Showing posts with label Rock Band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rock Band. Show all posts
Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Number 20!
SHAMELESS BRAG
That means that of all the people in the entire world who have sung this song on Rock Band, I rank (almost) NUMBER 20.
Damn straight.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
It was ALMOST like breaking glass. Almost.
I was just in my kitchen making iced coffee and singing along, loudly, to some Parachute Musical and it reminded me of this story. I thought about just tweeting it, but shit, I've got some time right now, let's try to stretch this fucker into a post, shall we? Alright, then! Let's do this.
We first got Rock Band about 3 year ago and since then we've played it at least weekly, taking time off for various flus and colds and such.
I sing; I'm not interested in the guitar or the drums or whatever else. I'm a singer. And I'm loud. Like.... really loud. Depending on the song, of course, but tell me, if you were singing this, could you do it quietly? No. That would simply be impossible, wouldn't it?
God, this video is so cheesy. What the hell is with that shoulder shaking thing she keeps doing?
So, anyway, when we first got it, we had been playing pretty much around the clock. One night, it was about 1:00am, and suddenly there's a knock on our door. It's our next door neighbor. In her underwear. She very nicely asked if we had gotten a new karaoke game or something because she's been hearing me doing a lot of singing lately. I had a very nice voice, she said, and I sounded great, and while she really did enjoy Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, she didn't actually want to be hearing it so loudly at this hour, what with the newborn baby and all that.
OMG. I was mortified. I felt so bad. I certainly know what it's like to need whatever precious time you can steal to sleep, and here I was howling away at all hours of the night and keeping her awake.
Well. I didn't want to have to stop playing Rock Band, of course, so instead.... we padded the window on the side of the room that faces their house (and her bedroom window is right fucking there; about 2 feet away from our windows) with cardboard and newspaper and sheets and blankets... you know, to muffle the sound. And we put a little time restriction on our game playing; no more playing after 9:00, I think, because that's when she went to bed.
It went on like that for some time; I would see her all the time and be kind of afraid to ask if she was getting any sleep, and she never mentioned anything to me. Then, a few months later, we noticed they were getting their bedroom windows replaced. Double, triple, quadruple(?) paned glass windows; to block out sound.
And that's the story of how my incredibly loud singing voice caused my neighbors to have to get their bedroom windows replaced.
Ugh.
We first got Rock Band about 3 year ago and since then we've played it at least weekly, taking time off for various flus and colds and such.
I sing; I'm not interested in the guitar or the drums or whatever else. I'm a singer. And I'm loud. Like.... really loud. Depending on the song, of course, but tell me, if you were singing this, could you do it quietly? No. That would simply be impossible, wouldn't it?
God, this video is so cheesy. What the hell is with that shoulder shaking thing she keeps doing?
So, anyway, when we first got it, we had been playing pretty much around the clock. One night, it was about 1:00am, and suddenly there's a knock on our door. It's our next door neighbor. In her underwear. She very nicely asked if we had gotten a new karaoke game or something because she's been hearing me doing a lot of singing lately. I had a very nice voice, she said, and I sounded great, and while she really did enjoy Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, she didn't actually want to be hearing it so loudly at this hour, what with the newborn baby and all that.
OMG. I was mortified. I felt so bad. I certainly know what it's like to need whatever precious time you can steal to sleep, and here I was howling away at all hours of the night and keeping her awake.
Well. I didn't want to have to stop playing Rock Band, of course, so instead.... we padded the window on the side of the room that faces their house (and her bedroom window is right fucking there; about 2 feet away from our windows) with cardboard and newspaper and sheets and blankets... you know, to muffle the sound. And we put a little time restriction on our game playing; no more playing after 9:00, I think, because that's when she went to bed.
It went on like that for some time; I would see her all the time and be kind of afraid to ask if she was getting any sleep, and she never mentioned anything to me. Then, a few months later, we noticed they were getting their bedroom windows replaced. Double, triple, quadruple(?) paned glass windows; to block out sound.
And that's the story of how my incredibly loud singing voice caused my neighbors to have to get their bedroom windows replaced.
Ugh.
Monday, May 30, 2011
My first vlog! Well, actually not really.
I've got some blogging buddies who have been bugging the shit out of me to make a vlog (video blog). Yeah, that is so not gonna happen, sisters. I've got a face that's perfect for radio and anonymous blogging, no damn way any of you are gonna see it. (I can't help but notice that the one person who has been bugging me the most is really fucking hot. Don't think I didn't notice that about you, Jess).
Okay, so Saturday night I was drunk (I KNOW, right?????) and decided to make a video of me playing Rock Band. There's no bass part in this song so hubs held the camera. Before you watch it, though, some disclaimers: Did I mention I was drunk? So, yeah, this isn't really my best work. In fact, it kind of sucks. I wasn't breathing right and there's a bit of slurring that you can actually hear in the singing, and I didn't even get 100% on the song but I didn't feel like doing it a million times to get it right, so... fuck it. This is what you get. And if you're brave enough to make it all the way through there's a funny bit of drunken commentary from me at the very end.
Okay, so now that you've done that to yourself, how about a pity click for old time's sake?
Okay, so Saturday night I was drunk (I KNOW, right?????) and decided to make a video of me playing Rock Band. There's no bass part in this song so hubs held the camera. Before you watch it, though, some disclaimers: Did I mention I was drunk? So, yeah, this isn't really my best work. In fact, it kind of sucks. I wasn't breathing right and there's a bit of slurring that you can actually hear in the singing, and I didn't even get 100% on the song but I didn't feel like doing it a million times to get it right, so... fuck it. This is what you get. And if you're brave enough to make it all the way through there's a funny bit of drunken commentary from me at the very end.
Okay, so now that you've done that to yourself, how about a pity click for old time's sake?
Friday, May 27, 2011
This post will definitely bring CFS to my house
I have no idea how or why but for some reason Child 2's favorite song is Bodies by Drowning Pool. I've mentioned that fact once before; in an awesome way.
I've also mentioned before that hubs and I play a lot of Rock Band on the weekends. The Child is usually our dancer/roadie; he boogies his little tushie off in the most adorable way. It was just a matter of time that he insist that he play, too, and.... of course.... there was only one song he wanted to do.
It's really just too awesome not to share, I have to say, despite the fact that Child and Family Services will probably be paying us a visit later, due to the extreme inappropriateness of a 5 year old singing this song (lyrics here). He did the whole thing but this is just a snippet:
And how did he do, you wonder?
86%. On fucking expert. That's better than I do on some songs.
Today is Friday so we'll be doing it again tonight. I'll let you know if his score improves. (It probably will).
I've also mentioned before that hubs and I play a lot of Rock Band on the weekends. The Child is usually our dancer/roadie; he boogies his little tushie off in the most adorable way. It was just a matter of time that he insist that he play, too, and.... of course.... there was only one song he wanted to do.
It's really just too awesome not to share, I have to say, despite the fact that Child and Family Services will probably be paying us a visit later, due to the extreme inappropriateness of a 5 year old singing this song (lyrics here). He did the whole thing but this is just a snippet:
And how did he do, you wonder?
86%. On fucking expert. That's better than I do on some songs.
Today is Friday so we'll be doing it again tonight. I'll let you know if his score improves. (It probably will).
Monday, May 2, 2011
rock band singing expert points
I wrote this post on Saturday night when I was drunk and have only edited it for the (many, and often hilarious) typos..... hee hee.....
What? My post title is confusing to you? Well, I typed it that way because if you were doing a Google search for this particular issue that's pissing me off, those are probably the terms you would use. SO, maybe if other people did this, they might find me. And be able to help me. So this post isn't necessarily for you, my loyal and wonderful readers... this post is for The Whole Internetz.
(This is not actually me singing, this is a video I found online)
Because, you see, I need help. I've been working on this same song over and over and over and I can't for the life of me figure out what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing differently to make my score better than what it is. But because I'm stupidly competitive in that weird way that we're all aware of I guess, I can't let it go, so I keep trying and trying and trying and trying and always getting pretty much the same result. Only 2,804 more points to get to #13 on the Leaderboard.
Because Fuck You Rock Band. I don't know what you want from me. I've done the same fucking song again and again and I do it "perfectly" every time, and yet, apparently, I don't do it up to your standards. At least not well enough to do any better than I've done all the last times. And it's pissing me off. What am I supposed to be doing differently??? How do you get more points here? What do you want from me, Rock Band?
How the fuck do I do better than I have done? I've sat here in my TV room, by myself I might add, because there's no bass part and hubs got bored... and I've done this song again and again and again AND AGAIN AND AGAIN and I can't do any better than I've done.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? OH MY GOD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME.
EDIT: Related
What? My post title is confusing to you? Well, I typed it that way because if you were doing a Google search for this particular issue that's pissing me off, those are probably the terms you would use. SO, maybe if other people did this, they might find me. And be able to help me. So this post isn't necessarily for you, my loyal and wonderful readers... this post is for The Whole Internetz.
(This is not actually me singing, this is a video I found online)
Because, you see, I need help. I've been working on this same song over and over and over and I can't for the life of me figure out what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing differently to make my score better than what it is. But because I'm stupidly competitive in that weird way that we're all aware of I guess, I can't let it go, so I keep trying and trying and trying and trying and always getting pretty much the same result. Only 2,804 more points to get to #13 on the Leaderboard.
 |
| First try. Only 2,804 to get to #13! Awesome! |
 |
| Second try. 1,028 more points and, uh... only 2,804 to get to #13? HUH? |
Because Fuck You Rock Band. I don't know what you want from me. I've done the same fucking song again and again and I do it "perfectly" every time, and yet, apparently, I don't do it up to your standards. At least not well enough to do any better than I've done all the last times. And it's pissing me off. What am I supposed to be doing differently??? How do you get more points here? What do you want from me, Rock Band?
 |
| #1 has 4,560 more points than I do. HOW? HOW?????????? |
How the fuck do I do better than I have done? I've sat here in my TV room, by myself I might add, because there's no bass part and hubs got bored... and I've done this song again and again and again AND AGAIN AND AGAIN and I can't do any better than I've done.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? OH MY GOD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME.
EDIT: Related
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Bohemian Rhapsody: You are my nemesis
Regular readers will know that I like to sing; I mean, I talk about it all the time. I go to Karaoke and, as often as possible, we play Rock Band. We've been at it for about 2 years now, and on version 3 of the game, and we have about 600 songs. I was SO excited when Rock Band 3 came out, because it had Bohemian Rhapsody on it. I don't need to go on and on about how much of an awesome song it is, we'll all just stipulate to that fact, shall we? Here, let's start with all the evidence we need; I picked a version with lyrics built in:
So, the thing with Rock Band is that if I want to score well in the game (and not fail out and therefore die a horrible, embarrassing Rock Band death) I have to sing it exactly the way the game wants me to. Most of the time this is fine, except when it's a song that I usually sing the harmonies to. The game wants me to sing the melody but I always get really fucked up by that, because I'm so used to doing it one way... but that way is wrong, according to the game. So, even when it's a song I adore and know really well, it's really hard for me to get through. Case in point:
OMG! Uncle John's Band in Rock Band! How exciting and wonderful! But... NO. I only know the harmonies to this song, and the harmonies are WRONG. That sucks! I had no idea what I was in for with Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course there's that Rock Opera part in the middle, but that shit is 4 part harmonies. I have no idea WHAT the fuck I'm doing trying to get through that. I've learned any one of the 3 harmonies, I don't even know which, and not the melody, so I'm constantly jumping around trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be and I'm always FAILING. And this is a song I've been listening to practically my entire life, it was released in 1975! It's really hard to sing it a different way than I've been singing it for 30+ years.
What the hell were these Rock Band assholes thinking with this?? I mean, according to the B.R. Wikipedia page, "May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day. The entire piece took three weeks to record, and in places featured 180 separate overdubs." AND, if you look at videos of them performing the song live, whenever they got to that Rock Opera part, they would switch to the studio version because there's no way they could recreate it. So, the band that wrote and performed the song couldn't do it, but I'm supposed to be doing it in my living room? NO WAY! It's fucking impossible! Seriously, check out the difficulty level on this song:
That doesn't stop me from trying, of course. We did it tonight and I failed the first time but then got 91% the second time. Actually, earlier tonight Child 2 says out of nowhere "what's that song that goes 'oh mama mia mama mia mama mia let me go'..... Can you do that on Rocking later?" What can I say? The kid has good taste and he's only 5.
So, the thing with Rock Band is that if I want to score well in the game (and not fail out and therefore die a horrible, embarrassing Rock Band death) I have to sing it exactly the way the game wants me to. Most of the time this is fine, except when it's a song that I usually sing the harmonies to. The game wants me to sing the melody but I always get really fucked up by that, because I'm so used to doing it one way... but that way is wrong, according to the game. So, even when it's a song I adore and know really well, it's really hard for me to get through. Case in point:
OMG! Uncle John's Band in Rock Band! How exciting and wonderful! But... NO. I only know the harmonies to this song, and the harmonies are WRONG. That sucks! I had no idea what I was in for with Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course there's that Rock Opera part in the middle, but that shit is 4 part harmonies. I have no idea WHAT the fuck I'm doing trying to get through that. I've learned any one of the 3 harmonies, I don't even know which, and not the melody, so I'm constantly jumping around trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be and I'm always FAILING. And this is a song I've been listening to practically my entire life, it was released in 1975! It's really hard to sing it a different way than I've been singing it for 30+ years.
What the hell were these Rock Band assholes thinking with this?? I mean, according to the B.R. Wikipedia page, "May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day. The entire piece took three weeks to record, and in places featured 180 separate overdubs." AND, if you look at videos of them performing the song live, whenever they got to that Rock Opera part, they would switch to the studio version because there's no way they could recreate it. So, the band that wrote and performed the song couldn't do it, but I'm supposed to be doing it in my living room? NO WAY! It's fucking impossible! Seriously, check out the difficulty level on this song:
That doesn't stop me from trying, of course. We did it tonight and I failed the first time but then got 91% the second time. Actually, earlier tonight Child 2 says out of nowhere "what's that song that goes 'oh mama mia mama mia mama mia let me go'..... Can you do that on Rocking later?" What can I say? The kid has good taste and he's only 5.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Increasing Dopamine production: My favorite Friday night activity
Disclaimer: I'm not really sure I want to post this or not, but since I spent three fucking hours trying to write it, I'm going to hit "publish," but it's possible I may decide later that it's too personal, change my mind and then delete it. Just a heads up!
A few years ago I saw this show on TLC (that was back when the L stood for "Learning," instead of "Lame") about compulsive behaviors. They talked about people who were hoarders and people who were compulsive eaters. In it, I learned that compulsive behavior is a result of a lack of dopamine production in the brain; dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters in the brain that controls mood and feelings. A person with limited dopamine production will function normally most of the time, but then when they do something that they "like," their brain will produce this burst of dopamine, thereby making them feel really, really good; better, in fact, than that particular activity would make somebody with normal dopamine levels feel. The compulsive behavior happens because the person will become obsessed with feeling that feeling that they get from the dopamine rush. They will only want to do that activity, and nothing else, again and again and again. This is why they say addiction is a disease, because we're all just slaves to our brain chemistry, and wanting to have that good feeling some more isn't something anybody can help. The problem, of course, comes when your preferred behavior is something harmful to your body (alcohol, drugs, eating), harmful to your life (hoarding, gambling, shopping) or just becomes the only thing you can think about or want to do, ever, and you are, quite literally, powerless to stop yourself.
In the show they said that somebody with this problem can learn to control their compulsive behavior by choosing an alternate activity that makes them feel good, like listening to their favorite song. Of course, the alternate activity can very easily become the new compulsion, but the idea is that it is less harmful than the one that is ruining your life. I've struggled with compulsive behaviors before (the specifics of which I won't get into because I don't really want to embarrass myself any more than I've already done, but if you're really interested, email me or something) and this show was really interesting to me because I had always wondered what was wrong with me. Why am I powerless to stop myself from doing something that is obviously harmful? So, I thought I'd find myself an alternative activity that I could use to boost my dopamine levels, and see if that worked. You can naturally increase your dopamine levels by getting regular exercise, so I started walking every day (or, as much as I could). But... there was more to come...
I love to sing. Just fucking love it; always have. In college I used to have all these friends who played guitar and we would sit around my house and they would play and I would sing, but I lost all those friends and never seemed to make any more when we moved to the Bay Area, so it had been a while since I had been able to do any singing that wasn't in my car or in front of a group of strangers. It was at the same time that a friend introduced me to Rock Band, a game for the Xbox where you play guitar and drums.... and sing. Oh, hell yes. I had found my alternate dopamine-producing activity.
The great thing about Rock Band is not only, with each version, do you get the songs that come with the package, but they also come out with new songs every week. So you're able to constantly add new stuff to your collection (and rapidly run out of room on the hard drive connected to your xbox, unfortunately). They have thousands of songs you can pick from so it's hard to get bored with it. And, so, every Friday night, and also whenever we can throughout the week (which has been never lately, sadly) Hubs and I play Rock Band. Last night we played for about 6 hours, stopping only to put the kids in bed. Here are some of my favorites. We didn't do all of these last night, but they're the ones I like the most.
A few years ago I saw this show on TLC (that was back when the L stood for "Learning," instead of "Lame") about compulsive behaviors. They talked about people who were hoarders and people who were compulsive eaters. In it, I learned that compulsive behavior is a result of a lack of dopamine production in the brain; dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters in the brain that controls mood and feelings. A person with limited dopamine production will function normally most of the time, but then when they do something that they "like," their brain will produce this burst of dopamine, thereby making them feel really, really good; better, in fact, than that particular activity would make somebody with normal dopamine levels feel. The compulsive behavior happens because the person will become obsessed with feeling that feeling that they get from the dopamine rush. They will only want to do that activity, and nothing else, again and again and again. This is why they say addiction is a disease, because we're all just slaves to our brain chemistry, and wanting to have that good feeling some more isn't something anybody can help. The problem, of course, comes when your preferred behavior is something harmful to your body (alcohol, drugs, eating), harmful to your life (hoarding, gambling, shopping) or just becomes the only thing you can think about or want to do, ever, and you are, quite literally, powerless to stop yourself.
In the show they said that somebody with this problem can learn to control their compulsive behavior by choosing an alternate activity that makes them feel good, like listening to their favorite song. Of course, the alternate activity can very easily become the new compulsion, but the idea is that it is less harmful than the one that is ruining your life. I've struggled with compulsive behaviors before (the specifics of which I won't get into because I don't really want to embarrass myself any more than I've already done, but if you're really interested, email me or something) and this show was really interesting to me because I had always wondered what was wrong with me. Why am I powerless to stop myself from doing something that is obviously harmful? So, I thought I'd find myself an alternative activity that I could use to boost my dopamine levels, and see if that worked. You can naturally increase your dopamine levels by getting regular exercise, so I started walking every day (or, as much as I could). But... there was more to come...
I love to sing. Just fucking love it; always have. In college I used to have all these friends who played guitar and we would sit around my house and they would play and I would sing, but I lost all those friends and never seemed to make any more when we moved to the Bay Area, so it had been a while since I had been able to do any singing that wasn't in my car or in front of a group of strangers. It was at the same time that a friend introduced me to Rock Band, a game for the Xbox where you play guitar and drums.... and sing. Oh, hell yes. I had found my alternate dopamine-producing activity.
The great thing about Rock Band is not only, with each version, do you get the songs that come with the package, but they also come out with new songs every week. So you're able to constantly add new stuff to your collection (and rapidly run out of room on the hard drive connected to your xbox, unfortunately). They have thousands of songs you can pick from so it's hard to get bored with it. And, so, every Friday night, and also whenever we can throughout the week (which has been never lately, sadly) Hubs and I play Rock Band. Last night we played for about 6 hours, stopping only to put the kids in bed. Here are some of my favorites. We didn't do all of these last night, but they're the ones I like the most.
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