ROCK BAND: This thread is dead! Go use the new one! :D

Arikado

OVER 2100 DOWNLOADABLE TRACKS FOR ROCK BAND!

OVER 1000 ROCK BAND NETWORK TRACKS

BRAND NEW PA ROCK BAND FRIEND LIST

ADD YOURSELF!

This Week's DLC

Available on Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation®3 system (February 5th, 2013):

• Avenged Sevenfold – “So Far Away” O
• Great White – “Once Bitten Twice Shy” O
• Iron Maiden – “The Wicker Man” O X
• Queen – “Death on Two Legs” O

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation®3 system February 6th)
Price:$1.99 USD, £1.19 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points ™, 200 Wii Points™) per song$0.99 USD (80 Microsoft Points™, 100 Wii Points™), £0.59 UK, €0.79 EU per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade

Next Week's DLC

Available on Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation®3 system (February 12th, 2013):
• Extreme – “More Than Words” X
• Nazareth – “Love Hurts”
• Peter Cetera – “Glory of Love” O
• REO Speedwagon – “Keep On Loving You” O
• Soft Cell – “Tainted Love” O

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation®3 system February 13th)
Price:$1.99 USD, £1.19 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points ™, 200 Wii Points™) per song
Tracks marked with “O” feature support for keyboards; the track marked with “X” will offer Pro Guitar track for no additional cost.


ROCK BAND BLITZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MeUvHz1rZc

The game will feature 25 new songs (see the first five songs announced below) that will also be playable in Rock Band 3. It will be available via Xbox Live (Aug 29, 2012) and Playstation Network (Aug 28, 2012). It is important to note that this single player game is played via standard controllers ONLY (no peripheral usage), and will incorporate ALL existing Rock Band and Rock Band Network DLC.

• The All-American Rejects – “Kids in the Street”
• Avenged Sevenfold – “So Far Away”
• Barenaked Ladies – “One Week”
• Blink-182 – “Always”
• Collective Soul – “Shine”
• Elton John – “I’m Still Standing”
• Fall Out Boy – “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’”
• Foo Fighters – “These Days”
• Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
• Fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – “We Are Young”
• Great White – “Once Bitten Twice Shy”
• Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
• Kool & The Gang – “Jungle Boogie”
• Iron Maiden – “The Wicker Man”
• Living Colour – “The Cult of Personality”
• Maroon 5 – “Moves Like Jagger”
• My Chemical Romance – “Sing”
• P!nk – “Raise Your Glass”
• Queen – “Death on Two Legs”
• Quiet Riot – “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)”
• Shinedown – Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)”
• Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give It Away”
• Rick Springfield – “Jessie’s Girl”
• Tears for Fears – “Shout”

Rock Band Blitz is scheduled for release on PlayStation®Network on August 28th for $14.99 and Xbox LIVE Arcade on August 29th for 1200 MS Points. For the latest assets, including screenshots and the game logo, please visit http://www.rockband.com/press/blitz.

ROCK BAND 2 EXPORT
It is a 1.93 GB Rock Band 2 export for the $9.99 export fee, we get all the songs minus these:

AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
Journey – Any Way You Want It
Metallica – Battery
Soundgarden – Spoonman

Also missing these nine Harmonix band songs but you download these separately via the Music Store for free (no keys/harmonies/pro-guitar charts):
Abnormality – Visions
Anarchy Club – Get Clean
Bang Camaro – Night Lies
Breaking Wheel – Shoulder to the Plow
Libyans – Welcome to the Neighborhood
The Main Drag – A Jagged Gorgeous Winter
Speck – Conventional Lover
The Sterns – Supreme Girl
That Handsome Devil – Rob the Prez-O-Dent

Additionally, the following songs are missing/unplayable in Rock Band 3 currently:

Rock Band DLC
Oasis - Rock and Roll Star (Unable to license EU RB2 export & NA DLC)
Die Toten Hosen - Hier Kommt Alex (Unable to license EU RB2 export & NA DLC)


FYREWULFF EXPLAINS HOW YOU CAN HAVE A BIG FAT DLC LIBRARY ON THE CHEAP

FREE STUFF
The following songs are available for free download via the Rock Band Music Store for the PS3, 360, and the Wii (those not on the Wii are noted):

• "Still Alive" by GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton
• "Promised Land" by Vesuvius *not on the Wii*
• "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)" by Stephen and the Colberts *not on the Wii*
• "Headphones On" by Miranda Cosgrove
• "Dreaming of Love" by Lights Resolve
• "Am I Crazy" by Little Fish

If you purchased Rock Band 2 brand spanking new, you are entitled to an additional 20 free tracks, mostly from Indie bands. Check the back of the manual for instructions. The code is a one time use. The pack includes:

"Ashes to Fire" by Ghost Hounds
"Bounce" by the Cab
"Burn You Down" by Opiate for the Masses
"Crazy Tuesday" by Thenewno2
"Database Corrupted" by Dealership
"Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" by Underoath
"Get It On" by the Chevelles
"Give It to Me" by the Cocktail Slippers
"I Wanna Be Your Man" by Endeverafter
"I'm Gone, I'm Going" by Lesley Roy
"I.V." by X Japan
"If I Ain't Got You" by the Len Price 3
"Like a Fool" by Shaimus
"Magnetic Baby" by Semi Precious Weapons
"No Regrets" by Authority Zero
"Prequel to the Sequel" by Between the Buried and Me
"Sons and Daughters" by the 88
"The Feeling" by Kutless
"The Time Is Wrong" by Tickle Me Pink
"Young" by Hollywood Undead

HARMONIX PODCAST
The podcast is linked up on the 'Zine page of the RockBand.com page. Subscribe via iTunes


DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Rock Band DLC list via WikiPedia

Albums available for download so far:
Screaming for Vengeance by Judas Priest
The Cars by the Cars
Doolittle by the Pixies
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying by Megadeth
Moving Pictures by Rush
Blood Sugar Sex Magick by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe
The Colour and the Shape by the Foo Fighters
The Singles 1992-2003 by No Doubt
Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Ten by Pearl Jam
Chinese Democracy by Guns 'n Roses
Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction
Back from the Dead by Spinal Tap
Backspacer by Pearl Jam
Rust in Peace by Megadeth
Axis: Bold as Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt (also Deep Cuts version for those that bought the Singles)
British Steel 30th Anniversary by Judas Priest
The Great Southern Trendkill by Pantera
Legend by Bob Marley & the Wailers
Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Imagine by John Lennon
London Calling by the Clash

SporkAndrew

There's a massive jump from easy pro guitar to medium pro guitar. I thought I was doing pretty well with the power chords until the intro to Yoshimi came up and my brain locked up.

I went from sightreading every song on easy to having to actually sit down and learn them all first.

I'm pretty impressed with my progress though. Thanks to the trainers I've gone from randomly plucking at strings and flailing around on the fretboard trying to find the correct fret to feeling my hands instinctively seek out the correct fret / string.

So I guess the game can teach you a real skill.

Squid56

I have a question about the notation used by RB3 for Pro-Guitar. It's possible that some of the things I'm looking for are in the trainers and I've either missed them or haven't gotten to them but some things seem to go unexplained. Also, if there is some resource that already explains in one concise format about the various notations, I'd like to see that as well.

So, just off the top of my head, the "flags" that are used for single note picking sometimes are oriented to the left/center/right. I think the consensus is that this is supposed to indicate picking direction, to help with alt-picking. But I don't think the game properly explains this, and in some instances seems to be "wrong" (not that I would really know, I'm just starting out). Is it possibly only a method for keeping successive notes from crowding the same space and making them harder to see on expert? Or is there something to the alt-picking idea. If so, what does the orientation mean? If the note is to the left, is this a downstroke and right an upstroke? Why have a centered note at all then?

The other thing that's been bothering me is when they show chords where only 2 strings are strummed, but they are not adjacent. Just to pull something out of a hat, let's say they have us playing an open G but only strumming the 5th and 2nd strings (that's probably some horrible combination, but that's the gist of it). Am I supposed to pluck both strings, like a fingerpicking kind of thing? Also, a lot of times, the higher string (in pitch) the "bar" across it will be fatter than the one on the lower string (not the wave, as there is none, but the chord bar itself). The new Foreigner DLC song Urgent does a lot of this, I believe. This is probably one of those things I haven't stumbled across in the trainer yet.

That's only two examples I can think of off the top of my head, it seems like every time I play a new song on the harder difficulties, something new crops up I'm unfamiliar with. Again, ideally someone knows of a site where all these things have been aggregated, but Google has failed me so far.

Santa Claustrophobia

Squid56 wrote: »

ISo, just off the top of my head, the "flags" that are used for single note picking sometimes are oriented to the left/center/right. I think the consensus is that this is supposed to indicate picking direction, to help with alt-picking. But I don't think the game properly explains this, and in some instances seems to be "wrong" (not that I would really know, I'm just starting out). Is it possibly only a method for keeping successive notes from crowding the same space and making them harder to see on expert? Or is there something to the alt-picking idea. If so, what does the orientation mean? If the note is to the left, is this a downstroke and right an upstroke? Why have a centered note at all then?

You already figured it out. There is no 'strum direction' indicated in any of the charts. Whether the game adequately explains such things is a different matter.

mspencer

The flags on the note are relative to other notes nearby, and denote which finger you should be fretting the note with.

Flag in the center? There are no fret changes coming any time soon -- or at least no changes you can make without moving your hand -- so you can use whatever finger you like.

Flag on the far left? This is the lowest numbered fret you'll encounter until next time you have to move your hand, so the game recommends you fret that note with your index finger, in preparation for using other fingers for higher notes.

Flag on the far right? This is the highest numbered fret you'll encounter until next time you must move your hand, so the game recommends you fret that note with your ring or pinky fingers.

When a chord has gaps like that, the game doesn't care where you fret or whether you strum those strings in the middle. Ideally you'll want those strings to be muted but strummed anyway, so lightly touch those strings with adjacent fingers as you strum them.

If the bar across the bottom of a chord is lighter on one side and darker on the other, the game wants you to strum only the light part of the chord. Strum from light to dark, and lift your pick as you reach the darker strings. I don't know if that's what you were talking about though.

And the huge jump in difficulty is completely normal. I noticed the same thing going from easy to medium, and I think you should just get used to having to play every song's trainer, as nearly every song will have something new to teach. When you're used to the "easy fun" of five-lane guitar I know that can feel more frustrating, but that's what I ended up doing. It took me three months to get through all of the songs on medium.

Oh and someone was asking about a good practice amp? I really like my Fender Mustang 1, which cost me about $100. It's not a tiny little thing like the cube or pod -- it's a 20 watt practice amp that weighs a few pounds -- but it has all of the DSP and effect stuff that the Pod has already built in. If you hook it up to your laptop with Fender Fuse software, you get all of the same effects available on all of the other Mustang models, even the 150-watt Mustang 5 head. 20 watts is a comfortable practice size: loud enough to be heard, but even at max volune it barely gets uncomfortably loud. No need for earplugs.

quovadis13

It's kind of funny how the Rock Band thread has slowly turned into the "Learning to play Guitar" thread. That's kind of neat how a game has been able to interest a few of us here. Makes me kind of want to get one of the Pro Guitars, but I really don't have time to devote to it. Too many other games/real life stuff.

fragglefart

Give it a try, you might get hooked.

I can play guitar ok, but for those who don't - playing Rock Band and then finding you can actually play guitar? That must be fucking amazing.

My bro don't play, so now watching him playing through some RBPro stuff the other day was fucking EPIC. Can't wait until the day we can actually jam with some beers, will be amazing.

Also, I think the Ozzy 'great-song hostage' situation with the pack sucks but man, I'm all over that pack, Mama I'm Coming Home is one of my favourite songs of all time.

fragglefart

Also, I can't beat the tremolo Expert tutorial... anyone had any success?

Santa Claustrophobia

fragglefart wrote: »

Give it a try, you might get hooked.

'I don't know, man... I've heard bad things about heroin...'

Not the best of arguments for people who've already prioritised things in their life.

Arikado

Come on man, just try sushi. Trust me, you'll get hooked.

Santa Claustrophobia

Hey, this cliff isn't so high.

Tommatt

fragglefart wrote: »

Also, I can't beat the tremolo Expert tutorial... anyone had any success?

I'll have to give it a look. I haven't been into the trainers in a long time. Have a couple expert knee completed, and some partials.

Speaking of RB pro. I let my GF's kid play around with it for a little bit. He player through I love rock and roll on easy. He had such a big grin on his face the whole time! Unfortunately the guitar is a bit heavy for him

Arikado

Make him bulk up, chug protein drinks, and man up to play the heavy guitar.

DarkPrimus

Curious if the Ozzy pack is setting new precedent with song packs.

Santa Claustrophobia

The recognised 'official' position is that it is an experiment for future releases. Basically, if it sells well, then we can expect to see more things like this.

Opinion is split on whether or not the Ozzy camp had anything to do with this (a la AC/DC) and if so, how much it was a factor. HMX, predictably, isn't saying much on that.

ringswraith

So, final round of questions (I hope) on the purchase.

I'm getting the squier, and the MIDI adapter. Do I need anything else? I'm assuming both will have the necessary cables and such?

Santa Claustrophobia

hmxhenry responds. Some highlights:

hmxhenry wrote:

First of all, I want to let everyone know that we don't have any plans at this time to release pack exclusives again, certainly not any time in the immediate future. Beyond that, due to the tricky nature of licensing and labels protective nature of their artists, it's safe to say that it's extremely unlikely that you'd ever see exclusive content released in a pack of multiple artists.

[...]

We don't currently have any plans to release these songs as singles. There's no telling how the licensing could work out in the future, so I won't say that it'll never happen, but if it wasn't a possibility for launch it's not very likely that will change.

He also acknowledges that even HMX expects it to sell because 'It's Ozzy. There's not many artists you could say that about.' He suggests that this won't necessarily mean they'll automatically decide to do this again. But he's also a PR manager, so he's hedging his bets. You could probably come up with a decent list of 'It's X!' artists that could conceivably have enough juice to pull this kind of demand off.

Tommatt

Picks, lots and lots of picks. Try different brands and gages to see what you like.
One warning, string mute eats picks like a far kid in a candy shop. N


Just went and looked at the tremelo trainer. It's the only one (maybe the last one too) I don't have completed for that one. I have a hard time picking that fast as the strings feel so stiff. I just gave up. Maybe it'd be easier without the string mute?

Squid56

Ringswraith, the only other thing you'll want is a pick, which is not included with the Squier and a fat wallet to get all that juicy extra pro-guitar DLC, which they've conveniently given a separate category for in the RB Music Store (note that there are more pages than first comes up when you get in there, you have to select the "more" option at the bottom, not called that but should be obvious) to go back in DLC time.

ringswraith

Ok, that begs a question- How much for pro DLC charts? New versus getting it for a track I already have?

And if I buy the pro, does it come with the regular chart for regular 5-button guitars?

Santa Claustrophobia

Pro upgrades are just that, upgrades. They are completely separate from the 'base' song and cost an extra dollar. You cannot buy them unless you have the compatible 'base' song already purchased.

Now, what I've heard is that for songs with regular and RB3 Versions, you actually only get one Pro chart and it's for the base version you select. Which means you have to re-buy it for the other version if you decide you want that. Though I don't know if that is actually true or not.

Squid56

Pro-Guitar/Pro-Bass is $0.99 per for all songs in the music store. The regular $1.99 song gets you keys, drums (pro + regular), 5 lane guitar/bass, vocal + harmonies. Only the pro-guitar stuff is extra and it's a-la-carte (see new Ozzy pack for the exception that proves the rule).

ringswraith

Ah, I see. Wow, that's quite an investment.

I'm assuming the tutorials for using the squier are in the game itself and don't require extra downloading?

And just to clarify, the regular songs that have keys, the keys can be both pro or 5-button, right? I don't have to pay more for pro keys?

Squid56

Correct on all counts.

Santa Claustrophobia

Pro upgrades apply only to guitar and bass. All songs have Pro keys or drums where appropriate.

Arikado

I wouldn't even talk about "investments" to most of the guys who post in this thread regularly.
I'm already well over $1500 in gear, games, and DLC. Hell, the main reason I bought a 360 was for the original Rock Band.

We would need to hire a therapist and guidance counselor if mspencer told his story. :P

EDIT: If you want to weep for me, click my DLC link in my sig.

SightTDW

Here I was feeling all proud for getting through The Beatles on expert with the guitar last night. I need to get with the times. I also need to play more while I'm at it.

HappylilElf

Especially correct on it being quite an investment. I still cringe when I think about how much money I've spent on Rock Band in the last four months or so.

After last night I think it's definitely time to pick up a destroyer pedal. My RB2 pedal is now cracked in a half dozen places and while the duct tape holds it together well enough there's a lot of weird feeling give as a result.

lionheart_m

The other day I realized I had around 600 songs...times 2...

EDIT: Then again...at least 200ish are from disc releases (RB1-3, GD and LRB)...still.

Tommatt

Yeah I can't stand the fact that it has to load all your songs every time I play. I look at and say "at an average of probably $1.35 a song...... Shit!". Think in up to 700+ songs total (counting RB1+2 and LRB exports). I could have easily bought myself the little truck I need lol.

lionheart_m

Yeah...whomever said WoW is a waste of money didn't play RB seriously.

HappylilElf

I'm just glad I didn't cave and pick up that edrum kit.

Ok... well not glad because I still really want to pick it up but that would have pushed me well past the 2k mark and good lord

Arikado

On the plus side, I'm more than happy to take my setup to people's houses. I had someone actually give me money to download the Bon Jovi RB3 pack.

lionheart_m

At least it was a...decent pack. Someone once gave me money to buy that Roadrunner pack. Guess how many times we've played it? And how many times it popped during RB2 Random setlists?

Arikado

Yeah a certain friend of mine convinced me to get the All That Remains pack.

My leg just cramped up typing that.

ringswraith

Well, order's been placed. My brother's picking up the MIDI adapter for me. I'm... excited (new toy!), terrified (can I really learn to play this?), a bit angry with myself (you spent WHAT?!)...

Hopefully this will be worth it. Now I have to go and get a new hard drive for my PS3...

FyreWulff

Well, the Ozzy pack does work out to "one song is free + 50 cents more".

Then if you count the normal retail value of pro upgrades, it's $4.50 off versus buying them all as singles.

tl;dr technically the pack gives you both BATM and Mama for free.

Santa Claustrophobia

And it's still shitty logic if all you wanted was Bark and Mama. Even if you pay for the Pro upgrades, $6 is cheaper than $13.50 and you don't have to deal with the other songs.

Despise two songs from that pack but still want the exclusives? Too bad! You're stuck with them, Visions-style!

It's not a bargain if you're saddled with content you don't want or need. The ability to ignore songs is no excuse.

FyreWulff

Your mom is logic.

Santa Claustrophobia

Then logic is dead.

fragglefart

Tommatt wrote: »

Picks, lots and lots of picks. Try different brands and gages to see what you like.
One warning, string mute eats picks like a far kid in a candy shop.

Just went and looked at the tremelo trainer. It's the only one (maybe the last one too) I don't have completed for that one. I have a hard time picking that fast as the strings feel so stiff. I just gave up. Maybe it'd be easier without the string mute?

Ha ha, yeah, that's the only one from that set I can'tdo too - I also tried without the string mute.

Going to hit the local guitar shop tomorrow and see if they have any weird or super thin picks, see if that helps. I did try without the string mute deployed, still couldn't pass it.

ringswraith wrote: »

So, final round of questions (I hope) on the purchase.

I'm getting the squier, and the MIDI adapter. Do I need anything else? I'm assuming both will have the necessary cables and such?

A pile of beers man, get a pile of beers in.