Rock Band- Game of the Future

For the consumers in the video game market, there has been a rash of musical interface games that have topped the charts as possibly being the greatest games of all time.  Guitar Hero was the pioneer, releasing its first game in Playstation 2 format back in 2005.  The game is played by using a guitar peripheral (a guitar shaped controller).  The player strums up and down on the strummer and hits the fret buttons.

 

 It was developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane and Activision.  Harmonix developed the series from 2005 to 2007, coming out with three games in that span of time before handing it over to Neversoft.  Neversoft developed Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which is available in stores now.  Overall, the game has sold over 14 million copies and has grossed over one billion dollars in revenue.

 

Harmonix, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was also responsible for another game, known as Rock Band.  After first announcing the game in April 2007, the game cost $200 million to develop and was released to the U.S. in November of that year.

Rock Band took the concept of Guitar Hero and expanded it.  Instead of playing just a guitar, you can sing, play drums, or play base.  If you feel up to it, you can even try to sing and play at the same time! 

 

Now, these games have received criticism in the past for replacing real instruments for fake ones.  Some people believe that these games could bring the end of real music as we know it.  But wait, here’s a little something I found on Wired.com.  It reads “‘Guitar Hero’: Gateway Drug to Six-String Bliss”.  Here’s an excerpt:

 

The wildfire success of music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band is causing a subtle revolution in popular music — maybe not on the level of the British Invasion of the ’60s, but noticeable nonetheless. The games are bringing about renewed interest in the guitar, a music-making machine that’s been losing traction lately to turntables and laptops. Guitar Hero is like a gateway drug that’s getting a new wave of players hooked on guitar.

 

As well, the article talks about the effect of Rock Band on consumers who are interested in music.

A self-described classic-rock fan, Starke said he first set his sights on learning to play the Guns N’ Roses hit “Sweet Child of Mine” on guitar, then began dabbling in keyboards and drums after encountering those instruments in Rock Band. He said he plans to form a band (tentative name: Two and a Half Man Quintet) with four other guys from his LAN gaming group. Only the prospective keyboardist has significant experience with his instrument outside of Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

Games such as Guitar Hero seem to be making the music scene a little cooler.  More and more kids are picking up instruments because of the joy they’re experiencing with their systems. 

Live Drumming versus Practice Drumming

For most drummers, the ultimate experience is playing a live gig in front of an audience.  It is the “end-all-and-be-all” for most of us.  We practice hours upon hours to be absolutely perfect when we get on the stage and play for anyone, whether it is a small auditorium or Wembley, packed to the brim.

My first true gig was back in April, and it was vastly different from band practice in the guitarist’s basement.  We’d been practicing every weekend to nail all the songs we’d been practicing on, and we all felt pretty good about our set.  The three of us didn’t know how different the stage would feel.  Of course, it was only a small auditorium, but it was still nerve racking.  Time and time again, we’d mess up on the cues we worked on and the breakdowns in the music.  We made it through alright, but I had a tough time trying to keep my cool with so much pressure on me.

So what is the difference between practice drumming and live drumming?  Well, practice drumming leaves room for mistakes to be corrected.  When practicing with your band, there is leisure time to mess around and get those kinks ironed out.  During a live set, if you make a mistake, you have to cover it up.  For example, if you roll a fill too long, it might sound weird, and it might screw up the band.  So, if you cover it up somehow, then you can keep the grove and keep the band moving.  As well, since the drummer is the time keeper, you need to keep the tempo up at all times.  If you don’t, you’ll cause a train crash and the song will fail.

The biggest tip is to just keep cool.  Regardless of whether you screw up or not, it will be fine.  The drummer is the engine of the band, and without you they can’t run.

Anatomy Of A Drum DVD

Anatomy of a Drumming DVD

 

For a long time now, I’ve been doing a lot of my study work out of rudiment books.  The books offer me a chance to challenge myself, but they leave me feeling bored and dry at the end of the day.  To supplement what I read, I also watch DVD’s as well.  And a number of percussionists have done video projects, such as Jojo Mayer (independent artist), Steve Smith (Journey), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and many more.  My personal favorite though, is Neil Peart’s Anatomy of a Drum Solo.  In this DVD, Peart breaks down his technique for building a drum solo, beginning from the inspirations that created his solo to the final product.  Along with that, he breaks down the solo into sections and shows you how they work.

Now what I thought was interesting about the DVD was the evolution of the solo that Neil talked about.  He would show clips from older shows and then compare them to his newer shows.  Of course, some material would remain the same, but other parts of the solo were very different.  As time went on and his kit grew, Peart added melodic bits and brought in different styles of drumming that progressed with the solo.

Essentially, Peart’s most recent evolution of the solo is broken into three parts.  He begins with African rythyms that move from both electronic to acoustic drums.  It is very melodic and a very interesting combination of rythmic patterns.  The second part involves a straight out combination between a march and a waltz.  This focuses more on snare and bass beats but is altogether interesting for its accented patterns.  The third and final part breaks out into a big band/swing number, which actually incorporates a video and a synthesized band in the background.  Peart ends his solo with a great, upbeat flourish.

Overall, I found Anatomy of a Drum Solo to be not only entertaining but very informative as well.  By giving his own approach to soloing, he helps to give a better perspective on the drum solo altogether.  I would reccomend this DVD to not only Neil Peart fans but anyone also developing a solo as well.

My Gear

Since the first podcast is still in the works, I figured I might as well introduce myself through the gear I play with. 

First of all, There are my drumsticks.  I play with Vic Firth American Classic Hickory’s.  I have had the same pair of sticks for about two years now and they have taken a heavy beating.  They’re small for my hands but can bring out a lot of power and melodic sounds out of my drums and cymbals.

My drum set is a Tama Imperialstar in a metallic blue.  The bass drum has a great boom to it, and the toms are heavy but melodic.  The snare drum has a fat sound to it and is great for groove-based music.  I got lucky with this set and was able to pick it up for only $500 at my local music shop. 

Then there are my cymbals.  I play with Zildjian ZHT’s, which I bought in a box set, and as well with a Tosco china cymbal.  There are many pro’s and con’s with the ZHT’s.  Some of the pro’s are the bright sound that they give and the cheap cost to own them.  The con’s are the extra long sustain they give and the overpowering sound they can give out.  I played a gig back on April 18th where I used these cymbals.  We recorded our performance, and watching it back I realized that at parts I couldnt hear my snare drum over the cymbals.  Now, perhaps I may have been hitting them too hard, but I wasn’t putting too much effort into it. 

The Tosco china is great.  The only con to having it is that it gives a darker sound to my kit among the other bright cymbals I use.  But it still has a great sound that gives my kit a diversified sound.

For hardware, I use a combination of Yamaha and Tama hardware.  The Yamaha hardware I bought separately, and it is fantastic.  It is very sturdy and very easy to use.  I also use the Tama hardware because it came with my set when I bought it.

For drumheads, my heads of choice are Remo Weatherking’s.  The coated heads give a great warm sound that help bring out the sound of the drums and ampilfy the undertones that you don’t normally hear with factory heads. 

Then, I have some miscellaneous items on my kit.  I have a Rythym Tech pack of both a cowbell and a tambourine, and a temple block.  These help me create new and funky melodic sounds and overall augment my kit. 

So, that’s pretty much all I have to say about my gear.  I like it a lot and it keeps my sound fresh.   Got any gear you like to talk about?  Leave a comment!