Last Tuesday, Vanderbilt students had the opportunity to participate in a Rock Band tournament following a discussion with Eran Ergozy, developer of the popular video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero and co-founder, Chief Technical Officer, and Vice President of Engineering of Harmonix Music Systems.
The event, sponsored by The Curb Center as part of The Curb Leadership Series and the Creative Campus Initiative at Vanderbilt, intended to expose students to the possibility of combining entrepreneurship with the arts.
“We’re musicians first, game developers second,” said Ergozy, a classical clarinetist who showcased his musical talent with a brief performance during the discussion.
“When we think of game design, we’re looking for authentic musical experiences. It’s a painstaking process but it’s done by musicians who take a real guitar song and squish it down to five buttons and craft it so that it’s as musical as possible,” he said.
Ergozy’s goal has always been to “get anyone, regardless of talent or years of training, to feel that great feeling of performing music.”
At the opening of the tournament, four Nashville Session Players performed Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on both live instruments and a Rock Band set.
Eight student “bands” entered in the competition were challenged to beat the Nashville Session Player’s score, which luckily for them, meant that they only had to complete more than 15 percent of the song.
Many students at the tournament attained high scores and were very familiar with the game. Others, such as seniors Holli Humphries and Andrew Tritter entered the competition with a less competitive edge.
“The name of our band is ‘Microbial Music Masters,’” said Humphries. “It was formed by my molecular biology professor.”
“I usually play rock band in a less formal, more inebriated setting,” said Tritter, who said that Rock Band is a great game for parties. “It’s one of the few video games where you can get a bunch of people to all play together.”
Ergozy told students that he never expected the games to become so successful, especially since they were targeted at a very specific demographic.
“We decided not to make (Guitar Hero) appealing for everyone. It had this awesome ‘80s style and it had humor. It was making fun of rock in a very appreciative, spinal tap sort of way. We didn’t care that no one was going to buy it.”
Ergozy also specifically addressed criticism that Guitar Hero isn’t even close to “the real thing” and emphasized that music gaming is not a substitute for playing an instrument.
“There are certain parallels,” said Ergozy. “There’s this kind of nervous energy, a sense of relief when you’re done and a fear of failure. You feel good, like you’ve accomplished something. But it’s just a game.”
He added that the company has been keeping in mind ways of creating consoles that more accurately reflect actual musical instruments.
Proceeds from the competition benefited the W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School, which provides music lessons to children from low-income families.
