During his years in Nashville, Joel found himself on the road with such acts as JoDee Messina, The Wilkinsons, and SHeDAISY, among others. Originally from Alberta, Canada, drummer Joel Stevenett spent over ten years in Nashville before his eventual move to Salt Lake City where he currently lives and works as a first-call session drummer. In today's episode of Steve Stine Guitar Podcast, we will be joined by Joel Stevenett. Music also allows us to feel nearly or potentially all of the emotions we experience in our life, which is crucial. Music has the ability to lift someone's spirits, stimulate them, or soothe and rest them. There are numerous things to listen to and pay attention to in music. With "Wii Music," the kids in the house will enjoy playing along with the kiddie music while teens and grown-ups will get a kick out of building their own songs in this musical sandbox.Music has the ability to enhance the mind as well. Audiophiles and hardcore gamers looking to strut their inner guitar hero have plenty of other avenues to explore. This game could have been so much better if only it had been loaded up with quality music.īut this is a casual game for casual players. And the tinny MIDI quality doesn't do anything to make the set more appealing. Of the 50-some songs that are available, only a handful are interesting – Madonna’s “Material Girl” and John Lennon’s “Woman” among them. There's no denying that Nintendo missed the mark in a couple of key areas with “Wii Music.” That is, while there is a minigame mode that offers a bit of competitive play, there are far too few games (three) and they’re not all that interesting.Īnd, of course, there’s the music. Likewise, I actually turned “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” into a pretty cool electronic tune (if I do say so myself) using the turntables, two violins, a cello and some cowbell (I do love me some cowbell). I invited a friend over and we spent 45 minutes creating our own version of “My Grandfather’s Clock” using a barking dog, a meowing cat, two cheerleaders, a ukulele, and a toy piano. By the time you’re finished, you will have created a song using the notes and chords from, for example, “Every Breath You Take” but the song will be completely unrecognizable as such. Play whatever outlandish combination of instruments you like. Change the style from rock to jazz to country.
That said, it took me an hour of learning the ins and outs of “Wii Music” to understand why it was actually, you know, fun.Īnd here it is: Using the Custom Jam mode, you can take a song such as “La Bamba” or The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” tear it down, rebuild it from the ground up and create an entirely new song.īecause “Wii Music” records your performances, you can select and play each instrument in a song, layering one performance over another. While it does get to be a bit much at times – I was having flashbacks to the forced piano lessons of my childhood – this game really could teach players something about music, and that's an admirable quality in a music game.
It’s a lot to absorb at first, but “Wii Music” is full of tutorials, so much so that the game feels like an interactive music lesson. Instead, “Wii Music” encourages you to see how you can change up the songs by playing them with different instruments, a different beat or a different musical style (e.g., rock, classical, reggae, etc.) Like any music game, “Wii Music” gives you songs to play, but unlike a host of “Guitar Hero” knockoffs, this game doesn’t require you to play these songs the way they were meant to be played, giving you points as you strike the correct note or slapping your hand when you fail to hit the beat. And more than that, “Wii Music” will record your performances so that you can watch them and – here’s the interesting part – alter them to suit your whims. You can play these instruments all by yourself, or you can invite your friends over and make some music together. Think of it as a sandbox full to the brim with musical instruments. The thing is, “Wii Music” is all about creation, not competition. Oh yeah, and there’s actually a lot that works in this surprisingly deep game. And while there is much that’s ridiculous about “Wii Music,” the ridiculousness is, oddly enough, pretty fun.