I formed a rock band!

- Sheylara

My calf is aching, my throat is sore and my thumb is screaming.

Such is the result of the evil that is Rock Band.

I can’t wait to torture my body again!

I was really excited about Rock Band when news of its impending release came. We camped our regular gaming store and waited miserably for it to arrive in Singapore.

It took forever. By the time it did, all the excitement had died. I got busy with other stuff and lost all interest in the game.

So when the Goonfather bought the game unannouced on Tuesday night, I was, like, “Dude! That’s $389!!”

(I don’t actually call him Dude in real life. It just seemed right to type that.)

The game box is really huge. It filled up the entire car boot.

[Rock Band sitting in our car]

We took it home.

[Rock Band sitting on our floor]

The Goonfather took photos of the unwrapping, so I have to publish them because this is like the first time he voluntarily took photos for me.

(Every time I ask him to take a photo of me, he makes a face and grumpily takes a hasty, blur shot. Which is why I had to master the art of self-camwhoring.)

Okay, back to the box!

[Opening Rock Band]

A scary looking bright pink warning slip!

It looks scary but when you read it, you’ll go, “Duh.”

[Warning slip]

Duh.

[Rock Band software and drumsticks]

Ooh. The software and drumsticks!

Strangely, that makes me feel hungry. I’m thinking of chicken now.

[Rock Band microphone]

Ahh, the microphone! It looks rather small and retarded if you ask me. Very not glam. Hmm… in the first place, do rock stars use this kind of microphones? I thought they use headset mics. I can’t remember cos I don’t watch MTVs or concerts all that much.

This looks more fit for karaoke. Hahaha.

Ok, next.

[Rock Band unpacked]

Everything out of the box!

There’s a drum set, a wireless guitar and a microphone to form a three-man rock band.

Rock Band allows up to four players for a jamming session (drums, vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar) but the box only comes with one guitar, which is so inconvenient!!

The company doesn’t sell individual guitars. If you want an extra guitar to form a full band, you need to buy another Rock Band set.

Of course we’re not going to do that. You think we print money is it?

Anyway, since we have two people at home only, the Goonfather decided to get a mic stand so one person can play the guitar while singing and the other person can play the drums.

It was too late to rush out to buy a mic stand, so the Goonfather made his own. (How much does a mic stand cost, anyway?)

[Making a mic stand]

He has a bunch of toilet pipes lying around at home from a previous, abandoned project, so he dragged them out and drilled some holes and played lego with the toilet pipes to form this:

[Toilet pipe mic stand]

Wahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s so terribly unglam lah!!!!!!!!

I think we should call our rock band Toilet Pipes.

Close up:

[Close up of toilet pipe mic stand]

The drilling was to make a lobang for the wire to stick out of:

[Close up of toilet pipe mic stand 2]

I don’t know why they can’t give us a wireless microphone if they can give us a wireless guitar. It’s so stupid.

Last night, we invited Morte over to jam with us.

[First jamming session]

They are both still in their work clothes!!! Hahahahaha! I could just die laughing.

Here’s a back view picture of me on the drums.

[Back view]

There’s no front view because Morte didn’t photograph any.

We were too busy to take photos, anyway. Most of the night, we took turns swapping instruments and trying them all out. It was so addictive that Morte stayed till 10:30 pm, even though he had to be at SIM at 10:30 pm to pick his wife up from school. Hahahahaha. (It’s about a 30-minute drive from my place to SIM.)

I wonder if Wang Wang (Morte’s wife) gave him hell for it. I would if I were her. Hahahahaha!

As you can tell, I am highly amused by the entire incident.

Okay, that was a preliminary jamming session and like everyone was in their work clothes, so I didn’t take too many photos.

I’ll take better photos when we organise a proper session on a weekend with all my friends!

It is damn fun!! And damn funny!!! Especially when your friends are crap at a particular instrument and you can scold them for making you die. Hahahahaha.

Okay, of course dying is not funny. But you know what I mean.

I love playing the drums. Playing guitar is more glamorous but I’m kind of sick of it because it’s like Guitar Hero.

The drums is cool! But its hell on your right calf because you’re using your calf muscles to step on the foot pedal. I found out last night that I have really weak calf muscles. It’s a muscle I didn’t even know existed until last night! *lol* It started feeling irritated and trembly when I played too many songs requiring a lot of fast, nifty footwork. (Or maybe our chair was too low.)

The vocals part is fun only if you know the song. They do give you lyrics to sing to and a pitch indicator to tell you whether you’re singing the right note or not, but it’s better if you already know the song.

And it is DAMN COOL playing the guitar and singing at the same time… like a real rock star! Hehehehe!

But I’m not going to videotape myself doing that cos I sound horrible singing rock songs, like a frog croaking. Luckily, the game doesn’t judge you on voice quality. It only judges pitch. You don’t even have to sing the right words. You can la la la through the whole song and still score top marks if you hit all the right notes. Hahaha.

We made a band last night to play in career mode and called it Buns N’ Hoses. (Morte’s idea.) Hahahahahaha!!!!

I better stop blogging now before I kill myself laughing.

More pictures next time!!

26 thoughts on “I formed a rock band!”

  2. Avatar

    Waaaaaaa Rock Band. I’ve been hearing all the hypes about the game too.

    Cool!

    So when’s Buns N’ Hoses coming out with their first EP?

  3. Avatar

    nice idea using those material to make mic stand, he could start a 10min DIY video at youtube.

    hehehe

    voice croaking? try lah, maybe there is another side of ur nice voice.

  6. Avatar

    precious: Yes, it’s really fun pretending to be rock stars. Haha. Well, for people who can only pretend and not be the real thing. lol.

    uzyn: Uh… I think no one will want to buy our EP. lol. Maybe even if we put on YouTube for people to watch/listen for free, also no takers. Hahaha.

    Ashtar83: Haha, that’s an idea. Let me ask if he’s interested. lol. About my voice, I already tried mah. I sound croaky lor. Totally horrible lah. :P

    PG: But… but.. but…. we ARE YOUNG!! lol.

    Mike M: Well, that’s all very nice! But, there’s only one minor detail… I’m not exactly making money out of those “jobs”!! Hahaha.

  8. Avatar

    Wahhhh!!! I like that!!! Dammit! I want it!!! (But I can’t get it…) :(

    …”I thought they use headset mics…”

    Hahahah, britney spears use this.. and boy bands too… (They suck) :D

    Looking at you guys, it really captures the feeling when you’re in a real band… I miss mine… :(

  11. Avatar

    shin: *lol* I’m sure the Goonfather will be very happy to know that his mic stand is so well-received. Hahaha.

    Rock Band has hundreds of popular rock songs, although you have to buy some of them. There are songs from Metallica, Black Sabbath, Garbage, Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Bon Jovi… etc.

    Actually there’s a wiki page on the complete Rock Band song list if you’re interested!

    modchip: Why can’t you get it? What happened to your band?

    $389 is in Singapore dollars!

    Wang Wang: Hehe. Sorry dear, it’s all our fault for tempting Morte to keep staying for one last song. -_-“

  18. Avatar

    Damn was just about to request for youtube but you beat me to it.

    I think the toilet pipe stand is a wise decision. Mic stands are not cheap and nobody know how long this game is going to hold your interest. Thereafter, what would you do with the mic stand?

    As for the drum kicker, try using your thigh to lift your foot instead of pivoting your heel to the ground and forward tap?

  19. Avatar

    “Why can’t you get it? What happened to your band? “

    It’s not yet available here… :(

    I had 2 bands then at the same time. In the 1st band (serious band which I earn from, and had constant gigs), I had to let it go because I wanted to concentrate on studies I could not “time manage” — so I quit. On the second one (not too serious, we play just to have fun), disbanded after graduating, we chose different careers. We’re all (members) about 8-12 hours apart. :(

  21. Avatar

    Claudia: Thanks, babe! :)

    Mike M: Well, exposure is well and good. But it just doesn’t pay. You need to have exposure on a really massive scale before the money will even deign to look at you. :P

    Thanks for the stage names. Pretty cool!! I like mine! heheh.

    Jesta: Thanks on his behalf! I should post a blog about his abandoned project! Hahaha.

    Monster: Um, not really. It’s not THAT loud. I think probably only his parents can hear some muffled music from their room. :P

    JayWalk: Okay, I agree with what you said. Always the wise one, you! ;) Use thigh to lift foot is one way, but is not recommended in the tutorial video. The reason is thigh lift foot is the most tiring of all. :P

    modchip: Wow, that’s really cool that you used to be in 2 bands. But not cool that you had to quit and disband the 2nd one. :( Do you still play for leisure these days?

  22. Avatar

    Yes, I still play for leisure (alone), and sometimes do proxy works (though this is a very rare case). :D

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