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[Raistlin]

Sorry late reply, but no, not exhaustive. Any reprogrammable MIDI drum set and most MIDI keyboards should work. Those were the ones specifically tested with RB3.

Thanks for the info. I figured as much, but it's good to have some confirmation.



I'd be MIGHTY PISSED if my equipment didn't work. Not that I bought it for RB3, but it's nice shit (Yamaha P70, Roland TD-9SX) so I'd like to use it in the game as well.

 

[Raistlin]

I suppose OS shouldn't be an issue. I've just never messed with a keyboard like this so I'm ignorant of what's going on tech wise. If we found out that there's something funky with the keyboard that requires a homebrew driver that's only available for windows - well that doesn't help me, heh. Either way it's appreciated.

I'm just confused how a driver on a computer, be it homebrew or not, has anything to do with hooking up a keyboard to RB3? The console is the one that would need to properly support the USB data ... or am I completely misunderstanding what you are getting at?

 

[bryehn]

i got ranked in the top ten on a song in pro keys (on expert!) for the first time this morning.

I FC'd Need You Tonight on Pro Expert :lol

Thought it was hilarious.

 

[plagiarize]

There is no longer 2s of delay, but I think there's about 250ms of delay. That means staccato stuff like Werewolves of London will be pretty bad on Expert.

I would personally stick with wired. I'm pretty disappointed :\

i find they're good enough for back up vocals when i have a party.

i don't know why they can't just calibrate them for lag like lips obviously does.

 

[plagiarize]

I FC'd Need You Tonight on Pro Expert :lol

Thought it was hilarious.

this was heart of glass. it isn't just the same chord over and over!

but yeah, need you tonight is kind of hilarious on pro keys.

 

[jgkspsx]

i find they're good enough for back up vocals when i have a party.

i don't know why they can't just calibrate them for lag like lips obviously does.

If there's a real hardware-based delay, you can't calibrate that away. Lips might get away with it (I don't have it) because there isn't a band playing instruments to the track. Very disappointing. At least I got it for like $10 at a TRU sale.

SO... are the RB2 bands dead forever? I can see the photos I took with mine, but nothing about them on the new site. OTOH, virtually nothing on the new site is working. I'll just be bummed if I can never do anything with ol' Evils Cosletto and the Repulsions, Rob Dillon, or Pnik Flyod again (besides playing RB2).

 

[bryehn]

this was heart of glass. it isn't just the same chord over and over!

but yeah, need you tonight is kind of hilarious on pro keys.

*applauds*

we could barely get through that one on medium.

the learning curve is a bit steep, but extremely rewarding.

 

[plagiarize]

If there's a real hardware-based delay, you can't calibrate that away.

sure you can. i mean, you can't stop the singing from coming out of the speakers a bit delayed, but you can absolutely score the accuracy of the singing slightly behind what the speakers are playing. so you can sing in time with everything else and be scored correctly. that's the same way the audio calibration bit works.

it just offsets what you get scored against, basically.

same way that dance central doesn't have any lag. it does, but since you have to go through the same notes or pattern every time, it can compensate for it very cleverly.

 

[FlashFlooder]

I started out on Pro Keys Medium and crashed and burned...

Went to regular Keys on expert, and it's really tough because it feels really cramped compared to the stretch on guitar. I was always jumping above and below the 5 key span... This will take some getting used to.

 

[plagiarize]

*applauds*

we could barely get through that one on medium.

the learning curve is a bit steep, but extremely rewarding.

it's still only a 1 star difficulty song, but to be honest i wasn't expecting to be completing any songs with major keyboard parts on expert within the first day.

i totally need to FC need you tonight when I get home

 

[plagiarize]

I started out on Pro Keys Medium and crashed and burned...

Went to regular Keys on expert, and it's really tough because it feels really cramped compared to the stretch on guitar. I was always jumping above and below the 5 key span... This will take some getting used to.

i think a little keyboard experience is a good place to start. it's long enough ago for me that i haven't really got any expectations of how these songs should be played, or what the sheet music would be like for them, but i still appear to have some basic muscle memory with regards to jumping from one key to another.

my biggest issue with single notes is reading the wrong note, rather than playing the wrong note.

chords and lane shifting i'm still working on.

that four note chord in Heart of Glass always trips me up. i hit the right notes but i don't hit them all in time. i screw up a bunch of the other chords, but it does seem like reading chords is getting a bit easier after a day.

 

[storybook77]

I started out on Pro Keys Medium and crashed and burned...

Went to regular Keys on expert, and it's really tough because it feels really cramped compared to the stretch on guitar. I was always jumping above and below the 5 key span... This will take some getting used to.

I started off on Pro Keys Easy and was getting my ass handed to me. I'd always end up hitting one key off from where I was supposed to hit. I'm sure I'll get used to it over time after lots and lots of practice.

 

[mrklaw]

wonder if it would have helped with keyboard if you could press a key in advance to light the lane up to get your bearings? I'm assuming that counts as a duff note even if nothing is coming down at the time?

is everything on keyboard supposed to be played one-handed?

 

[Stormwatch]

I started off on Pro Keys Easy and was getting my ass handed to me. I'd always end up hitting one key off from where I was supposed to hit. I'm sure I'll get used to it over time after lots and lots of practice.

Pro Keys is tough! I took piano lessons throughout my childhood and can play quite a few songs on the piano. Now I'm stuck doing Pro Keys Easy on Rock Band! I think it is just going to take a while to get used to the keyboard and to get used to the way they chart notes.

 

[web01]

Does anyone know if adding the RBN section to the ingame RB3 store means people in countries where the songs were previously unavailable will soonbe able to download them?

 

[FlashFlooder]

wonder if it would have helped with keyboard if you could press a key in advance to light the lane up to get your bearings? I'm assuming that counts as a duff note even if nothing is coming down at the time?

is everything on keyboard supposed to be played one-handed?

Yes, the only time you can hit in advance is before the song starts. I agree it would be a lot of help if you could hit keys to judge where your hand is.

I think another part of the problem is that I was playing in the dark, and couldn't see the color strip on the keyboard. So the whole color scheme wasn't helping me find my bearings on the keyboard at all. I'm going to keep plugging away though!

 

[plagiarize]

Yes, the only time you can hit in advance is before the song starts. I agree it would be a lot of help if you could hit keys to judge where your hand is.

I think another part of the problem is that I was playing in the dark, and couldn't see the color strip on the keyboard. So the whole color scheme wasn't helping me find my bearings on the keyboard at all. I'm going to keep plugging away though!

i stopped looking down after it started shifting lanes when i wasn't looking. some of those ancient keyboard skills let me find the notes without looking i guess. i just paid attention to green and blue as the start of each octave.

seemed enough info. you can always see either green or blue.

 

[navanman]

any issues with UK instrument stock for PS3?

Shopto are showing the Xbox drums and keyboard as in stock, but the PS3 keyboard not due until next Friday, and the drums mid-november! Was hoping to order through them for free release day delivery guarantee and the drums are a decent price too.

edit: Amazon UK showing November 19th for the PS3 keyboard and november 26th for the drums, yet October 29th for Xbox 360 instruments. GAME are showing this friday for keyboard but November 12th for drums. They seem all over the place on dates.


edit2: gameshark are showing the drumkit at £79.99 which is by far the cheapest I've seen it online. Backordered though..

Aaargh - tell me it ain't so UK GAF!

I was in HMV (in Ireland) today and pre-ordered the PS3 version. I was told the game is already in stock waiting to go on sale on Friday.

I also put my name down for a keyboard but they don't even have them in stock yet, only 2 days away from release of the game. I reckon good ole Europe has gotten the shaft again with stocking of new instruments.

 

[Coen]

Probably old news by now, but I've just received some bad news. All Madcatz' products have been delayed for a month in Europe. This includes the bundles. The game is being released this friday, just without all the Madcatz accessories. Ignore if old. I'm going to go cry in a corner.

 

[Tenks]

Do the top 10s eventually just all become filled with 100% perfect plays, and the only way to get on one is to time your over drive sections to the most beneficial section of the song?

I have a feeling it becomes that, it'd just be a little disappointing to play every note perfectly and come in like 40,000 on the boards :lol

Edit: Also if any one has impressions of the Lips wireless mics with RB3 please PM me, I'd love to find out ahead of time if they are terrible like it was reported they are with RB2, then I can return my copy and deal with wired mics. Thanks!

Thats pretty much it. The board is basically one guy who had an absolute perfect OD path so he's like 200 points ahead of the other 1000 people who FC'd the song while taking the optimal OD path.

 

[navanman]

Probably old news by now, but I've just received some bad news. All Madcatz' products have been delayed for a month in Europe. This includes the bundles. The game is being released this Friday, just without all the Madcatz accessories. Ignore if old. I'm going to go cry in a corner.

FUCK YOU HARMONIX AND MAD CATZ.
They just killed off what small chance they had of getting some buzz for this game in Europe now.

I knew it!! Look at my previous post, none of the retailers have the it in stock yet, 2 days before release.
Don't know if I will pick up the game on Friday now, may aswell wait till December when its in the bargain bin.

 

[Raistlin]

Probably old news by now, but I've just received some bad news. All Madcatz' products have been delayed for a month in Europe. This includes the bundles. The game is being released this Friday, just without all the Madcatz accessories. Ignore if old. I'm going to go cry in a corner.

Beyond the month delay in the West? Stuff like the MIDI adapter aren't hitting until the end of November here.

 

[Wessiej]

I also just received word that my keyboard isn't coming till the 26th of November.

Fucking HMX

 

[navanman]

I also just received word that my keyboard isn't coming till the 26th of November.

Fucking HMX

Game will be DOA again in Europe. What a joke this is.
This was their chance to get some positive buzz about the game and series and they just killed it all.

 

[mrklaw]

Probably old news by now, but I've just received some bad news. All Madcatz' products have been delayed for a month in Europe. This includes the bundles. The game is being released this Friday, just without all the Madcatz accessories. Ignore if old. I'm going to go cry in a corner.

everything? Shopto say they have 360 drums/keyboard in stock

what a pisser. Was hoping this would hold me off with the GT5 delay and everything. Oh well, I can spend the time waiting for the proper RB2 export to get sorted. And play some of the new songs on guitar and shit RB1 drums. (hmm, beatles drums look more tempting now)

Game will be DOA again in Europe. What a joke this is.
This was their chance to get some positive buzz about the game and series and they just killed it all.

agree. What with them not releasing any RB2 instruments at all, and PS3 owners getting shafted with RB1 exclusivity, its not a good sign. Good job I import the US version i guess..

 

[littleornothin]

everything? Shopto say they have 360 drums/keyboard in stock

In sweden only PS3 accessories are delayed as far as I can tell.. Surprise!

 

[Coen]

everything? Shopto say they have 360 drums/keyboard in stock

Hm, I was told everything Madcatz was delayed, but I did order a PS3 keyboard bundle, so I guess it's possibly just PS3.

 

[otmane]

Someone has any news on keyboards availability for France?
my amazon.FR order is still showing October 28th for the PS3 Keyboard...

 

[Zeouterlimits]

No... No.... No.

 

[Slacker]

Loving the game so far. I play drums 99.9% of the time, so RB3 is just awesome for me. Some great new songs to play, and I basically get to relearn everything else because every song has pro drum mode now. FYI any Boston in Pro/Expert mode: So damn good. Tonight will be the Rush marathon (in between Rangers innings at least).

I'm stoked that Rilo Kiley and The Smiths made the cut. Not just DLC, but in the actual game. Nice! I hope that means more from them will come eventually. Give me more from The Sounds while you're at it, HMX.

And I know this is lame, but I can't play for five seconds without my kids running into the room, so I'm glad the new game is a little easier make family friendly. I set up my band with four normal looking humans, all wearing actual clothes. And I get them whether I quickplay or do the career stuff. Cool!

The interface in general is much improved over RB2. Everything is within a couple button presses of everything else. No more 10 circle clicks to back out of career mode.

Last snag left: Waiting to import my RB2 songs. Not that big a deal, as everything I play is DLC anyway. SlackerCS on PSN if anyone wants to compare pro/expert drum scores.

 

[FlashFlooder]

No... No.... No.

They tried to make you go to Rehab?

SlackerCS on PSN

i'll try to remember to add you when I get home, add me too: FlashFlooder

 

[Axiom]

Im an Aussie with US copies of Rock Band but i have no idea what you mean by international song export. All i know is you will have to use the coe when they go up to download from the US store just as you probably have done with the DLC, otherwise it will not work. But sorry for not unerstanding what you mean, you want to explain a little more in depth?

Also you should add me. PSN: AsPiRiNgYoUtH

More aussies to play with the better!

I was wondering if I could in fact export the NTSC RB2 songs into my main Australian PSN account, though the point is now moot as my copy of Rock Band 2 is missing and I'm now pretty sure it was a part of mass of games that were stolen from me last year.
Most of my collection went, and since it was 90% old games which is my focus, I keep being surprised when a newer game turns up 'missing'.

Now to find a Rock Band 2 key the traditional way...again! -sigh-

Signing into the website via Facebook has led to two account names being unrecoverable despite never getting a password to log back in, and it not saving my information between sessions. Finally got an account to work the traditional way though.

Belting out Power of Love cures the pain.

 

[IAmtheFMan]

this is an issue that will keep coming up. for some reason people think that if they can play piano in real life they will be good at the game. this is true if A) you can already proficiently read the RB-piano tab or b) you already know the song and play without looking at the rb tab.

I've seen a few people try to play that know the real songs on piano and they just get confused. same with people trying drums in RB. there is a learning curve to be expected when you try to follow along with notation you aren't used to reading.

that being said, I'm already getting way more comfortable with Pro Keys than I was last night.

Yeah, the charting is just really confusing. The good thing is that proficiency in keyboard/piano does help. I four-starred Walk of Life, and three-starred Light my Fire on expert pro-keys on a sight read just because I knew the melody. Meanwhile I couldn't figure out The Raveonettes song from the chart.

The more I play it the better I like it, but I think that they limited themselves, perhaps stupidly. You're learning how to play notes properly, but you're only playing essentially the right-hand... which if you want to play for real is kinda silly, considering that learning how to use both hands is a wall that a lot of really early players hit. The other thing is that they've only limited it to two octaves which doesn't really teach you the songs properly, especially when you need to learn how to do fingering of passages, etc.

Yeah I get that no one is gonna buy a full 88 key attachment, but at the same time I could see it frustrating to want to learn how to play the keyboard and RB3 teaching you bad habits and some incorrect technique.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

They tried to make you go to Rehab?

Heh, clever.
If it's just a PS3 PAL issue I'm fine.

 

[mrklaw]

Yeah I get that no one is gonna buy a full 88 key attachment, but at the same time I could see it frustrating to want to learn how to play the keyboard and RB3 teaching you bad habits and some incorrect technique.

except with that official MIDI box they are encouraging people to use their existing MIDI keyboards (I'm guessing that more people will have MIDI keyboards than MIDI drums..). So its reasonalbe to think there will be some people that can already play a bit will want more from pro keys than they are currently getting - ideally the kind of attention that pro guitar is getting. Maybe with RB4.. (I'm guessing it could be done fairly simply as the charting should all be there. a simple indicator of what octave is currently playing and removing the shifting would probably be enough if they want to keep the current lane-based display)

 

[Merovin]

I also just received word that my keyboard isn't coming till the 26th of November.

Fucking HMX

Same here. So annoyed about it, especially as we've been notified right at the last minute!

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Have confirmed there are Gamestops in Ireland have keyboards (whether it is for both systems or just 360 not 100% sure) so PAL certainly got some.

 

[UltimaPooh]

Same here. So annoyed about it, especially as we've been notified right at the last minute!

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Yes, the only time you can hit in advance is before the song starts. I agree it would be a lot of help if you could hit keys to judge where your hand is.

I think another part of the problem is that I was playing in the dark, and couldn't see the color strip on the keyboard. So the whole color scheme wasn't helping me find my bearings on the keyboard at all. I'm going to keep plugging away though!

That is the reason they put little ridges on the first key in each colored section. It is there to let you know where you are.

As for having issues knowing where you are when playing non pro, the whole point is NOT to move your hand at all, to get all your fingers used to hitting keys. The only time you should be moving your hand is on pro mode.

 

[toythatkills]

Same here. So annoyed about it, especially as we've been notified right at the last minute!

Where did you order? Some places claim to have keyboards in stock.

 

[FlashFlooder]

As for having issues knowing where you are when playing non pro, the whole point is NOT to move your hand at all, to get all your fingers used to hitting keys. The only time you should be moving your hand is on pro mode.

I know this, I just get a little too excited in fast sections and my hand jumps by itself. I think switching a couple times between pro and non-pro contributed to this too. I think I'm going to just go back to medium pro and try to soldier through it.

 

[Hop]

As mentioned earlier: not all RBN songs have proper Pro Drums, do to circumstances beyond the authors' control. This thread has been cataloging the confirmed good RBN Pro Drums charts. Obviously it's a very incomplete list, but that also means it's short enough right now that I can post it here.

If an RBN song is listed here, it has correct Pro Drums. If it is not listed here, it might have correct Pro Drums, but it is not confirmed. Confirmations are as of 10/27.

RockGamer
Amberian Dawn - Snowmaiden
Amberian Dawn - Saga
Amberian Dawn - Lionheart
Otep - Smash the Control Machine
Firewind - World on Fire
In This Moment - The Gun Show
Scott Attrill - Girls Love Techno
Bang Camaro - Revolution
Firewind - Head Up High

Fairwood Studios
The Raspberry Ants - Janie
Highlord - Simple Man
Down Factor - Blinded
2nd Thought - Just Hang On
Lightwires - Magician
Shokkher - Burn Her Out
Stagehands - Welcome to Our Town
Yesternight's Decision - Dying Wish of a Living Man
The Virginmarys - Bang Bang Bang
Those Among Us - I Thought I Knew You
Lyrics for Monday - Runaway

Rhythm Authors
Gatling - Nihilanth
The Dangerous Summer - The Permanent Rain
Periphery - Buttersnips
Shelly Rastin feat. Randy Bachman - High Class Trailer Trash
Terrorhorse - Modern Mathematics
Asking Alexandria - A Prophecy
Asking Alexandria - Hey There Mr. Brooks
Audio Ammunition - War Against the Radio

The Authority
Since October - The Way You Move
Stan Bush - The Touch
OK Go - White Knuckles
Barefoot Truth - Threads
Citizen Cope - I Couldn't Explain Why
State of Shock - Money Honey
J.A.C.K. - I Cut Off My Arms
Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes
Surfer Blood - Swim
Christmas at the Devil's House - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers

Freen in Green
Guitars SUCK - Bumblefoot
Erratic Eruption - Freen in Green
Frostbite Cavern - Wolfblur
Industrialized - Bluefusion
(Random Song) - Bluefusion

Chart Toppers Authoring
Shylo Elliott - Light
Shylo Elliott - Bittersweet Melancholy
Shylo Elliott - Drum Exercises for the Sufficiently Masochistic
Shylo Elliott - P.W.M.O.

Other Authors
Ludicra - Veils
Ultra Saturday - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Rose of Jericho - Beautiful Machine
Rose of Jericho - Signed With Love
Rose of Jericho - Midnight Eyes
Rose of Jericho - Wrong Side of the Sky
Kingsize - Rabbits
Kingsize - Elevator
Kingsize - Miss America
James William Roy - Paper Valentines

 

[U2NUMB]

Anyone know how detailed the stats will get on RockBand.com once the linking works? Have they mentioned anything?

 

[Raistlin]

I know this, I just get a little too excited in fast sections and my hand jumps by itself. I think switching a couple times between pro and non-pro contributed to this too. I think I'm going to just go back to medium pro and try to soldier through it.

I suspect you need to work on your fingering. It sounds like it's less about getting too excited, and more about favoring certain fingers at the expense of proper positioning/fingering. You're probably jumping to use your 'strong' fingers.

 

[IAmtheFMan]

except with that official MIDI box they are encouraging people to use their existing MIDI keyboards (I'm guessing that more people will have MIDI keyboards than MIDI drums..). So its reasonalbe to think there will be some people that can already play a bit will want more from pro keys than they are currently getting - ideally the kind of attention that pro guitar is getting. Maybe with RB4.. (I'm guessing it could be done fairly simply as the charting should all be there. a simple indicator of what octave is currently playing and removing the shifting would probably be enough if they want to keep the current lane-based display)

I hope so, but throw in a left hand and the charting gets a lot more convoluted... here's hoping that HMX has a master plan.

 

[soul creator]

I beat Whip It on Pro Keys Expert last night, with basically no previous piano/keyboard experience in my life. Pssh, this game is easy

Spoiler

oh god I can't pass the interval tutorial

 

[ultron87]

I love the way the 'career' works now. Pretty much everything you do gets you fans and progresses your band. Also, it is always your band even in Quick Play. So you aren't ever playing with a random assortment of stand ins.

And every Xbox game should have the easy profile switching between controllers that this game has.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

I suspect you need to work on your fingering. It sounds like it's less about getting too excited, and more about favoring certain fingers at the expense of proper positioning/fingering. You're probably jumping to use your 'strong' fingers.

I am still on regular keys, trying to train my hand. The only thing I have major issues with is chords involving my middle finger and pinky (yellow and orange). My ring finger almost always presses down too when it shouldn't on those.

 

[FlashFlooder]

I suspect you need to work on your fingering.

That's what she said! Sorry.

One problem I've had with the game: I'm on PS3, and it insists on counting PS Eye mic as Mic # 2 on vocals. Couldn't figure out anyway to make it stop, short of unplugging the PS Eye. Hopefully they fix this.

 

[bounchfx]

After playing through more of the songs, I have to wonder: what made some of these bands put keyboards in their songs? especially when it's so sparse and usually just one or two chords? seriously, which band member thought it was a great idea to just 'HEY DUDES.. I THINK THIS SONG COULD USE KEYS... RIGHT HERE. No... only here."