Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.
C3 releases for October 2, 2015:
New! The End
- Bachman-Turner Overdrive – “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (Sygenysis, Nyxyxylyth, Nunchuck, and AddyMilldike)
- Focus – “Hocus Pocus (Live)” (ghostbyob, mazegeek999, Jimi369, Sideshow, and AddyMilldike)
- Steam – “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” (farottone, Ultimate_Mang0, Ruck Bogers 22, GanonMetroid, Colonel 32dll, and AddyMilldike)
A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass charts, a blue M denotes full multitracks, a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals), and a rusty 2x denotes that a 2x Bass Pedal version is also available. FtV denotes a song previously released by a C3 author outside of C3.
“Since the invention of the kissRock Band, there have been five RB community projects that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The end.”
“Grandpa C3, maybe you could come over and read it again to me tomorrow?”
“As you wish.”
Hello, everyone! It’s finally here — the very last C3 release. The end of all things. Armageddon. Ragnarok. The Rapt-…wait, no, we did that one at the beginning, for some reason. Uh…well, you get the idea. It’s the end! But, like any good ending, it’s also the start of something new. More on that in a second. First, let’s look at our carefully selected and prepared songs for this week.
We knew last week was going to be The Big One, and for our final week we wanted to do something symbolic. We couldn’t settle on one song, so we went with three: the original Rock Band pack size. Many of our longtime authors have been busy, and our newer authors have been stepping up lately, so: these songs are a crowdsourced effort, which fits C3 perfectly. The three songs we chose represent the fans, the authors, and the future:
- The Fans: Focus – “Hocus Pocus (Live ’73)”
That’s right, it’s that live version of “Hocus Pocus”. At this point, this song is as much of a meme as “moar Muse”, and we’re happy to finally deliver it here in the finale. The studio version of this song is much slower; Focus famously had to play the song for a TV show with a very short time window, so rather than cut down the song, they just played it crazy fast. This one’s for you guys. - The Authors: Steam – “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”
Also known as just “na na na na / hey hey hey / goodbye”. This is definitely the coolest release this week. For this song, 13 authors recorded themselves singing along. This recording can be heard in-game as the crowd singalong track, and the end of the actual song audio is just us. How cool is that?! It sounds really good, and you should go listen to it in the preview video if you haven’t yet. The mixing and preparation for this are thanks to MFX, who worked really hard to make it sound awesome. Authors in the singalong include:- AddyMilldike
- clintilona
- Dash Riprock
- espher
- farottone
- GanonMetroid
- ghostbyob
- Kemiroch
- MFX
- Nyxyxylyth
- pksage
- Sygenysis
- thomeval
- TrojanNemo
- The Future: Bachman-Turner Overdrive – “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”
Okay, so, first, it’s BTO. Somehow, we went this whole time without BTO! How is that possible? (We actually had a three-pack planned at one point, but it never panned out.) This song really takes care of business! But mostly, it’s a perfect way to kick off the next phase of C3.
Wait, what? “The next phase of C3”? It’s true — our weekly releases were great, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.
We’re excited to announce that the C3 website (i.e. the new forum) now hosts a proper community customs database. Anyone can upload their own custom songs, browse others’ customs, leave feedback, easily follow songs for updates and fixes, and generally be more engaged with the community. The database includes all C3 releases, (non-downloadable) entries for all Harmonix and RBN songs, and is available starting RIGHT NOW.
Holy moly! This has been a long time coming, and there’s still a lot of work to be done, but the community database is C3’s new beginning. Now we’re truly a Collective, a place where everyone can share their customs with the world. It’s really exciting, really useful, and really…rushed, so please be patient with us as we iron out the bugs. (We’ve been planning this for a long time, but our existing plans fell through on Sunday, and I — pksage — stood this whole thing up from scratch over the last 5 days.) For more info, see this forum announcement.
So there you have it, everyone. C3 weekly “DLC” is over, but C3 as a whole is just getting started. We’ll be continually improving the new database, especially over the next few weeks, and we might join forces with other music games (FoF, the Rocksmith guys at CustomsForge, etc.) to expand even further. Rock Band 4 comes out in 4 days, and customs are no replacement for official DLC! Please support Harmonix by playing Rock Band 4. Customs are an excellent way to fill time between new DLC, though, and we hope our forums will be a hot spot for RB4 fans. This is a great time to check out our new Rock Band 4 Discussion forum!
Fixes uploaded in the last week to previous C3 releases (and from now on, you can find updates in the new database):
- alt-J – “Breezeblocks”: Keys and venue fixes
- Jeff Buckley – “Hallelujah”: Fixed an audio channel bug
- The Mars Volta – “Cassandra Gemini”: More venue fixes after last week and some lyrics fixes
- Of Monsters and Men – “Little Talks”: New venue
- Phoenix – “Entertainment”: Drums and keys fixes
- Sum 41 – “Makes No Difference”: New venue, small vocals fixes
- Tera Melos – “Sunburn”: Small vocals and drums fixes
Before we go, farottone and I wanted to say a few words. Unfortunately, as of this writing, I’m going to be up all night getting the database ready for release. I love you guys, and C3 has been a journey, but that journey’s not over! So, instead, I’m going to let farottone do all the talking for once.
farottone writes:
I’ve been going over what to say for days now and it all inevitably ended up being about the numbers, the changes we made to the world of customs, the releases… and it felt like a business document. And all of a sudden I realised this is not about that. This, C3 and the value in what we did, is about something else.
This is about the fans who made us feel like rock stars and lavished us with praises. This is about the guy who ended up playing Genesis with his dad. It’s about all those who had fun with their friends. Those who told us this is why they stuck around and are now buying Rock Band 4 and those who discovered a new band. It’s about the guy who lost his father but found Christmas again and about those who donated to charity because this is not about money.
This is about friendship. This is about making things right, and the man who will soon understand what this means. It’s about not giving up. It’s about the man who told us “I can’t do this for a while, my wife needs me, I can’t set aside much time for customs, I’m sorry”, did what a man is supposed to do and then came back and said “I’m ready now, let’s do this.” It’s about the girl who gave up on seeing her customs released through C3 and then on the last days of releases she hits the spotlights. It’s about all the people who helped us because they saw what we were doing and about the people we helped deal with life with our humble offerings.
This is about the passion, about setting a goal almost 3 years ago and working hard every single day to make it a reality. It’s about that guy who wept playing Supper’s Ready and those who took the time to make us feel special. It’s about music but it’s about life. It’s tracking down a piece of footage just to understand what the drummer plays as much as it is re-recording preview videos on short notice without ever saying a word about it. It’s about giving 100% until Friday hits and then starting all over again because no one can go home without a smile on their face.
Finally, this is about you. You are the reason why this has existed. It’s about the players who took the stage to play their songs but only to find an audience who kept coming back for more. And it’s about us, about every single author who said “I understand what we’re trying to build here, how can I help and when do I start?” It’s about those who were here from the start and those who just got in. It’s about those who said, in April 2013, “Is this all we’re planning? Just one more big day of customs?” Yes, dear friends, it really did start as a single release. And then it became about something else entirely.
It’s about the future, and it starts now.
And, as our final encore, we want to tell a brief story:
This is a story of dreams and ultimate success. It can be told as “We got together as a bunch of guys and created songs people liked, and then we stopped”, or it can be told this way. We like this way better.
Today I stand at the top of the mountain and after years I look back and I see everything. I see the beginnings, far away, with the dreams of making it. I see the passion of those times and I see how foolish I was to think this could be done. And I see the path I took, never straight, always hard. I see all the times where I chose to do the difficult things and all the times I stumbled and fell. My body is bruised, every step is a battle but I see how I’ve picked myself up every time.
And I see the people who cheered for me. I see them in the distance, so few, so beautiful. I see them coming together from every road, because they believe, more and more as things get near. I see myself believing it can be done, I recognize the moment it happened, because I see those who came just to witness.
My eyes move to things closer and I am humbled by the people who stood at my side as days, weeks, months passed. I see those times where I thought I was alone and doubted myself. I see the corners where I sat and wondered “Do I turn around?” And then I see the people right around those corners. They are too many to count, too many to let down. And I see that I never looked back once. I see yesterday as I see years ago, they are alive on my skin, in the wounds I suffered, in the days I spent with people giving me shelter. I see the landmarks, I recognize each of them by the sacrifices they required, by the awesome power of the people that visited them.
And I see those who climbed with me. I see those I had to leave behind: I do not weep for them, I carry them with me, they are in my bones. I see those who chose the path I could not follow: I do not miss them, I carry them with me, they are in my bones. I see those who started with me and those who knew of me and joined me, I see them tired, angry, spent and battered: I do not feel for them, I carried them with me, they are my bones.
I see myself, far away, alone. I see my friends, one by one, helping me, pushing me, carrying me. I now see how my path becomes steady and I know this is what I was meant to be. I see I was not foolish to think this could be done. I see I was, even alone, everything I needed to be. Yet I see I was, alone, nothing.
No more looking back. I hug my friends, I am what they made me. My journey had a beginning and my journey has an end, I am whole. I am the impossible, never alone, always strong, my purpose is clear. I lived a life within a life: I hated and I loved, I cheered and I suffered, I failed and I triumphed. I have done for others what others have done for me. I gave and received, I cried and smiled, I fought and I helped.
I look at the sky: it’s not the same I was born under. I feel I am part of it, I feel I have touched it with my fingers and changed it. I feel presumptous and I feel right. I look at everyone who stand with me. I feel I touched them with my fingers and they changed me. I am better because of them. I feel like the sky: not the same, touched by those who wanted more.
A breeze pulls me back from my thoughts: it’s tomorrow, it’s already here. I am scared: will my friends still be with me? Will I be what they need me to be? My legs are uneasy but a realization sets in: the climb has not weakened me, it has made me stronger. My body is healed, my wounds are gone. My people has been there for best and worst, they are telling me it’s time. I have drawn on them, now I need to lead. This path is not for me to follow, every inch I walked on rough terrain is now a trail that leads everywhere. I am not scared, I am alive and I now know my place. This is where I’m supposed to rest, everywhere else is where my friends belong, ripe with possibilities.
Today I stand at the top of the mountain that is all that was done and all who experienced it. Today I know friendship, loyalty, courage, sacrifice, love and success. I was nothing, now I am. I am C3.
See you, space cowboys. Not next Friday, but in some ethereal “next Friday”, in a different place and time. Be excellent to each other.
And xlxAvaricexlx, we finally got this one out, thanks for all the stuff you did!
Customs Creators Collective 