Since my Rock Band drum pedal mod post was picked up on Digg, I’ve had people share links to other mods. A few of them took modification much further than I did, and I thought I should share their work.
Rock Band drums made from a real electronic drum kit
This guy blew me away with his electronic drum set modified to work with Rock Band! Check out that link for detailed info on how he did it. In the meantime, here’s a video demonstrating his work:
Double bass pedal Rock Band drum mod
I was introduced to Reldan’s double bass drum setup in a comment on Digg. He provides great information about how he replaced the Rock Band magnetic sensor with one that worked better on a real drum pedal. Here’s a few pics of his handy work (see many more on the Scorehero thread about it):
. The photos also have annotations that make it easier to understand the details of this Rock Band drum pedal mod. Here’s an example of what you’ll find:
Cheap mod to quiet Rock Band’s drum pads
Joystiq provided a good post about how to dampen the sound of Rock Band’s drum pads. Here’s what is looks like:
Rock Band drum products
If you aren’t feeling up to doing your own modifications, here’s a list of products that may get you what you want:
- Fix (or prevent) a broken Rock Band drum pedal
- Rock Band drum pads (here’s a review of gum rubber silencing pads)
- A plethora of Rock Band drum accessories on eBay
Is modding a Rock Band drum set cheating?
Interestingly, much of the comment discussion on Digg centered around whether or not it was “fair” for me to have replaced my Rock Band drum pedal with a real one. The concern was about whether or not I had an unfair advantage, especially when playing on Xbox live.
First, I didn’t mod my kit for an advantage. I did it because my pedal broke and I figured it would again. My interest was in durability. It turns out that it was an improved experience as well. I don’t play Rock Band for competition. I play because it’s fun. However, there are those who do compete. Some of those competitors feel like everyone should play with the same shitty pedal that comes with the game. Professional athletes are not required to use the same equipment. Olympic athletes do not use the same equipment. In battles of the bands the musicians do not use the same equipment. I think that they are just jealous. This post provides several examples for how to roll your own, so there is no excuse for anyone not to have a better pedal.
Conclusion
It appears the two biggest things players want to improve about the cheapo drum set that comes with Rock Band is the drum pedal and making the kit quieter. Manufacturers of video game controllers have an opportunity to address these demands. Some players already own an electronic drum kit, and a nice converter cable would sell well. Personally, now that I’ve seen just how far one can go, I’m planning to create a V Drum kit. Should I actually carry this out, I’ll share the step by step photo guide, of course. 
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