There are a few problems I've had with the game, and so far it seems to not only be me.
The Dux Redux is a problem for a lot of people. I said in an earlier post that doing a very light touch to the fretting fixes that. I can confirm that it fixes it for me, though in the heat of the game I sometimes still fret too hard. It is weird that during songs and lessons that I do not have a problem with the game detecting my fret usage, but this particular Guitarcade game some how does. It is the E string that has the problem.
Bends. Guys. Please. Do not tear your hair out over the Bends lesson. Skip the lesson after learning what a bend is if it is acting up on you. Bends just aren't handled well as of January 2014. I am reading that the bending lesson in Rocksmith 2013 was bad also. It might prevent you from getting 100% on lessons and songs, but its is NOT you. It is Rocksmith. This also means the string bending arcade game does not work very well, though I have not yet played it myself to confirm.
My suggestion is to set up riff repeater and be honest to yourself; get through the practice track a few times a day, memorizing it like any other lesson, but ignore the rating. You know if you have it correct or not. Why keep doing it? Build those bending muscles, and figure out your technique. Its important, especially if you want to play some Hendrix in your lifetime.
My USB cable does not like to connect well sometimes. I switch USB ports and all that, and still, it is wonky. It could just be a loose USB hub. I have found that the last two times, which isn't a large enough sample to know it works, that if I take apart the USB cable at the breakaway connector, and plug that back together, that I get signal. Yes, that's a breakaway connector. It is meant to come undone instead of pulling your PS3/360 off on to the floor if you yank your instrument cable too hard.
I'll make any new "Things Wot Go Wrong" posts as I accumulate anymore.
Day 12
The Bends problem is back, so I looked it up online and.. well look above for what I found.
I'm steadily scoring much higher on String Skip Saloon, so it is doing what I need it to do. Meaning I am getting used to seeing the strings from Low(thickest) to High(thinnest). As for Scale Warriors... I get what its doing, and I want to like the game a lot, in fact I want it to be my favorite game, but I just do not think it is improving my guitar skill. Loading up sessions and playing the scales listed there seems much easier to me, and much better at memorization. It is too easy to get flustered and just start banging away at strings in Scale Warriors.
I have the hardest time going directly to the B or G string. My fingers just aren't used to 6 strings, and its just taking more time than I thought to at least get them correct. You'd think it wouldn't be all that bad because I have zero problems with a 5 string bass, but its like my fingers have blurry vision from D, G, B.
I started the Hamer Ons and Pull offs lesson for my last half or more of today's practice time. This is a proper lesson. I am good with this kind of stuff, but the practice track is a step up compared to other practice tracks. This is going to take time to memorize and play smoothly. I like it. Its the kind of challenge that is challenging for my level of play without being screwed up by bad game detection(like the bends).
Tip of the Day:
Riff Repeater's sections are chosen by your L's and R's buttons and triggers. When you get a new practice track, listen to the game play it, then load up your riff repeater, highlight the entire thing and start out at like 80% speed or whatever is good for you. I personally keep the difficulty at 100%. In fact, I am catching myself saying "don't F'ing patronize me, give me the whole song" when I screw up on ONE LITTLE PART and the game decides to make the entire rest of the song easier for me. At the point of memorizing the song, that actually is not helpful at all.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Jasper and Day 11
I am a dog person.
Growing up, there were a lot of dogs that came and went, but one of the longest lived ones of my childhood was a dog named Jasper. I do not think he was technically "mine", he was more my father's pet. I had a dog named Blackie, and years after that one named Buddy. Both of these dogs were jet black. Jasper was a dirty brown. He was some sort of mutt, mixed between a hound and a poodle of some sort. When it comes to that old dog that will never let you down "feeling", it is Jasper that I think of. I was young, and I probably played a little too rough with him, but by the time he was an old dog, we'd become trusted friends.
I got my first SG in 2004. I had just gotten my first full time, decent paying job, and I was going to do some things to get my credit going. The bank would not give me a loan on my own, so my father co-signed and put up collateral for no other reason than I had asked. One day I hope to trust a son of mine enough to do such a thing. So it was with my father's help that I got a Gibson SG Faded, a Marshall 2x12 SS amp, a studio "amp modeling" pedal, a matching brown leather strap, and a nice SKB case to keep the guitar in. The SG Special Faded was a model with a very thin finish on it. They had two goals with making these SG's, be inexpensive, and look like an old instrument. They only achieved being inexpensive, because these things were ugly. Except for a few of the brown ones. I had all 5 that the shop had in, and went by a purely cosmetic evaluation and chose the one I now own. No trapezoid inlays, no covers on the pickups, solid black knobs... but the thing had the same pickups as the $1000+ standards. They were also about 500 bucks less than a Standard, but they were made in the USA, same factory, I was proud to own a real Gibson. They also had thick necks, which is a plus for me, thin necks make my hand cramp. EDIT: additionally I have a pretty good "sweet spot" production year. By this time they had stopped reusing old SG Gothic materials. They also still used Rosewood fingerboards, which is a rarity even with 1000+ dollar les pauls, and the electronics are classic handwired instead of printed PCB.
I then went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some metal stamped letters, and on the back of the headstock, between the tuners, I put "Jasper". "That'll ruin the resale value" someone told me, "Great, I never want to be tempted to sell this guitar" I told them. This guitar is my trusty dog, it'll stick with me through thick and thin, it'll take my rough handling, but eventually I'll learn responsibility, and we'll be the best of friends.
Just like Jasper.
Day 11
Fixed a few things today.
The Duck Redux thing where it can not tell accurately which fret I'm using on the E string above the 5th fret? Well that's apparently solved by barely touch the string. Coming from bass I have a strong fretting hand, so its counter intuitive, but apparently a common problem in just regular playing. Pressing harder there doesn't make it more accurate, it makes it less accurate because its amplifying the natural flaw of guitar design. Anyways, 99% fixed. Played my usual warm up routine, did about twice as good as I have ever done in String Skip Saloon. I like that game for its challenge, you have to keep a cool head, and that's good for if you screw up a part of a song and have to steel your nerves to get the rest of the song right.
The 2nd thing that was fixed, the bend thing stems from my USB cable I would guess, or just something not calibrated the first time I tried playing the Bends lesson. I got it working and then stubbornly worked at memorizing and playing the bend practice lesson. It is tracking it well enough, though there are still some mysterious "missed" notes that get me cussing out my PS3. I got to 96% accuracy and called it a night for that lesson because that G string wants to shred my bass player callous.
I wasn't done for the night though, I started a few songs! I know! Crazy shit. Sixteen Saltines is something I would play bass over on Sunday mornings when I felt all rock, bluesy. So it is really cool that it is included in Rocksmith. I also tried "We are the Champions" and "Peace of Mind". Admittedly I pretty much just listened to Peace of Mind because I was in a Boston mood. A much better session than yesterday's.
Growing up, there were a lot of dogs that came and went, but one of the longest lived ones of my childhood was a dog named Jasper. I do not think he was technically "mine", he was more my father's pet. I had a dog named Blackie, and years after that one named Buddy. Both of these dogs were jet black. Jasper was a dirty brown. He was some sort of mutt, mixed between a hound and a poodle of some sort. When it comes to that old dog that will never let you down "feeling", it is Jasper that I think of. I was young, and I probably played a little too rough with him, but by the time he was an old dog, we'd become trusted friends.
I got my first SG in 2004. I had just gotten my first full time, decent paying job, and I was going to do some things to get my credit going. The bank would not give me a loan on my own, so my father co-signed and put up collateral for no other reason than I had asked. One day I hope to trust a son of mine enough to do such a thing. So it was with my father's help that I got a Gibson SG Faded, a Marshall 2x12 SS amp, a studio "amp modeling" pedal, a matching brown leather strap, and a nice SKB case to keep the guitar in. The SG Special Faded was a model with a very thin finish on it. They had two goals with making these SG's, be inexpensive, and look like an old instrument. They only achieved being inexpensive, because these things were ugly. Except for a few of the brown ones. I had all 5 that the shop had in, and went by a purely cosmetic evaluation and chose the one I now own. No trapezoid inlays, no covers on the pickups, solid black knobs... but the thing had the same pickups as the $1000+ standards. They were also about 500 bucks less than a Standard, but they were made in the USA, same factory, I was proud to own a real Gibson. They also had thick necks, which is a plus for me, thin necks make my hand cramp. EDIT: additionally I have a pretty good "sweet spot" production year. By this time they had stopped reusing old SG Gothic materials. They also still used Rosewood fingerboards, which is a rarity even with 1000+ dollar les pauls, and the electronics are classic handwired instead of printed PCB.
I then went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some metal stamped letters, and on the back of the headstock, between the tuners, I put "Jasper". "That'll ruin the resale value" someone told me, "Great, I never want to be tempted to sell this guitar" I told them. This guitar is my trusty dog, it'll stick with me through thick and thin, it'll take my rough handling, but eventually I'll learn responsibility, and we'll be the best of friends.
Just like Jasper.
Day 11
Fixed a few things today.
The Duck Redux thing where it can not tell accurately which fret I'm using on the E string above the 5th fret? Well that's apparently solved by barely touch the string. Coming from bass I have a strong fretting hand, so its counter intuitive, but apparently a common problem in just regular playing. Pressing harder there doesn't make it more accurate, it makes it less accurate because its amplifying the natural flaw of guitar design. Anyways, 99% fixed. Played my usual warm up routine, did about twice as good as I have ever done in String Skip Saloon. I like that game for its challenge, you have to keep a cool head, and that's good for if you screw up a part of a song and have to steel your nerves to get the rest of the song right.
The 2nd thing that was fixed, the bend thing stems from my USB cable I would guess, or just something not calibrated the first time I tried playing the Bends lesson. I got it working and then stubbornly worked at memorizing and playing the bend practice lesson. It is tracking it well enough, though there are still some mysterious "missed" notes that get me cussing out my PS3. I got to 96% accuracy and called it a night for that lesson because that G string wants to shred my bass player callous.
I wasn't done for the night though, I started a few songs! I know! Crazy shit. Sixteen Saltines is something I would play bass over on Sunday mornings when I felt all rock, bluesy. So it is really cool that it is included in Rocksmith. I also tried "We are the Champions" and "Peace of Mind". Admittedly I pretty much just listened to Peace of Mind because I was in a Boston mood. A much better session than yesterday's.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Gotta beat this level! and Day 10.
There are some things I need to wrap my mind around in this new kind of format of "game" learning.
As a gamer I have this achievement habit, and I don't mean just the "chieves" that are now on consoles. This goes further back. This is the desire to stick with a certain level of a game(like Mario world 5) until I get through it nicely, and then use warp tunnels to never have to deal with that shit ever again. If you go at music like that, you're going to suck.
A song is not a level. A practice track is not a level. You need to keep at them, you need to be able to do them without notation in front of you, and without Rocksmith telling you how to play. That's the point of this, right? You want to learn guitar, not learn how to play a "game". I still go through each practice track at least once a session, and I go through the newest one 100% perfect twice. I focus on not getting it "right" but making it sound good. Making it sound good is just as important. You might think "its a practice track, what does it matter" and I say that if that's your approach, you're making things harder on yourself.
Unlike a certain infamous Guitar Hero episode on South Park, you will not be asked to remember one of those songs to play without the game. That's isn't the point of Guitar Hero. Committing songs and riffs to muscle and mind memory is very important, and doing it with the smaller and easier pieces of the practice tracks is a good start.
Day 10
Had a frustrating day today. I'm no stranger to bends on an instrument. I have particularly strong bends because I typically play bass. I don't just typically play bass, I use Lo-Rider strings that have lots more tension. When I demo a bass at a bass shop, the strings seem like loose springs to me in comparison. I don't know if the game was just having a hard drive detecting them, or they have an insanely tight tolerance for bends. I was so angry at the Bends lesson because rage-quitting and doing something else more productive would mean I have to start the lesson over again. So I finally, with lots of cursing, got to the practice track, completely ignored and worked on some riffs I have been developing, and turned the game off after the save.
The whole day wasn't wasted, I did my usual warm ups, and got new high scores in each of my warm up games. My errors with Duck Redux seem to have been from me fretting too hard. I do not think that's the only problem, I think Duck Redux is flawed in that aspect, but I am able to play again accurately by using a light touch on the E string above the below the 5th fret(towards the headstock is below in music notation).
I'm starting my march toward the chord lessons. Its time to face the beast. I was supposed to start learning songs today too, but I did not get around to it. I got more than my hour in(I've yet to stop at one hour in all the days so far), and I'll get started on songs after or during my chord training.
As a gamer I have this achievement habit, and I don't mean just the "chieves" that are now on consoles. This goes further back. This is the desire to stick with a certain level of a game(like Mario world 5) until I get through it nicely, and then use warp tunnels to never have to deal with that shit ever again. If you go at music like that, you're going to suck.
A song is not a level. A practice track is not a level. You need to keep at them, you need to be able to do them without notation in front of you, and without Rocksmith telling you how to play. That's the point of this, right? You want to learn guitar, not learn how to play a "game". I still go through each practice track at least once a session, and I go through the newest one 100% perfect twice. I focus on not getting it "right" but making it sound good. Making it sound good is just as important. You might think "its a practice track, what does it matter" and I say that if that's your approach, you're making things harder on yourself.
Unlike a certain infamous Guitar Hero episode on South Park, you will not be asked to remember one of those songs to play without the game. That's isn't the point of Guitar Hero. Committing songs and riffs to muscle and mind memory is very important, and doing it with the smaller and easier pieces of the practice tracks is a good start.
Day 10
Had a frustrating day today. I'm no stranger to bends on an instrument. I have particularly strong bends because I typically play bass. I don't just typically play bass, I use Lo-Rider strings that have lots more tension. When I demo a bass at a bass shop, the strings seem like loose springs to me in comparison. I don't know if the game was just having a hard drive detecting them, or they have an insanely tight tolerance for bends. I was so angry at the Bends lesson because rage-quitting and doing something else more productive would mean I have to start the lesson over again. So I finally, with lots of cursing, got to the practice track, completely ignored and worked on some riffs I have been developing, and turned the game off after the save.
The whole day wasn't wasted, I did my usual warm ups, and got new high scores in each of my warm up games. My errors with Duck Redux seem to have been from me fretting too hard. I do not think that's the only problem, I think Duck Redux is flawed in that aspect, but I am able to play again accurately by using a light touch on the E string above the below the 5th fret(towards the headstock is below in music notation).
I'm starting my march toward the chord lessons. Its time to face the beast. I was supposed to start learning songs today too, but I did not get around to it. I got more than my hour in(I've yet to stop at one hour in all the days so far), and I'll get started on songs after or during my chord training.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Tools and Day 09
I know that there are a lot of Mom and Pop stores out there that are struggling to make a profit, especially if there is a music mega-store around the corner. Many guitarists make their money off giving lessons. Face it, the only way 99% of guitarists can make any sort of income from their playing is by teaching others. So I understand when something new comes in and threatens that source of income. I remember when DVD instructional videos started to actually use the DVD format to make something useful(I own a few DVD's that are just run throughs as if they are just VHS's). There is this knee jerk reaction where I see a lot of backlash against new teaching tools, and I find it ridiculous.
I've seen forums with lots of guitarists(and bassists) of all types, and whenever anyone asks a question on how to learn this or that, there is a lot of "find yourself a teacher or you'll do it wrong". That's the #1 go to answer. I can tell you that nothing is more useless to someone at home seeking advice than to be told to get professional advice. Then, mysteriously when I go to these advice giver's profiles that they are advertising all over their pages that they are available for hiring.
Just saying, there is a lot of self interest out there.
You go to Youtube and watch the "60 Day Success Stories" for Rocksmith, and in the comments you see these people, "this game is shit, look at the shitty technique this person is playing" or "if you got a real teacher you'd learn this in 30 days", "so he learned a song in 60 days, I bet he couldn't make his own song that didn't sound like shit". The usual youtube vitriol.
Then I found this guy on youtube(unfortunately I'm having a hell of a time re-finding him even in my History) where he talks about how he offers a "Rocksmith Course" to his students. They buy the game, and he uses it in their lesson plans, and I"m thinking "This guy is genius, this is the kind of teacher I'd look for". One of the things missing from Rocksmith is a live tech you could contact and ask questions to. It would also give someone better direction on what they're supposed to be doing. He did not look at Rocksmith as a competitor, he looked at it for what it is, yet another tool to help students learn. You knowwho IS NOT offering a Rocksmith assisted guitar learning course? Your competitors.
BTW, I am not payed to do this blog, I don't have advertisements enabled, and I know no one that works for Ubisoft. I just get angry at the rejection of technology, and when it comes to guitar, there's a lot of that. Bassists seem to be much more accepting(neo speakers, solid state, class D switching power amps etc etc) of tech and maybe that's why I identify myself as a bassist first, and guitarist 2nd.
Day 09
Had some unique fun today.
I did my new warm up routine(look at day 08), and then I let my girlfriend try out the Guitarcade games. She is a cellist and a kick ass Guitar Hero player. I figured that the first couple of games would be fun for her. Gone Wailin' was her favorite one, she probably could have played that one all night long. Its day 09 and I still have lots of fun with Gone Wailin. I mainly chase the "achievements" as you can get super far and not get a lot of points, or you can play for a long time and not really get satisfaction. It has helped me too. You get the most reaction by going through the strings, and its fine to do it with a lighter touch. It has made my strumming much lighter and tighter. When I first started, I was trying to punk rock it, and then have to retune my guitar after the game ha.
She also played String Skip Saloon, and also complained about the strings being "mirrored" and not like written music. So I don't feel like a complete idiot. Oh and I did reverse it and try to do a lesson... I didn't like it. So I'm stuck doing it the default way. I really can't decide what I would recommend with a new player... it IS easier when doing lessons, but it is opposite how new players will be exposed to non-game written music.
Played some session play for a while. I really need to learn to do the "funk" strumming.
I am having the hardest time getting a fuzz tone that I like. I have known for a while I would have difficulty with that because every company makes like 20 fuzz pedals(except for Boss). Hell, Devi Ever practically made a company out of making fuzz variations. Currently I am using(and not 100% liking) a Buzz fuzz 2, hi-lo filter to make it decay, and a bass boost 5 EQ pedal in the loop to put some heft back into the signal. You'll be hearing a lot about my look for my fuzz tone.
I've seen forums with lots of guitarists(and bassists) of all types, and whenever anyone asks a question on how to learn this or that, there is a lot of "find yourself a teacher or you'll do it wrong". That's the #1 go to answer. I can tell you that nothing is more useless to someone at home seeking advice than to be told to get professional advice. Then, mysteriously when I go to these advice giver's profiles that they are advertising all over their pages that they are available for hiring.
Just saying, there is a lot of self interest out there.
You go to Youtube and watch the "60 Day Success Stories" for Rocksmith, and in the comments you see these people, "this game is shit, look at the shitty technique this person is playing" or "if you got a real teacher you'd learn this in 30 days", "so he learned a song in 60 days, I bet he couldn't make his own song that didn't sound like shit". The usual youtube vitriol.
Then I found this guy on youtube(unfortunately I'm having a hell of a time re-finding him even in my History) where he talks about how he offers a "Rocksmith Course" to his students. They buy the game, and he uses it in their lesson plans, and I"m thinking "This guy is genius, this is the kind of teacher I'd look for". One of the things missing from Rocksmith is a live tech you could contact and ask questions to. It would also give someone better direction on what they're supposed to be doing. He did not look at Rocksmith as a competitor, he looked at it for what it is, yet another tool to help students learn. You knowwho IS NOT offering a Rocksmith assisted guitar learning course? Your competitors.
BTW, I am not payed to do this blog, I don't have advertisements enabled, and I know no one that works for Ubisoft. I just get angry at the rejection of technology, and when it comes to guitar, there's a lot of that. Bassists seem to be much more accepting(neo speakers, solid state, class D switching power amps etc etc) of tech and maybe that's why I identify myself as a bassist first, and guitarist 2nd.
Day 09
Had some unique fun today.
I did my new warm up routine(look at day 08), and then I let my girlfriend try out the Guitarcade games. She is a cellist and a kick ass Guitar Hero player. I figured that the first couple of games would be fun for her. Gone Wailin' was her favorite one, she probably could have played that one all night long. Its day 09 and I still have lots of fun with Gone Wailin. I mainly chase the "achievements" as you can get super far and not get a lot of points, or you can play for a long time and not really get satisfaction. It has helped me too. You get the most reaction by going through the strings, and its fine to do it with a lighter touch. It has made my strumming much lighter and tighter. When I first started, I was trying to punk rock it, and then have to retune my guitar after the game ha.
She also played String Skip Saloon, and also complained about the strings being "mirrored" and not like written music. So I don't feel like a complete idiot. Oh and I did reverse it and try to do a lesson... I didn't like it. So I'm stuck doing it the default way. I really can't decide what I would recommend with a new player... it IS easier when doing lessons, but it is opposite how new players will be exposed to non-game written music.
Played some session play for a while. I really need to learn to do the "funk" strumming.
I am having the hardest time getting a fuzz tone that I like. I have known for a while I would have difficulty with that because every company makes like 20 fuzz pedals(except for Boss). Hell, Devi Ever practically made a company out of making fuzz variations. Currently I am using(and not 100% liking) a Buzz fuzz 2, hi-lo filter to make it decay, and a bass boost 5 EQ pedal in the loop to put some heft back into the signal. You'll be hearing a lot about my look for my fuzz tone.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Is this a game? Also Day 08
Is this a game?
Well, it certainly has "game" in it. The Guitarcade section definitely has some fun games. This is definitely not a Rhythm game in the same sense that Guitar Hero was. Guitar Hero was made for you to feel like.. a Guitar Hero, while hitting buttons according to music track ques. All the games in the Guitarcade are there to have you practice something, so there is not really a way to play Return to Castle Chordead in a more casual non-chord way. You can't get a room full of random people and throw the controller(your guitar) around and have fun. The Song Learner in "easy" setting is mind numbingly boring because its not filled with un-needed taps, every thing you play, even on "easy" is a part of the song. Duck Re-dux is close to Guitar Hero in technique, but there's no cool music to go along with it.
I would say, "do not look at it as a fun game where you learn guitar". I would put it rather, "A way to learn guitar, with some games involved". There's a huge difference there, and I"m worried some people will get it, not find a way to have fun with it, and then give up.
I played Guitar Hero, and even had a version of it. I got some fleeting feelings of playing guitar with it. I saw that ACDC released a whole sub-game of songs for it, and immediately wanted to get it. But then I remembered that I want more. I don't want to feel like I play guitar, I want to actually play guitar, and in the end, playing the ACDC songs that I've always wanted to play will feel hollow. I had a real guitar sitting next to the TV that was like "play with me". I know not everyone really wants to be a guitarist, but I do, and RockBand and Guitar Hero just felt like wasted time unless I was in a group of people just trying to have fun. But that's personal, that's for ME.
This Rocksmith, this "game" is exactly what all the guitarists that bitched about Guitar Hero were saying they wanted. Plunk this down in a room of friends, and they're not going to have fun. Get a room full of guitarists and... well, you'll have spilled beer. Taking turns at Guitarcade games will be fun, but I think some people might get self conscious about the amount of guitar stuff they know and suddenly want to use the Jam Session.
Maybe for Rocksmith 2016 they will add a "Guitar Hero" difficulty setting. You could pass the guitar around, and have it so player 1 tries it at 88% difficulty for real, and players 2 and 3 has Guitar Hero difficulty set up for the first string use only?
Just a thought.
Day 08
Wow. This Rocksmith can make you feel like a million bucks.
I did the mission today where you play in three different keys, using the Pentatonic Minor. The game suggests you try the bands Hard Rock, Acoustic Blues, and Garage Electric. I first started with the Hard Rock, and the game gave me this auto-wah, phaser sort of effect. I almost switched over to my pre-set distortion, but decided to give it a go. I felt like Jimi at Woodstock. There is a saying about wah pedals and hammer-ons and feeling instantly like a rockstar, and I never understood it till last night. The band did its incredible thing, and I figured out where the band was going to drop out and just have the beat going, and at that point I started soloing on the highest string... wow. It felt good.
Then I did the acoustic blues, and again, I came up with something I loved. It is almost impulse to grab my recorder. Another hobby of mine is writing, as in words on paper. If you ever have an idea you are encouraged to write it down, just in case you use it later. I've had lots of notes brought back into my writing, so I have this habit of wanting to record every jam. I gotta remind myself that it is just jamming the pentatonic scale, its ok, its not mind blowing.
I know I suck. You know I suck. Chords show I suck. But for a brief time, I'm feeling awesome and accomplished. That's worth the price of admission.
I think I've nailed my warm up routine down to playing Gone Wailin' to get my muscles warmed up. Then Duck-Redux so that my brain is working on the fret layout, then I change up which i play next. Its about 20 minutes of warm up time. Then I do a quick session run of riffs I enjoy playing. Then I decide what to do that day. I have not had to re-adjust my pick in my hand at all lately, and that makes me happy. i'm still struggling with getting the G and B strings confused. I'm a bassist first, and a 4 string player at that, so those new strings mess up my hand's count. All in time, I suppose.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Things to Come and Day 07
There are several things I can write posts about with this game, but in 60 days I will be running out of topics that are purely about Rocksmith. In an earlier post you saw me talk about the History of SG's, and I think I'm going to continue putting up some music related stuff like that. I'd like to clarify why I think they taught the Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz topics out of order. I'd also like to talk about some common Pedal designs that get copied over and over and resold for ridiculous amounts of money(Ross Compressors, Tubescreamers, and FuzzFaces). Then there is the fact that I think of guitars like samurai swords, and I'd like to talk about the origin and the journey of a few fabled guitars/basses through the years. The way Brian May got his guitar is a very cool one, and then you have the journey of Jaco's recently re-discovered Bass of Doom.
I also have a few personal posts that I plan on having. I have a post already written about my own personal guitar. Its not a "look at this expensive, nice, badass guitar, aren't you jealous?" kind of post, because my guitar wasn't expensive, and I actually have a story that goes along with it. Generally I will try to not have robotic non-posts about stuff that means nothing to me. I either think its cool to know, would like to try and educate, or mean something personal to me.
I will continue my daily updates. I feel like there will be days that are kind of uninteresting. Its the equal of speeding up time in the "My success story" videos on youtube. I will, however, continue to document the general happenings of my day inside the game.
Day 07
Wow, its been a week already?
Well today I messed around with the Riff repeater because the missions had me doing that. I also got diverted into sorting songs and playing something from the 1980's. I chose "Every Breath You Take" because there's not a lot of 80's stuff in this game by default. The song threw an F chord at me and it looked like I had to twist all my fingers and use 2 hands to be able to do it... I'm so intimidated by chords. Anyway, got through the song, got the mission done, not sure what good it did... The Riff Repeater is really nice. Ever wish you could slow down a song in Guitar Hero/Rock Band? Maybe you could, I did not play those games later on. Well you can do that here. You can adjust the difficulty and the speed, you can even have the game alter it as you get better. I'll do a larger topic about it later.
Played some Ducks Redux. It had an annoying habit of not being able to tell the difference between my 2nd fret on the E string and the first. I re-tuned the guitar, and still, it had that problem. It was not a problem before... I'll have to keep an eye on it. I may have to look and see if others are having this problem.
I had decided that on day 10 I'll force myself to learn a song. Learning theory and application is just so much for fun for me right now. I'm not playing in front of anyone, so its not like I get requests for songs people would know. I'm more interested in what I can do in making my own stuff up. I broke that decision and played some more of "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks. Turns out that song is like a sharp "E" tune, but not enough to be a different tuning altogether. So every time I play that, I have to re-tune for other parts of the game. I felt like I have improved already. The confidence in my fingers to find the correct place and to be able to shift while keeping that simple power chord used in the song has me optimistic. Still going to wait and focus on it after day 10 though.
I also have a few personal posts that I plan on having. I have a post already written about my own personal guitar. Its not a "look at this expensive, nice, badass guitar, aren't you jealous?" kind of post, because my guitar wasn't expensive, and I actually have a story that goes along with it. Generally I will try to not have robotic non-posts about stuff that means nothing to me. I either think its cool to know, would like to try and educate, or mean something personal to me.
I will continue my daily updates. I feel like there will be days that are kind of uninteresting. Its the equal of speeding up time in the "My success story" videos on youtube. I will, however, continue to document the general happenings of my day inside the game.
Day 07
Wow, its been a week already?
Well today I messed around with the Riff repeater because the missions had me doing that. I also got diverted into sorting songs and playing something from the 1980's. I chose "Every Breath You Take" because there's not a lot of 80's stuff in this game by default. The song threw an F chord at me and it looked like I had to twist all my fingers and use 2 hands to be able to do it... I'm so intimidated by chords. Anyway, got through the song, got the mission done, not sure what good it did... The Riff Repeater is really nice. Ever wish you could slow down a song in Guitar Hero/Rock Band? Maybe you could, I did not play those games later on. Well you can do that here. You can adjust the difficulty and the speed, you can even have the game alter it as you get better. I'll do a larger topic about it later.
Played some Ducks Redux. It had an annoying habit of not being able to tell the difference between my 2nd fret on the E string and the first. I re-tuned the guitar, and still, it had that problem. It was not a problem before... I'll have to keep an eye on it. I may have to look and see if others are having this problem.
I had decided that on day 10 I'll force myself to learn a song. Learning theory and application is just so much for fun for me right now. I'm not playing in front of anyone, so its not like I get requests for songs people would know. I'm more interested in what I can do in making my own stuff up. I broke that decision and played some more of "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks. Turns out that song is like a sharp "E" tune, but not enough to be a different tuning altogether. So every time I play that, I have to re-tune for other parts of the game. I felt like I have improved already. The confidence in my fingers to find the correct place and to be able to shift while keeping that simple power chord used in the song has me optimistic. Still going to wait and focus on it after day 10 though.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Best Surprise and Day 06
While it was the Guitarcade that finally got me to get Rocksmith, the best surprise has been the Session mode. The session mode is this hugely versatile area in the game where you choose instruments that will accompany you while you play. There are several types of players that change according to the genre you choose. You could have a chord playing, rhythm guitarist or choose to have that guitar in high gain distortion while it chugs metal power chords. If rock is not your thing(really?) there are some electronic accompaniment, including this really cool 8-bit nintendo style blip and bleep machine.
There is an intensity bar across the top, and the more intense you play the more intense the band will start playing with you. At the start you choose a key to play in, say E, and the fret board will highlight the notes that will work in that key. Your band will keep to the key, and as long as you play the highlighted notes, you will sound "correct" with the band. You can change tempo and set the drummer up as well. If you play the notes to the tempo in the right key, you will find that you will suddenly be jamming with a decent rendition of a band, and that is REALLY cool The Session mode has helped me more than any other part of this game, by far.
It is like a drum machine on steroids. If they could somehow package this into something the size of the typical amp modeling super pedal(like a P.O.D.), they will make a mint. It is NOT just a backing track or a drum machine. With those, YOU adjust to THEM. With Session mode, the band adjusts to you.
Day 06
I was going to further get my fuzz sound down to the sound in my head(look up Gearmandude Soda Mesier on Youtube), but I ended up finding what I think is a Fulltone OCD Overdrive replica. I love this pedal. I know technically I could just pick a plexi style Marshall amp and have it, but something about this pedal through the Fender amps in game makes a wonderful tone. I messed around with a "riff" that reminds me of a very silly 80's hair metal song, but holy crap does it sound good to my ears. Every day I seem to come up with some little riff I have to play over and over for 30 minutes.
I focused on doing all the Guitarcade games I had played so far. I spent a full on hour playing Gone Wailin, String Skip Saloon, Ducks Redux, Ninja Slide N, and Scale Warriors. I spent a lot of time in String Skip Saloon so I could get used to the string layout. I got new high scores in everything I played and really had fun with all of them, except Scale Warriors still. I found out I could reverse my string order, so that the highest string(thinest) is on top. This is how things show up in tabs and I think that's why I"m having such a hard time with the games done this way. So yes, I could change and reverse order the strings, but I'm worried this will screw up my non-game, learning portions. I'll have to explore it tomorrow.
TIP OF THE DAY
If you're used to reading tabs, you can reverse your string order. I suggest doing this from the start if it bothers you, as the earlier the change, the less habit forms with the rest of the game.
There is an intensity bar across the top, and the more intense you play the more intense the band will start playing with you. At the start you choose a key to play in, say E, and the fret board will highlight the notes that will work in that key. Your band will keep to the key, and as long as you play the highlighted notes, you will sound "correct" with the band. You can change tempo and set the drummer up as well. If you play the notes to the tempo in the right key, you will find that you will suddenly be jamming with a decent rendition of a band, and that is REALLY cool The Session mode has helped me more than any other part of this game, by far.
It is like a drum machine on steroids. If they could somehow package this into something the size of the typical amp modeling super pedal(like a P.O.D.), they will make a mint. It is NOT just a backing track or a drum machine. With those, YOU adjust to THEM. With Session mode, the band adjusts to you.
Day 06
I was going to further get my fuzz sound down to the sound in my head(look up Gearmandude Soda Mesier on Youtube), but I ended up finding what I think is a Fulltone OCD Overdrive replica. I love this pedal. I know technically I could just pick a plexi style Marshall amp and have it, but something about this pedal through the Fender amps in game makes a wonderful tone. I messed around with a "riff" that reminds me of a very silly 80's hair metal song, but holy crap does it sound good to my ears. Every day I seem to come up with some little riff I have to play over and over for 30 minutes.
I focused on doing all the Guitarcade games I had played so far. I spent a full on hour playing Gone Wailin, String Skip Saloon, Ducks Redux, Ninja Slide N, and Scale Warriors. I spent a lot of time in String Skip Saloon so I could get used to the string layout. I got new high scores in everything I played and really had fun with all of them, except Scale Warriors still. I found out I could reverse my string order, so that the highest string(thinest) is on top. This is how things show up in tabs and I think that's why I"m having such a hard time with the games done this way. So yes, I could change and reverse order the strings, but I'm worried this will screw up my non-game, learning portions. I'll have to explore it tomorrow.
TIP OF THE DAY
If you're used to reading tabs, you can reverse your string order. I suggest doing this from the start if it bothers you, as the earlier the change, the less habit forms with the rest of the game.
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