Does anything suck more than knowing it's totally reasonable that your downstairs neighbors are pounding on the floor to tell you to stop playing Rock Band at 11:30pm on a Sunday night
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I am so addicted to Rock Band that if I were living with someone who only had the Xbox part, I would pay the $170 to get the Rock Band kit. I'm not yet addicted enough to pay $350 for the Xbox to start.
Clearly you have licked the problem in the short-term by (temporarily) living with someone who has both. I have licked the same problem by becoming such a person myself. Everyone wins.
Hey, which reminds me: anyone played over the Net yet?
I have moved from a non-drummer to a reasonable Medium drummer in a week and a half.Yeah, the skills I've picked up in the last two weeks are definitely real. Better yet, as a former amateur drummer, I can tell that they are directly transferable to a drum kit. That's not to say that playing Rock Band well makes me a drummer, but rather that becoming a better Rock Band drummer makes me a better actual drummer. It has successfully abstracted away parts of the process, allowing me to learn those aspects independent of all the others. Once I've mastered the abstracted ones, it will be time to
( ... )
So how hard do you think the drumming is? I feel like I'm pretty good at it relative to other non-drummers --- I was able to play medium songs off the bat, and I can play the first several tiers of hard songs. But that came off a lot of guitar hero.
How hard do I think the drumming is? Well, I think a better question is "How accurately does it judge?" Hitting all the right drums on Boston's "Foreplay / Long Time" on expert requires certain skills (which I have nearly finished acquiring, as it happens), but *playing* the line in a way that would cause someone to bob his or her head ... that's a different thing, and that all comes down to microtiming and dynamics.
So, I think of Rock Band as good exercises for macro speed and accuracy, and *possibly* for microtiming and feel *if* you're listening to the sound of the sticks hitting the controller as well.
In other words, my jury's still forming its opinion.
On expert? My hat is off to you. I've yet to actually see anyone play on expert. I hope to be there in a couple more months, but I guess it depends how much I play.
I don't buy that you'll get much for microtiming and feel --- I think it's too hard to train right vs. wrong, and your dynamic control of those sticks on the plastic is pretty limited.
Actually, I just watched someone else get 5 stars on expert on YouTube. Sheesh. I want to see you do that. I think I'm quite a long way from being that skillful.
While we're discussing, do you have any tips for my shin not getting sore from the kick drum? Or is it just something that builds up over time?
Actually, I just watched someone else get 5 stars on expert on YouTube. Sheesh. I want to see you do that. I think I'm quite a long way from being that skillful.
Yeah, I figured it was too late to be first, but I think I'll post anyhow. (And forget five stars from me! The challenge is just getting through, at this stage :-) )
While we're discussing, do you have any tips for my shin not getting sore from the kick drum? Or is it just something that builds up over time?
Yes. Raise the drum throne (chair) high enough. If you're not sure, it's not high enough.
Even more importantly, when you aren't using the kick, it should be fully depressed. (Colin Bulthaup turned me on to that important trick.)
I guess it's still missing a lot of things. Any technique related to how you hit the drum rather than whether you hit the drum, and fine details of timing. And the creativity. Pretty much what you get is the hand/foot independence. Which is nothing to sneeze at, and it's a great way to practice that.
Clearly you have licked the problem in the short-term by (temporarily) living with someone who has both. I have licked the same problem by becoming such a person myself. Everyone wins.
Hey, which reminds me: anyone played over the Net yet?
I have moved from a non-drummer to a reasonable Medium drummer in a week and a half.Yeah, the skills I've picked up in the last two weeks are definitely real. Better yet, as a former amateur drummer, I can tell that they are directly transferable to a drum kit. That's not to say that playing Rock Band well makes me a drummer, but rather that becoming a better Rock Band drummer makes me a better actual drummer. It has successfully abstracted away parts of the process, allowing me to learn those aspects independent of all the others. Once I've mastered the abstracted ones, it will be time to ( ... )
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So, I think of Rock Band as good exercises for macro speed and accuracy, and *possibly* for microtiming and feel *if* you're listening to the sound of the sticks hitting the controller as well.
In other words, my jury's still forming its opinion.
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I don't buy that you'll get much for microtiming and feel --- I think it's too hard to train right vs. wrong, and your dynamic control of those sticks on the plastic is pretty limited.
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I will film myself playing on expert, and let's see what you observe.
Poke me if I forget?
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While we're discussing, do you have any tips for my shin not getting sore from the kick drum? Or is it just something that builds up over time?
Reply
Yeah, I figured it was too late to be first, but I think I'll post anyhow. (And forget five stars from me! The challenge is just getting through, at this stage :-) )
While we're discussing, do you have any tips for my shin not getting sore from the kick drum? Or is it just something that builds up over time?
Yes. Raise the drum throne (chair) high enough. If you're not sure, it's not high enough.
Even more importantly, when you aren't using the kick, it should be fully depressed. (Colin Bulthaup turned me on to that important trick.)
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