Just wondering how accurate is playing the game drums to playing in real life? Obviously the guitar is completely different to playing a real life guitar, there are no strings and frets etc.
It seems to me that apart from the need to be completely precise that the mechanics of playing a real drum kit are more or less the same. The only real difference between the two i can think of are the crash/hi hats etc which i assume need to be "muted" and stuff like that
You are correct in thinking that playing the drum controls on Rock Band does resemble playing real drums in real life.
But you have to play on Hard or Expert to get a peek at what playing the actual performance you are hearing on drums would be like. And even then, there are still many differences.
A big one: there is no pedal for the hi-hat. So any time you would open the hi hat, Rock Band just usually has the player hit a different pad for the open hit.
Add to that the fact that many times the pads are used as multiple things (simply because there are only 4 of them and drummers often have more than 4 components in their drum kit). That makes it unlike real drums because the floor tom doesn't turn into a ride cymbal or crash in real life.
And the program you are following will change things up as far as what pad you hit. For instance, you will go to the ride cymbal in the first chorus by playing the green pad, but then in the bridge it will have you play the ride on blue - unnecessary confusion.
And then there's sensitivity. The Rock Band drums have 2 degrees of sensitivity: hitting the pad and not hitting the pad. Whereas, drums and cymbals can create many different sounds depending on the way you strike or tap them.
You can't do rim shots or flams. You can't do cymbal swells. You can't do a side stick. You can't do real double bass. Like you said, you can't grab a cymbal to quiet it. etc., etc.
There are plenty of differences between real drums and Rock Band drums. But it is definitely a good start for new drummers and a good practice tool for experienced drummers (practicing with a metronome or learning the beat to a song).
And another big difference is that drummers aren't required to play a part the same way every time and in perfect timing, like they might be in the studio.
Ringo said that playing along with his parts on Beatles Rock Band were tough because he plays in the moment, with the feel of the song - playing a very strict arrangment is restrictive and unnatural.
[deleted]