Ken Hisuag

RT3 is wrapping up, so it should be safe to post this. I went looking for the original N.I.G.H.T.M.A.R.E. when reviewing the tournament entry, and I appreciated the context it gave to the remix. Personally I think Nhato's version is better, but this one's still good in its own right.

Cuphead is probably the best example of jazz and big band as VGM done right. Even if it isn't, it's one of the few I'm familiar enough with at this time to post about. Honestly, though, there's some great music in this game, and that's coming from someone who isn't that into jazz. Or at the very least someone who's resistant to the fact that they are into jazz.

Death metal is the one genre of music I've never been able to find a personally likeable example for, and as such the lyrics for this are especially hilarious to me. Also reminded me of this:

With the third remix tournament in progress, I feel it would be prudent for me to focus on original pieces for a bit. So here's a popular OC theme:

I was referring to the NSFW aspect.

I am loathe to admit that I even know of this game's existence, but good music can exist independent of its source (as evidenced by the Follin Brothers). Thus, as this week's late night entry, here is Rabi-Ribi. Safe-search will not save you; you have been warned.

The button that lets you condense things into a collapsible text box, like the above quote box. Having just typed that out, I realize the quote box button is still there, and can probably serve the same purpose. One-Minute-Later-Edit: Yup, that'll work. Thanks!

I've got the current OST for Infinite Blade Pavilion compiled, but since it's too large to upload myself I'm gonna hold onto it until the extra stage is released. To justify this update, here's some Touhou Unreal Mahjong: @Nitorium I like the new colorization choices to the buttons and names, but what happened to the "hidden content" button? I kinda need that . . .

Last Wanwan post for a while, I promise. Despite being a short album, Trifocuser's soundtrack is one of my favorite things to come out of the fandom. Also commemorating a rare moment of more than one or two of us being here at the same time.

@Garison DeCrick I've occasionally reflected on a similar concept with dubstep-visualizers, as in the way the bars at the bottom of the screen or around the centerpiece jump out in wave formations in time to the music. A game could probably be themed around incorporating music visualizers into the danmaku, possibly with a different style for each boss and having that boss's theme tailored to the attack style. I haven't yet looked into Barrage Musical ~ A Fantasy of Tempest, but I've heard it's danmaku is designed to be in time to the music; possibly this is a concept that could be adapted into the visualizer idea? I'd assume this requires a rework of the way battles progress; as it is now, everything would have to be timed attacks to prevent the music from falling behind. Also the way the MIDI bars are glowing in this video made me think of this.

This week, Night in the Woods. I don't like the game (personal reasons), but the music is pleasantly unique, switching back and forth between atmospheric and intense spooky. It's also one of the only soundtracks I've found that creatively incorporates a honky-tonk piano.

I couldn't let this wait. The aforementioned Anna Nguyen has created a playlist of all her commissioned music pieces, collectively known as Annaverse. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxNkcfIIKqHxx5Y7SDRKtp34bMM0z-l-i

I'm still listening to Wanwan right now, so . . . I would really like Wanwan would add his previous work to Bandcamp; Life-Guiding Song in particular is one of my favorites. At least I've got Tri Focuser. Anybody else notice a lot of the emoticons on old posts have turned into question mark quartets?

I'm here on an off-day, and I feel like posting some cinematic soundtracks. When it comes to movie music, I prefer epic melody-heavy tracks. Usually this just means the main theme of the film, but occasionally there are soundtracks like Lord of the Rings which use a variety of highlighted leitmotifs throughout. I could post quite a few pieces I've found, but for now I'll just stick with three.

Officially rounding up this themed month, I present CotND's spin-off sequel, Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer feat. The Legend of Zelda. Cadence of Hyrule is everything its predecessor was and more. The music is a mix of remixes from the Legend of Zelda series and a few original tunes. I cannot do it justice in its entirety, but I think I can properly represent it. (also Shopkeeper ?) There are currently six variants with varying coverage of the soundtrack, plus otamatone accompaniment as an alternate Shopkeeper. Daoust is not in the game, but he is currently working on covers (and his skills are getting better with time). As with everything posted in this thread, I encourage anyone who likes what they hear to look further into the featured soundtrack. It's rarely possible to post all the best tracks from a game, and you may find a piece you enjoy much more. Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys the music.

Just remembered that this video exists.

I hadn't heard that Infinite Blade Pavilion had released! I'll have to get to compiling it's soundtrack soon.

I should post more of Wanwan's works here; the quality of his work often rivals ZUN himself. This is a recent post from his Youtube channel, though the date in the description leaves me confused as to whether or not it was composed some time ago. BTW, this piece is part of a series of commissions from Anna Nguyen, a.k.a. Anna's Handmade. She seems to commission songs for her original characters rather consistently, and involved artists include Aka Kyuketsuki and Yoiyami (also Janitogloy and Enzaki Roka, but they're new names to me).

So I've covered CotND's OST, it's official variants, and some ambitious fan projects. It is the versatility of the music that has held my interest in it. But there was a special aspect to the soundtrack, a bonus feature of sorts, that had initially caught my attention. The game uses a artificial vocal accompaniment as a game mechanic, resulting in secondary versions for most tracks. This mechanic is known as "The Shopkeeper." Just to clarify, this is not a real person's voice. The effect this accompaniment has on the soundtrack as a whole is difficult to articulate. I suspect it was conceptualized as a gimmick or novelty, but the resulting harmony can often strengthen already well-composed pieces. Not to mention the surprising amount of enjoyment that can be had in singing along. Speaking of which, an alternate accompaniment to the Shopkeeper was later added into the game due to the efforts of an ambitious vocalist. It might take a bit more to get used to, but I've come to admire his performances (especially for Zone 3). BTW, Daoust has covered all of CotND's Shopkeeper tracks, including the above featured Styx and Stones. That's technically it for Crypt of the Necrodancer. But I'll have one last thing to address next week before fully moving on.

I actually discovered this track on Bandcamp. The artist has only posted two of their remixes on Youtube that I can find, but they've done others.

Continuing the month's theme: Outside of the game, there have been a number of soundtrack variant projects attempted, with varying levels of success. To date, there have been three completed projects, one more prospective completion on the way, and two significantly progressed projects which are likely to remain unfinished. None of these are in the game, but are still of professional quality for the most part and worth a listen. Additionally, there have been a number of soundtrack variant overlay projects for Crypt of the Necrodancer. Because all of the remixes have to maintain the same tempo and length to work in the game, it is possible to overlap them for a unique sounding experience. At least two variants were composed with this idea in mind.

This isn't part of my weekly posts, I just felt like sharing it. Here's to a game who's legacy is truly beyond words. Happy 5th.

LOL indeed. ???? Yesterday was the one year anniversary of jssf's first Remix Tournament. In commemoration (and in case there's anyone who hasn't seen it yet), here's one of the pieces that was featured. The original thread is linked in the first post of this thread. Also, a CROW'SCLAW piece for no particular reason. I've been holding on to some discoveries in anticipation of another tournament in the future. We'll see how long I hold out, eh? ????

Continuing from last week: On release, Crypt of the Necrodancer had two alternate soundtracks which played for different playable characters. These were variant soundtracks which remixed the original pieces. After release, there were four more variants added into the game for a total of seven. There were also two substitute soundtracks in the themes of Danganronpa and Groove Coaster, respectively. The latter was a Switch exclusive, and is unavailable on Youtube to my knowledge. Also happy Cirno day!