Videos are now beginning to circulate from Guitar Hero’s website which feature Chad Smith, Stewart Copeland, and Travis Barker all weighing in on Guitar Hero’s new drums feature.
Chad Smith is stoked about the idea and loves the thing: “It’s a real as you can get. For a Video game, it’s impressive. If it holds up to me beating on it, it should be pretty good.”
It looks as if Travis Barker does some motion capture for the game. “One of the things I has actually said when I was asked to be involved with this was, ‘will it be an exact interpretation of what that drummer is playing? Can I close my eyes and play a song I wrote the drum part for and socre a perfect score if I’m playing it right?’ And it was, ‘yes.’”
Man .. at first I wasn’t at all into this idea, but now I can see myself getting excited for it. I am cautiously optimistic.
To compete with Rock Band, it looks like Activision is adding drums and vocals to its lineup with Guitar Hero: World Tour. Personally, I think this is a horrible idea! Why doesn’t GH stick to what they do best - GUITAR!
“Guitar Hero: World Tour” adds drums and vocals to the mix. Previously, the “Guitar Hero” series had only centered on the instrument in its title. Feature for feature, it matches almost everything the “Rock Band” experience provides — and them some.
Activision’s peripherals are once again courtesy of Red Octane. “Guitar Hero”’s drums are slightly more complicated than “Rock Band”’s. There are only three drum pads, compared to “Rock Band”’s four, but with the addition of two cymbals. Both sets feature a kick pedal.
The most significant new addition, however, is the implementation of user generated content in the game’s “Music Studio” mode. Shareable online via a new service called GHTunes, the press release states Music Studio includes “a full compliment of tools to create digital music from scratch, utilizing all of the instruments.
To me, it seems a little self-defeating. What makes bucket drums bucket drums is the fact that they’re just buckets. What we have here are buckets with drumheads, resulting in drums with buckets for shells. Not much fun for little harpo. Regardless, they are here now so I’m sure we’ll be reading more about them.
Here’s what their press release had to say:
BucketDrums LLC, introduces the world’s first bucket based drum. Using a revolutionary new Head Mounting system and a 100% Recycled Plastic Bucket, BucketDrums has now made drums affordable for everyone. In addition, the BucketDrums come complete with easily installed “tom mounts” for adding the BucketDrums to any drum or percussion setup, Drumsticks, sticker pack, and drum tuning key.
“You’ve never seen anything as cool as these things. They are easy to tune, fun to play, and really sound amazing,” said Founder and CEO Scott Rockenfield.
We have a great show this week as we talk all about drum heads! Also, the 15-stroke roll is the rudiment of the week, Mike has news, we talk about the state of the music industry, and Mike Portnoy is the Drummer of the Week! Show Notes
It’s been a busy few months for endorsements as John Blackwell and Chris Layton moved to Zildjian. It looks like Sabian has just secured drumming prodigy, Tony Royster, Jr.
“HHX cymbals are my sound,” commented Royster. “I love the smooth responses of the Evolutions, the hot tone of the Xtreme and Legacy crashes, and the multi-hole design and wicked sound of the O-Zone, which is the real kicker! With SABIAN I’ve found a great range of sounds that cover everything from hip-hop and heavy metal to jazz and fusion. I didn’t know it before, but I know it now; SABIAN has it all.”
Added Christian Stankee, SABIAN artist relations manager (USA): “Tony Royster Jr. is one of the hottest young drummers on the planet. Not only can he play, he can groove, which is why he’s so popular at drumming events and, even at his young age, he’s playing serious gigs such as Jay Z. Tony is a great modern drummer and a perfect player for SABIAN.”
Dave is back in the driver’s seat as we talk all about drum racks on today’s show. The 15-stroke roll is the rudiment of the week, Thomas Pridgen is the drummer of the week, and Dave talks about his root in the Ask Dave segment. Show Notes
Remember a while back we told you about the new Anthrax coffee from drummer, Charlie Benante? Now you can sip that Anthrax coffee with your very own 16oz. autographed mug!
Says Charlie: “Each autographed mug has a handwritten note from me. For example, ‘Drink Up’ or ”Mmmmmmm good.’ This is the same style mug that I drink my morning, afternoon and evening coffee from. It’s a tall, heavy mug with a full handle. The autographed cups are limited. We have unsigned cups as well. Just like Krusty brand products — the ink is permanent but washing it may cause the ink to come off.”
Maybe this has been around for a while, but I just saw this over at Roland! It’s a slick electronic marching drum that comes with tons of sounds and features.
The new RMP-12 is the world’s first electronic marching-percussion instrument to incorporate Roland’s patented and unique muti-layer mesh head technology with a built-in sound module and Rhythm Coach. With its advanced V-Drums technology and wide variety of sounds, the RMP-12 offers enhanced playability, expressiveness, and versatility. It’s perfect for indoor and outdoor performance as well as for quiet practice. Unlike other practice pads, the RMP-12 offers an amazing replication of acoustic drums thanks to its realistic sounds and feel.
Their site has some amazing videos that feature non other than Johnny Rabb! You really owe it to yourself to see it in action.
SABIAN has expanded its Vault collection with the introduction of 13-inch Vault Fierce Hats. Inspired by renowned drummer Jojo Mayer, the Fierce Hats feature a raw, unlathed surface and jumbo hammer marks that combine to deliver an aggressive low-end clarity and punchy, semi-dry response that projects in any music. It is this unique response that has made the Fierce concept a favorite among drummers of all styles, said Mark Love, SABIAN master product specialist.
“The hats’ attack is very aggressive with a low bite, which means they are punchy and cutting, yet not metallic sounding. This is more about music than metal,” Love said. “Sticking is always precise, and the pedal ‘chick’ is strong and articulate. Jojo’s Fierce Ride and Crash created such a positive stir, and with so many people commenting about the cymbals on his ‘Weapons for the Modern Drummer’ DVD, introducing the Fierce Hats was a natural progression.”
On today’s show, we talk about the best bang for your buck in terms of books and gear. Carmine Appice is the drummer of the week, the 11 Stroke Roll is the rudiment of the week, and we talk about Stanton Moore’s new album, Emphasis (on Parenthesis). Show Notes
The Maine Wood Product Association presents their Pine Tree Award each year to a Maine-based, wood products manufacturing company that has taken innovative steps in the past two years to strengthen their business. Vic Firth Inc.’s continued investment in their Newport, Maine manufacturing facility, coupled with the ongoing expansion of two diverse product lines and increasing annual sales were deciding factors in choosing Vic Firth Inc. for this year’s honour.
Legendary jazz drummer and bandleader Chico Hamilton, born September 21st, 1921 in Los Angeles, had a fast track musical education in a band with his schoolmates Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso.
Chico’s engagements with Lionel Hampton, Slim & Slam, T-Bone Walker, Lester Young, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Barnett, Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday, Gerry Mulligan and six years with Lena Horne established this young West Coast prodigy as a jazz drummer on the rise, before striking out on his own as a bandleader in 1955.
Chico Hamilton is now playing the Vater Chico Hamilton model, Retractable Wire Brush and T-4 Mallets.
Yamaha Drums will introduce a Stage Custom Birch kit at Winter NAMM 2008. Perfect for students, houses of worship and gigging drummers, the 100 percent birch shells offer a cutting low-end, while eight new gorgeous lacquer finishes provide sustain and great looks. Yamaha’s first mid-priced Birch kit also comes with all-new, top-quality 700 series hardware.
“Following the success of the all-Maple Tour Custom set, we developed the Stage Custom Birch to put an all-Birch, lacquer-finished Yamaha kit within reach of almost anyone,” said Jim Haler, product manager, Yamaha Drums, Pro Audio & Combo Division.
Check out the “Brockenspiel” — a set of tube chimes rigged up to play a sequence of notes based upon the information stored on the magnetic strip on a credit card.
The project uses the Arduino prototyping board to send a trigger to a ULN2003A darlington array. This allows the proper current to be activated to several solenoids which strike the set of chimes. The data source will be a magentic swipe card reader which sends regular ascii keystrokes via RS-232 to the Arduino
You can read much more (including the making of) at BrockCraft.com.
… the new DTXTREME III kits promise to set the standard for sound and function. In addition to redesigned cymbals, a new kick tower, and an all-new module, the sets use the same technology that powers the supercharged Yamaha MOTIF XS synthesizer.
In addition to over 1,000 onboard drum, percussion and special effect voices, the module includes over 100 General MIDI voices. With the optional memory installed, 512 MB of sampling allows players to trigger a large library of custom sounds. Combine the stacking and layering capabilities of 100 voices with other advanced features, and the DTXTREME III is a complete workstation for drummers. Both DTXTREME III versions include 3-zone drum and cymbal pads, USB connectivity and an advanced internal sequencer.
To compete with Rock Band, it looks like Activision is adding drums and vocals to its lineup with Guitar Hero: World Tour. Personally, I think this is a horrible idea! Why doesn’t GH stick to what they do best - GUITAR!
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