We’ve been bringing reports about drummers getting involved with various upcoming music video game releases (Mike Portnoy, Chad Smith, Travis Barker), now it looks like Metallica slugger, Lars Ulrich, is seeing the advantage of this new medium.
Harmonix’s Rock Band can often serve as a sort of subliminal radio station. After being forced to play through the song Cherub Rock five times before finally passing it on expert mode, you might just become the newest Pumpkins fan. Enough Fall Out Boy, and you may find yourself tracking down their discography–much to your dismay.
Needless to say, the record companies couldn’t be happier.
“A few weeks ago, when [Guitar Hero: Aerosmith] came out, there was more than a 40 percent increase in their catalog sales,” said Billboard analyst Geoff Mayfield to CNN.
“I expect you’ll see that again when Metallica gets the same kind of treatment in a few weeks,” he added.
As a result, even Lars “Napster Baaaad” Ulrich, Metallica drummer, is getting into the spirit of Guitar Hero.
“It’s a cool generational thing to share that with your kids,” said Ulrich. “My [son's] favorite bands are.. the same bands that are my favorite bands–the bands I grew up on.”
Despite the obvious reason behind Ulrich’s enthusiasm–Metallica songs sold on Rock Band and Guitar Hero III are lining his pockets by the download–it’s hard to argue with his sentiment.
For a while now, we’ve been looking forward to Rainn Wilson’s The Rocker - a flick about a washed up drummer getting a second chance at stardom.
Now that the movie has been released the reviews are starting to come in and so far, it doesn’t look so good for The Office star. Review aggregator site, Rottentomatoes.com has it only listed at 37% fresh. Ouch. Here are some of the most brutal reviews …
Memo to Rainn Wilson: A shot of a paunchy middle-aged man in jockey shorts is not automatically funny. Okay, it kind of is. But The Rocker is as formulaic as a Whitesnake song without the virtue of a four-minute running time.
Sadly, The Rocker is so rife with formula that a pre-school could wet nurse on it indefinitely and still never go hungry.
Leave it to China to put on such a crazy, spectacular display! Last Friday at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the opening ceremonies kicked off with a countdown featuring 2,008 synchronized drummers.
While we can’t grab video from the NBC feed, someone who was in the stands has posted a video over at MySpace.
What’s the most amazing … these drummers are all sync’d without music!
First it was clothes, then coffee and mugs, nit ?uestlove, the groove machine for The Roots, has released his own line of Nike sneakers.
I know I’m not the target demo for these shoes, but I think they are simply hideous. People even camped out in Philly to get their hands on them. *sigh*
Drummer Talk now has a Facebook group that you too can be a part of! If you’re a Facebook user, login, then click on this link to join the group. Be our friend!! w00t!
What is up, what is up?! We are FINALLY making the T-Shirt order on Wednesday, August 4, so if you want in on the awesomeness that is the 2008 T-Shirt, you’d better make your donation now! In case you forgot, here is the final design …
You can get your very own, limited edition Drummer Talk T-Shirt by making a donation of $25 or more to help support what we do here. You can find out more about supporting Drummer Talk by heading over to our Support DT page.
According to this article from CBCnews.ca, Clem Burke and other drummers had their vitals monitored as they played and, in Burke’s case, “[his heart rate readings] could have been [that of] a premiership footballer”. The full details of the Clem Burke Drumming Project study, conducted by the Universities of Gloucestershire and Chichester, are to be released this Monday (28 July, 2008), but the comparisons between sport and drumming seem quite startling.
This is something I think we’ve always known, but it’s nice to see a study that gives drummers their due as performers, whether musical or athletic.
Hello, hello, hello! As many of our listeners/readers know, we’ve been out of the country almost the entire Summer doing various and sundry things all around Europe. Well, you’ll all be glad to know that we’ll be back on the air in August with a brand new season of Drummer Talk to quench your drumming thirst! Until then - Auf Wiedersehen!!!
This past February, while vacationing in Hawaii, Tool drummer Danny Carey was attacked by a sea creature while swimming in the ocean. The result was two surgeries, the cancellation of Tool dates, and a nasty-looking scar.
A blog on the band’s website gives this account: “It seems that Danny tangled with an unruly marine hazard, venomous and… dangerous… while vacationing in Hawaii (BACK IN FEBRUARY!).
Ok, ok, ok. Any regular listenr of Drummer Talk knows the grief we’ve given drummer, Zac Hanson over the years, but it appears that the drummer is now a proud father.
John Ira Shepherd Hanson was born Tuesday to Zac Hanson and his wife, Kate, in Hanson’s hometown of Tulsa. The baby boy weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I am so overjoyed to meet Shepherd,” Zac Hanson said. “There is not an audience or concert that could ever stand up to the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time.”
The sound of drums will rumble across North America on Sunday, November 2, as ten Five-Star member drum shops launch the Big Beat. This effort will bring together the largest gathering of drummers ever assembled, celebrate the joy of drumming, and raise money for worthwhile causes. Not only will each location try to break the Guinness world record for the most drummers playing the same beat at one time (previously set by Donn Bennett Drum Studio, with 533 participating players), but the participants will also try to set a record for drummers in all cities playing simultaneously.
Big Beat events will benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and in some cities, the addition of a local charity as well.
Of the shops participating, Memphis’ own Memphis Drum Shop will be banging away as well!
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.
Though a great technique is not absolutely necessary, a musical mind is. Techniques must be used tastefully and one should never feel that mastery of a beat means it must be shown off on all possbile occasions ... musicianship comes first and technique second.
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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