Pico-8 Celeste Update #5 – More WIPs!
Added 2019-07-27 13:01:00 +0000 UTCHere are some more works in progress, have a listen! (only 3.5 minutes) You can hear excerpts from the following tracks, comparing the original with my arrangements:
- 05 Postcard from Celeste Mountain
- 06 Checking In
- 07 Spirit of Hospitality
- 08 Scattered and Lost
There are a couple of tunes from the soundtrack that I’ve been dreading, mostly because they have so many layers and will be a huge challenge reducing the music to four channels. Scattered and Lost was one of them.
The biggest challenge with this one was the buzzy bass. When you listen to the original, especially around 1:10, you’ll hear that the bass definitely has a buzz, but not all the time. It sounds like there’s a high pass filter that has been automated to open and close the buzzing.
So the challenge was finding the right balance between a buzz and a solid, fundamental tone. This took about four re-writes, but I think I’m finally happy with what I’ve got.
In some cases, I opted to layer a buzzy bass with a regular bass (green instruments 4 & 5 at 0:51)
In other cases, I alternate between them (1:50)
Sometimes, I also used another bass sound (red instrument 0) to give a third, softer bass sound (1:30). With all three, I can alternate between them very quickly.
The other major challenge was trying fit in as many layers as possible. My arrangement definitely pushes Pico-8 to its musical limit. There are a couple of patterns where I use every instrument (red + green) and every effect!
Hope you’re enjoying the WIPs. Looking at my schedule and the next few tracks, the next update might not be for a couple weeks. Stay tuned!
