Wow, Rockband has hooked us up with yet another instrument, and I love it. The Wireless Keyboard. Let me start off by saying this thing works very well, and if you play or have ever wanted to play Piano/Synthesizer this is a great tool.
What this device also does is really open up Harmonix to even more music. Now I can get some Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, The Doors ( featured Song of the game ) and any other really heavy Piano tracks. Of course this all depends on your genre preference, but my preferences are wide open.
My initial impression is that like the Drums, the Keyboard is not for the average Joe.
What my mother didn’t realize 20+ years ago when she got my sister and I piano lessons is that she was not training me to be culturally enriched, or to appreciate music. She was training me to compete in PS3 Rockband Online Battles. THANKS MOM! Have I used those lessons in the past 20 years ? NO.. Will I use and remember those fundamantals while I’m playing RB3 with the new wireless Keyboard peripheral? YES! You know what I like? It’s game companies that listen to what their users want and produce a solid deliverable. That friends is a Booya! +1 Harmonix
My initial impression is that like the Drums, the Keyboard is not for the average Joe. At least not if that Joe plans to play on Hard or Expert. Sure, some folks can roll up and just play the keys and pass on Easy, but I’d rather put my feet up and snap my fingers in that case. But if you’re a little more hardcore on Rockband then you likely agree with what I consider to be the simple truth. The game is way more fun the harder difficulty that you play. When I roll Expert drums on Detroit Rock City, it’s amazingly fun, and tiring! I am NOT ready for expert Keyboard yet, but that, as always, is my goal.
Another Interesting Improvement on this device is the power save mode. I noticed it right away.
One thing I noticed really quick about the Keyboard is that it is a little odd getting a feel for the “leftmost” note to play. When I think Left, I think Green, I think Index Finger. But the piano, Left is thumb, and it’s weird using your thumb. And of course, when you start playing on Hard difficulty, there are the many awkward requests for the old Pinky-Ring Finger combo. I am struggling with that after an hour, but it’s just practice. Really enjoying the music makes it fun of course. I am very thankful they threw in a Doobie Brother’s Jam: “China Grove” It is already to play, let alone The Doors, and Billy Joel.
Another Interesting Improvement on this device is the power save mode. I noticed it right away. This Keyboard will shutdown quick. At first I was dreading this, until I saw how quickly it fires back up. You just push the PS Button and it is ready to play once again in a snap. You’ll see! Good job Sony. So a sexier USB Dongle, quick shutdown and load, this thing is kind of impressive. And the cool thing is that you don’t have to worry about your “rhythmically challenged” friends coming over and bashing the hell out of this with drumsticks.
Here is a short video if you want to see what’s in the box, Booya will be doing a video overlay project, just not sure what if any songs from the game that I can use in the video… We’ll give it a test:)
Check out this video unboxing the Rockband Keyboard to learn more.
Rockband 3 Keyboard Hand On Overlay by Booya Gadget
BOX CONTAINS
- 3 AA Batteries
- Neck Strap
- User manual RTFM
- Bluetooth Dongle Thingy WITH 2 BONUS USB PORTS
PS3 Rock Band 3 Keyboard Pricing on Amazon
