These are very cute, especially Dragonair. 
(You might want to consider using the image code to embed images in your original post too, some people are scared of links. 
)
49 Apr 19, 2016 3:07 am
Re: Pokemon Gameboys (1 replies, posted in Trading Post)
50 Apr 19, 2016 3:02 am
Re: Chip Break In The Clouds! BleepLove compilation is starting right now! (16 replies, posted in Collaborations)
My track has been finished for a good while now, but recording it has been more complicated than anticipated. I'll be along soon though!
51 Apr 19, 2016 2:59 am
Re: All-Time favourite Chiptunes! (108 replies, posted in General Discussion)
PROTODOME wrote:
I like C major. It's a good key.
Cmaj takes a lot of heat in the chip community doesn't it? It seems like a lot of people find it bland and amateurish or something. I've always been a fan.
52 Apr 19, 2016 2:54 am
Re: Would love for you to check out my tunes and drop a line (2 replies, posted in Constructive Criticism)
Very nice. Classic, relaxingly familiar song structures. Seems like you've got talent in composition, but you could use work on sound design. Some more complex instruments and a greater emphasis on volume control could go a long way to making your songs more expressive. Seems like you're recently picking up again after a hiatus judging by the post dates on soundcloud. Good on ya. Make a lot more music and you will undoubtedly improve!
53 Apr 11, 2016 12:43 am
Re: FIGHTER X - LO-TEK UNDERGROUND (12 replies, posted in Releases)
Hoo boy... this is a dense release! So many musical ideas jammed into the songs here. I'm assuming this is 1xLSDJ, correct me if I'm wrong, but wow, if it is that's some truly masterful kit use. (As others have stated. 
) They're seamlessly incorporated. Favorite Jam: Cirkuit Space. Runner up: the bit after 1:50 in Erratika. Radical.
Keep up the excellent work.
54 Apr 11, 2016 12:32 am
Re: Chiptunes and Japanese (Anime, J-Pop) music (31 replies, posted in General Discussion)
XyNo wrote:
OH DAMN...I totally forgot that !!! "slappin' myself in the face" !!!
https://pskmt.bandcamp.com/track/stage3-jupiter
My goodness, that's gorgeous!
Reminds me of the well known, but also always worth mentioning TQ-Jam!
https://noisechanradio.bandcamp.com/track/promise
He was one of the reasons I started out trying to make chip with Famitracker.
55 Apr 10, 2016 10:23 pm
Re: Chiptunes and Japanese (Anime, J-Pop) music (31 replies, posted in General Discussion)
cyancoloneels wrote:
Ever listen to Shibuya-kei, Delek?
There's a wealth of links in that article!
Not sure about our guy, but I've checked out some of the classics like Pizzicato 5, and had traced back other outfits like Perfume and Capsule to their roots in the later half of the movement.
(I've also heard people mention that Boom Boom Satellites were big fans of early Shibuya-Kei, and that's where their jazzy leanings come from, but who knows.)
If you're looking for a similar geographically-based movement with more of a rock & roll/early synth flavor, check out the Mentai Rock movement.
Cooshinator wrote:
Like what Imaginary said, I think what you're looking for is something that other genres have fucked around with, but not really exploited so unabashedly until it became a trend in japanese pop music. Although I disagree with him that it's all in the attitude; I really think it has something to do with melody and chord progressions that I could maybe explain if I knew anything about music theory.
My guess is that it has something to do with taking normal, "happy" chord progressions/melodies and sticking in sharps & flats in a way that begs for resolution, a little bit like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJCI2jxrIq8). I've noticed that sticking accidentals in otherwise "happy" chords and melodies in my own music sort of brings out the feeling a little. Although I'm not sure how it technically differs from the similar but different vibe I get from certain american gospel, soul, & disco songs.
Also, I remembered this great video that touches on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtPx6WdNM30
One last thing, I feel like playing a shit ton of snowboard kids as a youngin really made me have an attachment for this style and I think its soundtrack really fits under what you're looking for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkH0qjQ8GNw
You're totally right. I think that for the most part, the composition delivers the backbone of the musical experience. My point was just that there are definitely also other less tangible elements at work. Say instrument choice, or vocal/lyrical themes.
Great set of links there by the way man...
WOO SNOWBOARD KIDS!
Bomberman 64 has some absolute jams too.
https://youtu.be/kLU2JA1XBG8
Delek wrote:
Yess! We are getting so close so fast!
Imaginary, wow my friend, you have just the nail. All of those tracks have that feeling that I'm so desesperate to find!
YMO!!!, that band have many many tracks with this soul!!The thing is, there is no name for this kind of music? This can't be.
Guys, what do you think about this song? It is from my country Argentina and since I've listened in 2006 it stucked in my head like "this have many J-pop/anime influences"
We must think alike! When I saw this thread it was 6am, and I had to go to work, then to the dentist after, and all day long the thought of this thread kept popping into my head. I kept thinking "What am I doing here, I HAVE SOMETHING TOPICALLY RELEVANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO AN INTERNET FORUM." Haha.
As far as giving it a concrete label, I'm more or less at a loss myself.
I've read somewhere somewhere about early J-Pop/Idol Music as having themes of, or relation to "oriental sentimentalism" or "oriental sensibilities". Google turns up little to nothing music realted on either term, so It was probably just somebody talking out their ass.
The term "Melodramatic Popular Song" has also crossed my radar once or twice, but also not much there either I'm afraid.
Like Coosh pointed out, I think we may just be looking at something that falls outside of the bounds of an easy label.
Is it just "Japanese pop sensibility"?
Dude.
Emmanuel Horvilleur!
Super entertaining video. Awesome homage to MPB in the bridge! Maybe not quite a perfect fit stylistically, but the feeling is spot on. I'll be looking into more of this...
Totally reminds me of Os Mutantes, who I'm sure you know of, but let's enjoy some anyway!
56 Apr 9, 2016 2:25 am
Re: Chiptunes and Japanese (Anime, J-Pop) music (31 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Delek, you're far from crazy. I completely agree with you.
While I'm not a learned musician as far as theory is concerned, I'm almost positive that it goes beyond chord structure, progression or scales used in specific ways and stretches into the territory of "feel" or "intention".
I've been an avid fan of anime since childhood, so music from and related to anime has been a huge influence on my ear/sensibilities. It lead down the rabbit hole to checking out a lot of great Japanese bands/musicians and totally opened my mind to listening to music with lyrics outside of my native tongue.
CCS has some great op/ed jams. I'll see your GROOVY and raise you one Catch You!
Love that smooth cheesy jazzy guitar/bass interplay. The horns really make things pop.
City Hunter was part of my introduction to anime as a kid, so it holds a special place in my heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re8d36wQy9w
My dad brought home a tape of "Bay City Wars" with Korean subs he found in a totaled car at work. I'm pretty sure that was my introduction to J-Pop with the excellent syth-funk ED by Yoko Onigome "Rock My Love"
(Sadly the only video I could find is no longer viewable in the US, but maybe somebody outside of ol 'murrica will get lucky.)
Macross was my other first, best love. This jam from Flashback: 2012 is an almost perfect balance between cheese and melancholy.
While the watchability of certain later iterations remains hotly contested, the sound directors and composers have continually served up gooey-sweet blobs of steaming cheese that are hard not to enjoy.
Modern anime soundtracks are kinda hit or miss these days, but nano.RIPE's squeaky post-pop-punk hits the proverbial ball out of the park of my heart every time.
Which kind of leads me to the other logical place I'd go musically, given my background. Japanese Punk, most of which leans heavily towards the "Pop" side of the spectrum.
Often described as "The Japanese Ramones", The Blue Hearts are a personal favorite.
Touching on aspects of new-wave, punk, 50's-60's rock & roll, hard r&b/soul and pure saccharine pop music, Sheena & The Rokkets were a powerful one-of-a-kind brand of weird.
Gotta kick props to the bad 90's pop-punk homies too. Hi-Standard kept it (relatively) classy.
The passion, intensity and dedicated, yet unforced oddness of POLYSICS has made them an all-time top-ten band for me.
Tons of love for classic synth sounds and they even incorporate chip (fakebit?) elements like their spiritual predecessors Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Okay, back from the tangent and on to the topic. What does all this music have in common besides being Japanese? A certain sort of wistfulness, or melancholy underscores the sweetness for the most part. A lot of it is rooted in the popular music of the day, but goes an extra step towards pure melody that would often be seen as cheesy. A lot of the time the music comes from the heart, (or is written to sound that way) but is also unabashed in it's tendency to deliver a cheapshot to the melody-based pleasure centers in the listener's brain.
It's the cheese that binds us.
57 Mar 15, 2016 4:38 pm
Re: *OUT NOW* 2015 Open Collaborative Mixtape (69 replies, posted in Collaborations)
Review'd by the Chipwin blog!
58 Mar 15, 2016 3:49 pm
Re: The Kevin Gnartinez Band - Splash of Summer (6 replies, posted in Releases)
Cheers!
59 Mar 11, 2016 10:45 pm
Re: Chip Break In The Clouds! BleepLove compilation is starting right now! (16 replies, posted in Collaborations)
I will drop some BRKz for this.
60 Mar 5, 2016 3:09 am
Re: My first chiptune track (12 replies, posted in Constructive Criticism)
Nice tune! It's got that "First try" feel to it, but you'll quickly overcome that hurdle as you learn more about your tools/techniques. I have no experience writing in FL studio, but it sounds like you're keeping it simple compared to how most songs produced in FL sound. Just keep making songs and don't get too attached to them. Growth happens fast at this stage in the game, so you'll be pleasantly suprised when you look back a few months from now and see obvious progress.
61 Mar 4, 2016 3:01 pm
Re: Ben Heck's Giant Game Boy (23 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
"LOL, the screen on those OLD GAMEBOYS was small and blurry! Now you can FINALLY play gameboy on a BIG GOOD SCREEN!"
Did nobody mention to these guys that the Super Gameboy was a thing? Or emulators? Or projectors? Or promotional gameboy display units? Why do these "media 2.0" people have such a hard time with research?
62 Mar 4, 2016 1:08 am
Re: Powersupply - Daisy Love - Free LSDJ album! (7 replies, posted in Releases)
Check out the LSDJ patchbook and scope the noi section. There are a few good examples that'll help you start getting a nice crunchy table kick. You don't have any trouble with crafting interesting and expressive noi sounds in general, there are just a few moments where I really wanted to hear a juicy snare or angular kick.
63 Mar 3, 2016 10:44 pm
Re: Omg! This guy makes music on a sega! FACT interview (49 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Inb4 this dude, (or a troll account claiming to be this dude), shows up to deliver one of those rib-tickling "Sorry. You guys are a bunch of dicks and I did nothing wrong, but sorry." apologies.
64 Mar 3, 2016 8:29 pm
Re: Powersupply - Daisy Love - Free LSDJ album! (7 replies, posted in Releases)
Another solid release that dodges trends and comes out sounding classic. The experimentation with non - LSDJ sounds is interesting and could be the start of something much bigger. Sometimes I found myself wanting a little more power out of the noise drums, but that's just me. Favorite jam is a dead heat between Super Flying Ice Cream Truck and Summer Breeze, Brain Freeze.