Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rockband

So You Think You Can Play Drums?

spacewrench — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:33:46 -0800

Rock Band 2 - Spirit In The Sky - Drums - Medium: what's up with the end of Guitar Solo 1? So Santa Claus brought Rock Band 2 for the Wii. I'm an old fart, not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm having fun whacking the "drums." And Spirit In The Sky is a juicy, easy song, right? So I can play it OK on Easy, and I turn it up to Medium. And at the end of Guitar Solo 1, I simply cannot get the drum rhythm. I can struggle through at half speed, but only because my reactions are just fast enough to hit the pads as the notes go past the line. As I speed it up, I can't figure out what it's supposed to sound like.

Any help for a rhythm-challenged old man? All the kids only seem to be interested in playing at Difficult/Insane. Maybe the Medium track is just wonky there?

Why won't my Rock Band guitar sync for the Wii?

tumbleweedjack — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:34:48 -0800

On Rock Band: Beatles Edition for the Wii, my guitar keeps losing its sync to the USB dongle. It'll sync, and then a short while later, it'll lose the connection and the USB dongle will start flashing its light. It doesn't seem to make a difference how close I stand, it keeps losing the connection! Is this a manufacturing issue or something else?

Rock Band in NYC

shmegegge — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:29:02 -0800

What bars in the NYC area can I go to to play Rock Band? I heard that some bars in NYC host Rock Band nights. Does anyone know where I can go to find out about these?

and since I could just google the answer to this, the real reason I'm asking here is because I'd like anyone who has attended one of these to tell me what they thought of it.

so yes. rock band nights in NYC. where? how? good? bad?

Query about Rock Band and GHWT controllers

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:46:14 -0800

Can you simultaneously use Rock Band 2 and GHWT guitar controllers while playing either Rock Band 2 or GHWT, on a PS3? Right now we have RB2 and GHWT, and a single RB2 guitar controller. But there are sales and that for the GHWT band kit for $90, so we might do that.

So: Can we play RB2 with a GHWT guitar at the same time as a RB2 guitar? Howzabout GHWT?

We have a PS3.

What's the best game system for Rock Band?

Space Kitty — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:15:02 -0800

The Beatles: Rock Band - help! So after reading this thread, I realize I must have this game. I want to pre-order ASAP so I don't end up waiting forever or paying a premium because it's completely sold out. The problem?

I've finally got to decide which game system to go with: Wii, X-Box, or Playstation. I swear I'm not trying to start a PC/Mac flame war - but I don't know the relative strengths/weaknesses of the systems, or even what qualities will be important to me. I trust the collective intelligence here - how do I pick?

Obviously, I'm not a gamer, but I've enjoyed Rock Band, Katamari Damaci and DDR in the past. I've had a great time playing the Wii but don't know how well Rock Band translates to that system. Your experiences, shopping regrets/triumphs, anything you wish you'd thought of sooner all welcome here.

Thanks!

Hello Cleveland! Are you ready to rock? And by rock, I mean click really loudly.

Rock Steady — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:41:14 -0800

A couple of Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii) instrument silencing questions. Now that I live in an apartment and my video gaming set-up shares a wall with my daughter's bedroom, I need a way to not wake her up and keep my neighbors happy while I continue to rock out (for certain values of the word "rock"). To wit:

1. I have seen numerous drum pad silencers for the Rock Band drum set, but none for the GH:WT drum set. Does anyone know of any, or will the Rock Band silencers work on my drums (I realize they won't do any good on the "cymbals")?

2. Can I somehow disable the click that the strum bar on the standard GH:WT guitar makes? I am willing to take the thing apart, if I must, but I'd like some detailed instructions if I am going to do that.

Rock Band vs Guitar Hero

gnomeloaf — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:33:24 -0800

Rock Band or Guitar Hero for Xbox 360? Possibly mitigating factors inside. -- Household until now has played Guitar Hero titles on a PS2.
-- No one is wildly talented, so easier gameplay a bonus.
-- Kid friendly settings (e.g., true co-op) a BIG bonus.
-- Musical tastes range from 80s to stereotypically indie to metal. Yes, we are aware of the upcoming Guitar Hero release and yes, we have Xbox LIVE.
-- Any other factor(s) we should consider are worth mentioning.

I was surprised that this question has not been asked previously as far as I could see, so feel free to mention anything that might help someone dealing with the basic decision. Thanks!

How does my cover band start making money?

Waldo Jeffers — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:26:05 -0800

How does my cover band start making money? I'm in a cover band that has existed for years w/out even thinking of making money. We've only done it for fun, and although we've never seriously promoted our gigs, we always get a very enthusiastic crowd reaction at our shows. We are always asked to come back to every venue we play and the bookers love us, so I know we have serious commercial potential. The trouble is that none of us know how to get started making money. Do we need a manager? A promotion agency? Any ideas?

Will PS3 Singstar Mics work with the PS3 versions of the Rockband games & Guitar Hero: WT?

Effigy2000 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:50:12 -0800

Calling my fellow PS3 owners! Do the PS3 Singstar microphones work with the PS3 versions of Guitar Hero: World Tour and the Rockband games? I have done some Google searching which has turned up responses ranging from "yes" to "no" to "maybe"... I'm hoping AskMe can turn up something a little more definitive.

How does Rock Band for Wii compare to Xbox 360?

AgentRocket — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:45:59 -0800

Should I buy an xbox 360 to maximize my Rock Band experience (instead of getting the game for my Wii)? Because this explanation is so long, I'll get right to the question: Wii owners, how is the Rock Band/Guitar Hero World Tour experience on Wii? Specifically, how is the DLC purchase/storage/loading, wifi, and graphics experience? Have you seen it compared to Xbox 360?

I have a Wii and love Rock Band and its kin. I have no such games now. I asked for nothing but Target gift cards for Christmas, and got several hundred dollars' worth, with the idea that I would buy the Guitar Hero World Tour full band kit ($175) plus the Rock Band 2 game ($50, compatible with GH:WT instruments) for Wii. That would be good rockin', but there are drawbacks, like (1) no Hi-Def output, (2) no Rock Band 1 tracks available, (3) some gimpiness on downloadable content in that Wii won't sell bundles of songs (for example, full albums) but instead you have to buy them song-by-song, (4) storage on Wii – at least for now – limited to SD cards no bigger than 2 gb (without clarity about how well they will work for storing and loading downloaded content), so I'd need to buy a few of those to hold DLC that I may buy. I also recently learned you need 1 Wii remote for every instrument you use, so I'd need to buy 2 more Wii remotes at $80 total to get the kit functional. So the total package cost would be about $350.

With that, I started thinking about xbox 360. A pro bundle with a 60 gb hard drive is $300. With the Rock Band 2 full band kit ($175), that's only $130 more than I would spend for the Wii version, and I get a 60gb xbox 360 out of the deal. That comes with lots of benefits, like (1) eventually I could add Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 1 game for super-max number of songs, (2) Xbox live, (3) DLC that is cheaper and easier to store, and (4) some future-proofness in that it has a big hard drive and outputs to HD.

I think xbox 360 is the way to go, but feel kind of odd about going out and buying a new system based primarily on the desire for one game.

How to buy Rock Band replacement part?

vilcxjo_BLANKA — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:44:15 -0800

How can I find replacement parts for the game Rock Band? I can't seem to get any traction on the truly awful, slow EA site. My younger son lost a part to his Rock Band game. It's a wireless part which connects wirelessly to the guitar controller and plugs in to what looks like a USB hub which, in turn, connects somehow to the Wii. I have never inspected this, so I'm not sure how it connects, but presumably it looks like a game controller at some point. It's white, and I'm told that's important. I'm not a game player, and I didn't spend much time looking at it before the part was misplaced.

I have tried to navigate the EA site, but they (1) don't support Firefox 3, and (2) seem to be devoted to being really hard to navigate anyway. So, I'm wondering if there is any way to buy this hardware from a third party. For all I know these may be some sort of standard part anyway.

Thanks in advance.

Rock Band Rocks my Wrists

GleepGlop — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:27:42 -0800

Drumming on Rock Band is killing my wrists. What should I do? I've had the game for less than 2 months and I've even taken a week off here and there to let my wrists heal up. In other words I am definitely not overplaying. I only play like 4 songs a session, maybe twice a day. I have however progressed rapidly to the difficult songs; I am halfway through expert mode. Songs like Reptilia with rapid beats really punish my forearms.
First I analyzed my lazy-ass playing style and fixed that: I was reclining in my office chair with my elbows in my lap and only moving my wrists. Now I perch on the end of my office chair and try to emphasize elbow joint movement.
My wrists are definitely tender beyond muscle soreness. I am only in this for fun so I am not willing to do elaborate stretching and massaging. I don't feel that I am unnaturally banging hard on the drums. I have looked up drumming technique and believe I am doing it as correctly as any casual drummer would.
I am thinking maybe I could get a wrist brace but I don't know. Any ideas?

What's the rock band seen briefly in the documentary Lake of Fire?

kittens for breakfast — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:39:26 -0800

What's the rock band seen briefly in the documentary Lake of Fire? Their appearance in the film is a little on the random side, and (unless I missed something) at no point does the film bother to tell you who they are. I'm curious if they're actually culty or something and just not on my radar, or what. Sadly, my Google-Fu is weak this evening, and IMDB is seemingly clueless.

How can we party like it's 2008?

The ____ of Justice — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:41:25 -0800

Any tips for having a Rock Band/Sing Star/Guitar Hero party? Want to have some people over to play. I've had friends over before, but would like to extend invitations to friends of friends, acquaintances, etc.

I figure I'm going to have to provide alcohol to get at least a couple of the people singing. So we'll have beer and food. We probably won't be able to provide any cocaine, however, for the shy ones.

We live in an apartment with a pretty small living room, so I'm not sure what's a good number to invite.

Any tips or suggestions by people who've thrown/attended these types of parties before? Not looking for a big production, just want everyone to have a good time.

Looking for help with some Rock Band tournament questions

idleminded — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:57:17 -0800

I'm hosting a Rock Band tournament in a "battle of the bands" style competition and I'm looking for prize suggestions (as well as some other tips). I've heard of custom Guitar Hero controllers, but is there a place online that does custom Rock Band controller paint jobs? I run a video game club at my college and we're holding a Rock Band tournament as a really major event. We want to have judges rate competitors as a band in terms of style (playing behind the head, drum tricks, etc.), band unity (how well they work together), and dress (we want them to dress like rock stars). I should mention that this is the first time we've done a tournament this way, so any tips on running it like this would be great.

But here's the real question, I have been trying to come up with some good ideas for prizes and have come across some custom painted guitar hero controllers. Is there a place that can do custom painted Rock Band controllers online? Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Has anyone been able to hack Rock Band on PS3 and then burned DVDs with downloadable songs playable on the PS2?

Unsomnambulist — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:23:04 -0800

Has anyone been able to hack Rock Band on PS3 and then burned DVDs with downloadable songs playable on the PS2? I have Rock Band for the Playstation 2, and while it isn't as cool as the PS3 version, the gameplay is the same. Unfortunately, I've already played it enough that I've begun to get tired of the existing songs.

The PS3 version allows for downloads of a growing number of songs. I'm hoping they'll release new disks for the PS2 with more tunes, but I haven't read any indication they plan to do this.

Alas, I'm wondering if anyone knows if someone may have been able to hack the PS2 version yet, and add downloaded songs from the PS3 console? It seems technically possible...

Rock Band (PS2) practice mode

Prospero — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:03:18 -0800

Does the practice mode of the PS2 version of Rock Band offer the options to play through songs at a slower-than-normal speed, and to select difficult sections of songs to practice repeatedly? I already know that the PS2 version has fewer features than the PS3/360 versions, but a robust practice mode is the feature I care about most.

Rock Band Controllers. Oh what a waste of a question.

yerfatma — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:57:39 -0800

My copy of Rock Band is arriving soon. Is it possible to make one of my existing PS2 Guitar Hero guitars work with it? Last generation I used a converter like this to get my PS2 controllers onto my X-Box for backup controllers and they worked fine. None of the converters I see say anything about 360 compatibility, but the connectors are the same across generations, just some button layout changes. Wikipedia says the package comes with a USB hub-- would a PS2 to USB converter box (like the ones for using the guitars in Windows) do the trick?

I'll accept being lame and having laid out too much money for these games, but I'd like to skip having a 4th guitar lying around.