[Atruejedi]

The Clarks?? Wow, never thought I would see them on here!! I havent listened to them in years, but hearing this song reminded me how much I enjoyed them. Looking at your suggestions thread, cant wait for Shimmy Low and Born Too Late!

 

I’m glad to have received so much Clarks love, from you and others! There will definitely be more Clarks in the future, and because of all the feedback, the more near future. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” /> Shimmy will be first!

[Atruejedi]

“I vow to never drink alone
I only drink with friends or total strangers”

 

Some bands suffer from what I call Frampton syndrome. They perform epic, live renditions of their studio recordings and, by comparison, you never want to hear the studio versions again. The Trews suffer from this affliction, but that’s fine with me, because the result is a true joy.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Ishmael & Maggie (live) by The Trews, is my fifty-first release, my third live release, and the third custom featuring the band to hit the database, joining two from MrPrezident and three Rock Band Network releases.

 

A lesson in accessorizing.

 

I recounted the joy of witnessing the Trews perform this song just for me at the Hard Rock Cafe in my suggestions thread, so I’ll skip that retelling and mention that when I saw them for a second time just last year, this Juno Award-nominated Canadian hard rock band, open for the opener, it was depressing… and, once again, fantastic. Even though the Trews are getting older and were opening for more trendy American and Australian bands with more name recognition in the good ol’ U.S. of A., all three bands thoroughly kicked ass that evening… even if Ishmael & Maggie was not on the setlist. Alas!

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200051)

Tempo map by jksrb

Drums by jksrb

Special thanks to grubextrapolate and Chainsaw Octopus

 

Truth be told, beyond their first two studio albums, I don’t get too excited for the Trews. But don’t misunderstand me: those two albums, House of Ill Fame and Den of Thieves, are very good. It’s just… compared to their 2009 live acoustic album Friends and Total Strangers, well, there’s no contest. I will always choose to listen to Friends and Total Strangers. It’s basically a magical greatest hits, and for that reason this custom features that recording.

 

…But in an alternate C3 universe, things might have turned out differently. You see, I collaborated with jksrb in making this custom, and he actually sent me the project files for a few Trews songs last year, completely out of the blue. I was excited to dive into them! …But then I realized they weren’t the live acoustic versions I prefer, and I lost that drive to chart them. I confessed that information to jksrb recently, and, sport that he is, he actually re-tempo mapped the version I wanted. And now here we are, a week later. Now that’s motivation.

 

(I apologize for being so particular, but completing a full-band custom with all the bells and whistles takes a lot of time and energy, so if you’re going to do it, make sure you’re charting what you really want to chart! Here’s hoping jksrb is pleased with the result and the turnaround!)

 

As usual, I like to have as many eyes on my projects as possible. After pitching and charting both the guitar and bass parts, my good pal grubextrapolate gave it a once-over and a few tweaks were implemented. Chainsaw Octopus did the same for the very barebones drum part. Poor jksrb… he is a drummer at heart and I basically coerced him into making a second tempo map for a version of the song that is much less interesting for drummers! However, I did offer him all of my project files if he would like to release a custom of the (obviously inferior! ) studio version!

 

I hope you all enjoy this tune as much as I do. It’s been special to me for many years now, and it’s an honor to bring it to Rock Band. The vocal performance is fantastic, the lyrics are brilliant and sad, yet feel hopeful, and the harmonies are the hardest I’ve ever charted (luckily, I was able to cheat and use the studio version to as a guide!). While the song isn’t particularly interesting or fun on any instrument, if you’ve got a band, three microphones, and some beer, you and your friends might find the cure to a broken heart in the contents of a custom. Bonus points if you forgo drum sticks and instead smack them bongos. Or congas. Whatever.

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Cheers, friends and strangers!

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

[Atruejedi]

“Look, baby, I’m the whole damn meal!”

 

If you think I’m a pretentious rock ‘n’ roll snob, boy, you don’t wanna talk hip-hop with me. I’m worse. And that’s why it’s so refreshing that everybody, including me, likes Lizzo. I like a thing normal people like! Time to fit in!

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Juice by Lizzo, is my fifty-second release and my first female hip-hop release (joining the likes of Jurassic 5, The Roots, and the Beastie Boys)… and probably the last. Don’t get me wrong: I like Lizzo, and I love hip-hop (although nothing recent). It just seems I’m an accidental hip-hop misogynist. Beyond Lizzo, the only other female rappers I like (off the top of my head) are Jean Grae and that chick from Digable Planets

Speaking of Blowout Combs.

 

I remember hearing about Lizzo from my local indie radio station, with the DJs raving about her and an interview they would be playing later in the week. I didn’t care and I skipped it. But as fate would have it I was driving home from a concert very late one night and caught a replay of the interview when I turned the key in the ignition. I was intrigued, particularly when the host asked Lizzo about working with Prince. I’m not a die-hard Prince fan, but when Prince wants to work with somebody, it might be worth checking that somebody out. So I spun up this Lizzo lady’s album and, against all odds, I really liked it!

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200052)

Drums by Chainsaw Octopus

Pro keys and keys by Emotional Flight

Special thanks to grubextrapolate

 

If you regularly read these write-ups, you know I don’t tempo map because of the law of diminishing returns: I’m not good at it, others are, I’m better at other things, others are not. The amount of time I spend (or would spend) tempo-mapping is obscene because of my obsessive behaviors. But I really lucked out with Juice. Everything came together lickity-split. Why?

 

For starters, my Reaper template has a default tempo marker in 4/4 time at 120 beats per minute… the exact tempo and time signature of Juice. Hot damn! I literally dropped the audio into the template, lined it up at measure 3, turned on the metronome and gave it a listen. The hardest part was already done.

After I finished the bass chart, I realized this song was perfect for a pro keys chart. I asked grubextrapolate if he knew of a MIDI for Juice. Indeed, one existed. I compared that professional (I hope) bass part to my own and they were nearly identical. But mine’s better. Duh. Especially at the end.

Confident that I could gut the MIDI and construct a serviceable pro keys chart, I cobbled something together and sent it off to Emotional Flight for some expert eyes. He tweaked it into a real chart and even included left-hand animations and reduced it to a normal keys part! What a swell human being!

Good ol’ Chainsaw Octopus provided the drums, per the usual. His profound statement regarding the custom? “surprisingly fun drums”. This means you should download it! The chart has some neat moments that are featured in the dope-ass custom venue that I hope does the song and the work of all of my collaborators justice!

Regarding vocals: it really helps that there’s a lot of non-pitched rapping in this song, and the pitched parts, which, naturally, take more time to chart, were easily pasted from that initial chorus into the other sections of the song because of that sweet, sweet, consistent tempo map. Wham, bam, thank you, modern production! But while the vocals themselves were easy to chart, they were very hard to arrange. So many things are happening at once. What do I include? What do I exclude? Which singer sings which part? What gets pitched and what stays unpitched? I hope I made the right choices.

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Now go enjoy that white-boy-rapping-as-black-chick lipsync, which turned out wonderfully!

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“‘Cause where we are goin’ is anyone’s guess…”

 

I like Band of Skulls. Any Band of Skulls song would be fun in Rock Band. I will make Band of Skulls customs until I die. Until all I am is a skull, banned from existence.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Asleep at the Wheel by Band of Skulls, is my fifty-third release and my second custom to feature the band that can do no wrong. If they ever break up I will cry. But after a decade together Emma and Russell are still rocking together. In the words of Dawes, may all your favorite bands stay together. (Hey, Brandon Flowers and Shovels & Rope are in that video!)

 

She’s not pretty but she’s got it goin’ on.

 

Fun facts time! There are now three customs and one Rock Band Network song by the band available. This opening track from the third album joins opening track Sweet Sour from their second album and opening track Black Magic from their fourth album. The RBN song I Know What I Am is the third track on their debut. But what does this all mean? It means that in the time since I released Black Magic in 2018, they’ve released a delightful fifth album and that album clearly needs to join the other four with at least one song representing it in the database. So the future holds more Band of Skulls releases. In the meantime, I hope this one holds you over.

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200053)

Drums by Bansheeflyer

Special thanks to Capta1n_GuitarHero

 

Like with my Struts release, for this production Capta1n_GuitarHero hooked me up with the files from Guitar Hero Live, including a rudimentary guitar track, acceptable vocals, and, most importantly, a tempo map. It saved me tons of time and made charting this low-hanging fruit.

 

This is my first collaboration with Bansheeflyer, who supplied the drums chart. I learned he was a fan of the band so I felt it was my duty to ask him if he wanted to be involved. Thankfully for all of us, he was interested in helping out and provided a bad-ass chart for a bad-ass song. Cheers, and here’s to many more collabs!

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Now go play the song and stay safe in your air-conditioned bliss.

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Everybody wavin’ these faded flags…”

You guys scrobble, right? I scrobble. I’ve scrobbled Sam Roberts Band a mere 5,697 times since I first discovered the group in 2011. They reign as my top-scrobbled band on last.fm. And it only took until today for me to release my first custom featuring these statistical favorites.

Click here to go to the database entry.

This Rock Band 3 custom song, We’re All in This Together by Sam Roberts Band, is my fifty-fourth release and the third custom featuring the group to enter the database (and the first not from MrPrezident! ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />). I’ve had relatively big plans for SRB for a long, long time, so if you’re a fan of the Canadian rockers, you’ve definitely got more to look forward to in the not-so-distant future.

Rockporting for duty.

Truth be told, the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic is what lit a fire under my ass to chart this hopeful (-ish?) tune. Considering the forum we’re frequenting, I’m sure we all agree that music can be therapeutic and help us through tough times. Well, I’m certain that, for many of us, this is one of the rougher ordeals we’ve faced and could even become the most trying we’ll ever experience. But I have my fingers crossed that humanity will prevail. So keep movin’, don’t stop!

I’ve always loved this song, but it wasn’t even near the top of my list of SRB tunes to eventually get to (I have a lot of pet songs!). I thought it might be fairly easy to throw together on my own because it had a solid beats-per-minute and tempo mapping is not my forte… but, as it turned out, TomGuy wasn’t satisfied with the pop-a-number-into-Reaper approach and went through and mapped the damn song to perfection. To put it simply: without him, this custom wouldn’t kick so much ass. Witness the ass-kicking:

[gameplay video]

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200054)
Tempo map by TomGuy
Drums by Chainsaw Octopus
Special thanks to TomGuy and Chainsaw Octopus

As usual, Chainsaw Octopus supplied a bangin’ drum chart that only gets more and more intense as the song goes on. Pay special attention to the custom venue that heavily features the drummer, because he and Chainsaw deserve the spotlight for holding down the beat!

The guitar part was charted by me and I think it’s one of my best and I’m super proud of it and it’s soooo fun but it would be severely undercharted without the assistance of Chainsaw Octopus. He has a keen ear and hears the strums that go in one ear and right out the other. Nor would the gem placements be as precise as they currently are without both his and TomGuy’s help. These two authors are real troopers and my releases shine because of their extra efforts.

I was surprised how difficult this song’s vocals were to both chart and to perform. Figuring out the melody was easy, of course, and one of the harmonies… but that second harmony eluded me until many hours of careful listening finally pinned it down in a “Eureka!” moment. I don’t hesitate to say it was worth the investment of time and energy! I’m extremely proud of how it turned out. I dream that someday a trio of singers all perform the vocals together… and upload a video of the performance. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Be smart, stay safe, and rock on! After all, it’s like the song title says…

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“I guess that’s not a bad way to go…”

 

Some musicians just… are. They do their thing and it’s strange and genuine and fascinating. Today’s custom features an artist who is certainly no poet, but her lyrics are nonetheless compelling and her lack of charisma becomes charisma. Somehow, all the little characteristics that would otherwise be forgettable come together with perfect synergy and gel into something great. That’s Courtney Barnett in a nutshell.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party by Courtney Barnett, is my fifty-fifth release and the third custom featuring the Australian singer-songwriter to enter the database.

G’day, leftie.

 

I might have to turn in my hipster card, because I got to the Barnett party a bit late. I have no memory of Courtney before 2018 when I heard Dead Fox on the radio and was completely taken with the lyric about putting cyanide in the applies. I had to look this chick up. Since then, I’ve become a pretty big fan, or at least enough of a fan to tear out the guts from a Guitar Hero Live song and turn it into a full-band custom for Rock Band 3 with all the bells and whistles.

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200055)

Drums by drummerockband

Special thanks to Capta1n_GuitarHero

 

Let me start by giving shout-outs to Capta1n_GuitarHero, who provided me with the Guitar Hero Live files that formed the base of this custom, and drummerockband, who provided a drum chart (shocking!) that has more kicks than anything I’ve released thus far. I’m exhausted just from watching the gameplay video. Thanks, dudes!

 

I know it says “from scratch” for the vocals, but I did use the GHL chart to save some time and heavily alter the thing (which should go without saying!). Hell, I’m pretty proud there’s not a single talkie in the damn thing and it’s completely singable. Not that all the phrases are easy… but if you sing it like Courtney, you’ll be fine. Toughen up, ya bogan!

 

I also used the GHL guitar chart as a basis for the guitar part, using it as inspiration to whip up something a bit different from my usual creations. I am very open to hearing feedback with regards to the guitar chart. I played it on my Wii earlier in the week and it was very fun, but that doesn’t mean it’s charted “the right way,” whatever that is. Nonetheless, enjoy!

 

I’m confident with the bass line, which was a real pleasure to chart, and hopefully just as fun to play! As always, I’m interested in feedback. I have very little confidence in gem placement… I always think my timing is off! And Harmonix only made my insecurities worse with a slightly different positioning for bass guitar hammer-ons on their Juice chart!

 

Lip sync turned out great and the venue came together nicely; it’s simple yet effective. I tossed tons of [intense] animation flags throughout the song for when Courtney has borderline-charisma and the band is bringing the thunder from down under.

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. See you at the party! …if you go…

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Nobody knows it like you do, babe…”

 

I don’t remember how I discovered Shovels & Rope, but I did some detective work on last.fm and pieced together a likely scenario. In July of ’14 I listened to their sophomore album, O’ Be Joyful. I was probably tipped off to the existence of the band by an email from their record label promoting their upcoming LP, Swimmin’ Time, dropping a month later. I liked O’ Be Joyful enough to check out Swimmin’ Time when it hit the streaming services and I instantly fell in love with it. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina has become a staple of my listening habits ever since. Today sees the release of two of my favorite tracks from Swimmin’ Time.

 

Voices intertwined like teenage legs on a hot summer night.

 

These Rock Band 3 custom songs, The Devil is All Around and Evil, both by Shovels & Rope, are my fifty-sixth and fity-seventh releases. They are a labor of love in tribute to a band I adore, and I hope after you hear them you’ll become a fan as well and enjoy singing your guts out to the most difficult vocal charts I’ve ever released. These songs are as different as night and day, so let’s start by discussing the opening track.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

The Devil is All Around sure is something. Michael and Cary Ann’s voices are so intertwined it’s hard to tell who’s singing what, except when Cary Ann’s voice tears through with a burst of emotion that your ears can’t resist. It’s part gospel, part rock, and part country; a perfect cocktail of sound to drink down while sittin’ ’round the fire seein’ if you can find someone to make love to.

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200056)
Tempo map by Whizzer
Drums by Whizzer
Pro keys by PikedPike
Special thanks to UngratefulDead and TomGuy

 

The project files for both of these songs started as fool-hardy wishful thinking and off-the-cuff remarks to Whizzer, who surprised me with tempo maps and drum charts for each of the songs. Well, now I had to complete them and release full-band versions into the database… and I was happy to do it! But it took much longer and required much more time, effort, and collaboration than I anticipated. But that’s why it’s a labor of love, right?

 

Let’s talk drums: these are some of the easiest songs you’ll ever play on drums. Even I could play them. But, see, here’s the thing…

 

A good song I won’t be charting.

 

Cary Ann plays both drums and keys at the same time… while singing! This chick is nuts! So if you want to give an authentic performance, you better grow another arm and play drums and keys at the same time. I saw the band open for Frank Turner in 2019 and had tickets to see them headline a small club last month, but thanks to the pandemic that was canceled. I was so looking forward to being blown away once again by all the different tasks this woman completes with no discernible effort.

 

Bass for this one was simple, and barely worth remarking about. Guitar, on the other hand… while it sounds simple, folksy chordy guitar is torture to chart. I stalled on this project multiple times because of the frustration of providing this custom a good, fun guitar chart. After airing my grievances with TomGuy, who, as a good pal, always lets me bitch to him about custom production problems, I decided to contact UngratefulDead, whom I regard as one of the premier guitar charters in our community. He checked out my charts for both of these songs, offered advice, and enabled me to release guitar parts that are both fun and accurate, while being completely different from one another. Devil’s guitar chart won’t challenge you, but you’re supposed to be singing while strumming, so if you complain it’s too easy, you better be doing both at once!

 

I finished this custom shortly before wrapping up Evil, which I knew deserved a pro keys piano part to accompany the other instruments. I whipped up a simplistic piano part for Evil and contacted PikedPike to finish it off for me. I am very grateful he was interested in helping out, and while I had his attention, I asked if he would also like to chart the organ for Devil. He is quite the trooper, and thanks to his time and effort, each of these cakes have the icing they deserve!

 

I’m especially pleased with my venue for Devil, which gave me goosebumps during the first test-run on Dolphin. It’s simple and uncomplicated, which is exactly what the song calls for, providing the perfect mood for the duet. The vocals are charted to perfection, but if you’re singing it like you should, it won’t be easy. However, if you think Devil is hard, oh boy, Evil’s vocals are going to destroy your brain…

Click here to go to the database entry.

Evil probably has the most difficult vocals I’ve charted to date. I abandoned this project multiple times because I could not determine who was singing what and where. There are a few layers, sure, but it just sounds so… dense. There may be room for improvement with this vocal chart. All (or most, I hope!) of the notes are there, but they might be in the wrong lanes, particularly in relation to HARM1 and HARM3. If you have issues and think you can help me improve it, please, contact me!

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200057)
Tempo map by Whizzer
Drums by Whizzer
Pro keys by PikedPike
Special thanks to UngratefulDead and TomGuy

 

Coming off the heels of Devil is All Around, Evil is the exact opposite: grating on the ears, subversive, and dark. Gone are the chords of the acoustic guitar and organ, swapped instead for moody electric and staccato piano. The guitar is tuned in such a way that TomGuy didn’t even hear a bass part before I made him listen with a combination of plugins.

 

I had a very difficult time completing the guitar chart for this song. As is my habit, I tried to pitch the guitar part as a vocal part, chords and all, and then reduce that to a five-gem part. But for this song, it didn’t really seem to be working… so I used that pitched part as a basis and charted something as logical as I could, submitting it for UngratefulDead’s approval. With his ear and advice, we were able to come to a consensus and I’m as pleased as I’m going to be with both the guitar and bass charts. Just as the vocals might have room for improvement, these two charts are as accurate as I can possibly make them, but I’m open to feedback! For example, I really think I might need to force some hammer-ons and pull-offs to make this more enjoyable to play. The charts that don’t need improvement? The drums and the keys.

 

The drums, provided again by Whizzer, which are slightly more difficult and interesting this time ’round, but that’s not saying much. The pro keys were charted by PikedPike again, and just like with Devil, I manually reduced the pro keys and converted the chart to normal keys. If reductions for pro keys or keys aren’t up to snuff, take aim at me. I again offer a huge thanks to PikedPike, who really provided a pro keys part for this song that makes it shine, even in a venue so dark.

 

I wanted the venue to be fitting and moody, so I utilized a couple of lighting and post-processing effects I rarely employ: [lighting (dischord)] and [horror_movie_special.pp]. It was nice to break them both out for once. I didn’t wanna overdo it, so I played it conservatively, but I think it’s just enough spice to have an impact.

 

I hope you enjoy this Shovels & Rope two-pack from their 2014 album Swimmin’ Time, and I encourage you to check out more from the band and tackle these vocals with a friend! It’ll be a challenge, but that make the reward all the sweeter! Thanks for reading!

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Well, I’m a horrible dancer, I ain’t gonna lie

But I’ll be damned if that means that I ain’t gonna try”

 

Not much to say about this one, folks. It’s a cute, clever, catchy single from a decade ago that I thought deserved to be charted, and since nobody else seemed interested and I thought it was something I could handle almost all by myself, I decided to give it a go. Dare I say I was somewhat successful!

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Internet Killed the Video Star by The Limousines, is my fifty-eighth release and the second song from the duo’s debut album now available, alongside the Rock Band Network lyrical gem Very Busy People.

 

The very busy same.

 

It’s also the first custom for which I attempted to chart the drums, and it wasn’t a total catastrophe. That said, the final product is not representative of my original chart. It has many more details and increased accuracy thanks to the venerable Chainsaw Octopus, who made the necessary changes to my chart and made it something worthy of release. So let’s just split that charting credit right down the middle, eh? Eh?

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200058)

Special thanks to Chainsaw Octopus

 

I wanted to chart this tune because the foundation is electronic; I reckoned it had a steady BPM, and if I could figure out that magic number, I could drop one tempo marker into the Reaper project and be done with it. Well, I was right! Better play the lottery with my new lucky number, 118! After determining that, the vocals, bass, and guitar came out easy enough. I couldn’t seem to find an author interested in charting the drums, so I thought I’d give the damn thing a go myself. After all, it was at a steady pace, seemed predictable enough, and didn’t have any zany fills…

 

Well, I managed to put gems into Reaper where specific sounds happened. Kick drum there, crash cymbal there, open hi-hat there, blah, blah, blah. I got most of them right, and many of the ones I missed… well, I knew something was wrong. Long story short: I made a mediocre but semi-playable chart and Chainsaw saved my bacon. I just hope that my efforts sped up the process on his end!

 

So, to Chainsaw go the usual thank-yous, but also an extra thank you for the attention paid to the animations, because by default Rock Band doesn’t like cowbells! Unfortunately, the preview video does not reflect these enhanced animation details, so you’ll just have to download the custom and see for yourself! ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_wink.gif” />

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Now, time to ponder what will kill the internet star…

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Say a prayer for the Pretender, who started out so young and strong…”

 

Jackson Browne is very special to me. I consider him one of my favorite songwriters, and I was upset when I learned he contracted the COVID-19 virus in March. I feel silly saying that, because the dude is 71 years old and I know he won’t live forever… but the chance that he be “taken early” bothered me. I have literally fantasized about releasing this song as a custom for at least two years, and the sudden possibility that he’d die from the virus lit a fire under my ass to get this song charted and released. Call it superstition, call it a tribute… the reason doesn’t matter. This is one of the finest songs I’ve ever heard and it’s finally here for our enjoyment.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, The Pretender by Jackson Browne, is my fifty-ninth release, and it joins a significant number of customs in the database featuring the aging artist. I’m very proud to present it to you, but let me tell you, it wouldn’t exist had it not been for my collaborators.

 

Doctor, his eyes.

 

I’ll try to make these production notes as brief as possible, because my goodness. You’ve heard the phrase “It takes a village?” I think I set a personal record for the number of cooks in my kitchen. But first, let’s get the formal credits and video out of the way!

 

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 649200059)

All instruments initially based on a MIDI created by dbindb@bellsouth.net

Tempo map by TomGuy

Drums by FujiSkunk with Chainsaw Octopus

Guitar by nsw1-6

Keys and pro keys by Emotional Flight

Special thanks to Linos Melendi

 

As I said above, I’ve wanted to get this made for a long, long time. When I heard Jackson contracted the coronavirus, I asked TomGuy, premier tempo-mapper-for-hire, to provide me with the foundation upon which to build this city of rock ‘n’ roll. I acquired a MIDI (labeled as created by a human with the email address dbindb@bellsouth.net) that would help significantly with all the charting, and I knew I’d be able to handle the vocals and bass with little to no problems, but I also knew I’d need help turning that MIDI’s impressive piano part into a suitable pro keys chart for Rock Band. Enter Linos Melendi and Emotional Flight.

 

I’ve worked with Emotional Flight a number of times now, and I very much appreciate all of the tender loving care put into these daunting piano parts. Before I sent it to Flight, I spent at least an hour manually prepping the tubes in Reaper, gently adjusting them to be as logical and consistent as possible to decrease Flight’s workload. I mean, if somebody is doing me a favor, I’d better do all I can before sending them the goods! Flight did a fantastic job with both the pro and normal keys charts, and I took that work and reduced it as best as I could. So, as usual, blame me if there are problems with the reductions. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />

 

Such a glorious piano part deserved the works, so I knew I wanted to have a worthy venue with worthy keyboardist animations. Linos was kind enough to split the massive jumble of piano notes into separate right and left hand parts, enabling me to obsess over the left-hand animations and spend way too much time on something many won’t even notice. I don’t care. Worth it!

 

Linos also taught me how to use plugins to add a nice reverb to the reverse-faded audio. We’re all professionals here, I assure you.

 

Just like I prepped the piano part to farm out to another author, I rigged up the MIDI’s drums into something resembling a rudimentary chart and shipped it off to FujiSkunk for completion. But while he was working on it, Chainsaw Octopus, whom I had sent the project files for unrelated reasons and explicitly told not to chart drums, charted said drums anyway. Well, now I was in quite a pickle. But I was fascinated when I compared their independently-made charts… they were nearly identical! Great minds, right? So I put each of their charts into the Reaper project and again sent it to both of them. Now they could examine their counterpart’s effort. In the end, we ended up with the perfect hybrid chart, with perfect hybrid animations (with 0% flailing) provided by Chainsaw.

 

So now vocals, bass, keys, and drums were done… that only left the guitar. And what a surprising undertaken that became.

 

I charted about a third of the guitar part myself and was very pleased with it. And I’m sure I would have been pleased with the other two-thirds if I could even hear them. To my ear, they were completely drowned out by all the other instruments, especially the damned piano. Realizing I’m not great at charting guitar to begin with, I thought maybe TomGuy would have better luck. But he was just as stumped as I was (and just as arrogant! ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />). So what about Chainsaw? Nope. I was running out of options. Who else could lend a hand?

 

Then, out of the sky, nsw1-6 descended, responding to my pathetic pleas for help. He had initially assisted me by charting the very end of the song’s guitar part, and I smugly thought I could use that contribution as a template to complete the rest of the song. Pure !@#$ing hubris, Jean-Luc. But after I combined his initial efforts with mine, nsw graciously filled in the large remainder of blanks and now we have a great guitar chart to play! My heartfelt thanks go out to him and all of my other frequent and infrequent collaborators, both old and new. Thank you for creating this with me!

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Thanks for reading, happy idiots!

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“You’re a drop in the ocean, baby. Don’t drift away…”

 

It’s always baffled me how impermeable the musical border between the Canada and the United States can be. Awesome artists and songs from the north often have a hard time traveling south. It’s criminal that Sam Roberts Band has lacked that international success I so desperately wish for them. I fantasize that this release will get that ball rollin’.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Streets of Heaven (Promises, Promises) by Sam Roberts Band, is my sixtieth release, joining three other songs by the group in the database. When all the last.fm listening numbers are crunched, SRB is arguably my favorite band of all time. It’s nice to (finally!) start releasing songs by them. More are planned, but that’s a bit further down that hard road.

They’re all beatin’ the same drum, but you… oh, you.

 

This tune is the first of two releases I’ve contributed to MrPrezident‘s annual Canada Day event, and it has something for everybody, even non-Canadians like me! Overall, the song is quite varied, and the guitar really shines in that respect. I’m very proud of the chart I created for this custom! I’m even more pleased with the bass chart, which is absolutely groovy and one of the most fun parts I’ve ever played. Don’t believe me? Get viewin’ and then get downloadin’!

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 1649200060)

Tempo map by TomGuy

Drums by jksrb

Special thanks to UngratefulDead and Chainsaw Octopus

Of course, these well-constructed vocal, guitar, and bass charts wouldn’t even exist if not for the tempo map provided by the stalwart TomGuy, so kudos to him for laying down a solid foundation. And if all this wasn’t enough, there’s even a drum chart provided by a genuine Canadian, jksrb! And, hey, the man has “SRB” in his screen name, so you know he’s whipped up a quality chart! And speaking of quality, I have to give shout-outs to both UngratefulDead and Chainsaw Octopus, who provided feedback for the guitar and drum charts, respectively. Without their input, the charts would not be as accurate, and we only give you the finest for Canada’s special day!

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Thanks for reading! Now go lift some heavy rocks and roll some heads.

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Baby, you’re a boy, you’re not a man…”

 

Joel Plaskett writes delightful songs. I believe this particular song is the pinnacle of that joy he brings to his music. And even if you don’t find it downright living-up-to-its-name, hopefully you think it’s at least alright/okay.

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

 

This Rock Band 3 custom song, Extraordinary by Joel Plaskett Emergency, is my sixty-first release, joining one other fashionable custom in the database. This song was actually a last-minute (well, last-week) substitute for a different song by a different Canadian band because that song has a really prominent piano part that I wouldn’t dare exclude from release. “I doubt that mystery song arrives before the next July 1st,” I hear you say. Hey, man. Don’t be such a cynical bastard.

 

Intensity.

 

This song is the second of two releases I’ve contributed to MrPrezident‘s annual Canada Day event, and will most likely be my (and the) final Joel Plaskett release, because I can’t imagine anybody else charting his material. I managed to coax Prez into charting some Joel last year, but the silly Canadian goose chose the less-awesome option! At the time I found that a bit disappointing, but looking back, it worked out for the best. Because here we are, now a year later, and I got to release Extraordinary with all the bells and whistles it deserves!

[gameplay video]

 

Features:
Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 1649200061)

Tempo map by TomGuy

Drums by jksrb

Special thanks to UngratefulDead and Chainsaw Octopus

This custom features the same collaborators performing the same duties they did in my other Canada Day release from this year: TomGuy provided the tempo map, on top of which jksrb added the drum chart with tweaks based on feedback from Chainsaw Octopus. The venerable UngratefulDead gave me input on how to do the guitar solos justice. And more than a few other authors helped me solve the lip sync issue I was having with some duct tape and a MIDI override. The result, I think, is… atypical? Unusual? Abnormal? Eh, it’ll come to me.

 

If you’d like to contribute improvements or animations or if you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me. Thanks for reading, you fine-lookin’ postal workers.

 

Atruejedi

[Atruejedi]

“Let it pour out of your soul…”

The summer weather seems like it’s going to stick around for a while, so let’s keep this quarantine party a’rollin’ right along with something sugary and sweet from The Mowgli’s! Everybody likes a good pop-rock song, right? If a fellow tells you he doesn’t, he probably hates fun but is more likely simply an insecure liar. Indulging in a guilty pleasures every now and then is just fine! Here are two of mine for your next plastic playdate. Let’s risk a cavity.

A handful of the band members.

These Rock Band 3 custom songs, I’m Good and San Francisco, both by The Mowgli’s, are my sixty-second and sixty-third releases. Both of these customs are full-band-ready with all the bells and whistles you’ve come to expect. They were built upon the guts of Guitar Hero Live content, provided to me by Capta1n_GuitarHero. I thought having the GHL files would make this task relatively easy and straight-forward… but 9 months later, I realize I made a slight miscalculation. So, no time to waste! Let’s keep moving!

 

Click here to go to the database entry.

Is the song simple? Yes. Is it repetitive? Yes. Is it fun? Surprisingly, the answer is still yes. Do I ever want to hear it after spending 11 hours charting the harmonies? No.

[gameplay video]

Features:

Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 1649200062)

Drums by Chainsaw Octopus

Special thanks to Capta1n_GuitarHero and MFX

 

Charting the guitar and bass for this song was pretty darned easy, especially because I was able to use the GHL files as a basis (with significant revisions, obviously). Drums are courtesy of perpetual-forced-volunteer Chainsaw Octopus. The melody was charted well-enough, but nobody ever uses enough slides to satisfy me, so I tweaked the hell out of ’em and they’re in fantastic shape now. Adding the harmonies took the most time. When you have a choir of yuppie hipsters singing whatever notes best express their current worldview, it’s very hard to determine who is singing what… Near the end of production, I sent the project files off to naive volunteer MFX for his assistance and basically told him GLHF w/e works works I’m done bro. Needless to say, the song is finally in the database, and I’m very happy with it. But was it worth all the time and effort? Depends on the number of downloads, I guess. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />

 

So there’s something hopeful and relaxing for your library. But maybe you’re in the mood for something a little more exciting? We’ve got you covered.

Click here to go to the database entry.

Remember how I said these customs took forever to complete? A big reason I was stuck in that development hellscape was this song’s guitar part. Charting it was beyond my ability and/or patience. Thankfully, Sr.Moog rose to the occasion and did a great job representing its jangly goodness. But I won’t lie; initially, I thought what Moog charted was actually too difficult, and I let him know I was worried it wouldn’t be very fun or playable. I sent it off to grubextrapolate to see what he thought and he said that, personally, he would have made it even harder. Well, geeze, guys! So I didn’t change a thing. When I finally gave it a playthrough, the beginning of the chart destroyed me, but I know there’s a trick to doing it right, if I’d focus and learn… However, after that rough start, it’s really fun and enjoyable! The bass part is dope as well, and, luckily, I caught onto that pretty quickly! Drums were provided by some chump who volunteered to a want-ad in the author’s Discord… the incomparable Kloporte! This definitely isn’t his usual fare, so if even Klo likes some bubblebum pop-rock in addition to his usual avant-garde fare, hey, that’s saying something! Thanks, Klo! Oh, and I can’t forget good pal Chainsaw Octopus who provided drum feedback and emotional support. So, hm, what else is there…?

[gameplay video]

Features:

Fully custom venue from scratch
Vocal chart from scratch
Dryvox lip sync for all three vocal parts
Vocal tonic note
Reductions for all instruments
Numeric ID for Wii leaderboards (Song ID 1649200063)

Guitar by Sr. Moog

Drums by Kloporte

Special thanks to Capta1n_GuitarHero, grubextrapolate, MFX, and Chainsaw Octopus

Oh. The vocals. God, how I wished for sweet release every time I opened this Reaper. Charting harmonies for I’m Good was bad enough, but this was a whole ‘nother level of impossible. I figured that since this was a silly little pop song with a clear melody the harmonies would be pretty simple. Sheer !@#$ing hubris. I couldn’t hear a dad-gum thing. Parts seemed to pop in and drop out at a whim. I asked within the community a few times if anybody could help out, but nobody took the bait until MFX fell for my trap asking for authors who thought they had a knack for harmonies to give the tune a listen. Well, thank goodness! MFX helped me finalize all this vocal nonsense with his knowledge and patience, and without him, both of these songs would still be sitting on a shelf, probably in perpetuity. And because I finish something once I’ve started it, even if it takes forever, I’d have never released another song again if not for this glorious cast of co-authors. So thank you to all of my collaborators for enabling me to finally release these sneaky bastards of songs. Now, onto bigger and better things!

TL;DR completing these two Mowgli’s songs took 900% longer than I thought it would. I like the band, but I will never chart another Mowgli’s song again. Finishing these charts sapped me of so much enthusiasm and made making songs a chore instead of a hobby. Now that they’re complete, I can finally get back to charting things I really want to chart and focus on them. My backlog is finally cleared out, so expect me to be more productive in the coming months. Passion projects, here we come! Thanks for reading!

Atruejedi

[marty]

These write ups are awesome. I love reading about the amount of time and effort you’ve poured into your releases

[Atruejedi]

These write ups are awesome. I love reading about the amount of time and effort you’ve poured into your releases

 

I appreciate that! Every custom I release is a labor of love… which sometimes ends up with me temporarily hating the songs, as with the latest Mowgli’s releases ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />. All the speed bumps I hit with those two customs really demoralized me, but once I start something, I try to see it through. I learned an important lesson I’ve been preaching to other authors for a long time, but thought I could skirt around… which is: don’t bite off more than you can chew! Even a 2-pack is too much for me to handle at once. I need to hyper-focus on one custom at a time and finish it completely, then work on another song. Juggling even a mere two projects makes me waste time checking and re-checking things to make sure they’re done correctly. And, hell, I had to update those Mowgli’s songs a week after release to include forgotten practice sections and animations. D’oh!

 

I compose the write-ups to document how everything got made, because I don’t think I’ve ever released a custom without at least one collaborator. Those contributing authors deserve to have their work highlighted, so I try to do them justice. I also hope my chronicling inspires other forum-goers to dip their toes into authoring; I got my start helping other authors with vocals, and now those same authors help me with charts! Drums in particular ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />

 

Hoping to have a new Guster song to release this week, along with an update to my first Guster release. We’ll see how everything goes!

[Author]

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