How to Make Your Own Rockband Song
Released in 2007, Harmonix took the gaming world by storm with the release of "Rock Band," allowing gamers to form a band with their friends and play guitar, bass, drums and sing on the microphone. At the end of 2009, Harmonix took the Rock Band franchise a step further with the Rock Band Creators Club, thereby allowing users to create original songs that are available for purchase in the Rock Band Store.
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Things You'll Need
- XNA Creators Club Online Premium Membership
- Xbox Live Gold Membership
- Computer with Internet connection
- Xbox 360 console
- Rock Band 2 game disc
Instructions
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Purchase an XNA Creators Club Online Premium Membership for $99 per year.
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Create your song using "Reaper," a customized music creation program developed by Harmonix and Cockos with the specific purpose of creating Rock Band songs. Add and adjust instrument recordings, crowd reactions, character animations and song lyrics. You will also need to set a difficulty for the song and map out the individual notes for each instrument.
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Package the song using another program called "Magma" to compile all song information into a basic file for easy transfer to your Xbox 360. Magma can also be used to automatically create lighting and camera assignments, make small adjustments in song volume and mixing, and generate lip-syncing for on-screen singers. Magma also automatically controls other features, including the use of fog machines and pyrotechnics.
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Transfer the new song file to your Xbox 360 with a local network. Boot up "Rock Band 2" and access the "Audition Mode" from the main menu. Use this mode to sample your song and adjust playback speed. You can play each part of your song individually or invite up to three friends to play the song with you. This is your last chance to experience the song in the same way as your customers.
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Post your song to the Rock Band Network website to receive peer review. Other users and song creators will listen to your music and study the note placement to determine difficulty accuracy, song quality and to ensure that the song isn't a copyright infringement of licensed music. You are not allowed to cover songs or use samples in your music, as doing so will result in a ban from the system.
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Add your song to the Rock Band Network store. You will be able to sell your song for 80, 160 or 240 Microsoft points. You will only receive 30 percent of the song's revenue, while the remaining 70 percent will go to Harmonix and Microsoft. You will receive a check from XNA every quarter.
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Tips & Warnings
Start out charging only 80 Microsoft points for your music. If your music becomes popular and you make a name for yourself, raise your prices to increase profit.
