Last week was our 1st session with the keyboard. All Bongoo was able to find in terms of new instruments\equipment before the session was a cymbal kit and a keyboard stand. To everyone's surprise, Raikan was able to get his hands on the very rare Canadian PS3 keyboard (EB gets 1-2 pre-ordered one per week it seems).
On our shopping list:
- Pro guitar with buttons (hopefully within 1-2 weeks)
- Pro guitar with strings (March 1st)
- Mic stand (Bongoo using Raikan's ceiling beams as mic holder)
- Keyboard (Bongoo)
Raikan played most songs on Expert Pro Keys, but had to drop difficulties a few times, which is understandable for a new instrument.
Phoenix tried with 3 cymbals for the first time (using 1 of Bongoo's new ones). This set-up will do until Raikan gets his Pro Ion kit. Phoenix also forgot to bring his Roland KD-8...
One interesting note is that we started playing the "Road Challenges" this week instead of just doing Quickplay.
Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 11 songs: 5 stars (1), 4 stars (9), 3 stars (1, for "Whip It")
- The game crashed when we were playing "Oye Mi Amor", the system perhaps rebelling that we were not all on Expert (Hard for Pro Keys)...
- We failed multiple times on "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1". The only good thing about that is that harmonies got easier and easier for each attempt
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
1st Rock Band 3 session
Last week we had our 1st RB3 session. What impressed me the most was the neat new sorting and filtering options. Since we have the entire song library, this will make it much easier to find what we want. It was useful from the getgo as we decided to start our RB3 career by playing the longest songs first.
I also liked the new "RB3" and "All Song" Leaderboards (no glitch so far!), plus the ability to sort by "Leaderboard Rank". The comparison with friends when you finish the song is also neat, as well as the ability to see Bass scores... It makes me wonder if Harmonix would ever have added all this in their game if we didn't create the Rock Band Score Reader plus RockBandStats.com (1st stat website) back in the day. Perhaps these kind of efforts were the catalyst for change.
The only disappointing thing about the launch was the lack of Pro instruments. Only Phoenix was able to play Pro as Raikan already had 2 cymbals (need another soon, but it also works with 2). Bongoo brought his new Mapex dual bass pedal for Phoenix's Roland KD-8. We are looking forward to the release of the Pro guitar and keyboard in Canada on the PS3.
We seem to be known as "Raikan81's band". Who knows how some people get their band name in the Leaderboards instead...
Chrissy joined us on harmonies, with Bongoo and Raikan also on vocals (in addition to guitar and bass, respectively).
Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 18 songs: 5 stars (4), 4 stars (10), 3 stars (4, for "Roundabout", "Beast and the Harlot", "Caught in a Mosh" and "Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during: none! The wah-wah bass in RB3 is not loud enough...
- We were halfway through "Free Bird", our 1st ever RB3 song, only to find out that there weren't getting energy sections (someone had joined after the start of the song)!
- We finally got to play some Rammstein in Rock Band ("Du Hast", not one of the longest songs, but we made an exception)! Now let's get some Rammstein DLC (12-pack ideas here)!
- We failed on the last note in "Smoke on the water" (tough on Pro drums)...
- Our percentages were between 56% and 86% on "Roundabout", ouch!
- Phoenix got the #1 rank on Pro Drums for "Roundabout" (one of the first to play it). We then checked out the Leaderboards later, only to find out he's been beaten by xXSHLONGFACEXx...
- Phoenix has fun with Bongoo's new dual bass pedal, which inspired a "death metal" version of "Sister Christian" (much to the Trapper's delight)! :)
I also liked the new "RB3" and "All Song" Leaderboards (no glitch so far!), plus the ability to sort by "Leaderboard Rank". The comparison with friends when you finish the song is also neat, as well as the ability to see Bass scores... It makes me wonder if Harmonix would ever have added all this in their game if we didn't create the Rock Band Score Reader plus RockBandStats.com (1st stat website) back in the day. Perhaps these kind of efforts were the catalyst for change.
The only disappointing thing about the launch was the lack of Pro instruments. Only Phoenix was able to play Pro as Raikan already had 2 cymbals (need another soon, but it also works with 2). Bongoo brought his new Mapex dual bass pedal for Phoenix's Roland KD-8. We are looking forward to the release of the Pro guitar and keyboard in Canada on the PS3.
We seem to be known as "Raikan81's band". Who knows how some people get their band name in the Leaderboards instead...
Chrissy joined us on harmonies, with Bongoo and Raikan also on vocals (in addition to guitar and bass, respectively).
Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 18 songs: 5 stars (4), 4 stars (10), 3 stars (4, for "Roundabout", "Beast and the Harlot", "Caught in a Mosh" and "Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during: none! The wah-wah bass in RB3 is not loud enough...
- We were halfway through "Free Bird", our 1st ever RB3 song, only to find out that there weren't getting energy sections (someone had joined after the start of the song)!
- We finally got to play some Rammstein in Rock Band ("Du Hast", not one of the longest songs, but we made an exception)! Now let's get some Rammstein DLC (12-pack ideas here)!
- We failed on the last note in "Smoke on the water" (tough on Pro drums)...
- Our percentages were between 56% and 86% on "Roundabout", ouch!
- Phoenix got the #1 rank on Pro Drums for "Roundabout" (one of the first to play it). We then checked out the Leaderboards later, only to find out he's been beaten by xXSHLONGFACEXx...
- Phoenix has fun with Bongoo's new dual bass pedal, which inspired a "death metal" version of "Sister Christian" (much to the Trapper's delight)! :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Double session week
Last week we had 2 sessions, which allowed us to catch up on all remaining RB2 songs (70). Our final score for RB2 is 1,455,577,362 points! :)
Tonight will be our first session with the much anticipated RB3. I can't wait to try the new keyboard and the Pro modes for all instruments.
For the foreseeable future, this blog will solely focus on the highlights of our weekly RB sessions. We'll be experimenting with the new modes and trying out the various Pro instruments, therefore there is no need to include details like "Top Performer", "Worst Performer", etc... I will also stop posting my top 3 DLC of the week as the focus will be on the RB3 on-disk songs.
Highlights:
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during "Creep (Stone Temple Pilots)", "Exodus", "Fire (Live)", "Indians", "Infected Nation", "Long Train Runnin'", "Tha Shiznit", "That's tha Homie" and "Sending Signals"
- Bongoo gets a dual FC on voxtar for "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom"
- Phoenix gets an impressive 91% on "In Memory" on Expert drums and survives a lot of tough songs (ex: "3rd Stone from the Sun")
- Raikan tries the drums and also survives some fairly tough songs (ex: "Manic Depression")
- We have quite a laugh for Parry Gripp's 2 new RBN songs on the PS3 ("Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom" and "Last Train To Awesometown")
- The last RB2 song we will ever play was "Redemption Song" (Bongoo voxtar, no drums or bass)
Tonight will be our first session with the much anticipated RB3. I can't wait to try the new keyboard and the Pro modes for all instruments.
For the foreseeable future, this blog will solely focus on the highlights of our weekly RB sessions. We'll be experimenting with the new modes and trying out the various Pro instruments, therefore there is no need to include details like "Top Performer", "Worst Performer", etc... I will also stop posting my top 3 DLC of the week as the focus will be on the RB3 on-disk songs.
Highlights:
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during "Creep (Stone Temple Pilots)", "Exodus", "Fire (Live)", "Indians", "Infected Nation", "Long Train Runnin'", "Tha Shiznit", "That's tha Homie" and "Sending Signals"
- Bongoo gets a dual FC on voxtar for "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom"
- Phoenix gets an impressive 91% on "In Memory" on Expert drums and survives a lot of tough songs (ex: "3rd Stone from the Sun")
- Raikan tries the drums and also survives some fairly tough songs (ex: "Manic Depression")
- We have quite a laugh for Parry Gripp's 2 new RBN songs on the PS3 ("Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom" and "Last Train To Awesometown")
- The last RB2 song we will ever play was "Redemption Song" (Bongoo voxtar, no drums or bass)
PS3 swap
Last week we had a short session due to Raikan's work hours. Thankfully this will be the last time we have to swap days or shorten the session as he just got a promotion. Congrats!
In order to avoid the need for Phoenix to bring his DLC complete PS3 to Raikan's new townhouse every week, they had the great idea to swap PS3s!
Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 8 songs: 5 stars (4), 4 stars (4)
- Raikan was the "Top Performer" for the most songs (5), followed by Bongoo (3) and Phoenix (1)
- Phoenix was the "Worst Performer" for the most songs (6), followed by Bongoo and Raikan (2 each)
- There were no FCs
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during "Death Quota for Purification" and "Among The Living"
- It's quite ironic that we barely survived "Among the Living" (Expert)
- Everyone fails within fractions of a second of each other at 20% of "Death Quota for Purification" (Expert)
In order to avoid the need for Phoenix to bring his DLC complete PS3 to Raikan's new townhouse every week, they had the great idea to swap PS3s!
Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 8 songs: 5 stars (4), 4 stars (4)
- Raikan was the "Top Performer" for the most songs (5), followed by Bongoo (3) and Phoenix (1)
- Phoenix was the "Worst Performer" for the most songs (6), followed by Bongoo and Raikan (2 each)
- There were no FCs
- Raikan's funniest wah-wah bass moments were during "Death Quota for Purification" and "Among The Living"
- It's quite ironic that we barely survived "Among the Living" (Expert)
- Everyone fails within fractions of a second of each other at 20% of "Death Quota for Purification" (Expert)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Short session with some new Hendrix
This week we'll have a shortened session due to Raikan's special work hours, but we'll still try to catch up on some of the unplayed DLC (including this week's new Jimi Hendrix album).
It will be our 2nd last session playing RB2 as the much anticipated RB3 is soon upon us! :)
Here is my top 3 DLC from last week (after playing them on all solo instruments):
3. "Betty and Me", by Jonathan Coulton:
Jonathan Coulton is back with another great RBN song, this time with some neat country guitar and a genetics theme. The drum chart is fairly fast and has a few tough rolls. There is also a decent amount of movement on bass. One highlight is the relentless hammer-ons on guitar, especially in the pre-chorus and chorus... The song is quite funny once you hear all the lyrics. It is in my top 3 Jonathan Coulton songs released so far in RB in terms of story due to its interesting progression (after "Skullcrusher Mountain" and "Creepy Doll").
2. "Hey There Mr. Brooks", by Asking Alexandria:
What makes this metal track stand out is its amazing sound. I love the symphonic addition near the end and the various transititions and riffs throughout. It also has a bit of a black metal feel and some well-integrated techno elements. The drum chart is always fun, being fast and diverse with a lot of interesting bass pedal patterns. The guitar and bass charts are not overly difficult, except for a few fast strumming sections. The vocals have a good mix of death + clean vocals. I liked the voice during the symphonic part near the end.
1. "Shallow Waters", by Amberian Dawn:
This is my favorite Amberian Dawn track since "He Sleeps in a Grove" due to its amazing heavy riffs, interesting transitions and great operatic melodies. The drum chart is pretty diverse, including some fun fast rolls with lots of bass pedal. The strumming on guitar and bass can be pretty intense. Watch out for some really challenging guitar solos. As usual the vocals are a treat due to the singer's outstanding lyrical voice.
Honorable mention. "Driver 8", by R.E.M.:
The R.E.M. songs released last week are fairly simple, but I have to say that they definitely grew on me after each listen. There were lots of neat moments, including the infectious chorus of "It's the End of the World as We Know It" (would be great with harmonies), the super catchy "Stand", plus the fun constant sound of "Radio Free Europe", but overall the mellow "Driver 8" was my favorite due to its neat country-ish riffs on guitar and unique melancholic feel. The bass chart is pretty constant, with nice up and down movement. There is also a decent amount of variety on vocals, including some nice long clean lines.
It will be our 2nd last session playing RB2 as the much anticipated RB3 is soon upon us! :)
Here is my top 3 DLC from last week (after playing them on all solo instruments):
3. "Betty and Me", by Jonathan Coulton:
Jonathan Coulton is back with another great RBN song, this time with some neat country guitar and a genetics theme. The drum chart is fairly fast and has a few tough rolls. There is also a decent amount of movement on bass. One highlight is the relentless hammer-ons on guitar, especially in the pre-chorus and chorus... The song is quite funny once you hear all the lyrics. It is in my top 3 Jonathan Coulton songs released so far in RB in terms of story due to its interesting progression (after "Skullcrusher Mountain" and "Creepy Doll").
2. "Hey There Mr. Brooks", by Asking Alexandria:
What makes this metal track stand out is its amazing sound. I love the symphonic addition near the end and the various transititions and riffs throughout. It also has a bit of a black metal feel and some well-integrated techno elements. The drum chart is always fun, being fast and diverse with a lot of interesting bass pedal patterns. The guitar and bass charts are not overly difficult, except for a few fast strumming sections. The vocals have a good mix of death + clean vocals. I liked the voice during the symphonic part near the end.
1. "Shallow Waters", by Amberian Dawn:
This is my favorite Amberian Dawn track since "He Sleeps in a Grove" due to its amazing heavy riffs, interesting transitions and great operatic melodies. The drum chart is pretty diverse, including some fun fast rolls with lots of bass pedal. The strumming on guitar and bass can be pretty intense. Watch out for some really challenging guitar solos. As usual the vocals are a treat due to the singer's outstanding lyrical voice.
Honorable mention. "Driver 8", by R.E.M.:
The R.E.M. songs released last week are fairly simple, but I have to say that they definitely grew on me after each listen. There were lots of neat moments, including the infectious chorus of "It's the End of the World as We Know It" (would be great with harmonies), the super catchy "Stand", plus the fun constant sound of "Radio Free Europe", but overall the mellow "Driver 8" was my favorite due to its neat country-ish riffs on guitar and unique melancholic feel. The bass chart is pretty constant, with nice up and down movement. There is also a decent amount of variety on vocals, including some nice long clean lines.
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