GMH's music-posting thread

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Comments

  • edited 2014-06-27 13:35:10
    G minor is a very passionate key.

    Melocure - Agape
    savage genius - Forever
    Kosenko - Passacaglia Op. 19 #10
    the first Pokémon US theme song
  • Handel - Passacaille in G minor (HWV 432 #VI)
    Ys Origin - Scarlet Tempest
    Ys Origin - My Lord, Our Brave
  • Prokofiev - Gavotte, Op. 12 #2

    i can't believe i forgot that one
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s1EW5oZJJtad

    despite having absolute pitch in hearing sound, i'm not vocally-trained, and thus i am a little cruddy at getting things exactly on pitch.
  • I didn't know that fripside's "late in autumn" was a Railgun song.
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s1nehMCham3b

    very rough first-time transcription doodle of Blue Field by Trident

    i think i made a few goofs with the melody and harmony but it's mostly there

    the refrain shouldn't be that low; perhaps i should add an octave above to the right hand
  • edited 2014-08-13 18:13:23
    http://vocaroo.com/i/s1edz5A3NoFI

    rough transcription of the first verse + first refrain of "ALL IN ALL" by Melocure

    one of the three great ballads of melocure

    of particular note are the very strong contrasts between C major and C minor
    probably best exemplified by the sudden key change from minor to major, followed by a very, very strong affirmation of the major tonality (through a hint of A minor and then a IV7 to V4 sequence)
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s0BhFXBWKwHm

    I have no idea why there is that clicking noise

    it's really stupid

    anyway this is the third major-key variation from Kosenko's passacaglia
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s1t2vLxv1znS

    theme and first several variations (tentative) of my own Passacaglia in Eb major...and then some doodling at the end (after the second Eb minor variation...though that third one sounds pretty nice, i might keep it)

    sorry to cut it off after that

    this first segment in a major key seems awfully short; i should probably introduce more variations before the "Island in the Sun" variation.  that said, i kinda don't want to get rid of that transition immediately following that, into E-flat minor.

    this piece has kinda been in development for years and i've every so often come up with a new idea for it

    i came up with it as i was finishing high school
    the simple, tuneful, theme just seemed appropriate as i was looking back with a hint of nostalgia at the years i spent in high school, and then saying goodbye to them (and to my home state) going off to university
    there was a video CD or DVD with information about the dorms and one of the had used "Island in the Sun" by Weezer in it...and its refrain/vamp just naturally wormed its way into this piece and I thought it fit well
    the sharp transition to minor is partly in reference to the death of a friend's sibling, which i first found out about soon after arriving at university
    it also makes for good contrast with the major key segment, i guess
    also lets me do all sorts of weird things, such as put a Bbb major chord (A major chord?) in the piece
  • edited 2014-08-13 23:43:24


    It's not every day that I run across a beta version of a J.S. Bach piece.

    This is definitely interesting.  I've performed the finished version so I know that version quite well.  The differences are intriguing.
  • i can only think of 4 j-pop songs/anisongs in B major: Tsubomi ~future flower~, Aitakatta, and Hajimari no Kaze, and Be Happy Please

    for some reason it seems to be a rarely-used key

    Ab/G# minor seems more common - only my railgun, level 5 judgelight, Wishing, owari no sekai kara, kibou ni tsuite, face the change...
  • edited 2014-08-25 14:51:03
    Old MacDonald had a farm,
    and Bingo was his name-O.
    Jesus, remember me,
    when we comeintoyour ki-ingdom.
    Jesus, remember me,
    when we comeintoyour ki-ingdom.

    (This mashup brought to you by "songs that sound very similar to each other".)
  • edited 2014-08-25 15:29:19
    "If You Were Here" by Jennifer is a nice song.

    It's not the most spectacular song ever, and the lyrics probably don't mean jack, but I was never one to care about the lyrics unless they were noticeably offensive or something.  Anyway, these are like generic love song lyrics I think.

    But the music has a decent melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic appeal.  Very singable melody, regular harmonic/bass rhythm with syncopated ornamental and melodic rhythm overlaid on it, and V-i, v-i, and VII-III sequences.
  • Fun fact: After hearing "If You Were Here", and subsequently "Boys" by smile.dk (which has a really nice intro and then a lackluster rest of the song), and "Captain Jack" by Captain Jack, I thought that "DDR music" would be a category I really liked.

    I listened to a bunch of DDR songs.  Then I was disappointed, as most of them didn't catch my fancy.

    This was back when I was still trying to figure out what genre I liked best, before I realized that what I was looking for simply cut across genres in a set pattern that looked haphazard at first.
  • Of the different dance genres, it seems that eurobeat is most likely to produce that really appealing combination of strong melody and harmony.  Trance might, but sometimes just doesn't; techno even less so.

    Trancepop might be something though.  Someone once told me that stuff like "Synchrogazer" by Nana Mizuki would count as trance pop.  Or trance something, I forgot if the other part is pop.
  • Though, we, may not have the day,
    we excel, at,
    math, and all the juice before.

    In, your, arms we see a bat,
    and no more, do take a fee.

    (sing this to the tune of "Kamogawa in A major")


    for some reason i went and recorded this
    http://vocaroo.com/i/s0gqOwgHBsQA

    (this is a repost, original was in the landfill)
  • edited 2014-08-29 02:12:49
    The jubeat version of Synchrogazer is like a close cover -- it's clearly not Nana Mizuki singing, but it is very close to the original, aside from skipping a huge chunk of the song in order to finish it in a minute and a half.

    Curiously, the Exit Trance version of Synchrogazer doesn't actually change it by that much...but there is another trance remix whose name I can't figure out, which does change it more.  I consider that latter version to basically be an alt to the original -- for example, the moment after the first Engrish comes in in the verse (not the intro), the original has essentially a iv V sequence (heavily ornamented of course), but this latter version has a chromatic stepwise ascending bass motif that sounds really cool (but just different from the original).
  • The Rinne no Lagrange soundtrack starts with a number of tracks with generally tonal sense, in major keys, and pretty direct with their use of melody (catchy tunes too!).  These reflect Madoka Kyouno's very simple-and-direct way of dealing with the world -- with a smile!, of course.  This makes up the first half of the soundtrack.

    Then there are some tracks that sound ambiently "weird".  This is roughly tracks 20 to 25-ish.  Here, we present aliens, alien military might, alien politics, and strange apocalyptic prophesies and abilities.

    Then we get several action tracks, ending with track 30.  Madoka wrestles with the situation, and at some points, takes some control of it.  Not perfectly, of course, and it's still chaotic.  This is basically the climax of the soundtrack.  Most memorably are perhaps track 29, "○" (pronounced "maru", meaning "circle"), and track 30, "4 411", which are the most glorious.

    And then at the end, we neglect the presence of the ED because it just doesn't fit in with the narrative of the rest of the soundtrack, and we have track 32, "Re-turn", which reprises an earlier leitmotif of the summer days, as one looks back at the days gone by.

    For bonus points, I usually stick the Rasmeg duo version of the OP at the end, after Re-turn.
  • another passionate G minor piece:

    Chihaya Kisaragi Asami Imai - Shikkoku no Sustain
  • I should write up a "no gear changing" version of "Inferno" from iDOLM@STER.

    That song has like, six gear changes.
  • Some pieces for which my preferred interpretation is of a different tempo than what I know to be the consensus interpretation's tempo:

    * J.S. Bach: Fugue in C# minor (from the Well-Tempered Keyboard, Book I): apparently faster than consensus
    * F.J. Haydn: Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI/50, first movement: slower than consensus
    * W.A. Mozart: Sonata in C major, K. 309, first movement: slower than consensus
    * L.v. Beethoven: Sonata in A major, Op. 2 #2, first movement: slower than consensus
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s1p8FEsKljUw
    melody on a whim

    don't worry, it's been written down.
  • syncopated rhythm for MY LORD, OUR BRAVE:

    X-X-X_XX_XX_X_X_

    syncopated rhythm for Magia:

    X_X_XX_XX_XX_XX_
  • http://vocaroo.com/i/s1ZIo48OZnSW

    Theme of the Mysterious Messenger Homura's Theme
    first phrase
  • (reposting from another thread)

    A good song has both catchy and uncatchy bits.

    If it's catchy the whole way through, it's just an overload.  It's gotta have good pacing.  It's gotta be able to breathe.

    The best songs, in fact, deliver narrative.

    The best music, in general.

    Sonata-Allegro form is a thing because it delivers a narrative.  A narrative of going away and returning.
  • Why do I get more emotional intensity from listening to the karaoke version of Cruel Angel's Thesis than from listening to the regular version?
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    Virginia said:

    Why do I get more emotional intensity from listening to the karaoke version of Cruel Angel's Thesis than from listening to the regular version?

    Sometimes stripping the voices out of a song can lay bare some significant parts that are otherwise obscured. Listening to the instrumentals for Death Grips' first two albums is a good object lesson in that regard.
  • Madoka Magica's "Surgam identidem" reminds me of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's "Gaze up at the Darkness"
  • edited 2015-01-23 08:37:36

  • minor v to i and subtonic to i are really not that foreign to classical music; i don't know why people say they are

    they are not directly used, but they easily show up in the form of deceptive cadences and circle of fifths progressions

    granted those things are not exactly hugely common either, but still

    it's like a neighbor several doors down on the same block, not some foreign concept from across an ocean
  • Renegade Kid, Jake "virt" Kaufman, flashygoodness, and other highly skilled chiptune composers
  • edited 2015-02-09 03:33:23
    Usher's "Good Kisser" has absolutely horrible rhythm sense with the lyrics "don't nobody kiss it like you don't nobody kiss it like you bang bang bang" etc.

    (yeah it's probably a stylistic thing i'm criticizing)

    (doesn't mean i have to like it)
  • edited 2015-02-21 21:48:04
    I recently (within the last few months) read a post on another forum where someone criticized classical music as that genre where the tempo is always changing/wishy-washy/something like that.

    At the time, I replied to them by citing various (sub-?)genres of classical music that typically had rigid rhythms -- for example, marches, baroque dance styles, and such.  And cited counterexamples from pop that involved tempo changes, slowdowns, and stuff.  I admitted that classical frequently didn't have percussion going, though.

    But for some reason, that comment has stuck in my mind for a while.

    I thought about it again while listening to some Youtube uploads of Bartok's "Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm".  As their name implies, one of the defining features of these six short pieces is their unusual rhythmic combinations of groups of 3 and 2.

    Take a piece like, say, the fourth of these dances:

    This interpretation's tempo IS wishy-washy, in my opinion.  The pianist changes tempo and uses rubato inappropriately -- I think this piece deserves a lot more tempo rigidity to bring out the appropriate character.

    Here's an interpretation of #4 that's somewhat flawed (e.g. ignores some dramatic cues) but has a better sense of rhythmic cohesion:

    (warning: loud recording.  also disregard the performance of #6 in this video...that is pretty crap.)

    Also, so I posted this recording of #3 in another thread:


    Again, compare that to an interpretation of #3 that's somewhat flawed (e.g. rushed in places) that, again, has better rhythmic cohesion:

    (second piece in the video)

    The difference isn't as dramatic but it's still there.

    Also, as an additional reference, Bartok playing his own works:

    It's not completely rigid (unlike, say, the alternate interpretation of #4 that I posted).  It's fluid.  But it's also relatively steady.

    Think of it as an incompressible fluid, rather than a compressible fluid on one extreme or a solid on the other extreme.

    I wish I had the score of this with me.  So I could record myself playing it.  Maybe I'll see if IMSLP has it...but with copyright law the stupid thing that it is, I won't bet on it, since I remember it still being copyrighted to a specific publisher (Boosey & Hawkes).

    It turns out that I do have a trend of complaining about other performers making the rhythm confusing by using too much rubato.  Maybe it's my taste, for rhythmically intense stuff, but still, there's a lot of times where I feel passages (such as prominent melodies) where the music would be better served with more tempo rigidity.
  • also, the final modulation back to the home key (before the final reprise of the first theme) in Sergei Prokofiev's Allemande Op. 12 #8 is reminiscent of the modulation between verse and refrain in AKB48's song "Beginner"

    basically, modulating between chromatic-third-relation keys, via their dominants

    "Beginner"
    modulation from A minor to F minor
    a scale going from F up to E suggests a dominant (i.e. E major) chord, but the E note is used as a pivot to suddenly bring in a dominant seventh chord of F minor (i.e. C7).  the refrain then proceeds in F minor.
    youtube.com/watch?v=smBiKOI1YuA#t=0m31s
    demonstration: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0byRiQddYcP
    (full song available on request if that yt vid gets takedown'd)

    Allemande
    modulation from B-flat minor (enharmonic of A-sharp minor) to F-sharp minor
    chord sequence: F major, C half-diminished seventh, F major, C half-diminished, C# major, G# half-diminished, C# major
    with the enharmonics spelled "properly": E#, B#ø7, E#, B#ø7, C#, G#ø7, C#
    basically, the C# chord is the pivot, as the transition smoothly (but swiftly!) uses B#ø7 briefly sounding like the key of C# major to move to a C# chord...which then serves as the dominant of F# minor.
    youtube.com/watch?v=B32lv-oT1pM#t=2m36s
    demonstration: http://vocaroo.com/i/s16Gur3Wdrbn



    It's interesting to note that I "felt" the similarity between these two before I actually realized why they were similar.  Like, this whole analysis is basically a cognitive response figuring out why something much deeper happened that caused a flash of realization in my head.
  • edited 2015-02-21 23:00:36
    I find it a little awkward that I prefer Prokofiev's early works -- the ones that are more rooted in traditional tonality -- over his later works.
  • edited 2015-02-25 15:46:11
    g minor is a key of emotion

    arc's theme
    zero hour (noir)
    ballade #1 (chopin)
    agape (melocure)
    forever (savage genius)
    fortissimo the ultimate crisis (fripside)
    intro stage theme (mega man x3)
    eve's story I (elsword)
    scarlet tempest (ys origin)
    gavotte (op. 12 #2) (prokofiev)
    the tragic prince (cvsotn)
  • edited 2015-02-25 15:46:12
    honorable mentions:

    crossing the scorched ground (stage 2 desert) (ragnarok battle offline)
    piano concerto #2 (saint-saëns)
    like two or three other fripside songs that aren't as awesome
    dracula's castle (cvsotn)
    the clock tower (aos)
  • Ernste Markierung - F# minor
    X-D-A-T - Eb-centered, no fully-described tonality
    nova - G minor / G phrygian dominant
    Stage1 - C# phrygian dominant / C# minor (with some lowered fifth)
    dominant motion - E phrygian
    Nature - C# minor
    Modulator - F# minor (with some raised fourth)
    Pressure - C minor
    Heaven - unstable tonality
    Space janitor - E minor
    Narbemarkierung - F# minor
  • edited 2015-04-18 22:46:48
    games that I've played (or significantly know the soundtrack of) that have excellent music

    (Adventure Island 2)
    Aquaria
    (Aztaka)
    Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
    (Castlevania 3)
    Super Castlevania 4
    (Castlevania: Bloodlines)
    Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
    Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
    Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
    (Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin)
    Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
    Cave Story
    Chrono Trigger
    Crayon Physics Deluxe
    (Demon's Crest)
    (Donkey Kong '94)
    (Donkey Kong Country)
    Donkey Kong Country 2
    DuckTales Remastered (DuckTales)
    (Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos)
    (EcoQuest: the Search for Cetus)
    Einhänder
    (Energy Breaker)
    (Eternal Daughter)
    eXceed: Gun Bullet Children
    (eXceed 2nd: Vampire)
    (eXceed 3rd (either version))
    (Fairy Bloom Freesia)
    (Final Fantasy III)
    Final Fantasy V
    Final Fantasy VI
    Final Fantasy VII
    Final Fantasy Tactics
    Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
    (Flying Red Barrel)
    Fortune Summoners
    Golden Sun + TLA
    Guacamelee!
    (Gurumin)
    Hebereke
    Iji
    Ikachan
    (Juka and the Monophonic Menace)
    Kiwi Kraze a.k.a. The New Zealand Story
    Koi wa Kakehiki
    La-Mulana
    Super Mario World
    Super Mario RPG
    (Mega Man 5)
    Mega Man 6
    (Mega Man Unlimited)
    Mega Man X
    Mega Man X3
    Mega Man Battle Network
    Mega Man Network Transmission
    Mega Man ZX
    Super Metroid
    Metroid Fusion
    (Metroid Zero Mission)
    (Metroid Prime)
    Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (SNES)
    (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: the Movie (SNES))
    (Mother 2)
    (Nostalgia)
    Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal
    Pokémon Trading Card Game
    (Scurge: Hive)
    Shantae
    (Star Fox 2)
    (Star Fox 64)
    Summon Night: Sword Craft Story
    Tail 'Gator
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
    Telefang
    Terra Diver
    Terranigma
    Tower of Heaven
    Volley Fire
    (Ys: the Oath in Felghana)
    Ys Origin
    (The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past)

    (parentheses = honorable mentions)
  • edited 2015-04-26 00:25:37
    twenty-four colors i have, one set brighter and one set darker, with which to paint the entire universe

    and they are so brilliant together
  • (V1)

    A qui--et sea, surrounds, me all, alone,
    My e--ar pressed, against a seashell that I found.
    Close--ly lis-t'ning to the sound brought forth, ah.
    I start, to hear, the message you left me.

    I write, onto, the sand, the feelings I
    had shut, away, from you, and then I let them
    go----o----o----, in, to, the
    waaaaaves...

    (R1)

    Hello, hello.
    I hear, you and, reply.
    I'm in a place that we know, where
    our story started long ago.
    and e--ven if,
    nothing but promises remain,
    I'll always be alive with you
    in mem'ries he-eld de--e-ear to you...

    (V2)

    I'm sin--king through, a sea of memories,
    transcen--ding time, through, e-ternity I flow.
    Ga--zing back, at, a ti-ny planet Earth.
    a speck, so small, but yet I think of you.

    My home, I know, so blue, it vanishes.
    Between, the clouds, it slides, then over the ho-
    ri----i----zon----...no longer [OR ...I see no]
    there... [OR more...]

    (R2)

    Hello, hello.
    I hear, you and, reply.
    I'm in a place that we know, where
    our story started long ago.
    and e--ven if,
    an eter-nity, should pass
    I'll always be alive with you
    in mem'ries he-eld de--e-ear to you...




    (Br)

    When the stars and plan--
    -ets fade to ruin,
    we'll be drawn, together by,
    a force that binds and guides us through our
    journeys and travails,
    so we can meet again,
    where we said we'll be...

    (R3)

    Hello, hello.
    I hear, you and, reply.
    With but electrons guiding me,
    I'm go-ing where it all began...
    and in, my hands,
    merely our promises,
    but just so we can meet again
    I'll keep on moving with-out end...

    I'll flo--ow in,
    a river from the sky,
    towards a place that we know, where
    our story started long ago.
    When I, arrive,
    I'll meet you there again,
    I know I'll find my way to you
    upon this planet blue-----------that is our home.



    (original translation source: by animeyay, posted at animelyrics.  reworked by glennmagusharvey to be singable)
  • I think I have a name for Michiru Yamane's most frequently-used style: "Baroque with a beat".

    Well, a more accurate name would be "Classical with a beat".
  • apparently i naturally hum Lost Painting about a quarter-tone below what it's actually played as
  • edited 2015-04-30 10:54:12
    A long time ago I participated in a music competition far away from home.  I stayed at the home of a host family, who owned a ranch near the site of the competition.  Lovely people they were -- and still are, since a quick Google search suggests they're still living there.

    The couple had a son who was still living with them -- if I recall correctly he was in his twenties or so.  Maybe thirties.  A lot older than me, who was a teenager at the time.

    One of the categories I competed in was a concerto competition.  Said son had a hobby of working turntables, a la DJing in a club.  His mother once remarked to me, humorously, if someone ever wrote a concerto that used a DJ's turntables as the solo instrument, he'd be able to compete in that competition.

    Well, that was back in 2001.  Fourteen years later -- and despite the sad discontinuation of that competition -- I've discovered that someone actually has written such a concerto.



    And it's Sergei Prokofiev's grandson, no less.
  • cauuuuuuught up a thouuusand droppps of raaiiiiin

    washed, down, the draiiiinnn

    iiis, life, the same...in a way?
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