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John [Slide20xl] Smith
The entrepreneurial gaming musician out to change several parts of the world.
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This is a short track I ended up making in response to a Harmony 3 assignment I got. I randomly got the idea to actually make a track out of the assignment - so after a couple of long nights I finished this up. It came out better than I expected. I figured I’d post the required sheet music and analysis for it, too. Instructions were to use a certain number of certain kinds of chords, write a specific part (which is the “synth pad” in the track) add chords (the piano) and a simple bassline (the not-so-simple bassline that I stole from Cutman’s theme in Megaman).
The SheetmusicI made a four track album.
I called it Four Tracks.
It includes the previously posted “Space,” and a few other things.
I was on this 8-bit thing and this Code Monkeys thing at the same time once. That resulted in this little snippet.
Sfxr makes sound effects. Sound effects make music.
Just a little clip.
(Did more work on super secret hip-hop tracks, too).
I’ve always been against “repeating myself” musically. I’m thinking that has a lot to do with my old creation process; I’d pop open a DAW and mess around with my keyboard and my synthesizers until I found a sound that I found intriguing. Usually, that came from a combination of things, but it was basically this: “Let’s find a cool instrument and give it something cool to play.” Then I’d come up with about a measure or something and base a composition around that one initial idea.
The unspoken rule there was “no using the same instrument twice.” Now, that’s obviously a bit silly (“No more string quartets, Hadyn!”), but it made sense to me at the time.
“Space” is a bit of an older track. I started it when I was looking for a way out of my writer’s block - and I’m repeating myself a bit. The instrument with a prominent role in it is the same patch from Deep Space and Let’s Go. I’ll even say that it’s one of my favorite sounds.
I decided to play with that a little bit - the simple title and the quote in the middle, “Wait I know. I know, wait. Space.” are tongue-in-cheek. “Oh, we’re doing this again? Space? Really?”
And, of course, the track isn’t much of a rip-of of either Deep Space or Let’s Go. But still. It’s something to think about when a listener’s first reaction is, “Haven’t I heard this already?”
In any case, there we have it. Space.
The funny thing about music is that there’s a lot of it. Like. a bunch.
I like a lot of it, I’m interested in making a lot of it.. and I’m comfortable saying that I can adapt my technique to any style at this point. It’s not so much “funny” and it’s not really the “problem” that I’m considering selling it as.. but it is.. confusing.
I’ve gotten pretty decent at rapping so far. I don’t have the tech I need to record vocals (anymore), but I do an alright job when I have a topic I gel with. Usually, those topics verge on the ridiculous. They’re parody style raps.
The “funny thing,” the “problem,” is that american culture (so far as I’ve noticed it) isn’t used to seeing musicians as multi-talented creatures. I’ve come to realize that I’m more of an “oddity” to most people. I’m a classically trained pianist, violist, classical composer, rapper, “electronic music producer.” I always thought that I was just a “musician.”
The latest musical project I finished was a couple of verses of rap (plus a chorus / “hook” - that’s the term, right? hook?) over the theme for Launch Base zone.
So I’m left wondering. Do I share it? Who do I share it with? I’m an aspiring video game composer, so it seems… unnecessary to keep that material in a portfolio. I think it’s a valid part of my musicality, of course. Hip hop = music. I make music. Simple. I’m left feeling like “american culture” would see it as an anomaly, though. A side note. “Oh, you can rap. That’s nice. Where’s your chiptune stuff?”
Besides that, there’s the whole other issue of what the rap is actually about - which presents an entirely different discussion. Let’s just say that I’m typically a private person.. and the song is about a rather personal matter.
Oh, also. The song references Sonic and Knuckles, first person shooters, Eminem, Usher, the Sega Genesis, Outkast, texting, Carly Rae Jepsen (yes, call me maybe), Lupe Fiasco, etc. That’s a combination of things that, erm.. “american culture” doesn’t typically put together. They fit together well enough to me. Hip-hop, bits of pop culture, bits of game culture, and a little dose of “personal feelings” make me who I am.
But can I market that? Not that I’m super worried about my “hip hop” career.. so let me rephrase that question. Will people ”get” it? with “it” being the odd.. “combination of things” that forms my personality and, by extension, my musical talent. Am I concerned about whether or not they “get” it?
A bit. I think that being enthusiastic about multiple styles of music and being able to translate that enthusiasm and musical talent into the ability to acutally make those styles of music is… like, really awesome.
Nosrsly. I think that’s what being a musician is really about. Creating and appreciating beautiful, cool, wicked, sexy, amazing, silly, funny, life-changing, moving, emotional, stupid, awkward, tasteful, distasteful, ridiculous, etc - collections of sounds - is what I live for and look for.
I’m not going to say that “being like me” is the only way or the “greatest” way to be a musician, or that being like this makes me “ridiculously more skilled” than other musicians out there.
I’m just saying.. it’s wicked cool and it’s a shame that people seem to have trouble with it. In a perfect world, this post would have included a rap song.
But it didn’t. I continue my contemplations.
I’m a huge fan of Hideki Naganuma and I decided to give his style a try.
There wasn’t exactly a whole lot I could do - his sound is largely defined by instruments that I don’t readily have access to - but the power of royalty-free-loops helped me do a little something something. I don’t have too many vocal loops at the moment (another characteristic of his sound) so this isn’t something I’ll be experimenting with too much over the next little while, but it’s something I’m looking to get into more.
The clip isn’t perfect, but I think it gets the point across.
The Solo Arc
Looking at a melody I’m working on right now and had a memory of a Jazz Improvisation class I took. The professor was describing the idea of a “solo arc” - how the music would raise and lower in intensity over time - usually reaching a peak somewhere before the climax.
I’m feeling pretty good about this bit, and it’s looking pretty solo-arcy to me.
I just released a pair of tracks: Amazing Highway and Depth City. You can listen to them at my Bandcamp page.
They’re both using principles I described in this post about analyzing Aquatic Ruin’s music. They’re both for hypothetical Sonic levels - one taking place in a futuristic city and being fairly action / speed oriented, the other being a slower platforming-heavy trip through an underground cave. (Probably an underground cave with water in it).
I’m feeling pretty good about them in general - Amazing Highway gave me a few issues (that I may detail in full later), but I decided that it was time to let the pair out. I’d say that I’m at a new place compositionally and both of these tracks exemplify that.
Little internet competition. Had to make some “rpg style battle music” that was under 30 seconds and perfectly loopable - and I had about 4 hours to work. I whipped this up in about 2, and it’s actually my second idea. (My first idea wasn’t going too well, so I scrapped it).
I cheated a little for the loop and er… well, this is an rpg with an interesting setting, obviously. But there we have it.
I’m a little bit obsessed with Aquatic Ruin Zone right now.
So I’ve managed to distill electronic music down to three basic elements: instrumentation, melody, and form. (Well, I guess that could be all music - but I’m trying to focus right now). Lately I’ve been on a big “instrumentation” push because I feel like that’s been my biggest issue. What synths do I put together?
How do I decide what I’m going to use? How do I decide what each part is going to do? And why does Aquatic Ruin sound so damn good?
Not content to rest on my laurels there and always in an analytical mood, I decided to grab a midi of Aquatic Ruin (from this wonderful site, because I WAS NOT about to transcribe the whole thing), pop that into Logic, and have a look at the sheet music.
I learned a couple of things in the process;
1) I need to step up my chord progression game.
The melody is fantastic - but it’s actually really simple. It’s a play on the opening rhythmic idea that basically sticks to the chord progression. The trick is that it’s a really good chord progression.
2) Busyness - I should pay more attention to it.
I’ve noticed that music from the Sonic games (and, well. music in general) has a certain amount of “busyness” to it that I haven’t been paying close enough attention to. Sure, it’s arisen naturally in what I’ve made thus far, and been something I’ve sought (my first goal when starting a track used to be making it “complete” - the opposite of “empty”) but never something I analyzed. Aquatic Ruin is kind of my poster child for busyness at the moment.
So how does this busyness thing work, anyway? Right now, I’m thinking that a musical part (one instrument/track/channel/sound playing off of one motive/melody/idea/motivic segment - terminology can get weird, but stay with me) exists as one of a few different.. tropes. A few of these are:
Chords/Pads - That instrument that just holds out a chord. Maybe you give this to an actual “pad” instrument or a keyboard based instrument or a string section. I’m thinking whole notes here, too. One chord per change / measure.
Stabs [Chord Stabs] - Another instrument that’s playing chords, but in a more disconnected, rhythmic fashion. A keyboard instrument (electronic keyboard, organ, organ-like) is well suited for these.
Lead - The instrument that’s “carrying the melody.” I use quotes because the “lead” in a track with vocals is usually the voice. So I’m using “melody” kind of loosely here… and it’s easier if we look at one specific type of music. Like, say, synthesized music from old-school Sonic games.
Stabs [Melodic(?) Stabs] - I don’t know why I use the same word for this in my head, but there it is. These are those little extensions of melody that are actually played by a different instrument. So in Club Rouge, for example, it’s pretty clear where the melody is and what instrument’s playing it. I’d consider those distorted vocal inflections (the moans and “doo do do doo’s”) ”melodic stabs.” This might not be the best example of the phenomenon, but it’s easy enough to convey via text.
Percussion: Unpitched noises, such as.. drums. and drum-like sounds.
Sound Effects: Yes, I’m giving this its own section, because I specifically like using “sound effects” in my music. Let’s Go has a ton of them. I think I was inspired in part by the Space Invaders Extreme musical kick I was on at the time. I’ve also noticed halc and a number of artists using video game sound effects in their music - so that’s a thing I want to get into. But, technically, these are just an extension of the “percussion” section.
I have yet to discern the purpose of or study the “bass line.” I’m guessing that has to do with my classical upbringing - the “bass” is just the lowest pitch at any given point. I’ve never played in a rock band or anything, so I don’t have a “this needs a bass” mental frame. Obviously the wubwub is important in dubstep, though.
So that’s a thing. At the I’m working on a track that brings some of those ideas together. It’s supposed to mimic the “Sonic the Hedgehog” style (Shoutouts to Falk, whose music I’m also studying a bit), incorporate this “busyness,” and be something fitting for a “cityscape.” We’ll see how it goes.
In The Lab: Kirby’s Epic Lead
I’ve been noticing that melodies carried by electronic instruments have a lot of quirk to them - basically, lots of embellishment. Especially chip-solos. I came across a great sound in logic and decided to experiment with a melody. (Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK4gKc9OuTk)
The end is a little bit off, but #whatevs.
- Sound Across Generations
Adapted from a conversation I had with a friend of mine.
Slide20xl: Hey, do you have time to listen to a couple of tracks?
A Comrade of mine, a fellow composer: I guess..
Slide20xl: Excellent. Alright, so let me set the stage for you. The year is roughly 2000. [Edit: 1999, to be exact] It’s Sonic’s 10th anniversary - and his first real debut into the third dimension.
Comrade: Yes….
Slide20xl: The game is Sonic Adventure - which will be heralded as a general success. It sets some major tropes for the future of the 3D series to come. It’s also a bit of an oddity. Players these days look back upon it as being “good for its time.”
Comrade: I played the game, John. Get to the point.
Slide20xl: (shhh). The level is Speed Highway. You remember it, I’m sure. The dark of a city forever trapped in the night - highways impossibly bent and stretched along the sides of buildings, through the air. Clear signs of construction that is, considering the landscape, entirely unfinished.
Comrade: Christ, John. Hurry up.
Slide20xl: And then there’s the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzBW9n313xw. It represents the “new Sonic” that this game establishes - and the new musical language that represents him. The rock infused sentiments. The guitars - which are never before seen, obviously, as the technology couldn’t allow it.
Slide20xl: Fast forward to 10 years later. It’s Sonic’s 20th anniversary.
Comrade: Okay…
Slide20xl: The hedgehog has been through some rough times. He’s had some less-than-stellar releases. He’s gone through no fewer than 3 attempts at “rebooting” his franchise. So, in a great bit of fanservice - in an attempt to assuage the rage of the Sonic-loving populace - Sega reintroduces “Classic” Sonic. The game: Sonic Generations. They put Classic Sonic side by side with “Modern” Sonic; The Sonic from the franchise’s first title and the post-Sega-Genesis, post Sega-Dreamcast “Modern” hedgehog revisit the adventures of Sonic’s past. And so, both “Sonics” return to Speed Highway.
Now, musically speaking, each Sonic has a “personality.” The guitars, remember, are a modern innovation - that free-flowing, exuberant style of rock. But before that, we have the sounds that are limited by the hardware - the sound of the Sega Genesis, the Game Gear. (Now, there were the greater musical capabilities of Sonic CD - but, barring the invention of Amy and Metal Sonic, the activities of that game didn’t have a serious impact on the series’ continuity).
So, there are two versions of each of the game’s levels; the side scrolling, 2D, Genesis-era “Classic” version - and the 3D, post Sonic-Unleashed, speed boosting, thrill-ride “Modern” version. The fun part, musically? All of the game’s music is remixed. The “classic” themes avoid the guitars and go so far as to actually sample old-school Genesis sound effects. (My mind is drawn immediately to a particular drum-sample that is used; a sample that repeats a rhythmic fragment that older gamers will recall from the title-screen music of the original Sonic the Hedgehog).
Comrade: Not to be a jerk, but, why..?
Slide20xl: (I’m getting there).
Now, Speed Highway is a very interesting musical track in Sonic Generations. For the “Modern” iteration of the track, we get something very close to the original. For the Classic version, we get… this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5f63vQ_eSg
Now, to each his own - but I had no idea that Sonic was into the Euroclub scene. Right? I mean - how does this relate to Classic Sonic? One has to wonder.
Comrade: No joke.
Slide20xl: We do have that sampled Genesis drum - an allusion that rhythmic fragment of old. We do avoid the guitars, forsaking them (though they do make a slight appearance in the track). I think the explanation has much to do with the spirit of this level - the spirit of the game. As “classic” as the classic levels are, we can’t avoid the facts - this is a “modern” game. On modern hardware. With modern graphics. Modern sound.
Even Classic Sonic has been updated - he’s fully modeled, fully animated, brought to life in full 3D.
So what does this dance music represent? It’s the spirit of the game. The spirit, hopefully, of nearly every game in existence.
The spirit of fun.
I think the composer was having a good time with this track, you know. It’s so contrary to all of your expectations. Even the way it begins plays with them. Note that there is no allusion, in the track’s introduction, to the the coming wave of dance music. You have no idea what’s going on until, ahem, the “drop.” (And let’s not forget that dancing itself is, hypothetically, fun).
And what else can we take from this? Times have changed. Even the old is effected by the new. Even Classic Sonic couldn’t keep these new forms of music from invading his personality. He’s embraced them.
Comrade: Mmm.
Slide20xl: And, when you think about it - Classic Sonic is still staying true to his roots. The sounds used in this composition are incredibly electronic. Sound produced entirely by electronic hardware is exactly what that Genesis-era sound is about.
Comrade: I see.
Slide20xl: Yup. And the explanation for this explanation is “because.” I felt like sharing. :3
Comrade: Ah. Duly noted.
Retro City Rampage is coming to the Vita.
I can be nothing but incredibly excited about this. I’m not sure what it is - maybe I’m being partially colored by the release of Sound Shapes for the Vita, or maybe it’s because of my own personal biases - but I’m envisioning the Vita as a sort of “indie game handheld.” This is terribly exciting, of course.
The PSN, as far as I know, has been a better marketplace for independent releases than WiiWare. Can’t imagine what this is about (though I’m assuming that it has to do with the PS3 being more of a “gamer’s” console) so it makes sense for me to be looking more towards the Vita than the 3DS for indie possibilities. There’s still the Bit.Trip series, sure, and everybody loves Cave Story - but I just don’t have as much hope for indies on the 3DS.
So indie games on the PS Vita - especially titles that are looking as good as Retro City Rampage - are a very exciting prospect indeed.
I think I watched a review of Kirby’s Epic Yarn some time ago that referred to the game as “easy.”
That is one of the shallowest analyses of the game’s difficulty that I think I could have encountered.
Sure, it’s impossible to die in the game. Sure, the game’s obstacles are simple enough to conquer - but anyone that writes it off as being unchallenging is essentially missing the point.
It’s the gem mechanic* that creates challenge in the game - any “hardcore gamer,” or “serious gamer,” or “game connoisseur,” or however you want to put it - anyone that’s logged a hypothetical 10,000 hours of gaming or relishes in the challenge of a Super Meat Boy or an I Wanna Be The Guy (even if the latter is played more for a sort of masochistic enjoyment) is trying to play a perfect game. He’s trying to get all of the game’s collectibles on a first run, he’s trying to beat the game without getting hit at all. Falling down a pit is a personal failure, an embarrassment - it constitutes “death.”
Besides, having a certain number of lives in a platformer these days is incredibly meaningless. Gamers like “us” aren’t playing these sorts of games to beat them - we know we’re going to beat them - we’re playing with the goal of first-time-perfection.
So sure, it’s easy enough to “get through” the game, and it’s easy enough to unravel all of Yarn’s secrets eventually (see what I did there?) - but getting a “perfect game” isn’t as easy as it looks.
*Every time a player takes damage in Yarn, he loses a certain number of the gems he’s collected. Gems are littered throughout the level and holding onto enough of them by the end of the level rewards the player with a higher-grade medal - gold as opposed to bronze or silver.
- This is a short track I ended up making in response to a Harmony 3 assignment I got. I randomly got the idea to actually make a track out of the assignment - so after a couple of long nights I finished this up. It came out better than I expected. I figured I’d post the required sheet music and analysis for it, too. Instructions were to use a certain number of certain kinds of chords, write a specific part (which is the “synth pad” in the track) add chords (the piano) and a simple bassline (the not-so-simple bassline that I stole from Cutman’s theme in Megaman).The Sheetmusic
(No streaming audio available)33 plays - I was on this 8-bit thing and this Code Monkeys thing at the same time once. That resulted in this little snippet.
(No streaming audio available)78 plays - I’m a huge fan of Hideki Naganuma and I decided to give his style a try. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot I could do - his sound is largely defined by instruments that I don’t readily have access to - but the power of royalty-free-loops helped me do a little something something. I don’t have too many vocal loops at the moment (another characteristic of his sound) so this isn’t something I’ll be experimenting with too much over the next little while, but it’s something I’m looking to get into more. The clip isn’t perfect, but I think it gets the point across.
(No streaming audio available)110 plays - Espionage | Slide20xl “Spy Music”
(No streaming audio available)150 plays - Tomato Valley (Intro + Loop) | Slide20xl A more complete version of “Tomato Valley.”
(No streaming audio available)210 plays - Tomato Valley | Slide20xl It sounds like Kirby!
(No streaming audio available)152 plays - I’m the Captain | Slide20xl An evil chap-hop space captain shows his foes what’s what.
(No streaming audio available)171 plays - Let’s Go | Slide20xl This track sounds a bit like boss music from some video game in space. with robots. lots of robots.
(No streaming audio available)124 plays - Lost Woods | Slide20xl And here’s that lost woods thing that never quite happened.
(No streaming audio available)116 plays - In the Base | Slide20xl So here’s a little bit of an 8bit thing.
(No streaming audio available)76 plays - BitGarden | Slide20xl I got a Soundcloud and figured that I might as well start by uploading something awesome.
(No streaming audio available)94 plays
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Tracks
- 2 tracks (01:27)
- 2 tracks (03:41)A pair of tracks inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Amazing Highway's a high-flying run through a future metropolis. Depth City's an underground cavern. It's probably got water in it.<br><br>
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Albums
- 4 tracks
DownloadI made four tracks. Track one is an homage to 8 bits. Track two is a remix of "Ma Bicyclette" by Andrew Huang and the Side Pony Nation. (Orignal here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbEm4L5PenQ) Track three is inspired (and approved) by Hideki Naganuma. Track four is a trip into space. Again. - 2 tracks
DownloadA couple of tracks inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog games. Amazing Highway's a high-flying run through a future metropolis. Depth City's an underground cavern. It's probably got water in it. - 12 tracks
DownloadThe best of the stuff I made from roughly 2005 to 2010 and my first "official" release. It and a few other tracks were submitted and got me into the 2011 edition of the Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, Spain.
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Tweets
- As a violist/pianist/electronic musician and aspiring entrepreneur/video game composer/writer I can relate to your ideas. @emiliewapnickJun 15, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- You are amazing. I enjoyed your Bach Double! @emiliewapnickJun 15, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- No more tripping in smash, yuuuus http://t.co/fHtqRoqaJm
- @Disasterpeace Yuuuuuus
- Also, @Disasterpeace - returning for the score of Fez 2?
- Fez 2? Should probably finish Fez 1 first… #behind
- RT @Polygon: Fez 2 in development at Polytron http://t.co/9s3qhXzgVq
- Anybody else gaming vicariously through videos? Anybody?
- RT @PHIL_FISH: the hohokum trailer is sooooo fucking good.
- @VizardJeffhog Sonic Lost World. #buyingawiiunow
- True that. Can't even believe Microsoft these days.
- Nintendo keeping it real.
- RT @JustinMcElroy: Shhhiii RT @Polygon: Nintendo: If you're worried about used game sales, make better games http://t.co/cko0nY6Fhm
- So… why is everyone so crazy about The Wonderful 101? I look at it and I just don't see the appeal.
- If this isn't true, I don't know what is. http://t.co/zeR3Rxjr1C #dreamcastJun 13, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Jun 12, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @CapnRaccoon Pretty interesting situation that.Jun 12, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @CapnRaccoon So. That Xbox One....Jun 12, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @ChrisDeLeon: An argument between people is usually about something other than the subject of the argument.Jun 09, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
