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Rock Band 4 gets updated Vocals and Drums mechanics

While there's still a lot that isn't known about Rock Band 4, Harmonix is shedding a little more light on some of the mechanics set to receive a face lift. Today, they revealed that Vocals and Drums are getting an adjustment.

Ozzie Mejia

May 4, 2015 10:20 AM

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There's still relatively little information available for Rock Band 4, in terms of songs and features. Harmonix did offer up a few more details earlier today about their upcoming return to the stage, including some upgraded gameplay mechanics for both drums and vocals.

Vocals will get major harmonies support, with all previously-issued songs receiving new harmony updates. While IGN noted the updates are coming from a fan-led community, RockBandAide more specifically credits the RB Harmonies Project, a group of fans that have painstakingly analyzed each song in the Rock Band library and added harmonies where appropriate. RBHP documented their results and shot them over to Harmonix, free of charge.

Singers will also see a new feature called Freeform Melodies that allows creative liberties with vocal tracks. Players can make up their own harmonies on the fly, just as long as they stay in tune with the song. Scores will then be added on two fronts, one for hitting the right tone and another rewarding for improv skills.

Drummers will see something of an overhaul to drum fills. Different song genres will receive new authored drum fills to fill in some of a song's dead spots. So drum fills are more structured and less "Animal from the Muppets." The new drum fills will be applied retroactively to all DLC tracks and will be implemented to all tracks moving forward. Drummers will also get the option to count their band in and cue up the start of the song themselves by rhythmically tapping on cymbals or toms.

More details are expected to come later, including on the game's Career Mode, which designer Alli Thresher describes to IGN as "Rock Band RPG." Rock Band 4 is set to hit Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?