Play Rock Band on a MIDI Instrument

I've finally got my mod working with Rock Band! I had been waiting for OBsIV's XIM2 to come out before I did this, but I missed the original shipment of them and they're currently sold out. Plus it wasn't quite right for my Rock Band purposes, like XIM1 was for my Guitar Hero MIDI input mod. So I decided to have a go at my first microprocessor programming project and try to implement the RB mod myself. A couple weeks later... it works!

This video shows off the mod. There's an overview of how it works, and a demo of me playing the guitar, bass and drum parts using it. I love Portal, and this song cracks me up. I was going to sing too, but I decided... nahhhh.

Since the RB guitar and drum controllers are compatible with RB2, I'll probably be getting it and you can expect RB2 videos in the future. Also, GH:WT guitar-on-drums videos, since GH:WT will support the RB guitar. For their drums, I'll just have to try their MIDI port, rather than hack them.

I've made MIDI Hero available for download to anyone that wants to attempt this mod. Details on my website.

That "popup" at the end was just a clip that came with my editing software. I threw it in there to be funny.

FAQ:
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Q: How does it work?
A: Everything is explained in detail here: http://egyokeo.com/midihero

Q: How do you do 3-note chords?
A: All "two adjacent note" power chords are mapped to the top 4 pads, so with two sticks I can play any 3-note chord except GYO. But I can get that with one stick in left hand and two fingers on right hand.

Q: How do you do whammy and star power?
A: I use a bass drum pedal on my right foot to activate star power, and a hi-hat pedal on my left foot to control whammy depth.

Q: How do you hold notes?
A: My MIDI Hero software has an auto-hold feature for every note hit because it's more natural for a drummer to play that way. It's not a good feeling to mash sticks into drum pads to hold notes.

Q: Which video editor do you use?
A: My earlier videos were made with Windows Movie Maker. My latest videos are made Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8.

Q: How much does this cost?
A: The drumKat is a pro-quality MIDI drum pad set. These days, they run about $1k but I bought my set years ago. I also use a PC to run my custom home-brew MIDI Hero software to interpret the drum events. Then the "XIM" and "XFPS" add another $100+. This is not made for the masses. This is a one-of-a-kind setup.

Q: Do you play real drums? Are you in a band?
A: Yes, I've been playing drums since 1986. I have been in various bands from Jazz to Ska over the years. Right now I'm in the Detroit-based ska band The Exceptions.

Q: Is "MIDI Hero" available to the public?
A: Yes, the details are on my website.
.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Rock
• Band
• RB
• Expert
• MIDI
• Hero
• Drums
• Guitar
• Bass
• drumKat
• Xbox
• 360
• SiLabs
• ToolStick
• Still
• Alive
• Gold
• Star

[rockexpert]

the only question i have is how did u do all this with a broken finger?

[egyokeo]

@rockexpert it wasn't broken. It was just injured... like carpel tunnel type thing. It only hurt when I held it in just the right way... to play the guitar controller. Anything else, like drumming, soldering, etc... totally fine.

[urbandisaster567]

egyokeo, you are one smart guy.

[123mcquade123]

this guy is the smartest person i hav ever seen.. man. you should come to my house and figure that out for ps3 lol

[rockexpert]

@egyokeo ok...

[MrHuglz]

What keyboard is tht !@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!!

[kris12wolf12]

you have your computer in a walking machine?

[felipexmetallica]

or better buy a drum fucking idiot

[VViP30U7]

whyyy?

[SmexMuffins]

Or you could play rockband 3

[reinux]

hobbyist win

[demonslayer1000]

i remember i first heard the song your playing on portal back in 2007