1 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(0 replies, posted in General Discussion)

https://youtu.be/SvQEgsFewrw

Been all over the place with content these days. Some of you may remember me from chiptunes? In any case, retro video games are in my blood, and I have started to make live shows where I play them, every Sunday.

Lately I have been reading GamePro magazine and playing as many games as I can from each issue. This week is May 1995.

I stream to both Twitch and YouTube. I'll take request for music and games in the chat, as always! Drop in, say howdy.

https://www.twitch.tv/norrinradd22
https://www.youtube.com/NorrinRadd22

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2 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(0 replies, posted in Releases)

Bandcamp: http://mattcreameraudio.bandcamp.com/al … soundtrack
YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ik9RN0x9zQ

Yo crew, this was an "authentic" SNES soundtrack I was tasked with creating a few years ago. the game was held in limbo for several years while the dev looked for the right publisher. The game was finally released this month, so I was at long last able to share the soundtrack.

It's such an old soundtrack that I have learned what seem like a life time of lessons both musically and production wise since this. It's kind of a cagey eclectic soundtrack that probably echoes more of my old NES stuff.

My personal SNES influences for this were games like Cybernator, Brian Lord, Energy Breaker and Lufia.

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3 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(0 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Norrin_Radd Plays - Super C
Radd Plays Homepage

Yo crew, I've started making some youtube videos of myself playing through some of the classics. The most recent is my attempt at Super C for NES, in 60fps no less. It's not a speed run, but also not as casual as a Let's Play. It's more like a retired gamer's nostalgia run. I've got a picture in picture camera on my controller as well so you can see this retired gamer's button mashing in action. I don't know, just trying to get some more video content out there on Youtube. I'm no stranger to video games, so I figured this would be a fun thing to mess with.

A lot of places on the internet seem to throw a hissy fit if you respectfully try to share videos you've made, so if you have any suggestions of where a guy can safely share his stuff, please let me know! Outside of Twitter and Facebook, I really have no idea how to spread the love. Are there some subreddits I should know about?

I've only made 3 videos so far, but I finally have a decent procedure in place to make more with less hassle, so I am planning to just keep making these. Any suggestions you have are definitely welcomed, especially if you have any criticism. Thanks for letting a guy share.

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4 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(4 replies, posted in Releases)

Norrin_Radd - Treasure Buster Original Soundtrack: https://mattcreameraudio.bandcamp.com/a … soundtrack



Proud to finally release my first foray in to the 16bit 4OP Sega Genesis realm. This is a full length 43 track album that was inspired by all of my favourite Genesis soundtracks. Games such as Shining Force 1 and 2, Beyond Oasis, Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, Gleylancer and Warsong etc.

The developer was intrigued by a concept I said to him in passing, where I wished I could work on a project that was nothing but Final Boss themes. Where as that is not what this turned out to be, the developer was very insistent after that I do not relent or deny any of my song writing ideas for this soundtrack. All I can say is that it was an absolute blast to work with him, and to push my song writing to insane lengths all the while pursuing the glorious sound that is FM.

Take a stream and lemme know if you have any favourite Genesis soundtracks that I might have missed!




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5 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Norrin_Radd's Composition Methods - Treasure Buster 02: https://youtu.be/OUX-C8laPrA

The second video where I go over actual tracks from the upcoming game Treasure Buster. This time I tackle the boss theme from the second level. What is, in my opinion, the wackiest track on the soundtrack in terms of song structure. I wanted to show one of this soundtrack's more challenging pieces.

The track title is: Six Edged Abomination

The boss itself is a giant gelatinous cube, and I wanted this song to sound like what I would imagine a battle with such a monstrosity would sound like. Something very disturbing about a giant transparent cube of acidic ooze that waits for hapless adventures to accidentally walk in to it, and if they happen to touch it, becoming dislodged is near impossible. It's like a spider waiting in a web, but for humans.

I go over some songs that inspired this track, as well as the exact Sega Genesis game I was basing my instrumentation off of (Shining Force 1 for Sega Genesis).

Tons of examples within. Enjoy!

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6 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Okay, I decided to put together a blog to keep track of all the songs I have shared so far in the Summer of FM. It's been mostly a twitter and facebook kind of thing, which is why I stopped haring every update on this forum (didn't want to over stay my welcome).

So if you want to follow with the Summer of FM, check out the blog, here big_smile

https://summeroffm.blogspot.ca/

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7 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Norrin_Radd's Composition Methods - Treasure Buster 01: https://youtu.be/4gtI6yzXTqc

Kicking this actual series off! Here is the first video where I actually break down the music of this project and how it was created. The entire track is entirely 4OP Sega Genesis FM!

I go over some of the song writing process, but mostly I discuss project wide concepts and protocols I had to come up with to give the whole soundtrack a contextual sound. How to make it all sound like it belonged to the same game.

Watch, as I struggle to explain my creative process on the fly.

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8 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

I know this song became internet famous as the butt of a joke, but can we even deny how unironically awesome this song is? And how far ahead of it's time it was? This was 1987. That always seems early to me when I hear how thick and full this track is.

The entire thing held together by an FM Bass foundation that refuses to quit. Take your eyes of those dance moves and have a listen to just the bass in the song, and notice that it is intricate, and melodic, and follows the bouncy beat of the song perfectly. The producers really new how to slot that bass in with the kick drum. It just sounds so thick!

This track also features some lush FM E.Piano sounds rocking some nice glassy chords. They usually bury these with other instruments, but not in this track. Front and center!

This track is 50% Rick Astley singing and putting on a dance moves clinic, and 50% FM. Behold the power of frequency modulation!


SketchMan3 wrote:

This is very interesting thread. Thanks for making it big_smile That torture thing is wild, lol. Didn't even know the Jacksons were still doing stuff at that time...

*trying to bump some other threads to the top of the list that are of higher caliber than those that currently hold that position... *

Thanks SketchMan!  High caliber threads or bust!

And yes, The Jacksons caught me off guard with that too. I just assumed they were all kids when they were in the Jacksons\Jackson 5. The crazy thing is, all of them went on to have pretty robust solo careers as well, albeit not as robust as Michael's. It's a ton of Jackson content to go through, haha. And man, they loved their FM in the 80s. I am sure we'll see them again in this thread.

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9 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Great question! The bass in the video is toooooootally fake. Just for show. But in live concerts these groups would usually actually have a live bass, rather than a synth bass, because the synth player in the band, if there was one, was usually busy playing keys, pads and chords on at most, two individual keyboards. Switching patches and stuff was not as easy back then, so they had to really keep the changes to a minimum, or to the most iconic sounds.

Usually a recording was done with a lot of extra players brought in, including a dude who might just shred an FM bass line on one track, then peace out. But they couldn't take all those people with them on tour because it would be way too many people to afford. So the core members would be the main people for any live performance, or music video.

One fun thing I love to do is to go on to the Discogs website, and see who all these mysterious synth players were, then go to their page and see what other albums they worked on. Usually, you find a ton of gold. smile

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10 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

The Jacksons - Torture (1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxSfQeCoFUM

We keep rolling on with a fairly obscure single by The Jacksons. I had never seen the music video for this one before, and man, it's weird. Not even their weirdest, either, haha. Perfect era for 80s special effects though.

But the reason we are here is the presence of FM Bass for the entire track. There is something about FM Bass at that time that really adds to the unforgiving coldness of some of these weird artistic videos. It just felt high tech and other wordy at the same time. Especially when all this deranged dreamy stuff is happening in the video, and no one seems weirded out by it. They almost seem to be celebrating the weirdness and encouraging it in their peripheral.

That concept is distilled in FM Bass, for me.



marcb0t wrote:

Double post... my byaaad! smile

It happens tongue

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11 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

The Summer of FM continues!

Taylor Dayne - Don't Rush Me (1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rPOg6VnzV8

At first Taylor's vocals really turned me off. But it wasn't until my wife commented on how unique and unusual they were that I realized, wait, you're right, and now I love these vocals. Who else sings like this?! But what we all came for is the FM. This track has an incredibly expressive and sharp metallic slap bass driving the entire thing. Under those brash but unique diva vocals is an FM bedrock that can not be shaken.

Bonus: Sandy Lam - Say No More (Cantonese non-FM version 1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8olvsVGGZlc

The Cantonese version by comparison is not using FM bass, but probably a rompler synth sample of some kind. Still a great track, and fun to compare. Cantonese is a pretty sounding language. It's just neat to hear them side by side.



freezedream wrote:

Hey Norrin_Radd! Nice video! Looking forward to hearing your new music! I love YM2612 FM and am soon releasing a new EP recorded from the real hardware (it sounds so nice and noisy and organic wink).

My friend and I are also developing a live performance tool that will ultimately let you use grid controllers and knobs to play dynamic live music on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive without the need to bring your laptop. See: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/18144 … e-genesis/

With all the new hardware and software tools becoming available now it's a really great time to get into exploring and experimenting with FM synthesis! big_smile

I gave the video a watch, with pretty much wide eyed amazement. I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to hardware, as I learned just now by reading over the specs with glossy eyes. I basically only really know the sounds themselves and how I would want to use them, but creating and co-opting them from hardware is absolutely beyond me. I have no idea how this is possible, haha. It feels like you guys are hacking the Matrix, but it clearly seems cool as hell! I really look forward to seeing where this goes! My hot goes off to you.

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12 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(38 replies, posted in Sega)

These demo songs were awesome. Not really familiar with making music using a grid, but I can see the appeal after this. I wish I knew more about what the heck this was. For a Genesis freak, I don't know a lot about the DIY scene for it. This all looks like magic to me. In the plainest of terms, what am I actually seeing here?

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13 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siwpn14IE7E

One of my favourite things about going back over all the obvious 80s megahits is when you realize just how much FM is being used, or how much of a song is anchored on a fairly simple FM sound. FM basses, in particular, are all over the place in 80s popular music. None more blatant and true then Danger Zone. This was the most rented movie of all time for a while. Maybe still. I can't remember where I read that statistic. But just think of how many people heard this song, and this bass, while looking at Tom Cruise. It's weird... It's awesome.

This FM Bass sound might as well just be a Sega Genesis preset. It's not a rare or hard to create sound at all either, which kind of showcases how much power there is behind FM. The glorious presence of a warm metallic punch.


yogi wrote:

Yea! Nice tut, spread the word for FM smile Will be looking forward to your next one.
Comes at the perfect time, with this HW project moving along- http://midibox.org/forums/topic/19678-m … ent=171357
The first release is a VGM player demo and Sauraen has plans to support most of the midi assignments of the GenMDM (which FMDrive can also output) in the next app. Good times!
Yogi

Whoa, wait. What is this thing? Is he building a synth, or a VGM player?

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14 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(18 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Welcome to the Summer of FM - What is Frequency Modulation?:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1nSnnzGBUw

Summer Of FM official blog (links to popular music featuring FM): https://summeroffm.blogspot.ca/

Norrin_Radd's Composition Methods - Treasure Buster 01: https://youtu.be/4gtI6yzXTqc

Norrin_Radd's Composition Methods - Treasure Buster 02: https://youtu.be/OUX-C8laPrA

Hello Chip-a-maniacs! So, I've got a new soundtrack coming out called before the end of summer for a game called "Treasure Buster". This project was an exclusively FM based project that used the Sega Genesis YM2612 chip and the Arcade YM2151 chip. So I have this excuse, this perfect excuse, to talk out about FM and basic FM appreciation. Along with breaking down the composition methods used for this soundtrack, I basically just plan to nerd out with FM love for the next two months, and I'll keep all the updates in this thread, and on the above blog.

I'll post the breakdown videos in this thread as I create them, but future FM popular music tracks will be relegated to the Summer of FM blog. Check it out!

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15 Reply by Norrin_Radd

(5 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions, everyone.

n00bstar, I am glad that I am not the only one who has had this problem. I too hate the idea of fading out a song. But mostly only when it is a song style song (ie, not designed to be a seamless loop). For something like BGM in a game that was meant to loop seamlessly, I find fading out appropriate but really only because of how much NSF SPC and VGM files I listen to on the regular. I am just really worried about flow at this point for regular people.

I should probably just say to hell with regular people.

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16 Topic by Norrin_Radd

(5 replies, posted in General Discussion)

What do you all prefer for this? Personally, I am a two loop and fade kind of guy, but if I do that for my albums, all the songs go to around 4 minutes long... That seems like too long. But one loop always annoys me if there is a part I really dig and I only get to hear it once per play.

I have been toying around with the idea of looping twice and fading out only for tracks shorter than a minute, and letting tracks over a minute just loop once then fade. But then some of the lessor tracks end up being longer then some of the main tracks.

If I double loop, my next album is like 56 minutes long. If I single loop it is 36 minutes long. What's the protocol here, I've always wondered?

Any suggestions? Anyone ever wondered this same thing?

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