Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips - Kotaku Comments

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

THE_FRANK — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:58:48 MST

awesome, can't wait to try out some of these tips.

THE_FRANK

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Hopanoe — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:00:13 MST

Even though some of you may not want to go out to an actual music store and buy a pair, beginners might want a stick with a bit more heft to it. If you want some real heft, try a pair of SD1s by VicFirth, or a pair of SD2 Boleros from VicFirth.

Side note: At one point, I tried my ol' Thom Hannums and they work pretty well for me.

Hopanoe

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

King Seafoam — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:52:29 MST

@EmTeeZ: Same here' Although I switch to heel down only when i literally need a break, or I'm performing slow easy bass

King Seafoam

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

fezir — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:51:54 MST

personally, i just throw the sticks across the room in a fit of rage and start banging the drums bongo style.

fezir

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

EmTeeZ — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:15:19 MST

I always play heel-up, both on my real kit and in Rock Band. It's way faster than heel-down if you do it right.

EmTeeZ

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

matth1jd — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:07:40 MST

I play heel up on my actual kit, and I've been playing heel up in Rock Band. After a week of play the pedal is still fine. I keep the pedal depressed after playing a note and only bring the pedal up half way before playing the next note so that might be why mine hasn't snapped in half yet.

I plan on modding my rock band pedal sensor to work with my actual kick pedal, it just feels more natural.

matth1jd

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Toasticus — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:03:20 MST

I've been playing heel-down the whole time and had severe difficulty with songs that require kicks in quick succession, but after seeing this article I gave the heel-up technique a go and it made a huge difference. I'm getting like 95%+ on Maps now. My shin thanks you! :D

Toasticus

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

EggmaniMN — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:01:51 MST

@Phoenicks:

Not entirely true. Drummania is actually more accurate to drumming than Rock Band (arcade version here, not home version). It's also much harder than Rock Band. Difficulties range from 1-99 in DM and most agree that the hardest songs in RB would only rate around a 60 max.

So if you eventually do get good enough to beat everything in Rock Band Expert Drums, I suggest trying to find a Drummania machine. The music will be MUCH more varied than what you're used to but it's pretty much all good.

EggmaniMN

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

jp182 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:42:52 MST

HA! paradiddles and flams!! I haven't heard or seen anything about them since I was playing the drums in elementary school. And I never thought I'd have to go back to that training for a game but I'm doing it for Rock Band.

Being that I'm going to be living in an apartment soon, this is a GREAT affordable option for me :-D

jp182

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

levarien — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:34:32 MST

Proper seat height is the most important tip of the bunch. A cheap drum throne is an option, but so is putting a few pilliows or blankets on your seat to get you that extra few inches you need to get your leg at 90 degrees to the floor.

levarien

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

KaneTaker — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:26:04 MST

Most of that I figured out myself as well. Can play a good portion of the game on Hard and the bottom 3 tiers of songs on Expert. Working my way up!

KaneTaker

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

seafisch — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:56:23 MST

@vanderblade: Those of us that have clean floors. =P

Run to the Hills kicks my arse on medium - I can't imagine it on expert. And I hate the song, so having to fail it multiple times sounds very not fun.

seafisch

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

angry_gamer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:49:26 MST

@vanderblade: I use my indoor slippers...

angry_gamer

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Anarchist_Gamer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:45:54 MST

Sorry, one more post.

Who has socks that are that clean? Honestly.

Anarchist_Gamer

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Anarchist_Gamer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:44:39 MST

Never played before Rock Band. Started on Easy and now have played roughly 14 songs on expert. It's difficult, I can say that. Practice is the best solution, and those tips certainly can't hurt.

Anarchist_Gamer

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Phoenicks — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:38:47 MST

(Single/Double/Triple)Paradiddles. Flams. Flam-paradiddles. Flam-a-cues. Ratamacues. Flam-taps.
There's a ridiculous amount of drum rudiments out there, and I didn't even name them all.

I just like how Rock Band goes to show that not only is it the most accurate representation of its craft in the game, but playing drums is very much technical, even though percussionists are routinely doofs (percussion joke! Hey, I'm a violinist, go figure!)

Phoenicks

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

angry_gamer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:33:32 MST

Hey Crecente, I remember you said something about playing these fake drums that made the skills quite transferable to real drums. Do you know how much is transferable? I know how to read music (although I'm a bit sloppy about it) and have a pretty good metronome in my head.

angry_gamer

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

nihility — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:29:01 MST

Heel up works very well once you get up to expert. Unfortunately after you do it for a day or two you snap your pedal.

nihility

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

LongDarkBlues — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:28:59 MST

In return, my tip for Harmonix is to make drum pedals that aren't so damned fragile. 'Heel Up' position is going to break those things so fast. Ours lasted about 2 weeks playing Heel Down in socks and being careful after hearing about so many breakages, but it still snapped in two different places.

The interesting story in all the Rock Band issues is that, at least locally, GameStop isn't buying back the launch bundles because of the widespread hardware failure. Shame on me for following EA's note in the box let them handle RMAs instead of just returning the game when the guitar broke 4 hours in. So your stuck in their seemingly-endless RMA cycle (the replacements I've gotten are the same shoddy hardware) or selling it on eBay, because the stores won't take it.

LongDarkBlues

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

xAnarChisTx — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:26:16 MST

I've played drums for 10 years now, and I always played with a flat foot on the pedal, mainly playing fast-paced punk rock, and playing Rock Band is a cinch on expert. Usually playing with heel-up is for playing more powerful beats on the bass drum, and takes more energy and puts more strain on the ankle and legs. I always stuck with the flat foot cause it easier, faster, and more precise.

Also, I don't have to fear breaking my Rock Band kick pedal cause I'm not slamming down on it like many others have. But, this is a nice article to read, so give it a go!

xAnarChisTx

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

KingSnorky — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:26:00 MST

Ooh, I need an article like this. I've been doing the "mash down with your entire leg" technique -- something that works on medium, but isn't so great on harder difficulties.

KingSnorky

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

EzyB — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:24:59 MST

Someone needs to make a guide to playing all 3 instruments by yourself, ala "One-man-Rock-Band"

EzyB

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Islandkiwi — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:23:26 MST

Oh wait...you stomp on the foot pedal...with your foot?

*Slaps head*

All kidding aside, seems like an insightful article...though I do continue to question where people are storing all of these gaming accessories.

Islandkiwi

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

Kid_Kitten — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:22:12 MST

I've always kept my heel up when playing my drums, but when I played Rock Band for the first time it felt better using the heel down approach. I feel like I'd kick too hard with my heel up and break it.

Kid_Kitten

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

GlazedDonut2186 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:15:57 MST

Sah-weet. I've been trying to find an effective method of improving my drumming skills.

No more "Medium" difficulty for me!

GlazedDonut2186

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

EzyB — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:15:51 MST

Now I see why I am hearing complaints of snapped bass pedals. Mashing hard with the heel up technique looks like it would destroy the rock band pedal.

EzyB

Harmonix's Rock Band Drummer Tips

angry_gamer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:15:11 MST

Cool stuff. Never played the drums in real life before but I found myself doing some of the things listed naturally. Apart from that I also tend to change my foot in between songs. At first it was a bit confusing but it allows me to stretch the muscles in my other leg (which helped with standing up after a long session).

I'm currently making my way through hard mode but I usually practice on expert.

angry_gamer