Road Less Taken [8-Bit; VRC6] - Persona Q2
This turned out to be a deceptively complicated track to cover. Lots of voices and chords and all that. I was torn between doing this vs Road Less Taken, and opted for this one thinking it would take less time, so that I could finish it before my next stretch of work days. Road Less Taken seems even more complicated, but I think I'll still tackle it at some point! :)
2019-02-12 14:22:15 +0000 UTC View PostThank you so much for subscribing to my patreon, it means a whole lot to me! If any of you unsubscribe for any reason, know that I would not be bothered or saddened and I totally understand, especially if you're in a financial bind! That being said, I think those who subscribe and have access to these FTM files may have the option of unsubscribing before being charged for the first time. I won't take any measures to stop this, but I would appreciate if it did not happen for the most part. Thi...
2019-02-01 13:22:47 +0000 UTC View PostI feel like I spent more time figuring out how to sync animation to music than I spent on this arrangement lol. Definitely not true though, since I took my sweet time making this one. I was considering making a more faithful cover with a lot of my own twists in the second loop, kinda like with Chaos King. I decided not to, since it would be a lot of work that is only appreciated by those who listen long enough. Instead I tried to get a little creative throughout this cover with more interesti...
2019-01-23 13:01:37 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in the video description, I kinda totally cheated with this one. I originally tried using DPCM samples like I did with my Renai Circulation arrangement, but the difference here is that there aren't any vocal-only rips of Pull The Trigger to convert to samples. This makes the percussion sound really muddy, so instead I just overlayed the dmc-converted samples outside of FamiTracker. The rest of the track is untouched. :)
Happy new year!
also i spent like 5 h...
2019-01-01 18:50:56 +0000 UTC View PostI made this ftm available to everyone as thanks for 5k subs! Thank you!!
About the track: Technically the whole thing is VRC6 because it's one file, but I self-imposed 2A03 limitations for the first half. Though most of my recent stuff has used VRC6 expansion sound, I still find it fun to work within the strict limitations of 2A03. It's just hard to pass up the extra sound channels when I want to get creative lol. Also I used an absurd amount of noise channel presets here. Half for the ...
2019-01-01 18:41:47 +0000 UTC View PostI think this is my favorite track from the game thus far, so I hope I did it justice here! I love the sax(?) melody in the latter half, especially when the harmony kicks in. I can't help but throw in arpeggios in the parts that I like most, thinking it will draw more attention to those parts. I think it works. I hope.
2019-01-01 18:40:03 +0000 UTC View PostI'll let you guys in on a dirty secret. Since the original tune's key is a quarter tone above F#, I had to decrease the tempo slightly and increase my arrangement by 50 cents (logarithmic unit of measurement used for musical intervals) to match the key of the original. This can't be done in Famitracker without causing minute pitch discrepancies, so I had to do this in another program. Yes, it's totally cheating. No, I don't regret it. :)
You can enjoy the original FTM here in all of its...
2019-01-01 18:38:34 +0000 UTC View PostI've been wanting to tackle this one for a long time, probably since around the time the game came out. The percussion, though repetitive, was really hard to replicate with just a noise channel. It probably could sound better, but I worked on it enough that I don't care anymore lol. Just focus on the jazzy melodies and those delicious arps instead.
2019-01-01 18:36:31 +0000 UTC View PostThere's an inherent problem with working on a track when all you can use for reference is a couple of shitty recordings. Shortly before I finished, an official(?) version was released, so I was at least able to proofread my work to an extent. But wait, now there's a new official version?? And it sounds even better??? Well shucks.
Hope you guys are enjoying the game!
2019-01-01 18:34:53 +0000 UTC View PostIt's hard to capture so much funk with so few channels. This might be the only 2A03 track I've made that used DPCM percussion throughout the whole thing. It's a sound that, honestly, I'm not crazy about. It still works I suppose, but I feel like it strays a bit from true 2A03 "real 8-bit" sound to the point where I might as well use the VRC6 channels. It also allows for more freedom in the percussion, which creates a contrast with the lack of creative freedom you get with 2 square wave channe...
2019-01-01 18:32:53 +0000 UTC View PostI like how this one turned out, and I think I should take this approach more often. I tend to get occupied with trying to "recreate" the original track, and forget that I'm creating my own version of it. I need to recognize that I can do whatever I want with the percussion, the melodies, the harmonies, and even the chord progressions. Otherwise, I can hardly call these works my own.
2019-01-01 18:31:33 +0000 UTC View PostThis took ages. I almost always start an arrangement by doing the triangle (bass/white line notes) channel from start to finish. It usually doesn't take long and sets the foundation for the track. It also dictates the volumes of other channels/instruments, considering you typically cannot adjust the volume of the triangle channel. This time, the triangle channel took somewhere around 5-6 hours to finish, and almost discouraged me from finishing this arrangement altogether. Then I remembered t...
2019-01-01 18:29:47 +0000 UTC View PostThis is probably the 2A03 arrangement that I'm most proud of. I like to imagine how this would sound on the original Metroid for NES. The menacing tone of this track would create a nice contrast with that dumb-looking Ridley sprite.
2019-01-01 18:27:37 +0000 UTC View PostThis track is such an underappreciated bop. That's all I really have to say about it, so I'll instead talk about my history with this game. I've owned only Mario Party 2, and played an unhealthy amount of it as both a child and a drunk college student. Don't get me wrong, I still REALLY enjoy the game sober as well. At some point during college I was introduced to Mario Party 3 which, surprisingly, I liked even more than 2. It's rare that I come across an old game that I end up preferring to ...
2019-01-01 18:24:26 +0000 UTC View Post