Yes, the Bass Drum Pedal WILL Kick Your....

[MartyMcFly]

To all the people who think the drums are too easy....lol @ you

Last night I went to Best Buy. They had the Rock Band demo...only this time, it has the bass pedal!

Yes, I was one of those people 4-5 starring on Expert on the drums. But I decided to play on Medium with this demo now that it had the bass pedal. It was extremely tough. I just could not keep it going. I didn't fail out, but I sounded horrendous.

Keep in mind, I'm speaking to the crowd of non-drummers who think they can ace the game because there's no pedal.

But I'll tell you, that pedal changes EVERYTHING. I got my ass handed to me. So before you think you can hop into the real game and 5-star the Expert Drum Career, think again, you might wanna hit the tutorials and start out on Medium.

[Smidget]

had you gone to the store previously and it hadn't had the pedal? And which BB is this?

[miketoast]

Kick azz, that'a awesome!!

It's weird though that they had the foot pedal, I thought Sean mentioned that they were shipping demos without it (I think that was in the thread about the dude who was allowed to purchase a demo at a Best Buy and was selling it on eBay)

Regardless, that's mint!!!!

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

My guess is that Marty doesn't know how to use a bass pedal and probably kept his foot arched the entire song.

[MartyMcFly]

The BB I went to is in Saugus, MA. I had gone to the store previously, and they didn't have the demo at all. That was last week, I checked back last night, and they had it and the pedal.

It was still the demo, as you could only choose quickplay Solo and Band, and the bass drum notes were active (unlike other demos). I almost failed out a bunch of times, it was extremely tough.

[MartyMcFly]

My guess is that Marty doesn't know how to use a bass pedal and probably kept his foot arched the entire song.

You don't have to talk about me as if I can't read you...but anyway, I did exactly what is suggested, keep your foot on the pedal, and bring it up then down to use it.

It was just keeping the rhythm and coordination that was difficult. Again, I'm talking to the people who don't actually know how to play drums, but keep saying it's too easy because of the demo.

Well, it was probably even harder because I was standing up too.

I'm looking at you Drumaholic :p

[seafisch]

My guess is that Marty doesn't know how to use a bass pedal and probably kept his foot arched the entire song.

If so, how should I position my foot so that I don't make the same mistake?

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

If so, how should I position my foot so that I don't make the same mistake?

Before the song starts rest your foot on the pedal... right before the line is at the bottom of your screen you lift your foot and press it back down. You don't keep your foot raised... you'll be hurting after a couple of songs.

[AdamWill]

I play with my foot raised all the time just because I started out that way and got used to it. It's perfectly possible to play well like that (and I can play for 3-4 hours at a time). But yeah, if you're starting from scratch, keep your foot down, it's easier on your leg muscles. :)

I posted this in another thread, for those who haven't played real drums or another drum game before to try and give you an idea of how tough bass is at first:

Sit down and play - air drum, with your fingers, whatever - a simple rhythm like this:

1 right hand

2 nothing

3 both hands

4 nothing

5 right hand

6 nothing

7 both hands

8 nothing

(the most basic rhythm around, dum-BAH-dum-BAH-dum-BAH etc etc etc).

dead easy, right?

now try this:

1 right hand + right leg

2 nothing

3 both hands

4 right leg

5 right hand

6 right leg

7 both hands

8 nothing

the hands are *the same* but it's a really, really simple alternate bass rhythm. any drummer can play it in his sleep. It'll probably take you several hours of practice to learn to play it, it did for me.

After making that post, I was listening to the radio and noticed that Avril Lavigne's 'Everything Back But You' uses that exact basic alternate bass beat throughout almost the entire song =)

[MartyMcFly]

See that's the thing. If the bass pedal kept a consistent beat. When it was every other note it was fine. But then it was mixing it up.

RED YELLOW

YELLOW ---------WITH PEDAL----------

RED YELLOW

YELLOW ---------WITH PEDAL----------

RED YELLOW

YELLOW

RED YELLOW

YELLOW

GREEN ----------WITH PEDAL----------

That gap right there I would be hitting the pedal. It will take plenty of time, but hey, it wouldn't be fun if it was too easy :D

[dethklok]

That doesn't seem too hard Marty.... maybe it's cause I'm a drummer, or maybe cause I haven't tried it myself :D I might go today to check it out... just maybe...

[MartyMcFly]

You said it, "because I'm a drummer"

Some of us just aren't as priveleged :D

[AdamWill]

yeah, that can hard at first too, but the pattern I explained would actually have the bass coming *between* a red yellow and a yellow. That's alternate bass.

YELLOW ------WITH PEDAL------

RED YELLOW

YELLOW ------WITH PEDAL------

RED YELLOW
-----PEDAL-------
YELLOW
-----PEDAL------
RED YELLOW
(rinse and repeat)

that'll kick your ass good for a while =)

[MartyMcFly]

Hitting the bass pedal by itself? Yea I was missing that too lol.

[HMXJohnlok]

That's the weird thing about drums. Non-drummers and the inexperienced are definitely going to find it challenging when it is supposed to be challenging (hard, expert), and even have a tough time on easy-medium depending on learning curve. It's a testament to our dev team that it parallels the drum "experience" so well.

To those who think that drums will be a breeze through expert: think again noobz~!!!!~11

P.S. I have seen purported real life drum experts fail right out. I for one am looking forward to observing how well the community adapts to and learns the new music (I hesitate to call it gameplay) :p

[IbanezBassist_v2]

(I hesitate to call it gameplay) :p

Wait! You mean to tell me this is a game! Damn it! :p

[BiffMan]

Yeah! You callin' my soon-to-be-life a game? Dang, that's harsh dude...
:p

[Chris_Gonzalez]

Yeah, I was like "The drums are easier than I thought they would be, but I'm sure that's because of the lack of a bass pedal. Once I get the real thing, I better start on Medium and work my way up." when I was playing the demo.

[AdamWill]

john: from DM experience, that happens quite a lot (real drummers having trouble with the game). The thing is that most real drummers can't sightread drum charts - there's just no need to. So what they have trouble adjusting to is reading the charts. Once they learn to do that they're fine. DM (and by extension RB) are substantially easier than real life drums for two main reasons: a) the strength you hit with doesn't matter at all, and b) there's no hi-hat pedal.

What's the hardest song in the game on drums? I've been trying to find out how hard RB gets in comparison to DM. Is it Reaper, or Won't Get Fooled Again? Those are the names I've heard so far.

[Desensitized]

Just wait until the bass drum starts with the weird patterns.

[Patch_]

I've been expecting to get my ass kicked by the drums and I look forward to it, I do enjoy the tips I've been getting as I really haven't played drums a lot, some but not a lot.

[HMXJohnlok]

What's the hardest song in the game on drums? I've been trying to find out how hard RB gets in comparison to DM. Is it Reaper, or Won't Get Fooled Again? Those are the names I've heard so far.

Reaper is a bit harder for me than Won't Get Fooled Again. Since both of those have been available in Demos and such for a while I don't feel too bad spoiling some it for you guys. WGFA has a non-intuitive beat, which is what makes Moon so interesting as a player. There's a lot of seemingly ad-lipped stuff he does where he toys around with the beat slightly, and I do really well with that sort of drumming in the game. DFtR is just a bit faster and more of a stamina marathon towards the end, so if you don't have the chops, it could be even more difficult.

There's a song that I think is harder than both of those (which I haven't passed on the solo career on expert), and, even though most stuff has been announced, I like watching you guys squirm. I can't wait for you guys to experience all this for yourselves!

[seafisch]

I'm just looking forward to something that will actually build skills that carry over to the real life equivalent. I've often thought of taking up the drums, and this will hopefully give me a reasonable idea of whether I have the chops to do more than annoy the neighbors.

[AdamWill]

john: thanks for the reply - does that mean it's a song that's not yet announced even on the OXM list, or you just don't want to say which one of those it is? :)

Sounds like the hardest song in RB will be a 70-80 in DM terms, which is pretty much what I figured. Decent range for a first release.

[wes_jett2008]

Man this is going to suck if I suck at rockband drums,My bandmates will just love grilling me about that one...

[tbradshaw]

There's a song that I think is harder than both of those (which I haven't passed on the solo career on expert), and, even though most stuff has been announced, I like watching you guys squirm. I can't wait for you guys to experience all this for yourselves!

Ha ha ha! Brutal.

[WeaveMN]

There's a song that I think is harder than both of those (which I haven't passed on the solo career on expert), and, even though most stuff has been announced, I like watching you guys squirm. I can't wait for you guys to experience all this for yourselves!

It is totally Next To You by The Police isn't it.

[acetabulum]

Before the song starts rest your foot on the pedal... right before the line is at the bottom of your screen you lift your foot and press it back down. You don't keep your foot raised... you'll be hurting after a couple of songs.

You don't have to lift your foot (dorsiflex) before pressing down on the pedal. Practically all real drummers have their foot touching the pedal the entire song.

[Spandrel]

It's fun listening to non-drummers learn about kick pedals for the first time. :D

[The_Vampire_Lestat]

You don't have to lift your foot (dorsiflex) before pressing down on the pedal. Practically all real drummers have their foot touching the pedal the entire song.

I don't think anyone else misunderstood what I said. I didn't mean that you have to lift your entire foot off the pedal. If you want me to clarify, you have to apply less pressure to the pedal.

[Bakkster]

It's fun listening to non-drummers learn about kick pedals for the first time. :D

Even funnier that there was a drummer with 11 years experience who thought the game was too easy, based on playing a Best Buy demo without kick pedal.

[Spandrel]

Even funnier that there was a drummer with 11 years experience who thought the game was too easy, based on playing a Best Buy demo without kick pedal.


That would be like playing Guitar Hero with just a strum bar and no fret buttons, I think. :D