Voxtar

ANOTHER day I'll have to postpone the song lesson, but here's a tip I can give when it comes to playing and singing at the same time:
Find a "Hook". This means find a distinctive part where lines change, or a specific syllable.
Example from the chorus "Clash City Rockers":
G------------6-------------------------------------------------
D------------6-x16------------------------9---------------7---
A------------4-----------------------------9-x16----------7-x8
E-------------------------------------------7--------------5---
So don't /complain, about your useless /employment, Jack /it in....

Each chord has it's own line. These kinds of patterns are common in most rock songs.

From the verse:
G----------9-9-------------7-7----------------------------------
D----------9-9-------------7-7-----------------7-7-----------5-5---
A----------7-7-------------5-5------------------7-7-----------5-5---
E-------------------------------------------------5-5-----------3-3----
And I WANNA move to TOWN with the CLASH city ROCKERS

G----------------------------------------------9-9-----
D------9-9----------7-7----------9-9------9-9-----
A------9-9----------7-7----------9-9------7-7-----
E------7-7----------5-5----------7-7---------------
Ya NEED a little JUMP of elECtrical SHOCKerz

Oh shit, I just taught you most of "Clash City Rockers"

FUN FACT: I did the Guitar and Vocals Challenge in Rock Band 2 today...

SETLIST UPDATED

February 25th Open Mic Night

THE SETLIST:
"Clash City Rockers" by The Clash-*****

"I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by Dropkick Murphy's-***

Three words: REALLY FUCKING NERVERACKING.

Despite the fact that I've been practicing these songs nonstop for the past two weeks, I felt like shit going up there, and while playing, I was caught in a trance, or another plane of existence... I'm sure I forgot some parts, messed up words, and so on. But apparently I didn't suck. Hopefully I'll be more aware next time.

What eased my fears was that a fellow commuter who also plays guitar was doing it too. He helped me get setup and everything, so Sean (Shawn? I forget, he S'n now) if you're reading this, thanks a lot, man.

The first guy who went up was this really white guy playing a acoustic covers of rap songs. He sounded really good.

The next guy was someone me and S'n ran into there, and he was also good. Played mostly originals.

S'n was up next, and he was actually really good. I play pool with him in the lounge all the time, and here is playing these songs he wrote. Not that catchy, but I was impressed.

The next guy sucked. Barre chords and cliche lyrics ahoy.

This is the point in time where I mention that I was essentially the polar opposite of every other act. All of the other acts up until me were acoustic acts, playing their own songs, yet there I was, the only person there with an electric, playing punk/rock covers.

At long last, it was my turn, I feverishly introduced myself: "Hey, I'm the Rhythm Bastard, I'm an Engineering student, and I'm here to rock."

So, how did I do?

N.B. (Gold= Perfect, no notes dropped to ***=Barely made it through)

"Clash City Rockers"-*****

Out of S'n's amp, this sounded like the real thing. The chords during the verse and choruses were crisp as a new bill, but I messed up the solo on one note, and fudged up a chord once, I think on the bridge. Without a band backing you, every mistake you make is REALLY noticeable, and can seriously mess you up. Solos sound bad perfect or not, because again, NO BACKUP.

But what made this for me, was when I was just getting into it, I saw a guy in the crowd singing along. Boo-yah! He said I was cool after the show. :)

Yay approval from other people! Certainly that won't mess up my psyche!

I was proud of my performance on this one. The mistakes haunt me, but other than that, I think I did well.

"Shipping Up To Boston" by Dropkick Murphys-***

Oof... What can I say here...
I messed up the first riff (dee-do-dee-do-dee-dee-dee-dee-do-do...) but it went uphill from there. NOBODY sang along, which was discouragin to say the least, and sounded weird with the fingering parts overdriven with an amp.

Overall, glad I went ahead and did, you'll get your precious song lesson tomorrow.
It'll be "Shipping Up To Boston". 'Cause St. Patrick's Day is coming up.

What's Down Doc?

The number of artists from which Harmonix is willing to license from.

Warner Music Group (yeah, it was a long was to go for a Warner Bros. reference) claims that the amount they get in licensing and royalties from Rock Band are not enough. According to an article in Wired Magazine (via Rock Band Forums):
"The money Warner recieves for the use of its songs is 'paltry' [Bronfman] said, and if the game makers dont pony up more cash, 'we will not liscense to those games."

"...Rock Band publisher MTV Games is now boycotting Warner artists, according to a source close to the negotiations."

"...Aerosmith has reportedly earned more from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith than from any single album is the bands history."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Music_Group_artists

The shit kinda hit the fan a while ago with tons of Youtube videos of Playthroughs being taken down because of claims by Warner. The problem is that we don't really know how much. The most reasonable estimate I've seen is 9 cents per unit sold. The source isn't professional, but I said it's an estimate.

Here's a list of all the bands I'll be missing:
-AC/DC (HA! We already got the Track Pack!)
-Avenged Sevenfold (I loved Beast and The Harlot)
-The B-52s (No "Love Shack"?)
-Eric Clapton (No "Layla"?)
-Garbage (No "Cherry Lips"?)
-Green Day (NOOOOOO!!)
-Huey Lewis and the News (I thought their early work was a bit too new wave for me, but when Sports came out in '86, I thought they came into their own both commercially and artistically)
-Killswitch Engage (No "Holy Diver"?)
-Led Zepplin (Well that was a crapshoot anyway)
-My Chemical Romance, only for the possibility of "Desolation Row" in time for "The Watchmen"
-The Ramones
-R.E.M.
-Red Hot Chili Peppers
-The Sex Pistols
-The Stooges, therefore no Iggy Pop or "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy", "The Passenger", "Lust for Life" and so on.
-Sugar Ray (remember, people, I grew up in the mid/late 90's)
-Hendrix
-Pantera (Surprisingly, Rock Revolution was the only rhythm game to get them...)

However, I'm thankful that the following bands will not be availbile, even though I am not required to download them:
-Phil Collins
-Dragonforce
-Nickelback

Time? Well...

OK, I'm up at school fore the weekend, figuring I'll get a ton of crap (RB songs, song writing, HW) done without everyone begging me to do crap and the normal distractions of home. How did I spend Saturday? Playing TF2 while sipping on Coke and Jack Daniels...

The updates are going to be scarce for the next couple days vis a vis the setlist songs, since Open Mic Night is this Wednesday, and I need to practice.

Rock and Gambling In Atlantic City

From RockGamer, another Friend:
"Through a national deal with Harrah’s Entertainment and MTV, Rock Band nights will be offered three times a week at Harrah’s Resort, Bally’s Atlantic City’s Wild Wild West Casino and the House of Blues at Showboat Casino-Hotel.
And to get you out of your house, Harrah’s is offering some big-time prizes, including a grand prize of $10,000 and a chance to open up for the B-52’s at the House of Blues on May 9.
“We’re really hoping this gets some regional and national buzz,” says Harrah’s Regional Director of Entertainment Jason Spencer. “The initial buzz has been great. We have high hopes.”
Here’s how it works: The competitions start on Wednesday, March 4, at Harrah’s Eden Lounge, followed by Thursday, March 5, at the Sports Bar at Bally’s, and Friday, March 6, at the House of Blues."

Sounds like fun, but a bit impractical, and only for those who live near AC or participating cities. Who will want to drive 2 1/2 hours (from my end anyway) to participate in a competition. OK, the B-52s are a bit...a lot...um... better, than Panic At The Disco and Dashboard Confessional, however all the competition days ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. Wouldn't it be easier to host it on the weekend when people are actually coming?

I'm heading down March 28th when my Dad's playing in a WSOP Satellite Tourney, so maybe they'll have a stage set up where anyone can play regardless.

Harrah's is good though. I went there the week after my 21st birthday, and lost about $150. However, I came upon this PROTIP: Sit at a penny slot, put in 10 bucks, play one cent at a time, and get free booze.

New Jersey taxpayer dollars at work people.

Currently workin' on "Don't Fear The Reaper". Right now it looks like the only challenge is just arpeggiating the legendary intro.