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Hardware Hacking Entertainment Games

Rock Band Drum Kit Modded 124

Brett "Buzz" Dawson writes "Seeing all of the Guitar Hero guitar mods I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to mod a full-sized drum kit for use as a Rock Band game controller. With everything that I build I take lots of pictures to document the build process so here is the full build of my drum kit." Fortunately at my house Kathleen has been doing the drumming, so I don't think I need to go to these extremes to handle the abuse. I'm more interested in mods that let you use the original drums as a real instrument like the guitar mods that are floating out there. The tiny bits of drum solo time in Rock Band don't satisfy my internal Keith Moon.
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Rock Band Drum Kit Modded

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  • by Digital_Quartz ( 75366 ) on Thursday January 10, 2008 @09:45AM (#21983554) Homepage
    If you have the PS3 version of Rock Band, then here's how to mod your drum kit:

    Step 1: Plug drum kit into PC.

    Done. Your PC will detect the PS3 drum kit as a MIDI device.

    Check out this link for details for the Xbox-360 version:

    http://news.filefront.com/rock-band-drums-for-pc-xbox-360-vs-ps3-kit/ [filefront.com]

  • by mpathetiq ( 726625 ) on Thursday January 10, 2008 @09:51AM (#21983646) Homepage
    In response to the editor comment: I hooked up my drum controller to my MacBook and used GamePad Companion to feed keystrokes into Ableton Live. I was able to use it as a real drum kit for a bit but I'm not a drummer, so instead I started using pitched tones for each of the pads.... much more interesting!

    I posted the results on my blog. [blogspot.com]
  • by SneakyBushNinja ( 1178539 ) on Thursday January 10, 2008 @09:52AM (#21983656)
    And here I thought I was a bad-ass hanging a cow bell from mine.
  • This HAS to be one of the coolest game controllers out there. And it lets you get your rock on extra special loud I bet. Hate the neighbors? Get their kids one of these.
  • by 192939495969798999 ( 58312 ) <info@de[ ]moore.com ['vin' in gap]> on Thursday January 10, 2008 @10:18AM (#21984096) Homepage Journal
    Modding real guitar to be guitar controller, friend has modded drums for a drum controller... given how much lip syncing is done in music now, at this point you'd basically be in "real" band!
  • Mods are great, but hard work. I designed my GHX software to work with an unmodified guitar hero controller.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkyRRSSKHLU [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8do51fVRyzY [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMTHozq4XPI [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ohtqvF33c [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2wk70ZSZNc [youtube.com]

    I think the sky's the limit on this whole guitar hero/rock band thing. Practically every kid I know got Rock Band for Christmas, and every one of their parents took a turn on the drums or micr
  • for a video showing someone fraggin in COD4 with a drumkit controller...
  • The tiny bits of drum solo time in Rock Band don't satisfy my internal Keith Moon.

    You mean, they don't satisfy your desire to be an energetic and entertaining, yet alcoholic drummer with only a vague sense of rhythm?

  • Cool we can't stop playing Rock Band at my house. Too addicting...
  • by FreeRadicalX ( 899322 ) on Thursday January 10, 2008 @11:41AM (#21985432)
    The crazy kids over at the rockband.scorehero.com forums have been modding the drum controller since like a week after the game came out: http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1038&sid=d1748155f6f141a8f805db1bf5df84b3 [scorehero.com]

    Double bass pedals, yamaha midi kit mods, alternative bass pedals, analyzing how the piezos in the drum kid actually register hits and improving on them... List goes on.

    I've modded my pedal after the cheap one that came with the kit inevitably broke after the third day of playing. Since the bass pedal connects to the rest of the kit using a mono audio plug, it's easy for someone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of electronics (me) to rig a real bass pedal to work with the kit. Documented here: http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2029 [scorehero.com]
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Technician ( 215283 )
      I've modded my pedal after the cheap one that came with the kit inevitably broke after the third day of playing. Since the bass pedal connects to the rest of the kit using a mono audio plug, it's easy for someone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of electronics (me) to rig a real bass pedal to work with the kit. Documented here: http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2029 [scorehero.com] [scorehero.com]

      Having a background in high reliability electronics, I know many switches are rated for a limited numb
      • I've already replaced the push-button once. At the rate I play (frequently and vigorously) it wears out after about a month. It only costs a few bucks from radioshack, so I don't mind too much, but I have been considering more durable options. Thanks a bunch- for the most part the guys at scorehero are just tinkering gamers, not actual electronics guys, so I really appreciate your post.

        And I can tell you that magnetic switches don't work well. That's the type of switch that comes with the kit's pedal. It
  • My tips for modding (Score:2, Interesting)

    by slagheap ( 734182 )

    My only mod so far is to replace the bass drum pedal. I'm a "real" drummer (though I don't play much)... and I couldn't stand the included drum pedal. It has a huge springy travel, and it triggers somewhere in the middle of that travel (rather than right at the end like a real pedal would).

    I have a Yamaha DTXPress electronic drum kit, and was able to use a cymbal pad from that, mounted (on a cymbal stand) right in front of the DTX's bass drum trigger. The bass drum trigger itself doesn't work for some

  • Drummania players have been doing this for years with a Yamaha DTX or similar. Just plug it into the usb socket.
  • Dennis Chambers. 'Nuff said.
  • ...for them to come out with French Horn Hero for Xbox 360 in order to make a mod I want to play on. Don't know that I want to put limit switches on the valves on my horn, though...maybe all it would need is a mic.
  • No Hi-Hat? You can't be a real rock drummer without a hi hat. That set of glorified quad toms just wonon't do.

  • What is this guy on?

    This stuff is so strong that I played one song on the drums using two crescent wrenches and didn't even leave a scratch on them.

    I bet I could break them easily.

Truly simple systems... require infinite testing. -- Norman Augustine

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