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I suppose a good question is what you'd like to know about it? The form of the track is pretty standard; Intro - AABBC : repeat. Chord structure for the A section is I-bIII-ivb-bVI-v6b, B is I-bIII-ivb-bVI-vb(-I) and the C section II#-v. There is an interesting tidbit for the A section in that the chords are mostly open, so whether they're major or minor is up for debate. Due to the harmonization of the B section, though, I argue that it's a major tonic with a good deal of primary mixture throughout (that's how you get the bIII-ivb-bVI-v6b combinations; in minor that'd just be III-iv-VI-v6), though I could see the argument that the B section opens up with a primary mixture I# chord instead of the rest of the track utilizing primary mixture. Intentional or not, that's ambiguous - there's a strong argument for both cases. There are no real cadences throughout the track, as there is never a motion V-I(or i); if you're a first year theory student you might find it interesting that a lot of modern music doesn't utilize the true V-I cadence (root on scale degree 5, raised 7th scale degree), instead opting for a v-I (lowered 7th) or bVII-I pseudo-cadence instead. The production is decent for the NES. It's no Follin track, but it does utilize nifty tricks like reverb to give it life. It's uses a staple KONAMI sound, which isn't surprising since ULTRA was a branch of Konami. I don't catch any particular themes of interest (like references to the Turtles theme, for example) - it just seems like a self-contained little tune. Well produced, but self contained. There's my theory contribution of 2017!

+1 recommendation for this! Good vidjagame remixes, good drinks, and lots of excellent arcade cabinets.

Just so you know, the website's all done. Got all of the artwork in place and the pages are all working. I just need whatever info is being given for remixers, track names, notes, etc.

Hello everyone! I have no clue how many of you analyze music (for fun, to learn something, for anything really - to be honest, I've analyzed music longer than I've written it ), but I'm gonna throw this up and see where it goes. For the sake of this thread, it's probably wise to only bring up VG music (it's OCR, after all), but if you want to bring up anything outside that genre, be my guest - I'd be more than happy to discuss it (and I'm sure others would, too)! Now, if your not a music theorist or anything, that's fine - if you listen to music I'm sure you've heard interesting things in a song and it's caught your interest, yet you also noticed no one else heard the same thing. The point of this thread is to show other people some very interesting musical tricks and the like that you've heard in a song but others may not have. Don't worry about any technical language - just try to get the point across as best as you can. Perhaps there will be other people here that can clarify the technical tricks that occur and help you learn how to use the techniques better. If you want to just comment on another person's analysis, please feel free - I encourage discussion on the discoveries of others. Please keep the flames down, however - really, I don't know what anyone could flame about here, but you never know. I'll start the discussion by talking about my favorite VG music... well, basically of all time. That's right, Silver Surfer, baby! In particular, I'm looking at the Title theme. Every track on this game kicks ass, but this one has a pretty exceptional level of ass-kickage. It is one of the most advanced piece of chiptunage out there, and I'm here to show you all why. The degree of single-channel polyphonic lines is absolutely incredible. Basically, a single channel may only play a single note at a time, but the way the notes are played imply more than one line (or instrument) at a time. Using the power of Emulation (I own the game, don't worry), I'll separate the channels so the effects I'm talking about are easier to hear... A single rectangle wave... An example of that 'polyphonic line' occurs well at 0:09 - 0:23 (and again at 1:12 - 1:32). There is a note that is quickly played an octave above is an example of a polyphonic line in action. Remember, a single channel may never play more than one sound at a time, so in fact the sound cuts out when the higher note is being played. Now, this isn't the only VG soundtrack that does this, but the way the Follin brothers do it, however, is so seemless it deserves some special attention. Listening to it closely, it sounds like they took the waveform and had it play the low sound first, filling the ear with the low sound before introducing the upper 'blip' then immediately returning to the lower sound. The effect that comes from that particular placement is that the ear retains the sound of the lower note while the higher note plays, thus giving the illusion that two sounds are playing (when that is physically impossible, given the hardware). Even more interesting is that the higher note is implied in your brain, so you fill out the octave throughout the span of the note in your mind. Now throughout this song these polyphonic lines occur all the time. Take a look at the other rectangle wave playing in this song (there are two given at any time in a NES game). 0:16 - 0:53 sounds like a series of chords (that's right, chords) playing through when it is only physically possible for a single note to be playing at any given time. It's easier to hear what they do, and the trick is pretty common in NES & C64 games, in general - arpeggiate chords as fast as the system can play the notes in order to make a single line play complex chord structures. However, the Follin brothers use this in conjunction with other not-so-easy-to-hear polyphonic tricks to create a rich, complex environment unmatched by any other game on the NES system (it even challenges most 16-bit systems soundscape, as well, IMHO). The best is still to come, however... the Triangle wave. Seriously, what the hell?! 0:09 - 1:16 may repeat the same thing over and over again, but damn, is it a hell of a line to repeat! There's not one, not two but three (possibly even four) instruments being implied there. The pulsing bass, a strong, diving bass drum, and the weaker toms and snare... all on the channel that cannot even fluctuate the volume (let alone play more than one sound at a time). Simply amazing (especially when you add the noise channel [which cover the hats and the 'snare' of the drums] to the triangle to create a full array of drums with the bass - without ever using the PCM!). Now, this isn't unique (Megaman 3's intro triangle does the exact same thing), but I've never heard a game that does nearly as seemlessly. How did they do it? The toms and the snare are designed similarly to the rectangle wave I discussed above - the sound cuts out for such a short time that the ear still percieves the bass sound as something that is playing when it is not. The diving bass drum, though, lasts longer than those short sounds - basically past the threshold of when we imply and connect the sounds mentally. I believe that they first hit the bass note sound, followed it by a sudden change to the bass drum sound which dives back into the bass sound again(cutting out for the snare and toms whenever they needed to). Because the sound dives into the original bass it ends up sounding like a part of the bass. However, because of the music before (0:00 - 0:09), the bass drum sound also sounds like a bass drum. Using the power of context and cutting sound out, they created three or four different sounds using a single sound at a time. Put all of these channels together and you get an amazingly complex soundscape using only four channels (and one of them can only make different samples of white noise). The parts were certainly great, but the sum of the parts compliment each other so well that they really amount to more as a whole. Basically, I've always been amazed by their complete mastery over the hardware that the Follin brothers had. I could go on for pages about other little tricks and doodads that they used in this song alone (that's besides the other eight great songs written for this game), but I want to leave room for others to bring something else up (and possibly bring up those doodads at another time). Don't worry about the size of my post - I don't expect anyone to spend over an hour writing an analysis of anything on here (although it certainly would be welcome!). In fact, any other analysis I make will more than likely be shorter than this, but I just love that soundtrack so damn much. If you notice something interesting that you don't believe anyone else has heard in a song, post it here!

Hello all! I do instrumental video game remixes but also do vocal remixes too. I'm always looking for new projects to do and I think I am open to do some collab with others! I do mostly rap but I do some singing as well. I'll post samples of my songs for you to hear. Let me know if you have an idea for a collaboration and I'll be glad to do so!

Whaddayaknow, djpretzel just sent me a sketch of his and Harmony's collab of "What the Forest Taught Me", sweet Also, we have private forums for the album, where you can listen to WIPs the other album remixers posted (I just posted mine) and give feedback. Anyone who confirmed their claim or sent in a WIP/finished track has access to it, so come and share! You can find it in the Private Project Subforums in the Projects forums here on OCR.

Well poopooi, I miss read the deadline that said Jan 15 Monday I thought I still had till today at 1. O well here is my entry....

Nintendo! Crazy idea: offer the tablet by itself (with the joycons, of course). Looking at Nintendo's Buy Now page, there's a list of each component and its price. The dock is listed as $90 US, which is less than a third of the whole price. Now, I don't know exactly what the dock offers aside fro acting as a charging port for the tablet and outputting the display to a HD TV. But if the Switch is supposed to be a console and a portable, surely I can just use the Switch as a portable if I want to. The price would be lower, and it would still work fine as a portable (some of us prefer portable over console, it's true!), and then entry price would be lower... say $250. That's about what the 3DS was on release, and the Switch would be far more powerful, warranting the price. If I want to, I can buy a dock for it later. That only leaves the battery issue, which could be fixed by a proper expanded battery accessory or just grabbing a decent USB rechargeable battery pack. You still get the same everything, just not on a TV... which isn't something that handheld players are necessarily into in the first place.

Firebird. (Wurlitzer is AWESOME) Saurus and Nucleus demos (save song, close program, reopen program and song to have demos again, you must save and exit and then reopen the song periodically)

Epicverb from Variety of Sound, who also made the NastyDLA MKII, is a must have.

Come for the emotion. Stay for the developing musical arc, the interweaving piano/string sections (like at 1:47), and the beautiful transitions (like 2:50-3:05). Anyone who can't get over what are totally sufficient drums missed the entire point and need to remain outside.

Well, the 3DS had 2 to 6 hours of battery life, but that was solved by being able to buy better batteries. I have a Mugen battery that gives me about 20 hours on a single charge. The only problem with that is that those batteries run anywhere from $70 to over $100. Not exactly a cheap solution, though they pay off pretty soon if you play your 3DS a lot (which I do). Sadly, I don't see such a battery being doable, as the tablet must fit into the dock, and a bigger battery would prevent that. Also, I don't think you can just take a cover off the back or something and slap anything on there. I'd have to see the tablet and dock to be sure, but I think the Switch isn't going to be very customization that way.

I'm gonna get it because one really great looking game on launch is literally all you could possibly expect without being a whiny pissbaby

The more I read and watch, the more I don't want a Switch. Price is the biggest issue. You Yanks are lucky with you $299 price tag. Meanwhile, it's $400 here, and games are going for up to $80. The fucking Pro Controller is $90, for fucks sake. Exchange rate or not, that's just too much. I have more disposable income than most people I know, and I can't justify that price. Don't even get me started on that stupid "milking cows" mini-game bullshit. That's now what gets people to buy your system. Show us stuff like using the joycons to pilot a giant robot and blow up city blocks. Let us fly a spaceship around asteroids with them. Make a better showcase than marbles dropping into a box or whatever the fuck that was. Those are tech demos, not games.

I know the feeling. I spoke with Level99 at the DoD party, and briefly encountered Rama and Starla as they were leaving, but that's about it. I'm really bummed I missed seeing DetectiveTuesday playing with the OneUps (although I happened to catch part of the soundcheck earlier in the day by pure luck) and missed every single time DrumUltimA performed (like, how is that even possible? he played like 16 thousand shows with different people!). Price you pay for staffing at MAGFest I guess. In better news, the DoD listening party/panel and web stream went smoother than it ever has, and each and every MAG Underground performance is up on youtube, so I guess my work paid off.

Had a great time at MAG, and it was great hanging out with all the OCR peeps! I'm also glad I went to the panel, there are a couple new projects I still need to go download. Good stuff.

Pretty much what @Skrypnyk said. Automation is a convenient way to turn knobs and move sliders in a pre-programmed fashion. The great thing about automation is that you can pull off tricks you can't do in a real studio (unless you had like 5 people working your mixer at the same time), making production on a DAW that much more powerful. For instance... You could automate the EQ bands in an EQ plugin so that the mids are scooped for a certain section of your song with particularly thick textures, but only for that section, for your chosen instrument(s). You could extend the range of LFOs (a tool that basically wiggles a knob or slider back and forth at a certain rate and slope) within a synth. Some (most?) synths have a limit to how slow the LFO can be. Sometimes you may want to assign an LFO but make it last like 20 seconds for half a cycle. Well, with automation, you could just construct an envelope that imitates a really slow LFO, in your DAW, by assigning the automation to the parameter of your choice in the synth. You could gate your sounds manually, if you don't have an algorithmic way of doing it (simply automate the mixer track slider down to 0 and back up to how it was). All of the above at once? and so on. This video may be a good exposure to production talk: The blue, purple, and yellow playlist elements are examples of automation clips.

Automation is a process, so the term doesn't do anything, it's what you automate that does something. Say you want to fade out a track, you pick a point in which you want to start the fade, then as the track plays you move a slider or turn a knob until the track goes silent, then you stop. Automation is exactly that, but instead of you doing it manually you're telling a program to do it for you.

I've got tenor/alto saxophones, clarinet, trumpet, Native American flutes/ocarinas, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonicas, a trombone, a french horn, banjo, keyboards, etc... Lots of stuff at varying levels of skill on my part. Could get creative and make something weird or isolate a few instruments I'm proficient at (sax/guitars/tin whistle/mandolin) and make something a little more comprehensive. Just let me know if you want any!

Yeah, I'm using a temporary Win 10 laptop while I'm in grad school, and WinAmp works here, so it's probably not just because its Win 10 that it doesn't work for you.

BUMP Oooh this looks like my kinda place Don't have the time to post a giant analysis so far, but I got some little tidbits on modal structure and leitmotif continuity in the Star Fox OSTs from 1993 to 2016, maybe I'll write it down sometime

Chiptunes fall under parody so they're legally safe under Weird al laws. Just kidding.

This thread seems like it's got a lot more potential, if there were more people that contributed. I doubt it's /that/ popular of a subject, but then again I'm one of those weird guys who's into the gritty details of theory and comp. If anyone else wants to bring this thread back to life, I think it could be a fun general hangout for some of us music nerds, studying comp and sound design of vidya music. Props to OP as well; I'd never heard the Silver Surfer OST before today. I am a changed man.

Said it a few times now but again thank you so much for putting this composition through! It's actually really nice to hear people saying it's too short! Usually I just assume that people will have really short attention spans, and because no one really knows me as a musician, I feel the need to cram in as much as possible into a short space of time. To a fault really haha. And the notes about the production are very fair, I definitely struggle with production. But this is so sick and I'm so happy people enjoy it! This has definitely given me a kick up the backside to start creating more content and to sort out my music accounts. Watch this space, I'm feeling a Binding of Isaac cover next Cheers!

This sounds like an arrangement that would appear in a Smash Bros game. It’s so energetic and rocking. It’s too bad that this track is so short. But again, I definitely get a Smash Bros. vibe out of this. So I can forgive the length (as well as the fade out ending).

I really wish 2010 Moseph had actually gotten around to doing that Schenkerian analysis of the Mario 1-1 music ...

It's an older thread from a few years ago that fits the new forum we've created. BardicKnowledge is the moderator for this new forum which will be focusing on ludomusicology, and Gario's theoretical analysis of certain VGM pieces fits the goal of this forum. Ryan (Bardic) will be updating this forum tomorrow with a goals/guidelines post about what types of threads belong in here, but the gist of it is that this forum is dedicated to a more academic discussion of existing VGM, be it historical, analytical, etc.

No worries, and sorry for the dead air. Coming up for air now (finally!!!!!!!!!!!), and will holler back later today. We'll get everything lined up!

We can do licensing, but we're only looking for arrangements of video game music and not popular music, film, tv, etc.