Study Break / Rome Reginelli '09
Heroic Rock

No doubt you thought you were cool blaring eight-tracks on your hi-fi in Mudd-Blaisdell back in ’75. But these days video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band add a new riff to dorm music, as Rome Reginelli ’09 explains:

When Rock Band came out, my suitemate Jesse started playing regularly, often with other members of our friendship suite, and sometimes with our friend Blake from CMC. Most of the time, Jesse claims guitar while I claim bass, though we also have tried the other instruments.

For a memorable experience, Jesse and I played the Endless Set list—all 50-plus songs from the original Rock Band—across the span of a few days. We did the Rock Band 2 equivalent, more than 80 songs, in even less time. I really feel like I’m rocking out when I play, though sometimes the urge to show off ends up being ill-advised. Still, when I can one-hand a difficult solo, I feel like a pro, even though my attempts at playing real guitar always end in frustration. I think I’ve also developed more appreciation for the different parts of an individual song after having played those instruments in Rock Band. Nowadays, I can’t help but hear a good song and think, “This bass part would be a blast to play on Rock Band” or something similar.

I have several characters in Rock Band and I take pleasure in coming up with iconic styles for them while still changing their costumes, and straddling the line between cool and extravagant.

The No. 1 obstacle to playing has been broken instruments. Within our whole play group, I think we’ve broken three sets of drums, a microphone and a guitar. Replacing them tends to take a while, especially since Jesse’s warranty is registered to his house on the other end of the state.