Samples by Malmen, XYCE, and yours truly.
2/15/17 - Today's my fifteenth birthday!
Okay, now we're coming to this. It's another song I am doing in the style of
XYCE, this time with waveforms I've drawn by myself! Some of the samples,
however, were actually recorded from XYCE's, umm, wavetables or
whatever. Oh! I mean constructed waveforms! How dumb of me! As I was
saying, some of the samples were actually recorded from some of XYCE's
waveforms, then edited in Audacity, to make them sound more like FM
synth instruments. Also, since this is an OpenMPT (.mptm) module, I've
also added filter effects to some waveform instruments to make them
sound more settling, and not so sharp. Why? Because there are some
problems people may have with chiptune---they could get headaches from
that. Again, I've added filter envelopes, though you can't really do this in
FastTracker2 (.xm) modules... And why do I always use the .mptm format?
Well, it's because XM doesn't support stereo samples, S3M format doesn't
support instruments, IT format isn't too good, and worst of all, MOD format
limits the note range and frequency (Amiga Frequency Limits), so you'd
have to downsample them A LOT! And it doesn't support instruments
either! Also, the channels are not center-panned! You'd have to turn stereo
separation off! And by the way, I'm not being rude, but those formats just
don't really fit my musical composing. But the XM format really isn't so bad,
though. I do like it.
Okay, I think I'm rambling. This song, well, I'm not exactly sure why it has
such a title like "Sugar Shines"; all I know is that I've just randomly come up
with that title. Well, since it's my birthday today, I'm really excited and it's
like I've had too much sugar! So, let's agree that the title is sort of an
expression. It all started with a sick beat and some funky bass notes and
chords. But then when I drew more waveforms, I decided that some of
them could be used for emphasis. And in terms of the voiced sounds, this
COULD remind you guys of Scribblenauts. As I worked on this, I found out
that some parts sounded somehow not the way I thought. The filters
interfered with some instruments because they did not have proper filters
applied to them. I mean, the resonance and cut-off was not level. But the
whole song itself has everything (and every part) that a XYCE-style song
needs. It has arpeggios, scales, a funky beat, and stuff like that. Well, did I
mention arpeggios? Regarding that, the arpeggios on channels 18 and 19
are very...weird, because there is a particular pattern (for instance J47,
J74, J47, J74, repeat), which makes them sound kind of unpleasant with a
tick duration factor of 200 or over and 5 or more ticks per row (the tick
duration factor here is 285, with 5 ticks per row, making the tempo
approximately 171 beats per minute). Also, there is another pattern I've
learned from XYCE, and it goes octave-down, octave-up, octave-down,
octave-up, repeat. And before I learned it from XYCE, they learned it from a
composer named Jakob Svanholm, aka Radix, who is also a musical
composer, from Sweden. He uses the octave-down-octave-up pattern too!
XYCE and I actually stole that technique right out of the gate (we're sorry
we stole it, Radix). I mean, the technique we used was INSPIRED BY him.
Sorry again, Radix. And the scales... I've actually seen some modules by
XYCE that include stuff like that. They've got a pattern that goes descend,
ascend, descend, ascend, repeat. You can also see it in channels 16 and
17, with instrument 27. The funky beat, which also includes the drums
used in "La Ch.rie", which is another song by XYCE, is what makes the
song itself funky too. Of course, every good song needs a bouncy beat. At
some parts, you will find Exx, Fxx, or Gxx commands applied to some
instruments, causing a pitch bend - you know, where you change the
frequency of a note. That's how XYCE experimented with THEIR
chipsamps/instruments, but they used 1xx, 2xx, and 3xx. And the bass
really jumps onto the drum beats, making the piano, organ, and
experimental sound (the canteen) play over it too. I like this so much, that I
could really impress XYCE with this entire composition. Some of the
samples were pre-recorded, as I also decided to use those too, such as "Let
the bass be louder!", "Comin' up strong with some hardcore power!", and
"Go!". These came from XYCE's song "Bass GO", and I decided to give credit
to them for those samples. And don't forget! I've also decided to make a
final version with the vocals! Well, I don't plan on finalizing it yet - the
AlterEGO VST is causing a problem, where some of the syllables in each
phrase turn out to be outta' synchronization. So sorry about that, since I'm
not an expert at fixing it. Anyways, enjoy the song!
"Sugar Shines" is track two of my 2017 album "Trying Something New!"
and is hopefully going to be in one of the 2017 demoscene parties
someday. Will I win? I don't know yet.
Hint: XYCE = Xylo and Cerror
Featuring the voice of Johnny Yong Bosch, as Ray O'Light.
