non-singer (drummer or, more likely, guitarist or bassist) singing over their headset while they are playing. Since they don't need to match pitch or even lyrics they sound REALLY bad in combination with the audio lag.

My only problem with singing online is that people are more annoying about wanting me to talk to them. They're less likely to bother me if I'm playing any other instrument online. But if I'm singing and not talking to them it seems to annoy them. Considering I'm introverted, it's hard enough to talk to friends I know sometimes. Talking to strangers I know nothing about is harder still, so talking to random people online who will get all hot and bothered because they hear a female voice is not something I feel like dealing with.

[Frederf]

Hopefully the singer gets more than the usual share of "what song do we play." That's how we do it in local Quickplay and it works out alright. Dragging a singer through a bunch of songs he/she doesn't want to sing just to play that one guitar solo is not cool.

I don't have the nerve to actually expect/demand that people use OD with any intelligence either in my living room or online. It's not like the score particularly matters in online Quickplay anyway. But I do use OD intelligently myself online just in case other people care. It's usually best to cue off the drummer for OD. While it may technically be smarter to cue off the singer, I've never seen any band online or offline do this.

Don't voice chat sing the song unless you really want to and the band expressly says they want to hear it. This is a "don't unless you're really sure otherwise" thing.

Also good luck if you're a girl. Some people take it in stride, a lot do not. Playing as a male with a female character has also proven that not everyone can wrap their tiny mind around that concept.

Other tips:

1. It's standard to do a quick "DLC check" once at the song select list the first time.
2. If your place is loud, your drums don't have pads, etc mute yourself during the song.
3. Set up your voice chat correctly. No one wants to hear themselves echo because you're not smart enough to put chat audio through to the mic.
4. Don't have a lot of unnecessary chat during the middle of the song.*

* I swear I had two guitarists BLABBING the whole time about TV shows and cars and whatever else the WHOLE TIME.