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One instrument songs for Rock Band Network? Go for it! photo

In the comments our Rock Band Network preview, Destructoid reader Xzyliac had an interesting question.
 
"Do you know if Harmonix is requiring four tracks for every song?" he asked. "I already know the guitar tracks are 'flexible' but what about if, say, I'm a folk singer-songwriter and all I've got is guitar and vocals?" 
 
While the question was presumably answered by a screenshot which only displayed a bass and guitar part, we checked in to make sure our eyes weren't deceiving us.
 
"Yes, you can author songs with less than four instruments," an MTV Games rep told us. "You can create songs using any of combination of the instrument tracks, between one and four."
 
So not only is guitar/vocals folk rock viable, but the door looks pretty much open for other styles of music -- hip-hop songs with only strong drums, bass, and vocals, for example. A classical, acoustic guitar piece, or something for solo voice.
 
Of course, you'd have to wonder how much fun a track like that would be to play in Rock Band. Should the price of a track cost less because fewer parts had to be authored for it? (Artists can set their own prices per song, from $1 to $3.) What do you think of tracks with "missing" parts, and how much would you pay? 


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15 comments | showing # 1 to 15

DeusPayne's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:43
DeusPayne
Gimme some blue man group, 4 drummers. It'd be awesome.
Deathofthedead's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:52
Deathofthedead
This is awesome, I was hoping this would be possible. I still think Harmonix is making a mistake by not letting people give the music away if they choose, or at least sell it for an 8-point "Harmonix fee" or whatever.
falinter's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:53
falinter
4 vocal tracks that only hit the tambourine function for 4 minutes.

instant buy! $3!
pendelton21's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:53
pendelton21
Everytime I hear news about this, I keep thinking how great of an idea it is. Harmonix has really covered every base it possibly can with this system. Genius is what it is.
DJDuffy 's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:54
DJDuffy
I wonder how this would play out if you were online with friends. Would a couple people have to sit out for the song and just watch?
Fusiontr's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 11:56
Fusiontr
I think pendelton hit the nail on the head there. I love Rock Band already due to what I thought was a diverse range of music. Now, with RBN it's even more diverse.
I seriously love HMX. Like, I want to have all their babies.
Nick Chester's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 12:07
Nick Chester
A reminder, this doesn't add the functionality of being able to play four drum kits with four players in one song. Unfortunately. There's another game that does that, though. It comes out tomorrow, and is called Guitar Hero 5.

You will, however, be able to just make a song with a single guitar... if you wanted to.
Xzyliac's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 12:28
Xzyliac
Aw, sweet! I am so glad to hear this. This totally opens up the floodgates for some really good shit.
TheTaj's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 12:39
TheTaj
Sweet. It's really great that the Rock Band Network is favoring artistic intention and integrity over the same-old-same-old.
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 13:23
Holyetheline
I was thinking they would make this a possibility.
F Whipple's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 13:27
F Whipple
Barber shop quartet!!
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 15:28
Dexter345
This is pretty good news, because I've got a couple songs of my own, and I was wondering if I'd have to shoehorn guitar into songs that didn't originally have any.

I still think I might, just because a full band playing would be better.
Vedicardi2's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 16:44
Vedicardi2
drum solooooo
JimmySky's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 17:02
JimmySky
This is very good news. Opens the doors for vocal-less acts like Behold... The Arctopus.
Jon B's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/31/2009 19:32
Jon B
More songs without a vocal track that focus on solos? Yes please.
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