Freesound Forums

I know there must be quite a few musicians on here so I was wondering what your opinion of the ps2, ps3, xbox, and wii game 'Rock Band' was. I had a small arguement with a co-worker basically over a "stupid video game" vs "a real intrument." This guy attempted to play bass guitar for the past few years to not much avail but criticized the game for rotting brains over introducing real instruments to people to learn. "Why not buy a real guitar and learn it?" Even though I understood his thoughts completely I could not bring myself to compromise even slightly, admitting that Guitar Hero or Rock Band is a waste of time. It's for entertainment, not for obtaining any musical knowledge. It would take weeks if not months to have any significant fun on a real instrument where it only takes a good hour to have fun playing any instrument on the game. Anyone agree?

i feel the drums on rockband are about the only thing that are relevant as far as learning an actual instrument. i once read a book on punk rock and there was page with a diagram of three chords, underneath was a caption that said "now start a band". to me guitar hero/rockband is just dance dance revolution made over... and that game didnt teach you to dance... but it helped with timing.... rockband/guitar hero is fun and borderline educational but nothing is as fun or educational as a distortion pedal and free reign to do whatever you want with no restraints... anyone can play guitar... yes it takes some time, but it is not as difficult as ppl make it seem... gimme a joint, a cheap tuner, and some gain... and i'll show you a level of fun that a video game can't come anywhere near...

Personally, I love trying out new instruments and experimenting with them.
I don't hate the games, I can certainly see why people think they are fun, but I don't like people who believe they have actual musical talent just because they got a good score in a game. :lol:
~Reine~

Pros:

1. It introduces kids born into a barren digital wasteland to the warm analog world of physical instruments.

2. It teaches basic timing and articulation of different notes.

3. It doesn't involve gangbangin, sluts or drugs... which should be experienced in their analog forms as well.

Cons:

1. There ain't no god damned strings (yet- I predict MIDI guitar tracker implementation)

2. The characters look retarded.

3. Playing covers is fun but is not as empowering and rewarding as playing your own song on an overdriven strat, a vintage drumset or a window rattling bass amp.

I thought the first time I saw a young cousin of mine trying to play along with a megadeth song and then moving on to buckethead was kind of neat. Shit I never really got into buckethead and haven't listened to megadeth in 10 years. Where would a tween encounter thrash metal on his own these days?

I played it myself and did pretty well because I grew up on video games and real instruments when they were not connected. At first I thought it was cheesy but I think it will introduce the real instruments to millions of kids and also reveal music they may not ever hear in peer circles or modern media, unless they accidentally surf to VH1 classics.

I have been an advocate of ushering in the digital age for decades and I couldn't less about vinyl or VHS tape. But when it comes to the authenticity of acoustic instruments there are no substitutions. Someday I will have a real drum kit and a place to play that the cops won't visit. Until then, I am looking at an inexpensive PC driven digital drum setup... wish I hadn't already bought all those damn christmas presents for others again, damn pagan rituals...

So it's a great "gateway" to bigger and better things that gives you a starting foundation and some musical trivia that anyone regardless of talent and ambition can enjoy to some degree in a social setting. It can never replace (not yet) real instruments and unless it incorporates song writing (I bet it will someday as well) it will be just a game... so play it and have fun.

I haven't played it much at all. About 3 minutes of guitar hero at the store one time. It only registers as entertainment to me.
I wish one could intentionally play wrong if you so choose without getting immediately boo'd offstage. If it allowed you to go into free-form mode and make whatever you want, it would have much more lasting value, and I could envision it as a totally new (and legitimate) music making machine.

As usual, Southpark has a comedic take on it all: http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/1113/Guitar-Queer-o.html