Accordion Hero?
If they really made Accordion Hero, I don't think it would be enough to drag me away from the real thing in favour of playing a video game. A lot of people invest a great deal of time learning to become adept at those music video games. In fact with that kind of time on the table, learning the fundamentals of a real musical instrument would be a comparable alternative, and to me an attractive one.
I guess the point is that pretending to play is more important to a lot of people than really playing, and these games take air guitar to the nth degree. Ironically, many music stars pretend too, lip sinc shows, and even use pitch correction software to make their voice sound in tune. Plus we have a long history in the music business of pretend bands assembled by big record companies, from the Monkees back in the 60s to the boy bands of today.
A few years ago, I started playing button accordions and I've worked pretty hard at developing some chops. I wish I had the discipline as a kid to really learn this stuff. I did play a little music, but the discipline wasn't there. When I first started playing diatonic button accordions, it was the discipline that scared me. As an adult, with the reality of a job, a painting practice, and various hobbies, I didn't know if I could do it. The first weeks were brutal. The diatonic squeezeboxes are curious instruments in that the notes you get depressing a button and pushing air through the bellows are not the same notes you get depressing the same button and pulling air through the bellows. I realized I had to learn two sets of fingering, and early on, I would get so mixed up some days I wanted to give up. Eventually, of course, the brain figures it out and does it without you having to worry over it.
Over at Let's Polka, I read that the folks who make the Wii are coming out with a Wii Music package that includes accordion. For me though, the beauty of the free-reed instruments is their delightful mechanics. I love the fact that humans figured out how to organize all those reeds together in a box so that you could pump air back and forth through them and make music. The video game technology is pretty amazing, but I'll keep the real thing, thank you very much.
2 comments:
I don't know if it's rtue or not but I heard kids were getting into shape playing Wii and stuff.
Meanwhile...I would love to have a game set up...but I prefer zombies and guns...and then I turn into a frat boy...no housework, no cooking...
Yeah I know Candy. And some companies like to hire gamers because they are so goal oriented and yadayada. Still, it is an activity that eats a huge amount of time and leaves you with very little satisfaction (or anything else) when you stop.
As you know, I played some video games for a few months, and later emerged, wondering what happened to that chunk of my life. So to the good folks who are getting in shape and becoming scientists and brain surgeons playing wii, good for you. Go to it, have fun. Whatever gets ya through the night, it's alright.
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