Real musicians use toy guitars. Or at least they do now.
Video games Rock Band, developed by Harmonix Music Systems, and Guitar Hero, formerly of Harmonix and now Neversoft, have become a mainstay of today's music culture. Using plastic guitars in Guitar Hero as well as plastic drum kits and a microphone in Rock Band, players young and old have caught onto the phenomenon and, in their own way, exposed themselves to the lives of rock stars.
The first edition of Guitar Hero was released in November 2005 for the PlayStation 2 video game console and became a surprise hit. Critics praised the game's soundtrack and ease of play for even beginner gamers, and players loved its party nature. Rock Band was released in November 2007 and has become even more of a hit than its predecessor.
Some players have taken the rocking a step farther. On the Xbox Live online gaming service, RockBand.com and GuitarHero.com player forums, gamers have come out to share their stories.
Travis Smith, 20, a student at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, has started playing actual drums because of his experience with Rock Band.
"My particular way of learning involves setting up a real drum kit in front of my Rock Band game and following along with the drum part on a real kit," said Smith.
He does this by using the practice mode for drums in Rock Band in which a music sheet for the drums appears with different colors representing different drum heads. If a red note crosses the screen, he should hit the snare drum, if green, the crash cymbal, if orange, the kick pedal for the bass drum. Smith has posted two examples of his playing on YouTube.com.
"Several people have commented saying that I've skipped a good six months to a year's worth of lessons involving everything from how to properly hold the sticks to mastering some fairly complex beats," said Smith.
Smith is not alone. Brian Sobb, 32, of Toledo, Ohio has also picked up drums. He has been playing for a few months now, and said, "My Rock Band experience helped me in my limb coordination."
When he finally decided to buy a drum kit, he was teased.
"The guys in the drum shop thought it was silly that I decided to get into drumming because of a video game," he said.
Silly as it may be, there is no denying the influence of these two games. Every week, Rock Band releases downloadable content, new songs that players can add to their library. Harmonix recently announced sales of over six-million songs since its launch, just five months ago.
Neversoft has had similar success with Guitar Hero III, despite a smaller available library. They have announced sales of more than five-million songs.
"I have a deep, newfound respect for classic rock, punk and metal artists. I had no idea of the extreme technical expertise of a drummer like Neil Peart (of the band Rush). I knew he was good but wow," said Sobb.
The music industry has been looking for its saving grace, and it may be onto something. MTV Games, publisher of Rock Band, heavily promoted the game before its release with a tour bus that made stops at college campuses across America.
Guitar makers Fender and Gibson have latched onto the game's success as well. The guitar controllers made for the Guitar Hero series are modeled after Gibson guitars, and Rock Band modeled its guitar after the Fender Stratocaster. Logos on the drum sticks bundled with Rock Band bear the logo of Ludwig-Musser, a drum company.
When people decide to pick up an instrument after playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero, they may remember the brand names associated with the games.
Roger Tarin, 20, of El Paso, Texas, noticed this trend, saying, "That's probably why Fender and Gibson are some of the big sponsors, mainly because people like the game, and they'll probably be attracted to a real instrument and will go after a (Gibson) Les Paul or Fender Stratocaster."
Kharaun Campbell, 30, of Alabama has played guitar for over 12 years, and was immediately attracted to the Guitar Hero series. While older players may attempt to learn instruments on their own, parents are encouraging their children to take lessons.
Campbell already had experience with a guitar. His nine-year-old son now wants to learn to play.
"After inquiring around town about private lessons, teachers have said there has been an influx of requests for youngsters. They did not quite understand why. I informed them about the popularity of [Guitar Hero], and they then understood," said Campbell.
Roman Perez, 23, of San Leandro, Calif., decided to take drum lessons. Both he and his teacher believe Rock Band has given him a head start.
"My teacher says that I already have great timing. He even had me play using both the snare and bass drum towards the end. From what it sounded, he usually waits a bit before getting into that but said since I was doing so well that I was ready for it," said Perez.
"I have always thought I would be a good drummer. I have wanted to learn to play for a while but never really thought about it seriously until I started playing Rock Band," said Perez.
The next Jimi Hendrix, Neil Peart, Robert Plant or even Flea may accredit his start in music to a plastic guitar, set of rubber drum pads or USB microphone.
John Banelis can be reached at jbanelis@student.umass.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!