ha, i hold the opposite opinion - that the intro was fascinating (agreeably too loud), but the rest was kind of superfluous. would have been better if the whole song was that sort of spectral counterpoint funs.
o hi thar guyz i hear this is the place to talk about famicompo mini may i join in wooo thankssssssss
I'll have to say... the overall quality of the entries have never sounded so amazing until this year! So much variety this time around, too! Hats off to everyone for making this year the best-sounding one yet.
A lot of my favorite tunes have already been glossed over extensively in this thread, so I'll try to emphasize more on the so-far unmentioned tracks. I'll start with covers...
For my most overall enjoyable ones currently, it's a tie-up between #2 (SNES Super R-Type's Stage 1 - solo sortie) and #7 (Chandelier - Queen). For #2, nevermind that it's a cover of one of my favorite game soundtracks (partly made by Hiyamuta / HIYA! of Metal Slug fame, which automatically means uber-awesome solo progressions) -- it nailed the tri+noise drums and bass pulls perfectly. Plus it's all done without DPCM, which is always definite plus on the "more-with-less" department.
#7 is in a league of its own though. I never heard the original (I never even knew there was a Queen song named Chandelier... or is it based off another song of theirs?), but I absolutely love its NES rendition with its absolutely charming transitions on both the lead & stringed accompaniment tracks -- just an absolutely romantic NES song, bar none. Those snap DPCMs are the best highlight of the tune, too.
I also noticed two cover songs, #15 (saihate) and #41 (roshin yuukai) -- both off that one exit tunes / Vocalostar vocaloid2 character voice album that's been really popular here during the summer season of last year. #15 would have been very nice overall, if only it wasn't for those rather lame high-speed arpeggio chords lacking the fundamental notes of the original -- ruining the introduction a bit. On the other hand, the arps on the chorus line of #41 sound absolutely musically pleasing. Plus, the VRC6 vocal track nailed Kagamine Rin's original voice quite accurately -- including the robotic characteristic nuances that you usually expect from a vocaloid2 CV track.
On the originals front, yeah they've been mentioned already.... But I'll have to say that #5 (let's shooting) and #26 (boyfriend & girlfriend) are also my current favorites, with an ever-so-slight slant for the latter. On #5, the proggressive slur-lead wank parts are the most amazing part for me. Yes, the virtkwak reference is absolutely brilliant in this song.
#26 takes the cake though and eats it up. An absolute joy to listen to, it always reminds me of those sing-a-long tunes in a 40s-era romantic movie with the prerequisite rainy day alley setting -- complete with the thought of a guy in a work suit and a hat spinning around lamp posts & splashing over sidewalk puddles broadway-style as the landscape around him slowly turns from black & white into color. The parallels are so spot-on.
Originals #49 is also quite technically amazing, indeed. Although the author spoiled it early on, His explanation on his song's motive is quite neat. He mentioned in another forum (which I won't spoil here, sorry!) that he was aiming on replicating how the noise channel of the C64 is done by using multiple N106 channels and periodic waveforms. Of course as was mentioned earlier: beyond the technical ingenuity behind it, the musical sense isn't going to turn heads in the same way. But regardless, I think he did quite an excellent job with accomplishing his goal.
Numver 21 feels too unreal. Using FDS, Namco and MMC5 at the same time. Why doing stuff that doesn't work for on a real NES/Famicom? Still a great song though...
Ahh, but it does actually work in the real thing! At least now it does. It's an unconventional way of making it work, but the device to make it happen finally does exist. There's a multi edge-connector cart released here that allows you to connect multiple expansion-audio-laden game carts into one. (It's actually part of TNS's TNS-HFC SD card NSF playback cart kits that are manufactured occasionally -- which are quite difficult to get outside Japan... unless you're lucky enough to stumble across his circle table whenever the author participates in a convention like comiket). That main cart then maps the appropriate register writes to the respective expansion-audio cart, while at the same time mixes all the cart's audio output together with the Famicom itself.
Is it any more "purist" than a song using only the 2A03 or a single expansion sound source? Depends on what your opinions about multi-expansion chip songs are (I honestly don't think so, though that doesn't detract me from enjoying multi-expansion NSFs that have interesting musical qualities over their expansion wankery -- which I'll admit didn't really happen that often... not until this very compo that is). But is it now technically feasable in hardware? With a bit of jury-rigging, yes it definitely is.
tssf wrote:
I think 21's using way too much compression simulation. If i was made to be more subtle than it is then it would be believable. In the sound engineering field though, something like that would be considered "way too much" and it detracts from the song. I found the best part of the song was when the compression simulation stopped. heh.
Yeah, you can always throw buzzwords in the air impressin' the ladies about fighting in the so-called loudness war and go analytical out of some MAD PROTOOLIN' SKILLZ in that glorious sound engineering field about how believable or not it is in some NSF song, but I'm pretty sure that the pseudo-sidechaining buttheimer stuff is slanted towards an artistic purpose. And when comparing it to current popular artists that use that technique in very, VERY similar artistic vein (throwing random names here... I dunno... Daft Punk, Eric Prydz, Deadmau5, Justice, Wolfgang Gartner... hell, even Tim/Geoff Follin in Spiderman & The X-Men for all things!), I think originals #21 nailed the pseudo-sidechaining pretty damn well.
Dave wrote:
i wouldn't say it's unreal, really. it's remarkably easy to use multiple expansions. just as simple as setting all the flags and writing with a bunch more channels than usual :p i don't mind the big multi-expansion songs, sometimes they're cool, though when they're just used for a boost in polyphony it's kind of boring, no real extra technical merit to it. it's much more fun exposing the idiosyncracies of the different chips! there's many people who feel more strongly than i do though and won't even vote for songs with multiple expansions (which veers into snobbery to be honest.) regardless, multi-expansion songs don't have a competitive edge these days, if anything it puts you at a disadvantage as far as the contest is concerned.
Back in the first Famicompo mini, I admit I used to also bitch about them needlessly. "What the hell are these multi-chip songs? This sounds nothing like NES music! They're not in the same league! UNFAIR LOL!!!", but after fcm1 I learned to tolerate and somewhat appreciate them. In fact, I now welcome it whenever someone tries to enter a song with multiple expansion wankery -- it makes it all more impressive & gratifying when a plain-vanilla yet well-written 2A03-only song ends up matching or beating out that goliath NSF in the results. Actually, speaking of such results...
StudioAru wrote:
You think Number 21's unreal? Compare to T kara S e (From T to S)(Original Entry No. 17) where every available sound chip that can possibly be used save for the FDS is utilized. The author even said himself that he overdid it with overblowing all of the available chips he could use (and with very good arrangement, too). It managed to win the Famicompo vol. 2 Original section.
Honestly I didn't even think much of T kara S he (even after sincerely listening to it fully, I still thought of it as yet another average "expansionwank-just-because-i-can" tune), and thought maak's REAL BLUE was so much better in every way (aside from polyphonic count, of course). In fact I was expecting maak's song to completely wipe everyone out in the results. But lo and behold, it got edged out by a mere few decimal points. At first I was surprised how the hell this happened. But quickly recollecting the immense hype & popularity of 'naki-ge' ADV games like Kanon/AIR/CLANNAD/blahblah filled with uber-cliche'y, melodically-simplistic yet nostalgic-sounding style songs made me finally conclude, "Oh. Well, duh."
(not that the style isn't totally dismissable to me, I actually thought Shoujo Kankaku was KAY's more decent entry that year. Still not as impressive to me as maak's entry, but I thought it was his best off his tried-&-true style. Also, one of my more favorite entries this year, originals #16 (marooned in space) dives into the same nostalgic-sounding territory.)
I think 21's using way too much compression simulation. If i was made to be more subtle than it is then it would be believable. In the sound engineering field though, something like that would be considered "way too much" and it detracts from the song. I found the best part of the song was when the compression simulation stopped. heh.
Yeah, you can always throw buzzwords in the air impressin' the ladies about fighting in the so-called loudness war and go analytical out of some MAD PROTOOLIN' SKILLZ in that glorious sound engineering field about how believable or not it is in some NSF song, but I'm pretty sure that the pseudo-sidechaining buttheimer stuff is slanted towards an artistic purpose. And when comparing it to current popular artists that use that technique in very, VERY similar artistic vein (throwing random names here... I dunno... Daft Punk, Eric Prydz, Deadmau5, Justice, Wolfgang Gartner... hell, even Tim/Geoff Follin in Spiderman & The X-Men for all things!), I think originals #21 nailed the pseudo-sidechaining pretty damn well.
I admire your ability to explain your opinion. However themz thar attitude nd u tryn to b kewl is actually coming across fairly douchey (OMG DO YOU KNOW KANYE WEST?!). You also expressed something great in your last sentence (er, I should say after your last comma), "I think". My opinions are similar toward those other bands/groups/etc that you mentioned. And it IS my opinion. Have respect for it, and maybe your douche-bag attitude will diminish.
Second, TADPOLE!!
Original 28 was yours? You're my hero!
There were many impressive tunes in this compo, but all the wankery and complex sounds were eventually forgotten and what remained was this tune. It made its way into my heart. I'm not a man of great words, just let me say that your tune filled me with the gayest gooey love for all living things on this planet!!!!
The lead melodies fooled me, though. I could swear it was a sylcmyk tune.
Congratulations to chibi-tech! I really liked your song!
zabutoms - let's shooting where really great too!
Here are my song from the compo:
Entry 29 - Frozen Starlight
Ended up at place 47 with 97 points. Since there was so many good songs I guess I have to be satisfied with the result. I attach the .ftm and the .nsf.
If someone feels like making a remix or spice up the song a bit it would be cool... It could help me to get better at composing.
Congrats, chibi-tech! Also, congrats to coda--you inspire me!
I can't believe how much good music there is in here. Previous famicompos always had their share of good music, but I always couldn't stand listening to 50% of the entries. But this year, so many good tunes, and many of them written by people I've never heard of. It looks like the scene is getting bigger, but the quality and musicality is rising. How does that work? What do you think guys, are we all getting a lot better? Kreese, you're right. Don't feel bad about how well you did. Your song is still pretty good!
Miau, that cover you made is great, and even better (and funnier) for me now that I've seen the video! What is that at the very end, though? Great work!
And thank you so much for your compliments! I listened to the sylcmyk tune you linked to. Amazing. Personally, I am not satisfied at all with "heart on a line," but I'm glad some people really liked it and can't believe it did as well as it did (#13).
Next big thing to look forward to -- Winter Chip at BotB.
it's definitely getting more competitive. there's more people entering/more entries each year, people are always improving as well, and there's more tools available for nsf creation now (and the ones that do exist are getting increasingly powerful.) it's a good thing though.
i got my ass whipped good this year for this reason that and i submitted throwaway stuff from my cancelled 30songs30days project, so there was only a day's work in each the tunes (except for the kirby cover.) ahhh go on then, here's the FTMs... i don't usually do this! scrutinise at your leisure
Miau, that cover you made is great, and even better (and funnier) for me now that I've seen the video! What is that at the very end, though? Great work!
