Daaaaamn, the drums are hard...

[visualdeity]

So, I consider myself a fairly rhythmically inclined guy. I haven't played drums, but I had no issues in the Best Buy demo, although I was aware of the fact that the kick would make it harder. I was completely unprepared, however, for how much harder it would make it. Seriously, after warming up with some guitar, I failed Learn to Fly on drums (medium) after only 10 or 20 seconds.

Thankfully, I'm doing better now, with a decent mastery of most medium songs. I'm having real issues, however, with some of the weirder bass timing rhythms, for example, when the bass drum kicks in between notes of a regular red/yellow (snare/hi-hat, am I right?) pattern. Hard is completely out of the question, I can't even comprehend what's going on the screen. Even harder medium songs, like Don't Fear the Reaper, are giving me a lot of trouble because of this. Is anyone else having so much trouble? It feels like learning orange on the guitar, only a billion times harder and more frustrating. Not to mention my calf muscles aren't quite up to the task of this pedal, and my leg was in agony after Orange Crush, but that'll improve with time and muscle development. Hell, when I go into hard difficulty, I can't even read the note chart fast enough, a problem I never had with guitar until hard expert songs.

Those of you who are past the medium dead zone, any protips you can give? Practice practice practice, I know, but anything more specific that you found helpful would be VERY appreciated.

I do know, though, that if I can ever get the same level of proficiency on drums that I have with guitar, I'm going to have to take up the drums for real. They can't be much harder than this! o.O

[INSULINxJUNKIE]

play it a couple times, and try to remember the patterns, and then basically assign both your hands and foot to a certan beat. for example if you're on a song and its mostly yellow back to back to back, )I dont know what its called) count in your head, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, and that would be your right hand hitting yellow. then if red is coming up with yellow every other note, go 1 3, 1 3, 1 3, for your left hand. and if the pedal was every 4th, just count in your head. after a while you wont even think about your hands. and you'll get the 1234 rythm down. its kinda hard to understand but just count in your head if you're missing beats, and I know the orange inbetween notes is hard, but I do it try to put my timing off just a little bit, and either kick first and then hit, or hit first then kick. I use the practice mode for that alot just to get the rythm down for certain songs. theres a song by the factory to dealer incentives, and I think its BS on the drums. but just try counting and see if that helps.

[Frederf]

I've found where I hold the sticks, how I hold the sticks, chair height, drums height, sitting distance, etc, basically everything to do with the physical set up makes or breaks me on the drums.

I gotz teh long legs and for some reason my hands want to be where my knees are. It's not goods.

[rchapoteau]

I have the same issue with positions and legs. I kept trying to adjust myself last night cause my hands kept hitting my knees because of the positioning of the foot pedal.

[firestrike]

yeah i know i try to coordinate 2 beats but it doesnt work very well.

plus my friends room is kinda cramped so my legs were squished

[MrNazraq]

I hit a wall right at "Green Grass and High Tides". I went to the practice mode and practiced that YO-RY-YO-RY combination at 50%, then at 70%, then 80% and 90%. Then I went back in and completed it with no problem.

I found that I play better when I hold the sticks loosely and let them bounce in stead of slamming them.

Also, how you sit on the "throne" (my throne is just an office chair) will affect how long you can keep playing. I try to stay balanced with my back straight up, not resting on the seat back at all. If I find myself leaning forward, it makes my lower back and legs tense, and I get tired more quickly.

Basically, if you find yourself tensed up anywhere, try to change your position until you are completely relaxed everywhere.

EDIT: also, I tend to count 8-counts instead of 4-counts. If you have a note on a half-beat, you just say "and."

"1-2-3-and-4, 5-6-7-and-8"

[sa_nick]

if you're on a song and its mostly yellow back to back to back, )I dont know what its called) count in your head, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, and that would be your right hand hitting yellow. then if red is coming up with yellow every other note, go 1 3, 1 3, 1 3, for your left hand. and if the pedal was every 4th, just count in your head. after a while you wont even think about your hands. and you'll get the 1234 rythm down.

It sounds like he's doing alright with that, the problem he mentioned is the same as mine (though i dont have the game, i just air drum along to videos on youtube)

Its when there is a bass kick between 1 and 2
--|-o---------------|-o---------
o-|-o---o---o---o---|-o---o---o
--|-----------------|------------
--|-----------------|-------------

... if ya get what i mean.

[visualdeity]

It sounds like he's doing alright with that, the problem he mentioned is the same as mine (though i dont have the game, i just air drum along to videos on youtube)

Its when there is a bass kick between 1 and 2
--|-o---------------|-o---------
o-|-o---o---o---o---|-o---o---o
--|-----------------|------------
--|-----------------|-------------

... if ya get what i mean.

Precisely.

[cerealkilla1980]

ya i think my feet and hands all hate eatch other cause they wont work together at all

[dodgyknees]

Not that i've played it, but it's interesting to see comments like this. Pre release there were lots of threads claiming the drums were too easy! Not seeing them now!

[Varsps]

its just practice. i play drums, and at first its really hard to co-ordinate two hands and right foot, but after time you forget about the right hand as it becomes natural and you can start to feel the rhythm. but you cant expect to be able to play straight off, especially off beat bass drum beats, your hands want to follow what your foot is doing. on real drums remember you have left foot on hi hat too, imagine that! that would flumoxe a lot of people, but in time that becomes natural too

[WiredRacing]

After two days I'm hitting high 90's on most songs (Medium), but there have been a few where I'm in the 80's. I think there's still a handful of songs to go as I haven't seen a tier with Tom Sawyer yet.

GGAHT was rough because it was really long as I had no issue getting that long Y-R-YR or whatever pattern down the first time, but afterwards it was easy to loose as I was getting winded around the 6th minute or so. :)

But yeah that's definately my weakness right now is the isolated half-beat bass lines (and decent sounding drum fills). This is in stark contrast to my effort on the first day where basically I could only hit the bass drum in a tight pattern regardless of the beat chart (some kind of instant muscle memory). The big change, I think, was actually focusing on how I was holding the sticks (guess I'm using the French Method) and it's improved my combos as I'm hitting two pads simultaneously more consistently. Oh and definately keepming the pedal depressed between hits.. HUUUUUGE difference.

Looking forward to trying the first couple tiers in hard after I polish off the final medium tracks.

[FoaD420]

I play drums myself and I find rockband drums a bit weird. I started on medium, and found myself wanting to play with the music rather than the notes on screen. I've ventured to expert for a bit and found it to be closer to the music, but still not on every kick note to the music. I'm kickin when the bar isn't coming down most of the time. I also noticed that you can play on, behind, or in front of the beat with your kick. I regular notes, the syncopation is right on, and its exatcly like playing to metronome, even though I've never played to a click track on regular drums.

Its interesting and tough, hope it doesn't mess up my real drumming :eek:
Thats when its expert time on guitar!

[jonfitzsimon]

I am loving the drums, but you are right, they are freaking hard! I am playing through on medium and just failed my first song (GGHT) at 70% and that is one long song!

[Jixzer]

I'm having some problems on drums too. I underestimated how difficult they really are. But I'm having a blast and I feel I'm learning a lot.

Since I'm on the subject, I just want to say THANK YOU! to everybody on this thread. It's a real breath of fresh air to hear you guys talk about how hard the drums are or how you are having trouble, then saying you need to practice or get advice to practice. I haven't read one word blaming Harmonix or EA. There is nothing worse than some idiot who has limited or no skill that starts flaming the forums and developers since he/she has no talent.

Again...Thanks for being adults.

Oh, and Happy Turkey day!

[Sterling84]

I have the same issue with positions and legs. I kept trying to adjust myself last night cause my hands kept hitting my knees because of the positioning of the foot pedal.


I'm 6 foot 3 and had the same problem, I fixed it by putting the kick pedal on the outside right and a little forward of the drum stand base ( I mean completely outside, not using the bars between the stand legs at all). Much more comfortable and actually made it seem a bit easier to play. But yeah, drums are hard, though already I can feel the same imrovement curve similar to learning the GH guitar. Just a matter of time before I turn into Lars on blackened.

[Jixzer]

I'm 6 foot 3 and had the same problem, I fixed it by putting the kick pedal on the outside right and a little forward of the drum stand base. Much more comfortable and actually made it seem a bit easier to play. But yeah, drums are hard, though already I can feel the same imrovement curve similar to learning the GH guitar. Just a matter of time before I turn into Lars on blackened.

Case in point. :) I'm giddy. LOL

[seafisch]

it's improved my combos as I'm hitting two pads simultaneously more consistently

That's a problem I'm having. Haven't spent much time on the drums yet, but that's something I definitely need to work on.

The biggest obstacle for me, I think, is translating the note charts into arm/leg motions rather than finger motions. Bigger muscles = longer delay between read and react, so my timing is waaay off right now.

[ClinTrojan]

im working on learning enter sandman on expert at the moment.

Im going through the solo on medium to get all the songs and then going into practice mode to learn them on expert. I find it helps alot if you just listen to the music while you play, if you know the song you will go with it.

[OpTiOnMaStA]

On medium I can play every song but there are still some tough ones. The orange line when not connected with a note is very difficult to hit. I get through it on medium for sure but sometimes such as on Learn to Fly on hard difficulty I can't get it. There's a section that just doesn't fit what is actually happening on the drums and my body wants to do what Dave Grohl is doing in real life to the song.

I never played drums before, but I play guitar and sing at the same time so I figured a transition to Rock Band drumming would be easy. Doing 2 things at once is still doing 2 things at once. A little different but no biggy.

[toefer]

I lost a few times on GG&HT on Medium, but I must have gotten better, because I passed it on my first try when I came around to it again on Hard. Vasoline is the last song left on this tier, and I keep failing out about halfway through (on Hard).

[MrNazraq]

I had a totally rough time on GG&HT, until I calibrated the TV. I have a plasma TV, so I calibrated it using the "Plasma TV" setting. But, I didn't realize that my stereo system also produces a lag. I manually calibrated it, and it came out to a 55ms lag. I think the "Plasma TV" setting has an automatic 32ms...?

Anyways, if you feel you have to play before the beat, or it's easy to lose the rhythm when you feel like you're playing with the music, might want to try that.

[MJDoja]

if you get able to do songs on expert..

you can play real drums no problem.

real drums are EASIER than expert mode, since all the songs are note for note almost!

[ulebule]

yeah, definetly...
real drums are "easier" b/c in real life you're keeping the beat. In rock band it's like being a studio musician, you have to be like a clock to play it perfect.

One advise that I'll give you is to work on independence, this if you REALLY want to nail the drums.

Try doing this:

L: Left Hand
R: Right Hand
F: Foot

work on 4/4 and "hit" F in time 1, R on 1, 2, 3 & 4 and L on 2

it looks like this in notes

F - - - F - - - F - - - F - - - F - - - F - - - F - - - F - - -
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
- - L - - - L - - - L - - - L - - - L - - - L - - - L - - - L - -

then try switching the notes for each arm or foot... this will help you separate your foot from yoru hands.

When you're playing, if you mess up don't try to catch the beat by hitting the pads again, stop, listen to the bass line and then catch it with the snare or bass drum, this is easier than just hitting notes offtime.

Hope this helps to somebody

[AdamWill]

um, nope.

real drums have:

a) lots more drums. even a really basic kit would have a hi-hat, snare, two toms, ride cymbal, crash cymbal - 6. most kits have more than this.

b) a hi-hat pedal. so you have *four* limbs to co-ordinate (and sometimes play entirely different patterns with), not three.

c) pressure sensitivity! yes, on a real drumkit, if you bash everything hard all the time, guess what, it'll sound like ****. you have to control the volume on a real kit. the volume of *every* hit you make, all the time.

so, sorry, but if you can play expert RB, that does not mean you can play real drums. It means you *could* play real drums, with a lot more practice, and probably some professional instruction. okay, RB drums is closer to the real thing than GH / RB guitar, but that's really about all you can say. it's still a big gap.

[ddarko]

I don't have any drum experience but I found it really easy to pick up on medium right out of the box and had a blast! With the exception of GG&HT (my first fail) I was hitting 91-99% on every song on solo mode. But I have 18 songs left to go so that might change. I also tried playing on hard. Due to the nature of drum tracks some were really easy to play while others made me feel like an epileptic.

[imagine]

the drums were tricky for me as well I never touched them before this game Thoth I play guitar. The drums have been extremely fun. I've beat easy and working my way through medium. I am also having problems with the kick falling between.

Only tip I can offer so far is read your notes as far ahead as possible.

[Frederf]

I also have a hard time stopping my foot from "tapping out the time" when I start to go autopilot on the bass pedal. 1 2 3 4.. .oh wait, that foot is pressing something!

[MJDoja]

um, nope.

real drums have:

a) lots more drums. even a really basic kit would have a hi-hat, snare, two toms, ride cymbal, crash cymbal - 6. most kits have more than this.

b) a hi-hat pedal. so you have *four* limbs to co-ordinate (and sometimes play entirely different patterns with), not three.

c) pressure sensitivity! yes, on a real drumkit, if you bash everything hard all the time, guess what, it'll sound like ****. you have to control the volume on a real kit. the volume of *every* hit you make, all the time.

so, sorry, but if you can play expert RB, that does not mean you can play real drums. It means you *could* play real drums, with a lot more practice, and probably some professional instruction. okay, RB drums is closer to the real thing than GH / RB guitar, but that's really about all you can say. it's still a big gap.

well my kit has cymbals yes and a hi hat but thats all controlled with the same hand. i play loud on my real kit and thats pretty much impossible on this kit.. on expert theres a lot of stuff regarding stick control and playing actual beats.

rock band is way less forgiving since youre aiming to be perfect.. in real life you can sort of play along and get your feel and also adjust things better for your liking.

i find rock band drums to be tougher than real drums (on expert)
and, if you can play expert rock band drums, you can play drums in real life, guaranteed. you wont sound like the RECORDS but you will have some dang alright chops for a beginner.

[AdamWill]

okay, well, I guess we're just thinking of different standards. I'm thinking 'decent enough to be in a bar band', you're thinking 'decent enough not to sound horrible'. =) with that in mind, yeah, fair enough, if you can play expert RB you can sit down behind a drum kit and play something that doesn't sound terrible.

[MJDoja]

okay, well, I guess we're just thinking of different standards. I'm thinking 'decent enough to be in a bar band', you're thinking 'decent enough not to sound horrible'. =) with that in mind, yeah, fair enough, if you can play expert RB you can sit down behind a drum kit and play something that doesn't sound terrible.

i think of it as a motivator for somebody who never touched the drums to figure "hey, i can play a real instrument!" if they work their way up to expert and are pretty bad ass on it.

and youre right.. no, rock band will not make you sound decent enough to play out :D