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DDR Music
 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 09:58 [#02623238]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



What is DDR music? I perceive it to be the sound of a bunch
of Japanese people losing their shit on amphetamines.

Where does DDR music come from? The songs are all named like
"U1 High-Speed - EGOISM 440" or "Mr. T with Motoaki.F -
Burning Heat! (3 Option Mix)" and, like, who are all these
buggers? It's certainly not the guy with the gold chains and
the mohawk.

How does it get onto the machines? "Butterfly" is some
low-budget dutch Eiffel65 shit; I think they're only on the
machines because someone sped it up and remixed it, and then
that got repeatedly remixed and

What were they making this stuff on? Couple years back I
spotted the Yamaha MU2000EX, and I'm squinting at it,
and I think: Yeahhhhh, this could be it. It's got every
cheesy GM sound you could want, massive polyphony, and a
shitty 4MB sampler. That I swear, it's either this thing or
a Triton rack or something -- not that they can't afford the
keyboard version; they just don't have the space for it.

A part of me leans Triton. Like, I recognize some of the GM
sounds, and that sounds like Ice Drops, and I don't know
what Yamaha's sound like, but Korg's do sound like that. I
just feel like there's some rack box out there that's just
stuffed to the gills with all these cheesy brass sounds,
strings, piano, flute, that you hear over and over

Then, really, I only like this stuff when they go house,
acid, breaks, minor chords. But then they just absolutely
love to switch to these cloying major chord movements for
the chorus, and... I think this has something to do with the
"fast anime music" vs. "slow anime music" thing?



 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 10:02 [#02623239]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



it's hard to find a good mix. there's a lot of trash out
there, and even the good ones; a third of the tracks are
skippers because they're going "fast happy major anime
music"

but here's a good mix ~ LAZY_TITLE

he starts off playing butterfly to be like, "hey, listen to
my mix, it's DDR." butterfly is about the furthest i can
stand of that. then, however, he's off into rave and
hardcore and acid, only very brief interruptions with those
problem choruses, for a good long while. and he's this
amped-up japanese guy yelling stuff and this is great,
thanks, this is exactly what i wanted.

he starts whiffing and playing some slower / major-ish stuff
later, but it does feel like, "...alright, i have to play at
least some of this"


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 10:31 [#02623242]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



yeah, this, this, this:

LAZY_TITLE ~ Sota F - New Decade

and sdhfjksfd this kills me. what does it sound like if you
literally squee? because i might have. i have started
studying how to do something with stereo recently after
having largely ignored it the whole time, and this track is
a particular delight on cans, and... wow, i never realized
how close some of my stuff is to ddr. was not intentional

but then, everything has a price. next song, WHAM,
right into a brick wall of the worst flavor of DDR music


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 10:38 [#02623243]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623242



the good track clearly using dFx buffer override so probably
plugins in the early to mid 00's.

i could be totally wrong about all of this, but that's part
of the fun.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 10:55 [#02623244]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



42:01 Monkey Business / kors k
57:39 ENDYMION / fallen shepherd ft. RabbiTon Strings

aaron funk crying in his beer


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-18 11:04 [#02623245]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



[direct lift from winnipeg is a frozen shithole lol]


 

offline RussellDust on 2022-12-18 17:09 [#02623248]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623239



Pluto relinquish - 2mb


 

offline RussellDust on 2022-12-18 17:10 [#02623249]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623242



Nice


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 00:47 [#02623253]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to RussellDust: #02623248



yeah, the 2MB stuff is all mustard -- and exactly what i was
talking about first post, this feels like... he had the 2MB
version of the yamaha MU2000 etc


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 00:52 [#02623254]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



NAOKI - B4U

this feels weird on my brain. they're doing the sacchrine
chorus, but they're warbling minor enough, it's like i'm
feeling two emotions at once. almost kind of dissociative


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-19 06:35 [#02623256]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



isnt it basically j-rave?
i heard similar music in a japanese discoteque on tv.
tons of high marching stabs and rushing melodies over a
160+200 bpm bunny hop drum.
really not my cuppa. exceptions state the rule.
when i play ddr
on a pad im glad there is 120 bpm tracks, like the
breakbeat ones and a few slower techno tracks.
it makes me wonder if people who hear fastpaced breakish idm
have the same issues like i have with j-rave. like wheres
the beat? why is it all playing at the same time? dont they
have any taste in beats melody or arrangement? are they on
drugs? and this must be the exact right speed for a fly or
squirrel.

maybe john asato could tell us more.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 13:33 [#02623258]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



so i'm only doubling down on this because it impresses me.
first, review this:

LAZY_TITLE ~ only need the first minute and a half, two
minutes

then listen to this: LAZY_TITLE @ 54s

lollll

but then... i remember discussing this with... oh, josso,
and he commented, "it's one of snares' finest moments,
really" and i thot: i don't really rank stuff like that, but
if i had to, i see what you mean.

and fuck me if i don't actually like this better. even if
he's done half of the heavy lifting and i'd really call this
a remix gone too far


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 13:36 [#02623259]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to ijonspeches: #02623256



ok, so, yeah, i'm wondering about it all myself! that's the
thred

try this: LAZY_TITLE

dubstep ~can~ be good, ddr ~can~ be good, here's both firing
on all cylinders. but have been thinking: how can people
dance to this?

and i had this track on while walking... despite the BPM,
there's so much action, so much syncopation, your feet don't
have much trouble finding a beat to walk on, and, ohhh, you
can dance to this like a spaz, sure, but there are a few
levels below that available. if that makes sense

and i think this arrangement is slick as hell. flows like
water

and it's jason asato. he runs 4chan


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 13:37 [#02623260]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



and yes they are on drugs, e and speed


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 13:38 [#02623261]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



at the end of the day it's a genre based on an arcade dance
game. so there has to be somewhere for your feet


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 13:42 [#02623262]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



might have grabbed the wrong snares track. oh well. it's one
of 'em off shithole


 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-19 14:20 [#02623263]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker



isn’t it one of those electronic drum kits


 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-19 14:21 [#02623264]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker



can you play those with your fingers WHAT ABOUT YOUR...
sorry


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 15:42 [#02623265]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623259



i've thought about it, and i have a more visceral
description:

"monkey business" sounds like dave tipper and infected
mushroom having a threesome

(start is mostly tipper, end is pure infected mushroom,
wouldn't surprise me if the guy is using the gating plugins
the infected mushroom guy made, and, i dunno, my brain is
saying reFX plastic? but i have no justification for this i
can't even say which synth is making me think...)


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 15:43 [#02623266]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



no, it's like dave tipper and infected mushroom having a
threesome on e.

accuracy matters


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 15:48 [#02623267]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



shiiiit

does this sample them both? either?

"it's like" by tipper...


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-19 16:10 [#02623268]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



and perhaps john quincy asato can tell us about dave
mushroom and infected tipper.


 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-20 07:20 [#02623270]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623266



...are you sure?


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-25 03:43 [#02623358]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



you know what else i miss in most songs of the type?
spacing,
just too many things battling for the same spot in my ear,

played some zappa studio albums over the past week and im
amazed at how high maintenance music can be so balanced,
instruments in harmony and clearly distinguished from
another. but then, he had a group of musicians, real
instruments claiming different frequencies and a studio in
his place to do proper recording and mixing. and its a
matter of style too.


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-25 03:45 [#02623359]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623268 | Show recordbag



its json,
he sees the world in code

greeting and merryings, if you´re around asato sama


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-26 03:06 [#02623386]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to ijonspeches: #02623359



i feel like his rendition of benjamin franklin is always
peering over my shoulder.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-27 07:19 [#02623424]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to ijonspeches: #02623256



so just offering a more thorough version of my response

it makes me wonder if people who hear fastpaced breakish
idm have the same issues like i have with j-rave. like
wheres the beat? why is it all playing at the same time?
dont they have any taste in beats melody or
arrangement?


hi, yes. listen to this, and, no, it's not all
playing at the same time, it's just very easily bored and
walking through motifs like... walking... rather than
sticking with any for a few loops like most would. like,
blattboop, there's a little SID flourish at the bellend of
numerous slabs of syncopated... hell, the panning too.. that
you have to understand

1) DDR has difficulty levels and so you have to have
concentric rings of rhythmic difficulty. you can walk
casually, jog, run, or totally spaz out.

2) it's not all at once, it's just... moving from one motif
to the next like walking, rather than loop it. which leads
us to

are they on drugs? and this must be the exact right speed
for a fly or squirrel.


see the thing about the song having multiple slower gears
buried within, first off. but second: i've never really
messed around with e, but from... years of experience,
listening, asking questions, reading interviews... i can
hear, like, yes, this track is rolling so hard it's turning
its teef itch. but that sort of smoothness, endlessly
dumping from one motif to the next as if the exhale never
ends, yeah, that's the sound

the other tracks have names like "EGO 440" 440hz ~ A
[mphetamines] band names like "Ultra High-Speed" wonder what
they're high on, then the other category, usually the more
annoying gay ones, have like heart emojis in the title
reference to stamps on E pills or someth

but i'm just guessing.


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-27 09:00 [#02623427]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623424 | Show recordbag



right, i understand these short tracks are designed for a
specific purpose and that is to create the environment for a
short dance performance.
players learn and memorize those tracks too.

walking through motifs, mixing tempo, you often hear all
that in dance battles or dance performances at us sports
aswell. and that is not necessarily what i find hardly
accessible or pleasing, although they are often not very
tasteful or the remixing often is terrible and not working.
its more the style of blaring synths running too closely
layered, through motifs in many of the tracks, but yeah
overall it serves its purpose in gameplay and emotion and
surely there is better or worse in that category as is
everywhere. the example you posted surely does well.

are you building tracks, maybe to share them in the
stepmania community?



 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-27 09:24 [#02623429]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



that, oh, hmm, listening context? there's some necessary
discussion here.

that in good weather i'll walk six miles a day; in poorer
weather it's more like 2-3 and some gym equipment. but
always music. i put on that kors k song, and, kind of on on
a runner's high, it'll literally make me start tearing up,
i'm just so... dgjhkdfgfg... if there's no one around to
make it awkward i'll let it go.

this is contrasted with, like, "time" by dark side of the
moon, where it's more like you're sitting in a parabolic
comfy chair and really stoned and just sort of soaking it in
and contemplating and letting it unfold. and maybe that's
more like frank zappa. i heard he was some asshole that
thought drugs were for assholes so maybe his music is only
good of coffee and ziggurauts. who knows.

my intersection, i guess, is: hey, some of this sounds a lot
like my stuff. not all of it, just some tracks, very similar
noises as end result... but for different reasons, i'm doing
dub stuff and they're mashing stolen samples in renoise or
something. that i'm just listening to it because it's
fucking COLD.AS.FUQ out and i wanted some colorful candy
rave to warm me up as i walk, and go figure, i just kind of
get sucked in and here we are. but then i'm here, and i've
never thought of composing for like... four distinct levels
in one flat song? not going to try but thinking on it
anyways for pointers. then, ditto, it's kind of like some of
mine, what can i nab?

and, like, yes, i see kind of movies in my head to music.
it's kind of gradually solidified over the years. but
underneath it all, i realized, is a sense of kinesthesia,
movement, change in relative body position, i dunno. and
i've played DDR for maybe two hours in the past ten years
but i swear to fucking christ i can just see arrows for this
song


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-27 09:49 [#02623431]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



gotta stop being so serious about it
its just music
and some is just hysterical :)



 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-28 07:35 [#02623449]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker



that, oh, hmm
is there any necessary discussion here really though


 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-28 07:36 [#02623450]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker



i’ll save the trouble of answering for you NO


 

offline mermaidman on 2022-12-28 07:38 [#02623451]
Points: 7991 Status: Lurker



you know why? cause there isn’t any necessary discussion
here that’s why


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2022-12-28 09:03 [#02623458]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to mermaidman: #02623449



is there any necessary discussion here really though

let's hang this up and frame it. you've made a coherent,
valid point that i agree with, without actually being
insulting to anyone.

i will cite what i said after some ramble about panning in
some other thread: "I'm going to listen to Better Living
Through Chemistry until my ears bleed, so I may as well
think about it."

i am not on some intense mission to understand these things.
i just listen to them, then i think about them, and i get a
bit carried away from there


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2022-12-28 13:16 [#02623479]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02623458 | Show recordbag



laminated will do


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-02 14:01 [#02623669]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



cranky, cranky was really the start. i forget how, but i
somehow found his web site, which is... you know how
japanese pages kind of have this geocities feel? yeah. last
i checked, it was still like that.

but let's go on some proper journey

cranky - julia
cranky - the five

then the artist name is "cranky" and the album cover has
like "SPEEDSTER" on it and the point is made; don't think i
have to keep pointing them out anymore


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-02 15:25 [#02623671]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



luvin u


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-02 15:38 [#02623672]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



xyz


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-04 16:33 [#02623748]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



there are faster mixes of the cranky songs and i think i
like them better. or am i just used to them? i'm not sure?

anyways

LAZY_TITLE ~ that album cover is absolute genius


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-04 16:37 [#02623749]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



i mean, maybe that's actually some CG person in DDR games;
not sure. but it's the perfect balance of goofball n64
blocky but... being aesthetic with it. and silly too


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 19:08 [#02624247]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



SQUEEEE

...ending like, you've already melted me, but wait, you're
not done, here's a perfect detuned glide lead, oh still not
done, let's go polyphonic with it

this came on walking and i just kept restarting it. i
actually thought it was three or five minutes long; it's
two. time dilation can be sneaky. christ i must have been
walking at a running pace


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 19:32 [#02624248]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



if i ever get around to making some of this -- and i might
-- i think "japanese time-dilation technology" is a good
album name


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 19:40 [#02624249]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



that obviously a big part of making a song... interesting,
even, is playing chess with the attention in some way.

if your want your music to push some average plonker to a
+++ you do not simply switch it on like a light. that, yes,
there is the initial "whoa" that makes people stop and focus
on it. from there, recursive unforgiving fingernail grasp,
you have their attention for the moment, you have to pull
them in a bit further.

then you have them this far; another fleeting moment and if
you don't pull them in further you've lost the roll.
because, i would say, the real holy grail is to essentially
be so engaging you can gradually pull someone deep down into
what is effectively a meditative state for two minutes solid
-- when none of 'em could usually manage 10 seconds of it.
but you have to keep them relentlessly engaged, because if
you flinch at all, the house of cards is very likely to
collapse.

but time dilation, that's a more specific thing. i would
describe the rhythm of this track as... gaseous, in parts. a
slower beat floats up from below like a vapor, takes over,
speeds up. then breakdowns too. this seems like the more
specific... thing... mechanic


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 21:31 [#02624254]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



bit of an off-kilter idea, but maybe i'm onto something with
"gaseous" -- that the kinda wolfe-tone-with-tempo thing, a
slower rhythm rises up as gas from the heat below and
condenses into more intricate programming. something
something heat pumps, the compressor in an air conditioner,
etc


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 21:52 [#02624255]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02624249



the real holy grail is to essentially be so engaging you
can gradually pull someone deep down into what is
effectively a meditative state for two minutes solid -- when
none of 'em could usually manage 10 seconds of it


shit, wow. i think i've finally answered my own question
about SAW II

i had just ordered SAW II off amazon early 00's sometime,
and i was reading the reviews while i was there just out of
curiosity. and there was one review: "i put this on in the
car driving around with a friend right after i got it, and
suddenly there's all this honking because we were sitting
there at a green light, zoning out. my friend said, 'maybe
we should stop playing this album in the car' and i said
'yeah' and then we did"

more than two minutes. for a good number of tracks. that my
question was: how does it do that? and the answer is:
playing chess with the attention, keeping you engaged in an
uninterrupted way that drags you down into a meditative
state. but it's one of the better answers in that it opens
up many more questions, because there are, as i see it, a
shit-ton of different approaches to keeping someone in the
zone like that. and in that sense SAW II has some very
different points to comprehend than DDR onslaught. similar
end-goal, wildly different approaches. probably. i'm open to
it all being the same thing on different levels of scale,
but... no, it feels like there are just a lot of different
ways to do it


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-16 23:38 [#02624260]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



LAZY_TITLE ~ more straightforward with many of our
favorite fings: SID square wave LFO. that sound of that
chick hEH from that drum loop [i just know it as a file name
that probably has nothing to do with its source]

LAZY_TITLE ~ not as intense as some but i like this
"detuned YMO song with thonky moog bass" thing


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-17 00:06 [#02624261]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02624260



with many of our favorite fings

oh there's a donk too
lots in there, really


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-17 00:18 [#02624262]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



so been wading through this person's vids and, yeah, lots of
duds

but finally

average four or five crap for every one like this.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-17 00:21 [#02624263]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



LAZY_TITLE ~ this album cover is very close to the
visual i get for the echo in "benny and the jets." song is
alright


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-01-17 00:24 [#02624264]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



LAZY_TITLE i'm so conflicted


 


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