"It's like hitting all the black keys on a piano. It doesn't sound bad, but it's not music either."

[robleonhart]

My favorite story about Jimi Hendrix regards a time he was playing a particular song and hit a wrong note. Instead of just carrying on, he took that wrong note and bent it and twist it until it meant something. That story lit the fire that would become my love of music.

Comments

[robleonhart]

As I go back and read this over again, I think I did go a little crazy. In my defense though, before I wrote this I watched

-Bill Hicks: One Night Stand
-Bill Hicks: Relentless
-Bill Hicks: Revelations
-Just A Ride (a documentary on Bill Hicks)
and
-Richard Linklater's "Waking Life"

My head was REALLY buzzing and I just had to write about ANYTHING to calm myself down.

The set up of Guitar Hero kinda reminds me of the really old shoot 'em up games. Where the screen would scroll, there'd be a target you can move around, and you'd pick off the bad guys. The same principle seems to be in effect with GH. Hitting the notes at the right moment kinda equates (on a technical sense) with hitting the bad guys (as the target is in the "space." I just think that playing a song "correctly" doesn't seem like a good reason to play a "music simulator" game.

Rhythm and Sight Reading... I think if someone expected to learn those from GH they'd be ok for a bit but would find themselves way over their head if they ever wanted to move up. I once joked that if there ever was a Guitar Hero world tourney or something, the finals should be a Dream Theatre song (to which Newrock responded by calling me a homo). Now for Rock Band where there is a drum kit, I can't imagine a person who's used to basic 4/4th time going and playing say.... Lateralus with whatever signature time Tool cooked up for that one.

I'm honestly surprised that there's a Nirvana song in there. I don't mean "variation" in the translation of the song. To play Heart Shaped Box, you have to play what Guitar Hero establishes as Heart Shaped Box. If not, you fail. If you try playing other notes to see what it would sound like, you fail and you hear the broken string sound. I think what would be a good variation is if say... the other difficulties where incorporated into each other. Like if you were playing on easy, but played the notes that Hard and Expert required in easy mode, you'd get a (for lack of a better word) fuller sound to it.

I'm not saying that if those things existed I would play the game (I have a myriad of reasons why I don't [financial first and foremost]). It looks like it could be so much more. I say to the programmers "if only you could use your powers for good."

I'm not saying I don't like the game. I have had fun the few times I did play it. I just think that the whole thing misrepresents what playing music really is. It probably wouldn't even bother me so much if people didn't take it so seriously. They come off LIKE the session musicians where everything has to be perfect. I'm not saying they need to be like the jam band dudes (holy shit, a Phish song in Guitar Hero IV!). People playing this seem like they need to chill out, putting an objective to music composition.

Ok, here's my point in a nutshell. Go watch Black Snake Moan (it's a cool movie). This would be awesome and I would play it: Blues Hero.