Complete Rock Band electronic drum kit FAQ, feedback welcome

[rkuo]

New articles will occasionally be added, but the FAQ is essentially complete.

Using an electronic drum kit with Rock Band FAQ

============================

Well, folks, I have to say I've enjoyed my Rock Band + Roland TD-3 combo so much that I decided to write up a pretty comprehensive set of guides describing everything I learned as I got this project up and running. It's been a real joy to play on the kit and I'm hoping to make the experience as accessible as possible to others by documenting the whole decision making and information gathering process that I went through.

I thought I would start this off with a FAQ answering the question "Why buy an electronic drum kit to play Rock Band?"

Further notes will be coming on selecting equipment, the actual modification process, etc. I plan on collecting all of this on my website somewhere for future reference.

Keep in mind this is coming from someone with no drumming experience until a few weeks ago, so if I get things wrong, you need to correct me. =)

========================

Why buy an electronic drum kit to play Rock Band?

Two reasons.

1. The Rock Band kit itself is vastly inferior to any sort of drum kit designed for playing actual music.
2. Although you won't learn all of the fundamentals of drumming from playing the drums with Rock Band, you will learn a lot of them…and arguably some of the toughest ones. And you'll have fun doing it in a gaming context.

Differences between Rock Band kit and an electronic drum kit

1. The plastic pads are jarringly loud and make exactly the type of sound you would expect to hear from hitting a large piece of plastic. The shock from hitting hard plastic pads transfers back to your hands through the drum sticks, which can make extended play painful after an hour or so. It literally feels like carpal tunnel syndrome.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSu-6rpvKJU and skip to 1:22 for an example of the sound made by the Rock Band drum kit when you hit it.

An electronic drum set will either make a lower rubbery thump sound or a quieter , depending on the type of drum pads you get. Both are vastly superior to the clacking of the Rock Band drum kit.

2. The kick pedal included with Rock Band is prone to breaking and behaves significantly differently from a real kick pedal.

Real kick pedals are using the pedal to lever a beater over into a bass drum. The Rock Band pedal just has a spring in it. This means the resistance on the pedal increases significantly as you press it down. Pressing this repeatedly can grow tiring, especially if you use a heel down technique where keep your foot flat against the pedal.

Second, real kick pedals are made of metal and simply aren't going to break. The Rock Band pedal is made of plastic and has no support in the toe area of the pedal, meaning that part of the pedal is likely to snap off over time if you give it a good pounding.

3. The Rock Band drum kit is less prone to breaking than the pedal itself, but can and does wear out or break over time if you are hard on the kit. The plastic pads can cave in or the sensors can become unresponsive for a number of reasons. Some of the top players have gone through at least 8 kits and counting.

An electronic drum kit is designed to take a pounding. You can give the pads a good beating and not worry.

4. The Rock Band drum kit itself simply drops hits. Especially quick hits. This makes playing songs with rolls impossible because the controller itself may end up dropping a good percentage of your hits and cause you to fail. There are all sorts of creative mods that people have tried to implement to get their drums working properly. Again, if you look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSu-6rpvKJU, the socks wrapped around the pads help tighten up the sensitivity of the Rock Band drum kit so that it can be used on expert level songs.

Even a basic electronic drum kit isn't going to miss hits. It's designed for playing real music.

5. A real drum kit is laid out more comfortably than the Rock Band drum kit. It's pretty obvious that the Rock Band drum kit is an accessory for playing a game, not an actual product. You can customize each of the pads on an electronic drum kit to the exact height and tilt that you want, and the stand will naturally surround you as opposed to being this tiny kit that sits in front of you.

Rock Band drumming vs real drumming
OK, so playing drums on Rock Band is not like playing real drums. What are the differences?

Things you won't learn from playing Rock Band

1. You're reading from a screen. You need to memorize the songs if you want to play with other people. Then again, this is true of reading from anything, so it's hard to call this a minus. What might be a minus would be if you use the visual cues on the screen exclusively instead of feeling the beat by playing to the audio and just using the tablature on the screen as a cue to guide your hits.

If you're really serious, however, you can try to play the song without looking at the screen…and this would arguably be an extremely effective way of memorizing a song and training yourself to feel the rhythm yourself rather than relying on the game.

2. Rock Band drumming teaches timing, but the velocity and character of your hits are important in real drumming. I don't think this needs much explaining.

3. Rock Band has only four drum lanes and a bass pedal. Real drum kits have more percussion choices than that…typically 7-9, and we're not counting rim shots where you hit the edges of a particular instrument. This is speculation, but it's not hard to imagine the reduction in game was done out of a desire to produce a palatable experience for all kinds of players, as well as practical limitations surrounding the drum controller.

The way Rock Band works around this incongruency is by charting multiple instruments into the same lane. If you're interested in translating some of the Rock Band experience into practical drumming experience, this is the most difficult difference to work around . Fortunately, in most cases, the drum charts have been designed so that at least the same instruments are consistently mapped into the same lanes across all songs. So it's simply up to you to make sure that you hit the correct instrument for any particular note that comes at you. Run through a song a few times, and when you're ready, you should have a feel for what instrument is being hit at the appropriate times.

4. You aren't going to learn how to freestyle on the drums from Rock Band. If you want to lay down a funky groove with the drums by yourself, you probably aren't going to get a great sense of this from Rock Band alone.

5. You're following the timing of the song on the screen, not setting the tempo for the rest of the band. The drummer is like the metronome for the rest of the band, so it's important that you be able to set the beat consistently yourself, not follow one that's been laid out for you.

6. Posture, relaxation, style, grip, etc. Without someone looking over your shoulder, you might pick up some bad instinctual habits simply because you don't know any better. Look for some drumming tutorials online so that you get off on the right foot. Expert Village has some that can get you started. Do this early on so that at least you know if you're doing something wrong and can steer yourself clear in the learning phases.

For all of the above points, it's important to note that in every case you're still significantly better off than someone who hasn't had any exposure at all to Rock Band. For example, maybe you can't freestyle on your own on drums, but at least you've been paying attention to all the different drum tracks on Rock Band and have a feel for a lot of different musical patterns already.

The above cons really fall into two categories … thinking you know something you don't, and habituating too far in the wrong directions early on without proper guidance. But some exposure is still far better than none.

Things you WILL learn from playing Rock Band

With very few exceptions, playing on the drums on expert difficulty in Rock Band is identical in timing to the real drum track of the song. This means you ARE learning the following.

1. Timing - The game obviously teaches you to hit notes on beat. This is the first and foremost thing you do as a drummer, so this is a great starting point.

2. Hand/foot independence - If you have no training in this area, you're basically relying on a lifetime of learned and instinctual habits linking your hands and feet together that have to do with counterbalancing your movements as you walk or run. Breaking these habits is HARD. If you get better at Rock Band, you *will* be breaking those habits. Also a very good thing.

For example, the offbeat sections of Here It Goes Again, Wave of Mutilation, and Reptilia used to give me tons of trouble. I would zone out, my hands and feet would move together and I would fail or barely pass the section. Just a few weeks later and I'm now at the point where I can see the beat coming and consciously react properly instead of losing control.

3. Speed - Without practice, you won't be able to hold fast rolls rhythmically and quickly, nor will you be able to do those quick hits with your foot on the kick pedal. Instead you'll be spazzing out or just trying to hit notes without any precision or rhythm. Rock Band gives you an excellent way to practice rolls as you play and gives you instant feedback when you do well.

In particular, certain songs like The Hand That Feeds, Orange Crush, Ballroom Blitz, and Run to the Hills consistently ramp up the speed and difficulty of rolls that you need to perform in order to pass these songs. After a while, you'll start to instinctively know what an 8 note roll feels like and how to pull one off.

4. Muscle memory of many REAL drumming patterns - Rock Band gives you instant exposure to a wide variety of drumming patterns. When you play these, you're really getting to play around with different styles of drumming. With enough exposure, you'll be able to link new patterns that you see to ones that you've practiced before and be generally used to trying out new styles because you've been doing it all along in the game.

5. Endurance - Drumming isn't like running on a treadmill or anything, but it certainly is still a bit of a workout. The foot pedal, in particular, can be tiring for newcomers. Quick double or triple hits in an extended series will quickly wear you out. Also, as your playing style loosens up, you'll be moving your arms and body more and using up more energy as a result. This is a good thing.

Welcome Home, Paranoid, and Maps are examples of songs that I've come back to after a couple of weeks and breezed through because my foot wasn't giving out on me halfway into the song (along with other general skill improvements, of course). I'm still a bit stiff on songs when I play, but as I advance skill levels, I find myself starting to loosen up on the easier tiers when I play. I let the sticks bounce more instead of trying to control them all the way up and down each stroke. Again, this is also a good thing.

The bottom line is that if you play enough, you'll eventually find yourself able to keep up with the faster and more punishing songs. You also won't be as tense as you begin to commit some songs to memory.

6. Sticking. Sticking is all about knowing which notes to hit with which hand. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you want to hit a series of notes and end the last note on a drum to your right, you probably want the note before that on another drum to be hit with your left hand so that your right hand can be in flight for a little more time.

Rock Band doesn't force you to learn this per se, but it quickly becomes apparent that you're never going to nail some of the patterns in the game if you don't figure this out on your own. After a while, you'll start instinctually recognizing how to stick certain patterns.

It's still important to read a bit about sticking because some sticking techniques are ones that you won't be likely to find on your own. Here's a good post on sticking to get you started.

7. Fun and motivation - Most importantly, if you play Rock Band, with or without a real drum kit, you'll be having a lot of fun doing it. The instantaneous feedback you get from the game, as well as being able to see your scores, compare them with friends, and easily download new songs all add up to one thing … a desire to play more and do better. You'll also begin to listen to and pick out the percussion parts in songs that you never paid attention to before. Motivation and enjoyment are perhaps the most important qualities you'll need to learn faster and advance your drumming skills … and Rock Band provides that in spades.

Over and out.

[rkuo]

New articles will occasionally be added, but the FAQ is essentially complete.

Using an electronic drum kit with Rock Band FAQ

============================

Well, folks, I have to say I've enjoyed my Rock Band + Roland TD-3 combo so much that I decided to write up a pretty comprehensive set of guides describing everything I learned as I got this project up and running. It's been a real joy to play on the kit and I'm hoping to make the experience as accessible as possible to others by documenting the whole decision making and information gathering process that I went through.

I thought I would start this off with a FAQ answering the question "Why buy an electronic drum kit to play Rock Band?"

Further notes will be coming on selecting equipment, the actual modification process, etc. I plan on collecting all of this on my website somewhere for future reference.

Keep in mind this is coming from someone with no drumming experience until a few weeks ago, so if I get things wrong, you need to correct me. =)

========================

Why buy an electronic drum kit to play Rock Band?

Two reasons.

1. The Rock Band kit itself is vastly inferior to any sort of drum kit designed for playing actual music.
2. Although you won't learn all of the fundamentals of drumming from playing the drums with Rock Band, you will learn a lot of them…and arguably some of the toughest ones. And you'll have fun doing it in a gaming context.

Differences between Rock Band kit and an electronic drum kit

1. The plastic pads are jarringly loud and make exactly the type of sound you would expect to hear from hitting a large piece of plastic. The shock from hitting hard plastic pads transfers back to your hands through the drum sticks, which can make extended play painful after an hour or so. It literally feels like carpal tunnel syndrome.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSu-6rpvKJU and skip to 1:22 for an example of the sound made by the Rock Band drum kit when you hit it.

An electronic drum set will either make a lower rubbery thump sound or a quieter , depending on the type of drum pads you get. Both are vastly superior to the clacking of the Rock Band drum kit.

2. The kick pedal included with Rock Band is prone to breaking and behaves significantly differently from a real kick pedal.

Real kick pedals are using the pedal to lever a beater over into a bass drum. The Rock Band pedal just has a spring in it. This means the resistance on the pedal increases significantly as you press it down. Pressing this repeatedly can grow tiring, especially if you use a heel down technique where keep your foot flat against the pedal.

Second, real kick pedals are made of metal and simply aren't going to break. The Rock Band pedal is made of plastic and has no support in the toe area of the pedal, meaning that part of the pedal is likely to snap off over time if you give it a good pounding.

3. The Rock Band drum kit is less prone to breaking than the pedal itself, but can and does wear out or break over time if you are hard on the kit. The plastic pads can cave in or the sensors can become unresponsive for a number of reasons. Some of the top players have gone through at least 8 kits and counting.

An electronic drum kit is designed to take a pounding. You can give the pads a good beating and not worry.

4. The Rock Band drum kit itself simply drops hits. Especially quick hits. This makes playing songs with rolls impossible because the controller itself may end up dropping a good percentage of your hits and cause you to fail. There are all sorts of creative mods that people have tried to implement to get their drums working properly. Again, if you look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSu-6rpvKJU, the socks wrapped around the pads help tighten up the sensitivity of the Rock Band drum kit so that it can be used on expert level songs.

Even a basic electronic drum kit isn't going to miss hits. It's designed for playing real music.

5. A real drum kit is laid out more comfortably than the Rock Band drum kit. It's pretty obvious that the Rock Band drum kit is an accessory for playing a game, not an actual product. You can customize each of the pads on an electronic drum kit to the exact height and tilt that you want, and the stand will naturally surround you as opposed to being this tiny kit that sits in front of you.

Rock Band drumming vs real drumming
OK, so playing drums on Rock Band is not like playing real drums. What are the differences?

Things you won't learn from playing Rock Band

1. You're reading from a screen. You need to memorize the songs if you want to play with other people. Then again, this is true of reading from anything, so it's hard to call this a minus. What might be a minus would be if you use the visual cues on the screen exclusively instead of feeling the beat by playing to the audio and just using the tablature on the screen as a cue to guide your hits.

If you're really serious, however, you can try to play the song without looking at the screen…and this would arguably be an extremely effective way of memorizing a song and training yourself to feel the rhythm yourself rather than relying on the game.

2. Rock Band drumming teaches timing, but the velocity and character of your hits are important in real drumming. I don't think this needs much explaining.

3. Rock Band has only four drum lanes and a bass pedal. Real drum kits have more percussion choices than that…typically 7-9, and we're not counting rim shots where you hit the edges of a particular instrument. This is speculation, but it's not hard to imagine the reduction in game was done out of a desire to produce a palatable experience for all kinds of players, as well as practical limitations surrounding the drum controller.

The way Rock Band works around this incongruency is by charting multiple instruments into the same lane. If you're interested in translating some of the Rock Band experience into practical drumming experience, this is the most difficult difference to work around . Fortunately, in most cases, the drum charts have been designed so that at least the same instruments are consistently mapped into the same lanes across all songs. So it's simply up to you to make sure that you hit the correct instrument for any particular note that comes at you. Run through a song a few times, and when you're ready, you should have a feel for what instrument is being hit at the appropriate times.

4. You aren't going to learn how to freestyle on the drums from Rock Band. If you want to lay down a funky groove with the drums by yourself, you probably aren't going to get a great sense of this from Rock Band alone.

5. You're following the timing of the song on the screen, not setting the tempo for the rest of the band. The drummer is like the metronome for the rest of the band, so it's important that you be able to set the beat consistently yourself, not follow one that's been laid out for you.

6. Posture, relaxation, style, grip, etc. Without someone looking over your shoulder, you might pick up some bad instinctual habits simply because you don't know any better. Look for some drumming tutorials online so that you get off on the right foot. Expert Village has some that can get you started. Do this early on so that at least you know if you're doing something wrong and can steer yourself clear in the learning phases.

For all of the above points, it's important to note that in every case you're still significantly better off than someone who hasn't had any exposure at all to Rock Band. For example, maybe you can't freestyle on your own on drums, but at least you've been paying attention to all the different drum tracks on Rock Band and have a feel for a lot of different musical patterns already.

The above cons really fall into two categories … thinking you know something you don't, and habituating too far in the wrong directions early on without proper guidance. But some exposure is still far better than none.

Things you WILL learn from playing Rock Band

With very few exceptions, playing on the drums on expert difficulty in Rock Band is identical in timing to the real drum track of the song. This means you ARE learning the following.

1. Timing - The game obviously teaches you to hit notes on beat. This is the first and foremost thing you do as a drummer, so this is a great starting point.

2. Hand/foot independence - If you have no training in this area, you're basically relying on a lifetime of learned and instinctual habits linking your hands and feet together that have to do with counterbalancing your movements as you walk or run. Breaking these habits is HARD. If you get better at Rock Band, you *will* be breaking those habits. Also a very good thing.

For example, the offbeat sections of Here It Goes Again, Wave of Mutilation, and Reptilia used to give me tons of trouble. I would zone out, my hands and feet would move together and I would fail or barely pass the section. Just a few weeks later and I'm now at the point where I can see the beat coming and consciously react properly instead of losing control.

3. Speed - Without practice, you won't be able to hold fast rolls rhythmically and quickly, nor will you be able to do those quick hits with your foot on the kick pedal. Instead you'll be spazzing out or just trying to hit notes without any precision or rhythm. Rock Band gives you an excellent way to practice rolls as you play and gives you instant feedback when you do well.

In particular, certain songs like The Hand That Feeds, Orange Crush, Ballroom Blitz, and Run to the Hills consistently ramp up the speed and difficulty of rolls that you need to perform in order to pass these songs. After a while, you'll start to instinctively know what an 8 note roll feels like and how to pull one off.

4. Muscle memory of many REAL drumming patterns - Rock Band gives you instant exposure to a wide variety of drumming patterns. When you play these, you're really getting to play around with different styles of drumming. With enough exposure, you'll be able to link new patterns that you see to ones that you've practiced before and be generally used to trying out new styles because you've been doing it all along in the game.

5. Endurance - Drumming isn't like running on a treadmill or anything, but it certainly is still a bit of a workout. The foot pedal, in particular, can be tiring for newcomers. Quick double or triple hits in an extended series will quickly wear you out. Also, as your playing style loosens up, you'll be moving your arms and body more and using up more energy as a result. This is a good thing.

Welcome Home, Paranoid, and Maps are examples of songs that I've come back to after a couple of weeks and breezed through because my foot wasn't giving out on me halfway into the song (along with other general skill improvements, of course). I'm still a bit stiff on songs when I play, but as I advance skill levels, I find myself starting to loosen up on the easier tiers when I play. I let the sticks bounce more instead of trying to control them all the way up and down each stroke. Again, this is also a good thing.

The bottom line is that if you play enough, you'll eventually find yourself able to keep up with the faster and more punishing songs. You also won't be as tense as you begin to commit some songs to memory.

6. Sticking. Sticking is all about knowing which notes to hit with which hand. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you want to hit a series of notes and end the last note on a drum to your right, you probably want the note before that on another drum to be hit with your left hand so that your right hand can be in flight for a little more time.

Rock Band doesn't force you to learn this per se, but it quickly becomes apparent that you're never going to nail some of the patterns in the game if you don't figure this out on your own. After a while, you'll start instinctually recognizing how to stick certain patterns.

It's still important to read a bit about sticking because some sticking techniques are ones that you won't be likely to find on your own. Here's a good post on sticking to get you started.

7. Fun and motivation - Most importantly, if you play Rock Band, with or without a real drum kit, you'll be having a lot of fun doing it. The instantaneous feedback you get from the game, as well as being able to see your scores, compare them with friends, and easily download new songs all add up to one thing … a desire to play more and do better. You'll also begin to listen to and pick out the percussion parts in songs that you never paid attention to before. Motivation and enjoyment are perhaps the most important qualities you'll need to learn faster and advance your drumming skills … and Rock Band provides that in spades.

Over and out.

[McPostal]

Very nice post!! I agree 99%

The only thing I disagree with is:

[McPostal]

Very nice post!! I agree 99%

The only thing I disagree with is:

[KJmp32]

Great post man. I also have no drumming experience but am really considering it now. This was a very informative post and I really look forward to the tutorial on how to actually do this. Hopefully it can be soon? Because I've been getting a little bored with rock band drumming, not that I can 100% every song, but I"m pretty close and I'm looking for a new challenge, and a full kit would certainly do it. Looking forward to it.

[KJmp32]

Great post man. I also have no drumming experience but am really considering it now. This was a very informative post and I really look forward to the tutorial on how to actually do this. Hopefully it can be soon? Because I've been getting a little bored with rock band drumming, not that I can 100% every song, but I"m pretty close and I'm looking for a new challenge, and a full kit would certainly do it. Looking forward to it.

[rkuo]

Created a new section on selecting a drum kit. Too lazy to try and reformat it for the forum, just posting the link to the article on my site. Again, feedback is welcome.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Selecting-an-electronic-drum-kit.aspx

[rkuo]

Created a new section on selecting a drum kit. Too lazy to try and reformat it for the forum, just posting the link to the article on my site. Again, feedback is welcome.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Selecting-an-electronic-drum-kit.aspx

[b08smith]

Nice write up

Only thing I slightly disagree with is the HD-1 review, have you actually played one?

The pedals are integrated into the kit to minimise any vibration through the floor and they feel pretty good to play. All the pads are great quality as you would expect from a Roland, the mesh snare is a huge plus. It's main downfall is the simple brain (and the reason it's so cheap imo) but this can still be setup to work with RB just fine.

You are right though about taking a 2nd hand TD-3 over a HD-1 every time but for people living in apartments with complaining neighbours and limited space (like me) it's a viable option worth looking at.

Looking forward to the rest of the faq
_________________

[b08smith]

Nice write up

Only thing I slightly disagree with is the HD-1 review, have you actually played one?

The pedals are integrated into the kit to minimise any vibration through the floor and they feel pretty good to play. All the pads are great quality as you would expect from a Roland, the mesh snare is a huge plus. It's main downfall is the simple brain (and the reason it's so cheap imo) but this can still be setup to work with RB just fine.

You are right though about taking a 2nd hand TD-3 over a HD-1 every time but for people living in apartments with complaining neighbours and limited space (like me) it's a viable option worth looking at.

Looking forward to the rest of the faq
_________________

[rkuo]

[rkuo]

[stevehuck]

Can any real electronic drumset be modded to use on rockband. Also how complicated is this cause i have looked at some of the tutorials for the roland sets and such the look confusing. And also very expennsive. Has any one tried to mod a cheaper set? Like this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882698014

[stevehuck]

Can any real electronic drumset be modded to use on rockband. Also how complicated is this cause i have looked at some of the tutorials for the roland sets and such the look confusing. And also very expennsive. Has any one tried to mod a cheaper set? Like this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882698014

[DjPiLL]

[DjPiLL]

[McPostal]

[McPostal]

[rkuo]

Added a new page. It's a shopping list for doing the modification (aside from the drum kit itself).

I don't have any good suggestions for the enclosure as noted...if any of you can discuss what you ended up using (must be something easily bought/put together by others), let me know and I'll add it to the FAQ.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Using-an-electronic-drum-kit-with-Rock-Band-_2D00_-The-parts-list.aspx

[rkuo]

Added a new page. It's a shopping list for doing the modification (aside from the drum kit itself).

I don't have any good suggestions for the enclosure as noted...if any of you can discuss what you ended up using (must be something easily bought/put together by others), let me know and I'll add it to the FAQ.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Using-an-electronic-drum-kit-with-Rock-Band-_2D00_-The-parts-list.aspx

[geezer]

[geezer]

[rkuo]

Not done yet! New article on how to wire up the Rock Band drum kit. Article is not complete, but it's in a pretty useful state right now.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Exposing-the-Rock-Band-controller-inputs.aspx

[rkuo]

Not done yet! New article on how to wire up the Rock Band drum kit. Article is not complete, but it's in a pretty useful state right now.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Exposing-the-Rock-Band-controller-inputs.aspx

[discgolferpro]

[discgolferpro]

[exegence]

Fantastic Work! I went shopping for more parts today!

[exegence]

Fantastic Work! I went shopping for more parts today!

[rkuo]

New article on wiring up the MSA-P and enclosure.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Building-the-MSA_2D00_P-enclosure.aspx

[rkuo]

New article on wiring up the MSA-P and enclosure.

http://www.rkuo.com/blogs/rkuo_blog/pages/Building-the-MSA_2D00_P-enclosure.aspx