__ ___. .___ _______ ____ ____ | | __ \_ |__ _____ ____ __| _/ \_ __ \/ _ \_/ ___\| |/ / | __ \\__ \ / \ / __ | | | \( <_> ) \___| < | \_\ \/ __ \| | \/ /_/ | |__| \____/ \___ >__|_ \ |___ (____ /___| /\____ | \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ Rock Band: FAQ/Walkthrough Version: 1.5 Console: PS2 Created: 03/03/2008 Author: Ayelis (Steve) NOTE: Send me GMAIL via s.mattison Yes. You read it right. That's Gmail. At Gmail. Dot com. //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /0.--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 0. This table I. Introduction II. Version History III. Walkthrough III.a. Vocal Basics III.a.1. Singing Lessons III.a.2. How to sing in RockBand (vs SingStar, etc) III.a.3. Scrolling mode vs. Static mode III.a.4. Tambourines and Cowbells III.b. Playing the RockBand Guitar III.b.1. Bass or Guitar? III.b.2. How to play in Rockband (vs GuitarHero, etc) III.b.3. Lefty Mode? III.b.4. Solos, Hammerons, Pulloffs, and other advanced tricks III.c. Drumming Basics III.c.1. It's just a game, right? III.c.2. How the drums work in RockBand III.c.3. Drum fills III.c.4. That crazy kick pedal IV. Track List IV.a. Main Tracks IV.b. Bonus Tracks IV.c. My Favorites V. Solo Mode vs Multiplayer Mode VI. Cheats and Unlockables VII. Copyright Notice //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /I.--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction This was intended as a comprehensive walkthrough/faq/advice/secrets list for the game RockBand for PS2. Hopefully it will help your game. If you have problems with this FAQ, email me. If you have problems with the game, talk to the hand. Aww, the hand can't hear you! So, Harmonix finally teams up with EA and MTV Games to bring you RockBand. With an opening sequence reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age's hit video "Go with the Flow", Rock Band certainly dresses to impress, setting this amazing CG sequence to an in-game song, namely; Deep Purple's "Highway Star". //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /II.-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History v 1.5 - This Version Improved sections on Singing, Guitar, Bass, and Drums Updated downloadable tracks as per 03/03/2008 Added information about Rockband.com Merchandise, Drum thrones, adapters Added information about compatible equipment Added information about other multiplayer modes Added actual information about playing drums in RockBand Added note about Tremolo Bar Added a link to my Streaming RB Playlist Added a reference to my new in-depth Expert Tablatures FAQ v 1.25 - This Version Released rights to reproduce this FAQ freely wherever you want, in whole. Added more information on modifying your drum kit. Added a note about mic stands. v 1.00 - First Draft Added all the main sections. Included a list of normal songs and unlockable songs. Included playing tips for each instrument. //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /III.------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough The PS2 version of the game is a little different from the PS3/Xbox versions. First, you don't get to create band members. Instead, the game shows videos of cover bands while you are playing. Secondly, beating a song only saves your score and the number of stars you've earned; it does not save gold, silver, bronze, or black checkmarks. Finally, there are no cities. Rather, the songs appear in a list, inside sets. You can play any of the four to six songs that appear in the current set. Once you play each of them without getting booed offstage, you unlock the next set. Play all the songs in any given mode to "Beat the game" and see the ending credits, including rockin photos of the Harmonix team! There are also alternative Multiplayer "Competition" modes, called: "Tug of War" (Where you sing or play at the same time) and "Score Duel" (Where you each play the song alone) If you want to see who's better at any particular song, these modes should do it for you. Tug of War may be a little less accurate, unless you both take a turn as player 1. For expert-mode "Tablature", please keep an eye out for my in-depth guides under the XBox360 version of RockBand on GameFAQs. (Not because I like XBox more than PS2, but because XBox seems to be the most popular version here on GameFAQs...) For a general walkthrough based on your instrument, read the sections below; //III.a.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vocal Basics /III.a.1.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Singing Lessons Allright, first off, I'm assuming you're looking here to improve your RockBand abilities. I have only one suggestion for you. Listen to the songs! Become the biggest fan of the songs. The reason you fail at a certain song is because you don't know it. You might have heard it, you might even know the lyrics, but you don't KNOW the song. You have to get familiar with the key that the vocalists sing in. The lyrics don't matter. It shows the words on the screen. You can sing each word perfectly but if you don't know the key you're singing in, you will fail. I am guilty of this too! I fail at Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, even though I think I'm singing the melody. Listen to the songs you fail. Listen to them at least two or three times in a row before you try to sing along with them. Listen to them and pay attention to them. No multitasking! I've even made a streaming playlist with most of the songs from the game. Listen to them, over and over if need be. Here they are; http://www.playlist.com/node/23589341 Here are some not-so-common-sense lessons on becoming a better singer. Don't clear your throat. When you clear your throat, it's like slamming your vocal cords together. Doing it too much can injure them and make you hoarse. Try a sip of water or swallow to quench the urge to clear. If you feel like you have to clear your throat a lot, get checked by a doctor for such things as acid reflux disease, or allergy and sinus conditions. Drink water to keep your body well hydrated, and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Your vocal cords vibrate very fast, and having a proper water balance helps keep them lubricated. If you can't always get water or juice, try keeping plenty of juicy types of fruit on hand. Allow yourself several 'vocal naps' every day, especially during periods of extended use. For instance, when possible, teachers should avoid speaking during the breaks between classes and find quiet ways to spend the lunch hour rather than talking in a noisy staff room with colleagues. Don't abuse or misuse your voice. Avoid yelling or screaming, and try not to talk loudly in noisy areas. If your throat feels dry or tired, or your voice is getting hoarse, reduce your voice use. The hoarseness is a warning sign that your vocal cords are irritated. Humidify your home and work areas with a cool-mist humidifier. Remember, moist is good for the voice. Easy, daily warm-ups for your voice: -Perform gentle humming and cooing to warm up your voice in the morning. -Do lip or tongue trills in the morning (try it in the shower or on the way to work) to facilitate better use of airflow and breath. /III.a.2.--------------------------------------------------------------------- How to sing in RockBand (vs SingStar, etc) Singstar microphones work with RockBand. Any USB microphone should also work with RockBand. RockBand microphones don't seem to work with SingStar however. I really suggest you go out to Guitar Center, and get yourself a cheap little 30$ mic stand with a clip for the mic. You might want to bring the mic in so you can pick a clip that fits or have the friendly staff pick one for you! Remember: The stand should come with the base, but not with the clip. Don't forget this vital piece of equipment! Rockband features a unique interface with a pitch-sensitive "Arrow indicator" which moves upwards, the higher your pitch, and downwards when you sing lower. When the song starts, feel free to test the scale by humming a few different notes, or just speaking at different pitches. You won't lose points for it, and it will get you accustomed to the range you'll need to sing within for this song. When the notes start sliding their way across the screen, try to sing at the pitch indicated. You don't even have to sing the words (which helps, if you don't know them), just hum along, or do the "Meow Mix" thing and Mew along. If the arrow goes below the words, it will point upwards, meaning you should sing at a higher pitch. If the arrow points downwards, then your pitch is too high. If you maintain a good pitch throughout a whole phrase, your multiplier will go up by one. When notes do not appear (as in the Beastie Boys song), just sing anything. Or yell anything. Or make some form of prolonged noise into the microphone. You will get credit for it, as long as you do that when the words pass. To activate your overdrive, just say something, shout 'Timmah!', or cheer. Prolonging the final note from the previous phrase usually works. Saying a short single syllable word does not usually work. With overdrive activated, your multiplier will be doubled, and so will the band's multiplier! During the "Big Rock Endings", the band will lose out unless you do this. Make sure to sing or say something, or else you will lose all those points! /III.a.3.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Scrolling mode vs. Static mode The game uses scrolling mode by default. In Static Mode, all the lyrics for each phrase are shown on the screen, similar to normal Kareoke. Many people find this mode easier. Try them both out and see which works best for you! /III.a.4.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Tambourines and Cowbells During long lyric-less sections (such as guitar solos), you will often be given the option to play along (and it is completely optional) with a special "Tambourine" part, or "Cowbell" part as in Blue Oyster Cult's classic. For these times, you can just lightly tap on the microphone, snap or clap in front of the microphone, hit the mic against your leg, or even blow into the microphone when the beat passes the target bar. //III.b.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Playing the RockBand Guitar /III.b.1.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Bass or Guitar? Harmonix chose to abandon the idea of solo bass careers in Rock band. The only way to choose bass when playing alone is Practice mode or Quickplay. Otherwise you have to pick Multiplayer to play Bass. Bass is easier. Guitar gets you more points with those lead solos. Bass is easier. Guitar can be really really fun. Bass is easier. Okay, if you're going to try singing and playing at the same time, I recommend Bass. Otherwise, try out guitar for a while. It will help you get GOOD at playing, and prepare you for 'advanced bass techniques'. What's that? There's a Hidden Bass Solo? Don't tell them I told you! Anyhow, if you do attempt this, I can't stress a trip to Guitar Center enough. (There's an unlockable Guitar Center tee, so I guess that's who Harmonix would recommend.) Get a mic stand. It will work a lot better than your weird "dangling microphone hat" idea. /III.b.2.--------------------------------------------------------------------- How to play in Rockband (vs GuitarHero, etc) Guitars from the PS2 and PS3 versions work the same way, and as such, you can use both with either console. XBox version guitars are not wireless. I still have no confirmation as to whether the XBox guitars will work on PS2 or PS3. RockBand Guitars for PS2 WILL NOT work with Guitar Hero games, however, all Guitar Hero guitars work with RockBand for PS2. For the most part, this guitar has the same scheme as the Guitar Hero guitar. Like Guitar Hero, the fret buttons themselves have indicators, but they are much less pronounced, and barely noticable. Notice that you can hold down any color "Fret Button" at any time, and it will not count against you. To play a note, hold down the proper color *before* the note enters the target area. Then hit the Strum bar as soon as the note hits the target line, and you will play it. The game will give you certain notes (especially if you do guitar as opposed to bass) that you can hold for extra points. This is optional, but necessary if you want five stars. Just hold the fret after strumming. As long as the fret is held down, you'll get those points. Press on the whammy bar, and you can even bend the notes! (To use the whammy bar, also known as a Tremolo Arm, Vibrato bar, or "Wang Bar", press it inwards, toward you, while holding a long note. Notice that the bar only "down-bends", or pushes notes down in pitch. You cannot use the bar for "up-bends", or pulling notes up in pitch. To go into overdrive, tilt the guitar neck upwards. Pretend you're Slash or Jimi Hendrix or something. This sometimes doesn't work. Try tilting the guitar neck downwards first, and then pulling upwards. /III.b.3.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Lefty Mode? About one out of three, one out of four people are left handed. Lefty mode would likely be good for you. Strap on the guitar upside down and go at it. Some people who are "lefties" prefer playing right handed. And vice versa. It's worth a good go-through, in the other fashion, just to see where you stand on playing guitar. You never know, you could be the next Rock God! /III.b.4.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Solos, Hammerons, Pulloffs, and other advanced tricks During solos, your area of the screen will turn blue, and a percentage will appear. When you get into a solo, thank your lucky stars, because you don't even have to STRUM those parts. Just switch to the five keys that are high up on the neck (closest to the strummer... the small ones.) When a note passes the target, just press the fret at the right time. This will break open the note capsule, and release all those tiny little notes. Sometimes, during a song, you will see note capsules that are smaller than the others, and they will be very close to the other notes that come before them. You can do something similar with these notes! These are called "Hammer-on" and "Pull-off" notes, depending on the time of day. Just strum the first note, and when the second one hits, while you're still holding the first fret, hit the second one. Alternatively, press the second fret in advance, and let go of the first one. If you can get the hang of it, this will help out in a LOT of songs. Especially Freezepop's "Brainpower"! Oops, Spoiler. What, you didn't think Freezepop was going to be in this game? //III.c.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Drumming Basics /III.c.1.--------------------------------------------------------------------- It's just a game, right? It is. However, the designers of RockBand designed the Drum pads in such a fashion that once you get good at playing drums in RockBand, you can go to any music store, pick up a pair of drum sticks, and start playing your favorite song... And it will sound authentic! So, you should think of this game as less of a game, and more of a Drum Simulator. The military uses flight simulators to help new pilots "learn to fly" without crashing. This game will help you learn drums without making a fool of yourself in public. That way, if you want to make a fool of yourself in public, it's all you! ;) /III.c.2.--------------------------------------------------------------------- How the drums work in RockBand The drum can be used as a controller, with the high blue and yellow 'toms' as the up and down buttons, the left red pad as 'cancel' and the right green pad as 'accept'. In addition, the drum pads also have actual controller buttons in the middle of the drum kit, if you ever get tired of doing a drum roll to quickly scroll through a menu, and you want to do it the old-fashioned (slow) way. Once in a song, the drums are arranged in the same orientation that you see on the screen: Red on left, Green on right, Yellow and blue in the middle. When the song starts to play, you can do a complimentary drum roll; hit the pads and you will see explosions on the screen. They are coming from the "Target Area". Keep this in mind. The part you play will flow down the screen toward the target area. You have to hit the right pads with the sticks whenever a note of the corresponding color passes through. If you do so successfully, it will play the drum part that goes along with that note. On expert level, each note only stands for one drum beat, so you have to hit everything properly, or else the drums won't play. Also: When you see an orange bar under the notes that spans the whole width of the track, that means you should step down on the Kick Pedal to activate the Bass Drum. There are many different techniques to do this. Unfortunately, most people get turned off from drums because they're doing it wrong. I take that back. There's no wrong way, really. It's whatever's comfortable for you. But let me introduce your alternatives before you give up on your career in drums... Gas Pedal Method: This is the way most people play the bass kick. This also tires out your foot the quickest. Keep your heel down, and your toes up, leaving your full foot on the pedal at all times. Drop your toes when you play the kick, like you're flooring the accellerator in a car. I bet you wouldn't be able to get through half of Maps on Expert playing like this. But, to each his own, I guess. Full Leg Stomp Method: A lot of professional drummers play this way, I'm sure. Keep your foot parallel to the ground, toes touching the tip of the pedal. Drop your foot straight down when you want to play the kick. This method requires practice, and you might get tired of it early on, but it's worth the effort. You might also look into getting a shock-enabled "Bouncy" drum throne to help you out here. They run upwards of 150$ though, so there you go. High Heel Method: This is the method I use, despite the girly-sounding name. It just means you keep your heel in the air at all times, and drop your toes to play the kick. It uses less muscles than the Full Leg Stomp, simply working out your ankle. Plus, you can cheat at this method by putting a phone book or hardcover novel under your heel when playing. Make sure it's not a book you need anymore, in case anything bad happens to it from all that stepping. Reverse Gas Pedal Method: (or that's what I'd call it) A friend of mine plays like this. Basically like the Full Leg Stomp, except you keep the pedal pressed down halfway. You drop your heel to play the kick. This method relies on the fact that dropping your heel will actually cause the electronic pedal to register a kick, so if you like tapping with your heel, it's worth some experimentation. Something interesting to note: You can purchase RockBand gear in REAL LIFE. Go to Harmonix's website http://www.rockband.com and check out the store. You can get yourself a Drummer's throne (which will actually help out your game), RockBand guitar stickers, some sweet clothes, and suggestions for stylists and transportation suitable for real life rock bands! /III.c.3.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Drum fills In order to activate your overdrive, you need to play two or three hits during the overdrive sequence (represented by the special bars that take up all four pads). You can hit the kick, or do a drum roll. This will activate the final cymbal crash target. Hit that crash, and your overdrive goes into effect! Fun, right? You just did a fill! Congrats! /III.c.4.--------------------------------------------------------------------- That crazy kick pedal Seriously! Well, it's made of plastic, and some people have complained that it breaks way too easily. Snaps right in half! If you don't want this to happen to you, and you have an extra hundred dollars to spend on a video game controller, go out to a drum store. Pick up a metal guitar pedal for use with MIDI drum sets. You'll also need a 1/4" to 1/8" audio jack adapter. You can pick one up at Radioshack for about $3. Once everything's hooked up; Instant impervious drum pedal! Another option is called "Pedal Metal", and you can look it up on Ebay. For about 15$, you get a diamond-plate slab of metal shaped just like your pedal, 7 screws, and bond strips if you don't want screw-holes in your pedal. (Thanks to Chris McCloud on yahoo (mccc2345) and Mario on aim (goldengoal91) for pointing out the name of this 1/4-1/8 adapter, and Cloud again for telling me about pedal metal...) There are also some neat ideas out there on the forums about silencing your drum kit. Keep in mind, if you employ these methods, you may have to hit the drums a little harder than you normally would to get them to register right. The difference is still noticable; You hear the drums coming from the TV more than you hear the clack of the sticks on the pads. You'll also save your pads some wear and tear! And all for much less than buying that pedal. ;) //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /IV.-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Track List What follows is a list of songs that you can unlock through a normal playthrough of the game as well as bonus songs that you can only unlock in solo mode. There are 58, in total, on the PS2, but only 30 are available in Easy Mode. /IV.a.------------------------------------------------------------------------ Main Tracks (Sorted Alphabetically by Song) Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl Sweet - Ballroom Blitz Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop Hole - Celebrity Skin Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock Radiohead - Creep Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California Fallout Boy - Dead on Arrival Kiss - Detroit Rock City Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear)The Reaper The New Pornographers - Electric Version Metallica - Enter Sandman Faith No More - Epic Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster Boston - Foreplay / Long Time The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow The Outlaws - Green Grass and High Tides OK Go - Here It Goes Again Deep Purple - Highway Star Garbage - I Think I'm Paranoid Nirvana - In Bloom Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly The Hives - Main Offender Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps Mountain - Mississippi Queen The Police - Next To You R.E.M. - Orange Crush Black Sabbath - Paranoid The Strokes - Reptilia Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills Beastie Boys - Sabotage Weezer - Say It Ain't So The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go David Bowie - Suffragette City Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds Rush - Tom Sawyer Aerosmith - Train Kept a Rollin' Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home The Killers - When You Were Young The WHO - Won't Get Fooled Again /IV.b.------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bonus Tracks (Sorted Alphabetically by Band) * Acro-brats "Day Late Dollar Short" * Anarchy Club "Blood Doll" * Bang Camaro "Pleasure (Pleasure)" * Crooked X " Nightmare" * Death of the Cool "Can't Let Go" * Flyleaf "I'm So Sick" * Freezepop "Brainpower" * Honest Bob "I Get By" * The Konks "29 Fingers" * The Mother Hips "Time We Had" * Timmy & The Lords of the Underworld - 'self titled song' * Tribe "Outside" * VAGIANT "Seven" /IV.c.------------------------------------------------------------------------ My Favorites I won't list all of my favorite songs from this game, here, but rather, the ones I like to play. Regardless of the game, I like to play Freezepop. Is it just me, or is Freezepop unlockable in just about every game of this type? They're everywhere! I think they're taking over the world. Anyhow, I score consistently higher on Freezepop songs than I do any others. One song I absolutely despise (as do my friends) is the Aerosmith track that was included. Couldn't you have put Crazy on there, or... heck anything else! Singing and playing Bass at the same time, I have scored 100% flawless on Bon Jovi's "Wanted". That's just a good track. Orange Crush is fine too. I like singing Maps. And one of my new favorites is Dani California. I didn't think I'd like that song until I did the whole "Play Bass and Sing" bit, but yeah, it's great. Touching lyrics. I can't get enough of Flyleaf. I score quite high on Tribe's "Outside". Timmy is cool, but impossible to play! Even Medium is difficult. And, of course, I can't get brainpower out of my head. //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /V.--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solo Mode vs Multiplayer Mode Solo Mode is the way to unlock Bonus songs, which you may then play in the multiplayer band mode. If you haven't tried multiplayer mode with a few of your friends yet, I highly suggest it. It's great! And "Rezzing" (saving) your bandmates can be fun too. To save your bandmates, just build up your meter and activate your overdrive! This will bring your bandmember back into the green, and improve your score as well. One Rezzing tactic I've learned can help out sometimes, if you're doing good; Wait five seconds before you Rez. This allows a little bit of time to pass, and perhaps, it will get them out of a rough section. There is no way to Resurrect yourself in Solo mode, but activating your overdrive should be enough to get your score back in the green! Two other Multiplayer Modes exist, beside Co-operative "World Tour" mode. These are called "Tug-of-war" and "Score Duel". In Tug-of-war, you both play alternating pieces of the song, with certain parts played together. In Score Duel, you each take turns playing the whole song, to achieve a more accurate score. Tug-of-war is more fun, but if you really want to know who's better, pick Score Duel. //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /VI.-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheats and Unlockables In order to unlock all the bonus songs, play this sequence on the drums; PS2: Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue Note; this disables the ability to save your game. Choose QuickPlay mode to see all the unlocked songs. //---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /VII.------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright Notice This FAQ may be redistributed IN WHOLE to other sites, without written consent from the author. However, www.GAMEFAQS.com will usually have the most recent version, as that is the only place the author has an account. If you think you don't have the most recent version, it's worth checking that site. Thank you, and rock on! -Steve