Free Form Practice?

[Frederf]

Way back in GH1 there was a little part of the tutorial where you are asked to "tune your guitar" and you played around with learning how to strum and hold down the frets until you played 3 greens, 3 reds, and 3 yellows. It was a tiny sliver of the game that perhaps only a quarter of people actually went through, but it had such promise.

Ever since those 6 seconds I've wanted Guitar Hero to give me a blank chart and let what I play on the controller come through the speakers. No right and wrong, no score, just allowing me to be creative with my inputs and hearing what I just played.

I fear to ask, does Rock Band have anything like this? I realize a guitar is a complex instrument and 5 buttons in any combination only equate to 5+4+3+2+1+3+2+1= 19 different sounds as opposed to the probably 100 a guitar makes, but drums would be a lot more dead on. You might get a different sound based on what guitar model you picked or the 5-way selector.

It would allow people to be creative and have a new and different kind of fun. It could even record what you play for playback or chart-saving purposes. The modes purpose could be allowing free-form fills to be practiced at your own pace instead of having to sit through 3 minutes of song before you get your chance at 5 seconds of player-driven content.

[Reaper0563]

a drums free form practice mode would be awesome and fun as hell, but I doubt that Rockband (1 anyways) will have it since no one has talked about it yet. Sounds like that would be a pretty cool feature to advertise

[MrNazraq]

Yeah, I was thinking about that today. Free-form drums would work pretty well, and I'm sure would be fun. Guitar and Bass would be kinda hard with the limited buttons.

[tyrocks]

Well, dont they have those sections in some of the songs where you can free form or do fills.

[McDeezy]

I've been wanting this in a game for so long. Free Form sessions would be amazing!!

[Reaper0563]

Well, dont they have those sections in some of the songs where you can free form or do fills.

yes they do, its how you activate overdrive for the drums, what we (or maybe just me :p) are saying is to just have a note chart present and just mess around on the drums, completely freeform to just mess around with only for fun.

[MdubMedia]

Amazing idea....it'd be like you were really playing the drums, sort of. haha

Hopefully in RB2 =)

[Eagoyle]

I think I remember reading somewhere that you can play notes on the drums beofre the song, and not only will you hear the sounds, but they won't be counted against you.

Eagoyle

[McDeezy]

I think I remember reading somewhere that you can play notes on the drums beofre the song, and not only will you hear the sounds, but they won't be counted against you.

Eagoyle

That's true because I've done this at the BB demo.

[MdubMedia]

That's true because I've done this at the BB demo.
+1

But you still can't do it on the guitar

[Nukewater]

GH3: Cheats menu

try it out, its exactly as you'd imagined!

[Kylekillgannon]

all I can picture is me yelling out "JEFF ON THE DRUMS!!!" and then your game drummer just smacking pads

[Frederf]

So no such luck? Shame.

[parastroke7]

This game is coming soon. I'm happy, although I might not be able to get it right away.

[Rock_Band_Wii]

I hope there's free form practice for vocals...oh wait.

[logicalnoise]

+1

But you still can't do it on the guitar

the jamout section at the end of certian songs works exactly like drum fill sections.

[Ultrace]

I fear to ask, does Rock Band have anything like this? I realize a guitar is a complex instrument and 5 buttons in any combination only equate to 5+4+3+2+1+3+2+1= 19 different sounds as opposed to the probably 100 a guitar makes, but drums would be a lot more dead on. You might get a different sound based on what guitar model you picked or the 5-way selector.
Actually, it works out a little better than that. With five buttons and using up to 3 buttons per note, there are 24 combinations. Using a GRYB or RYBO chord as well would push this to 26. Add in the potential for the game to make a different sound based on strumming up or down (48 or 52 combos then), add in whammy on sustain (or even on short notes if you held it before strumming) and possibly even some differential from the effects switch, and it's actually quite staggering. That having been said, I don't think there's anything like this in RB, but the potential for truly insane freeforms in the sequel is there...

[Seattle_Sound]

Actually, it works out a little better than that. With five buttons and using up to 3 buttons per note, there are 24 combinations. Using a GRYB or RYBO chord as well would push this to 26. Add in the potential for the game to make a different sound based on strumming up or down (48 or 52 combos then), add in whammy on sustain (or even on short notes if you held it before strumming) and possibly even some differential from the effects switch, and it's actually quite staggering. That having been said, I don't think there's anything like this in RB, but the potential for truly insane freeforms in the sequel is there...

Yeah I think this idea is quite possible.

You could even pick a generic sound before starting like
"Grunge 2"
"Metal 1"
"Funk 4"
etc.

You could even treat it like a 4 track recorder. You could play the drums and then go back go back and do vocals and guitar and bass. Kinda like being your own Trent Reznor or Billy Corgan. That way you can make your own stuff without having to have 4 people over.

Comeon Harmonix, put this in RB 2 and crush GH4!!!

[MdubMedia]

the jamout section at the end of certian songs works exactly like drum fill sections.
I was refering to the start of the song :)

[WolfBrigade]

Well there is always one thing to remember when suggesting Free Form or any sort of feature the game could have that involved you choosing what you are actually hiting and making sounds to. Rock Band is supposed to be a family game where people from anywhere can play famous songs, not songs that have just been made up on the spot and released upon the world. The CEO for Harmonix (I forget his name and what exactly he said so I cannot quote him) something to the effect of "Rock Band is going to be a game where you can sit down (or stand) with your family and friends and rock out to classic rock songs."

Allowing people to make their own songs and note tracks would disrupt the game, I think. Just think about it. I don't memorize every exact note at specific times but making the game easier like that would not be fun. Everyone could put all the notes coloured red-orange as a green note and play that for the entire song. That definitely would not be fun. Free Form, yes, the idea is great, but actually played? I would not play online if there was the option to join other people who have made their own songs, at least, I would avoid it and look down upon those who do. I would not make my own song, it is enough challenge for me to play the songs perfectly already.

[Ultrace]

Allowing people to make their own songs and note tracks would disrupt the game, I think. Just think about it. I don't memorize every exact note at specific times but making the game easier like that would not be fun. Everyone could put all the notes coloured red-orange as a green note and play that for the entire song. That definitely would not be fun. Free Form, yes, the idea is great, but actually played? I would not play online if there was the option to join other people who have made their own songs, at least, I would avoid it and look down upon those who do. I would not make my own song, it is enough challenge for me to play the songs perfectly already.

I certainly wouldn't want whole songs to be this way, just the possibility of having some free-form sections within the given songs, much like what drums have now (except perhaps more in the "dead" air sections of a lead or bass track), or just a "jam" mode where people can freeform guitar, drums and singing at the same time. I wouldn't want that to replace any real gameplay from the sequel, it's just a consideration of an "extra" that could give one more leg up on the competition...

[MundaneSoul]

You could even pick a generic sound before starting like
"Grunge 2"
"Metal 1"
"Funk 4"
etc.

Exactly what I was thinking. Then you could have the top buttons mapped more to lower sounds and power chords, and the solo buttons for noodling around with lead-type higher-pitched notes. Man, that would be so hot.

Bonus points for being able to write a song and then share it with others. How cool would that be?

[SmokaCola]

Hook the drumset to your PC, get a program to assign each "button" a sound and you're set. Yes it's possible and yes it's easy to do, there is a program that lets you turn your GH controller into a "real" guitar and it lets you make music.

[Frederf]

[...] "Rock Band is going to be a game where you can sit down (or stand) with your family and friends and rock out to classic rock songs."

[...] but making the game easier like that would not be fun. Everyone could put all the notes coloured red-orange as a green note and play that for the entire song. That definitely would not be fun.[...]

I think you're confused with what I'm suggesting. It would be it's own separate mode in a corner, away from the rest of the game. Like a tutorial or something. Call it "jam" mode or whatnot. And what would be more fun than Jamming with family and friends? What you're saying is it would be boring or make the game too easy. The same logic could be applied to Practice Mode. I think Practice Mode should be removed from Rock Band! It makes the game too easy and not fun since the venue is plain, the audio is simplistic, and you can't possibly lose! :cool:

I also think the different guitars should sound different. I mean obviously not during the charted-career songs, but if there was a songless context like "Jam" mode.