AUTHORING OUR GAMES: ASSES AND ELBOWS

Written by: The Rocker

In our previous posts, my Rocker wife and I had been writing the journey of or Rock Band 2 deal. We had talked about how we were "discovered," about the negotiations with the big-wigs, and the different procedures we were engaging into as we are about to fully launch this.

Now we are working in the game making software programs that bands will be using to author their Rock Band Network games. "Reaper" is a music production software program that is used to input MIDI note data and for the sound editing and shaping of WAV files (an audio file similar to an mp3). As you may know, MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a type of file that is universally compatible. Similar to the way word processing files other than MS Word will let you save files as Word files, my Sibelius notation software and allows me to save them as MIDI files.  This is definitely the "roll up your sleeves work" and you will see nothing but asses and elbows during this part of the process. Todd (vocalist/bassist) is now working on Reaper to get the stems (audio files) to play correctly. The problem is that when we recorded our album, we didn't have an extra track to put on a SMPTE  (a time code commonly used for synchronizing film and music) and/or MIDI time code so we have to work in and around it now. We recorded a click track but there was apparently quite a bit of pushing and pulling on the beat. 

Todd spent a lot of time creating a tempo map in Reaper. After great effort working on his own, he finally decided to enlist my transcribing skills, so I went to work and came up with MIDI files for the drums and for the guitars. It was a strenuous job, putting in a good 4-5 hours of  transcribing and creating MIDI files. I emailed them to Todd and they should make the task much easier on his end. We did find out that we are not alone in having issues getting our tracks into Rock Band. Other bands have left comments about the difficulty of authoring their tracks for game play. 

I talked to Todd today and he said its time to take the gloves off and throw down with this thing. He's like a dog with a chew toy. That thing is goin' down hard. Really hard.

We will have our first song "I've Got A Nickel" finished within a week or two and it will go to the BETA group for a critique. 

Wish us luck!!!!!!!!

Comments

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i like rock music but i can't play it, just listen and enjoy rock music, but i also like a classic instrument, its a great ,,

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dont get very hard life, just easy going friend

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yeahh,, keep on rockin beybehhhh....