Rock Band vs DTXMania as a drum learning tool

When Guitar Hero came out, many guitarists bashed the game for bastardizing their art and reducing it to finger tapping game with 5 frets. Others argued the game's merits - that it inspires players, increases their appreciation for music, and that it's difficult songs requires a high amount of technical skill (and immortalizing Herman Li as some sort of guitar god).

This argument was brought over to the drumming community when Rock Band came out. While it's colourful 4-pad controller was similarly dismissed by purists, there's no denying that the game forces you to learn realistic drum patterns. Subsequent controllers (such as the ION drum rocker) amended this lack of realism. Nevertheless, the game is not ideal as a drum learning tool in many ways:

- Firstly, the game's 5-lane limitation makes the notation MORE confusing for beginners since one pad can double as many cymbals, so students may have trouble recognizing when to hit what when it comes to a real set.
- It's coulourful animations and design suggests it to be what it is - a game. Parents would scoff if they saw their son playing Rockband in their $30/hour drum lesson.
- Drum charts cannot be created or edited. Wouldn't it be nice if you could ask your student to transcribe their favourite song and then play it for you?

The computer simulator DTXMania (based on Rockband's predecessor Drummania) solves the above problems by having 8 lanes with separate notation for open hihat/ride/splash etc. As it is a sim, it relies on user-made simfiles, which means that you can find a plethora songs to play for free (including double bass songs). Granted, the quality of notecharts may vary, and there are less charts for beginners. But it's never too difficult to learn how to transcribe your own simfile.

Unfortunately, being a drum simulator, it does have its drawbacks: lack of online play, no free-soloing sections, few guitar simfiles. But for the solo drummer who looking for the most "realistic" drum game, DTXMania is the one.