Be Excellent To Each Other

Playing along to nice songs is fine. Playing a tedious guitar track because they chose the song people have heard of isn't. Try playing bass on a Beastie Boys track and tell me you're enjoying yourself.

Those sorts of songs are fun if you get yourself into a groove with them. It helps to be playing in the same room as people, though, admittedly.

Try playing any of the instrument parts on those and tell me you're having fun. See also: Beck.

We need to start talking about Panic Attack too.

I made it into the 90% area a couple of times on GG&HT, then ran out of steam. Can't actually remember how I fared on Battery, other than that I haven't passed it on expert for definite.

The thing that annoys me about Beastie Boys songs on RB/GH is the fact you have to sing all three vocal parts, which means you get no chance to breathe.

I like Panic attack, and don't find it too difficult on hard. I haven't attempted it on Expert yet. Constant Motion, however, I can never get the rhythm right to.

GG&HT I got up to the part looking like:



Repeated for five minutes, and my brain couldn't tell my fingers where to be quickly enough. I think I've trained the pattern into them now, but have yet to go back and try it. I'll likely glaze over and spaz out again, though.

That's where I am, I think I might be able to do it if I get the Rock Band guitar out so I don't have to worry about strumming, but I was so used to the world tour guitar that I couldn't even play properly with the rock band one so I didn't get far enough into the song. I guess I should try the practice mode.

In my mind now, I find it easier to think of it as one roll with an extra note, as such:



and repeat. Though still quite fiddly at that speed, my mind should be able to keep up if I stick to that pattern.

edit: were they not all hammer-ons and pull-offs, anyway? You don't need to strum them.

You have to strum again if you miss one though, and by the time you register that you've missed one and timed your strum properly, that's another couple missed.

In complex hammer-on pull-off sections I tend to strum each beat or each bar, anyway.

That's a good idea, I've usually just gone for all or nothing, depending on how complicated they are.

I try my best to HOPO all the time on those sections, but keep my thumb very close just in case I mess it up.

Yes but on the whole it features a greater variety. I think Guitar Hero's scope tends to be a little narrower. The tracklist for downloadable content and main game for GHWT and 5 do not interest me on the whole. Rock Band seems to have so much more to offer.

And lest we forget, Rock Band now has that Audition Mode thing, so that any band can audition a song from the game, rather than Harmonix doing it for them.

I might do one of mine, for a laugh.

Yeah, there's a reason it's called Audition Mode, as they vet them first.

Although I personally would be interested in hearing some of your stuff.
When I put a song up here it was downloaded about three times. And I think one of them was me testing it.

Remind me when I get back from holiday and I'll do you a CD or send you a zip file or summat. You should do the same, I don't remember you posting your song.

Haha, well it was when I first got my guitar, so it wasn't exactly sterling work. You may be able to hear at least four separate chords. All strummed. It's the in the Poker thread.

EDIT: Found it:
viewtopic.php?p=98901#p98901

My computer is packed away for holiday now, so remind me when I get back.

Soit-anly.

That's not the poker thread

Isn't the part you's on about in a solo bit so you could just use the solo buttons. I know I needed to use the solo buttons when I was doing GG+HT on expert.

I use a Guitar Hero controller, so I don't have them. I have to play it properly

I've completed GG&HT on Expert once -- in RB2, thus denying me the Achievement I would've got for finishing it in RB1 (it's the only song I haven't done in Expert career). I've tried it a few times since in RB1 but keep crashing out in that last solo. Best attempt since was 95%

Conversely, I find Battery on Expert a much easier song to play. Diff'rent strokes I guess.





Also, I usually play long zig-zag bits in only one direction (ie. instead of G/R/Y/R etc. just play G/R/Y and forget the next R); I tend to get lost really quickly if I try to play all the notes, and I can usually scrape through playing it this way (especially if I've got Overdrive saved up). Unfortunately that last bit in GG&HT is just too long, and my fingers get all mixed up even doing it like that.

Lolz, that's exactly why I'm refusing to play it. I don't own RB1, I just played Gaywood's copy for a week, and was one song away from finishing the guitar career, so I now refuse to play it on RB2 because I know how annoyed I'd be to complete it and know that if only I'd had a different disc in the drive at the time there was 50 gamerpoints in it for me...

You can have my copy back if you want. Craster still has it.

*nods*

I have dedicated a 22" LCD in my drum room for Rock Band.



A big nerd, or the biggest nerd?

I feel squiffy looking at all those wires

(and thanks for the offer (again) but I'm like a pig in muck with GH:Metallica right now so no need for loans... I may come begging after Christmas though when I need my games refuelling but am too poor to do it)

Hooray for our servitude to meaningless numbers

Meanwhile, after the announcement of Lego Iggy Pop, Lego Bowie and Lego Brian May...



Lego Blur!

The Queen pack is confirmed as 1280 Moon Dollars, btw. Also: I am drunk and in charge of a keyboard. Bad combination, guys.

More Rock Band Network updates: according to the big list at http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157235 we can expect some Skindred, Marillion and Sunny Day Real Estate to be released.

Also according to http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168909 there's the possibility of more Dream Theater coming to Rock Band via RBN, too.

Fuck yes. That should be fiendishly difficult but actually interesting to play, but doing the whole back catalogue would take years and leave me broke.

In other Rock Band news, I'm really tempted to pick up a Gretsch. Gaywood: you bought one, didn't you? What are your thoughts?

Absolutely lovely. That is all.

Worth £65, or whatever it cost*? I'm getting a bit irritated by the constant clicking of the strum bar and noisy buttons on my GH Strat.

*I care not for the Beatles game.

can you not get a standard rock band controller for cheap as chips now?

I could, but the Gretsch looks sexy as fuck.

Yes, in my opinion. Depends on what £65 is worth to you and how much RB guitar you play of course. I much prefer the flat RB style frets to the raised GH style ones, and I prefer the silent click bar too.

Edit -- I spent £95 on a wheel stand, of course. I'm not a good guide to "this is good value for money".

I didn't like the RB strat much; however, my total sum of playing it was 20 mins trying to get the solo legend achievement. The fret buttons just didn't seem responsive enough for Expert play.

Wrong thread, but I'm tempted to ask for GH5 with controller for Christmas so I can start playing guitar again.

I'll likely get it with any Christmas money I get, so I don't have to worry too much about value.

I play an awful lot of Rock Band. I've just moved up to Expert and can 5-star most of the songs, but I've increasingly found myself getting highly distracted by the constant clicking of the strum bar, to the point where I drown out the music and hear only clicks. This is not really a good thing on the repetitive rhythm sections in songs.

How noisy are the fret buttons on the Gretsch? I find myself getting a bit distracted by that, too, though not nearly as much as the strum bar.

The standard rock band fret buttons click a bit if the part of the song is pretty busy.

I found the fret buttons on the RB strat to be noisier than the WT strum bar, if that gives you any kind of reference. They're not as noisy as the GHIII strum bar, though.

Hmm. I need to find one to play with then, ideally. £65 is a lot for a punt.

Make me a video, Gaywood! Just you and the guitar (with clothes on this time) strumming and hitting the frets.

Alright. At some point.

Cheers, chap. Any time in the next couple of months is fine.

Actually, no worries on that now — I've looked it up on YouTube. I'm quite impressed with how quiet it is, but I'm not impressed how far you have to strum to hit the note, but there's a very easy mod for that if you're not averse to opening up controllers.

And a video of how to do that:

Fine. I just put my tux on and everything.

Damnit.

The Doc, now.