New drum kits for Rock Band 2

By Ellie Gibson Published 11 July, 2008

New cymbal options promised.

Electronic Arts is planning to release two new drum kits for Rock Band 2.

That's according to US magazine Game Informer (as reported by Kotaku).

Apparently the new standard drums will look much like the kit which is available now. However, the drum pads will be "velocity sensitive" and won't be so noisy, and the pedal will be reinforced with metal. You'll be able to buy clip-on cymbals separately.

The second kit has been licensed by drum-makers Ion and is accordingly called the Ion Drum kit. It won't be cheap, but for the extra cash you'll get three electromagic cymbals and adjustable pads, plus what appears to be a metal frame. In addition, it'll work as a standalone electronic drum kit when you're not playing the game.

All very exciting, but will the drums end up costing a lot more here in Europe than they do in the US? Yes of course look do you mind I've got things to do. Rock Band 2 is out in the States this September, with a European date yet to be announced.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (26) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Derblington #1 4 years ago

    Interesting...

  • gingerlink #2 4 years ago

    having it as an electronic drumkit as well does at least mean it can do more...

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #3 4 years ago

    Paint me impressed.

    Ion do a USB drum kit for about £100, so I imagine it to be around the £150 mark as the RB2 ION kit looks better.

    I'm going to have to sell my current RB drums me thinks.

  • Eraysor #4 4 years ago

    They should give a rebate to people who bought the 1st edition drums.

  • Razz #5 4 years ago

    Europe Spring 2010. :/

  • Wickerman #6 4 years ago

    Ok, I'm confused... original Rock Band kit has been confirmed to work with Rock Band 2, right? But the Rock Band 2 drums are velocity sensitive? Doesn't that change how the drums (and therefore the tracks) work - assuming its an actual feature and not a wanky buzz word that actually means there isn't any benefit to be had?

  • kewny #7 4 years ago

    So does that mean I simply have to purchase rock band 2 plus the clip on cymbals to fit to my rock band 1 drum kit ??

  • Razz #8 4 years ago

    I assume that people with the new drums will just be able to vary the "loudness" of the drum samples coming during the play by how hard they strike the pads and that people using the existing kit will just have a set volume, probably 100% velocity. I doubt that RB2 will have songs or sections within songs that require you to hit the drums softer or harder, I believe all they are doing is adding another layer of immersion for the player.

  • asphaltcowboy #9 4 years ago

    But... with 5 drum tracks (4 pads and a bass), how will the cymbals be incorporated?

  • Wickerman #10 4 years ago

    @Razz - ah, that'd make sense! Probably end up picking up one of the new ones between the band of friends I play with anyway - now the drummer has stepped up to Hard it doesn't look like its going to be too long before we have pieces of pedal and drum scattered all over the place...

  • Razz #11 4 years ago

    Yeah. I've skipped out getting all the bits for RB but I'll definitely be getting the complete kit for Guitar Hero WT. The kit looks really cool! I'm really loving the touch sensitive part of the new Guitar Controller too, aparently it's used for bending notes.

  • Erinan #12 4 years ago

    RB2 "normal" drums - RB2 Ion drums

  • iancognito #13 4 years ago

    More expense, and we'll have to wait longer than America again and probably pay more again. Dunno why I'm moaning, I didn't buy the first one.

  • sanctusmortis #14 4 years ago

    Hah, in the picture of the "normal" kit they point to the drum stick holders as "attach points for cymbals"! Clowns.

  • MBar #15 4 years ago

    But... with 5 drum tracks (4 pads and a bass), how will the cymbals be incorporated?

    If you look at the Ion linked image above, you'll see a yellow pad and a yellow cymbal.

    You have the option of hitting either, but either still equates to a yellow hit. You can hit whichever you want as long as you hit one of them when a yellow is scrolling past.

    In Rock Band 1, yellow can be a mounted tom (during drum fills) or a hi-hat (during regular play), so essentially you should be hitting the yellow cymbal for yellow notes and bashing the yellow pad in drum fills if you want, but really it doesn't matter.

    This is how fan-made Rock Band 1 kits with user-crafted cymbals work, so I assume the above from this. Therefore, you could use RB1 Drums, RB2 Drums, RB2 drums with extra cymbals or the Ion kit and still make everything work with just a 5 note sheet music on screen.

    Of course, they might be doing some crazy coding logic to vary the required input based on the connected instrument, but to be honest, I'll doubt they'll go that far because you could essentially play the game in EZ-mode by playing on RB1 drums compared to the Ion kit. Still, they might do that ...
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/08 @ 12:55

  • MBar #16 4 years ago

    Hah, in the picture of the "normal" kit they point to the drum stick holders as "attach points for cymbals"! Clowns.

    And one thing can't preform two functions obviously ... It's a small black bit of plastic in the photo which you see from one angle. That could also be the top of a connection point.

  • sharky_ob #17 4 years ago

    The dynamic sensitive drums will probably only vary the volume for the fill sections - can't see it working in the majority of the song.

  • kangarootoo #18 4 years ago

    My take on it is that the high level cymbal pads are simply optional targets that you can use to feel more like you are playing a real drum kit, but they won't actually add more pads to the game mechanic.

    In the pic above you can see that the cymbal pads replicate the colours of the main drum pads (except for the red snare). So you could still use the pads for hi-hat, ride and crash... OR hit the new high level cymbal pads for the same effect. I don't think that the game knows or cares which side of any given pair you use.

    Edit: wot mbar said ;)
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/08 @ 12:50

  • kangarootoo #19 4 years ago

    "The dynamic sensitive drums will probably only vary the volume for the fill sections - can't see it working in the majority of the song."

    I don't see why they couldn't vary the volume of all sampeles throughout the track. Its a tricial job to change the playback volume on a per-sample basis.

    Tbh though, I tend to see the velocity sensitivity as a bit of a novelty. Most players will just be following the tracks and doing their best not to miss any notes. For drummers it might be a nice addition, but I would guess that most players (I am speaking as both) will be hitting the pads with the same force almost all the time.

    Also, electronic drum pads tend to vary greatly in their ability to detect velocity. Even a top end kit isn't as sensitive as a real cymbal (for example), so a cheap one is unlikely to really "feel" like a real kit just because velocity sensitivity was added.

  • jaxon58 #20 4 years ago

    I have an ION USB drumkit already. They're no great shakes really. There's a very common problem with the bass pedal, in that it thinks you've pressed on it twice instead of once. Cannot be fixed apparently.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #21 4 years ago

    I also think that the velocity detection is just a novelt that doesn't add an awful lot. Real cymbals simply work completely differently then such a plastic/rubber cymbal will - if only because there's a little more to the sound than just how hard you hit it. It simply makes a different sound if you hit it lightly, it's not the same like you hit it hard but just not as loud. But who knows, I personally think that they did a great job with RB so maybe it will make the experience even more fun. I just don't think that I will buy a new drum kit just for this.

  • Lebowski #22 4 years ago

    So that's Rock Band drums, then there are the GH4 drums, and the Rock Band 2 drums, and the Super Rock Band 2 drums. Mm, might see hold back and see which is compatible with which on this one. :-D

  • InsoFox #23 4 years ago

    I do want an electronic drum kit, but I'll probably get a better one and just get the RB2 drums for the sturdier build quality for Rock Band. And then maybe add the cymbal option.

  • Zomoniac #24 4 years ago

    I was about to pick up a DM5Pro, since I sold my V-Customs and then the DTXtremes I replaced them with to make way for yet more acoustic drums that I don't have space to play, and am now looking for a cheap e-kit for quiet practice. I'm now tempted to hold out in case it's playable, although the inability to do double-kick is a major issue for me.

    And looking at that picture, it seems the 'good' kit doesn't have the bar across the bottom. If that pedal isn't superglued to the floor it's going to go sliding everywhere and be completely unusable. If they find a way to stop the pedal sliding I'll definitely be getting the swish one, if only for the ability to put the drums at a less stupid angle than the current ones are fixed at. I'm curious as to why they got a 4-year old to set up the kit in the promo pic though.

  • Toothball #25 4 years ago

    Mmm, I was going to try to keep to the one drum kit, but now I don't think I'll be able to resist the Ion one. It looks lovely. My dilemma now is whether to get the current wireless guitars if they ever release them here, or hold out for what may be an eternity for the new models. Really not a fan of my old GH2 guitars any more, but these new ones do look pretty good.

  • Zomoniac #26 4 years ago

    My dilemma now is whether to get the current wireless guitars if they ever release them here, or hold out for what may be an eternity for the new models.

    I think the RB guitar is the worst one ever released. I still use the GH3 one and keep the RB one for friends to use.