GMH's music-posting thread

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Comments

  • imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    it's deliberately that way i think

    it's kinda like understatement

    i can understand finding it boring, although i kinda like it (partly for nostalgia reasons, i'm sure)
  • edited 2016-01-11 05:42:30
    I wonder if I should pick up dark fantasy magic for $34.



    Okay, rephrased: I wonder if I should pick up the score for Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto for $34.

    Well, that's the price on the two-piano reduction.  The full score version is almost $50.  That spellbook can be studied by many people but its magic can only be properly cast by those who specialize in the Conducting school, which I do not specialize in.  Musicology purposes don't get a penalty for using it (they get a slight penalty when using the two-piano reduction, actually), but Piano Performance purposes get a significant penalty for using a full score (like +15 page turn difficulty or so).
  • For some reason I have suddenly come to associate Yuri "Yurippe" Nakamura with the key of A major, even though her organization's theme is in E-flat minor / F minor.
  • "Re Boot" by JimmyThumb-P goes from C major to A major from verse to refrain, as does iM@S's "Tonari ni...".

    On the other hand, the OP of the Atelier anime series does a different chromatic third relation, C major to E major.
  • edited 2016-01-27 02:08:05


    Seems to have a form of verse 1, refrain 1, verse 2, bridge, refrain 2, refrain 3
  • F major is comforting
  • edited 2016-01-28 00:33:17
    some great video game ending themes:

    Super Castlevania IV - credits theme

    Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - I Am the Wind

    Final Fantasy V - Dear Friends

    Mega Man X - finale theme 1 (the sad one)

    Star Fox 2 - records

    Tail 'Gator - ending

  • I loved the Mega Man X one as a kid.
  • edited 2016-01-30 14:35:27
    I am finding that I am enjoying a tuning that's about a fifth to a third of a semitone lower than A440.

    Specifically, when I think of music, it sometimes has a slightly lower tuning.  It feels more relaxed.  A certain song appeared to me just now in a dream and it was at roughly this tuning.
  • Did the calculations.  It comes out to something like A433.
  • edited 2016-02-03 21:22:39
    It has suddenly come to my attention that the track "Emotion" from the album "Madoka's Piano Files", a mini-album related to the anime series Kimagure Orange Road, sounds noticeably similar in parts to the track "To Zanarkand" in Final Fantasy X.

    FYI FFX dates from 2001, and Madoka's Piano Files dates from 1996.  Also, "Emotion" is much closer to "To Zanarkand" than the latter is to Mega Man X4's "Makenai ga kitto aru" (1997), with those first two sharing a meter (triple time) and key (E minor) and even more similar melodic contour, to the point where a slowed down version of "Emotion" sounds strongly reminiscent of "To Zanarkand:


    To some extent it could be argued that "Emotion"'s melody over the first eight chords is a simplified base version of the melody of the other two pieces' in the first eight chords of their respective main phrases.

    It seems unlikely that "Makenai ai ga kitto aru" was inspired by "Emotion", but rather more likely that "To Zanarkand" may have been.

    Anyway, this track makes me want to watch this series now.
  • edited 2016-02-10 04:28:44
    I love how this theme is so heavy metal and it's for an ice area.

    Yes, the ice is slippery.

    No, there is no item to prevent slipping on the ice.  You will just have to suck it up.

    You're in the Graveyard of the Giants.  You've seen the Mausoleum of the Giants, the place where the story of the giants is told as a legend that romanticizes the efforts of the named giants.  This is the graveyard.  This is where they buried everyone else.  No names.  No legacies.  Nothing.  Just a frozen wasteland.

  • edited 2016-02-10 04:34:44


    See, back in the day, we used to only have at best some Mario Paint Composer uploads of our favorite tunes.

    We learned to enjoy those.  We learned to appreciate the melodic contours and harmonic colors that they emphasized.  And we learned to live with the imperfection, because imperfect as it was, it was the best we had.
  • Current music: Cruella De Vil, but in B-flat major instead for some reason
  • Star Fox 64 3D has music that is...substantially and curiously different from the original's, and I'm not sure what to make of it yet.


  • this song is bright and glorious and makes me turn on all the lights and bask in its glory and I'm loving it
  • holy crap i just realized that that song is basically entirely built on my favorite chord progression
  • It's Chopin's birthday today!


  • currently listening to:

    J. Masuda, M. Aoki, G. Ichinose
    Violet/Olivine City
    Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal

    tempo adjustment -7.00%
    pitch adjustment -0.27 semitones
  • 青山テルマ feat. SoulJa - そばにいるね
  • i need more b-flat major in my life

    i need that warmth
  • it's kinda interesting how i like E major's brightness and B-flat major's warmth and they're like diametrically opposed keys on the circle of fifths
  • For some reason I have suddenly come to associate Yuri "Yurippe" Nakamura with the key of A major, even though her organization's theme is in E-flat minor / F minor.

    and her ending theme is in E-flat major
  • edited 2016-03-29 00:20:26
    "I Want It That Way"

    Well, I certainly want it that IV V vi IV V vi IV V vi vi V I way.  I like it like that.
  • eXceed Gun Bullet Children's soundtrack is really good.
  • I like a tight rhythm.
  • I haven't sat down and played the Pictures at an Exhibition in a long time.

    This was satisfying.
  • I haven't sat down and played the Pictures at an Exhibition in a long time.

    This was satisfying.

    incidentally this is a good time to listen to Spring Sky since Pictures At An Exhibition ends in E-flat major
  • one star, one asterisk: The Chant

    two stars, two asterisks: The Tension
  • three stars, three asterisks: The Focus
  • four stars, four asterisks: The Confidence
  • five stars, five asterisks: The Encounter
  • edited 2016-04-27 02:43:09
    reposted from https://itjustbugsme.com/forums/discussion/comment/345950/#Comment_345950

    Re Lagrin and YuYuYu soundtracks -- what I mean is they follow a similar pattern -- they put the more "mundane" tracks at the beginning and then heavily weight the end with the action tracks.

    Lagrin's soundtrack order:
    1. Kamogawa in A major - introduces the theme of Kamogawa (mi, so, ^re ^do so mi re, etc.).  A major.
    2. OP - a brilliant and flowing song.  F minor.
    3. Ohayo! - a happy, welcoming track.  introduces another theme -- let's call it the ohayo theme (so, mi, mi, re do, etc.).  A major.
    4. Kamojo - another happy track, though a little quieter and more cutesy.  B major.
    5. 3 Wonders - a playful track.  introduces another theme (mi, so do, etc.), which we'll call the trio's theme.  plays with the head-motif (the first three notes specifically) in the middle of the track.  C major.
    6. Memoria - a mysterious track for a mystical subject.  A minor and other tonalities.
    7. Kamogawa energy - introduces another theme, which I'll call Madoka's theme.  it's got two motivic parts -- the first part goes "re do re do; mi re mi re;" etc. and the second goes "mi, mi re la so, mi, do, _so," etc.  an energetic, happy track.  C major.
    8. Sunnyside - another happy track, a little celebratory.  C major.
    9. Life in peace - represents the "normal" life of the calm town with the ohayo track.  A major.
    10. Day dreamer - a bit of a strange but playful track.  kinda reminiscent of the Magicant theme from Earthbound.  C major and D major.
    11. BWH - a calmer restatement of Madoka's leitmotif, both parts.  C major, E-flat major.
    12. Tom-boy - a louder, rockin' restatement of Madoka's leitmotif.  Features the first part of Madoka's theme.  E major.
    13. Sweet star - this dreamy track doesn't seem to share much of anything, except maybe starting its second phrase on a IV chord like the second half of Madoka's theme.  C major, E-flat major.
    14. Dousi - a comforting theme in A major.  features string and brass together.  also features head-motif of the trio's theme.
    15. Eyecatch A - a fanfare using the beginning of the Kamogawa theme.  this is like the half-way point of the soundtrack.
    16. Jersey-bu no Uta - the triumphant, confident anthem of the Jersey Club.  a little out-of-place, but then again so is the Jersey Club.  A-flat major.  no apparent thematic relations.
    17. Apocalypse - a slower, but discomforting, track in A minor. 
    18. Kamogawa in A minor - bits and pieces of the Kamogawa theme, but now in A minor, with touches of F# minor.  like a contemplative variant of the first track, with an undercurrent of mystery and drama.
    19. Floro - a slow, comforting track in G major.
    20. De Metrio - a slow, dissonant track in E-flat dorian.  unsettling, but ambient.  the choice of resonating piano and choir lead to a distinctive feeling.
    21. Axion - another slow and dissonant track; again unsettling but ambient, using resonant instrumentation.  no well-defined tonal center, though possibly in D minor if you really want to count.  see, we're really getting into the more mysterious, dramatic tracks now.
    22. Double-sided - a track with electronic instruments, in C minor/major.  unsettling, but giving a sense of starting to put that drama into perspective.  still, a these tracks are establishing a very different feel compared to the first half.  also note how none of them contain those recurring themes.
    23. Lagrange - a D dorian track, with strings and choir and harp, and making use of some rich harmonies.  uses the opening motif of the Kamogawa theme -- suggesting how Kamogawa is inextricably linked to the mysterious events that are the subject of the story, perhaps.  ends distinctively, similar to (but different from) track #14 Dousi.
    24. Hollow - a contemplative theme featuring mainly a solo guitar, with poorly-defined tonality (though something like E minor or A minor, if one had to force an answer).
    25. -Aku- field - an orchestral/metal action track, dissonant and tonally shifting.  gives off the impression of posing a threat.  makes the previous track feel like the calm before the storm.
    26. Lock on air - an electronic action track in G minor.  melodically weak, and again, doesn't share themes with the earlier part of the soundtrack -- giving it a feeling of emotional distance, in strong contrast to the earlier part of the
    27. Massive attack - an orchestral/metal/electronic action track, on the slow, imposing side, with no well-defined tonality beyond using E and then A as tonal centers.
    28. Midori - another electronic action track, A-centered (A phrygian?).  tonality wanders at the end.
    29. ? ("Maru") - suddenly, C major.  suddenly a calm theme with a prominent melody.  wait, that's the second half of Madoka's theme!  she's fighting back, and this is represented emotionally by the music!  an orchestral action track intervenes, in C minor, then triumphantly becomes C major, then shifts further to D major, quoting the opening three notes of the trio's theme repeatedly.  one of my favorite tracks in the entire soundtrack -- certainly a very memorable one.
    30. 4 411 - another rhythmically-intense action track, with poorly defined tonality at first, which then gradually shifts into A minor and then finally A major, featuring a return of the Kamogawa theme, in the style of its appearance in #23 "Lagrange", but instead featuring the full melodic theme of Kamogawa.  it has been made whole again.  the track later shifts to and ends in D mixolydian.
    31. your choice of ending theme.  by default, the soundtrack has the happy, rather celebratory "Hello!", in D major.  I usually listen to it with the TRY UNITE (OP) Rasmeg Duo version, a contemplative piano/voice version of the OP in E-flat minor, which I think bookends the series well.  sometimes I also swap places of this with the next track.
    32. a calming, comforting, choral version of parts of the trio's theme.  it's kinda like an epilogue in the sunset, as the crew take down the props from the stage.  E major.

    So in general you have a first half that strongly features happy tracks in major key tonalities that have prominent melodic themes and relatively simple harmonies, played by relatively simple ensembles.  These themes show up several times in the first half.  Then you have a second half that has a lot of more dramatic tracks, with uncertain tonalities, thicker instrumentation, fewer melodic themes, and tonal/harmonic complexity.  There is a pretty strong contrast here.  And at the end, familiar themes from the first half return in dramatic fashion.  This is bookended with one final statement of a familiar theme.

    This follows the storyline of the series quite well -- you start off with with a sleepy town to which events and new characters are introduced.  Things are taken lightly and positively until the drama really hits full force.  The characters -- especially Madoka -- go into a slump of indecision.  But then she comes back and brings the action and the positivity back.  Then this is bookended by the town "returning to normal".

    I love this soundtrack.
  • edited 2016-04-29 01:48:21
    edit: i hate you, formatting








































































































































































































































































    filename size track# name
    STRM_BGM_01.strm 2443 KB 1 A Witch's Tale 2:31
    STRM_BGM_02.strm 877 KB 3 Liddell's Theme 1:04
    STRM_BGM_03.strm 4863 KB 5 Loue's Theme 4:57
    STRM_BGM_04.strm 1843 KB 5' Loue's Theme (short loop only)
    STRM_BGM_06.strm 1257 KB 6 Between Doors 1:38
    STRM_BGM_07.strm 1499 KB 8 Sadness Crystal 2:23
    STRM_BGM_08.strm 1418 KB 11 Shimmering Dance 2:07
    STRM_BGM_09.strm 1590 KB 10 The Water Drum 1:59
    STRM_BGM_10.strm 1502 KB 12 Machine Memory 1:58
    STRM_BGM_11.strm 1306 KB 9 Lunar Wind 2:04
    STRM_BGM_12.strm 1563 KB 7 Cookie Waltz 1:56
    STRM_BGM_13.strm 1219 KB 20 Slumberland Invitation 1:22
    STRM_BGM_14.strm 2014 KB 21 Wonderland Queen 2:30
    STRM_BGM_15.strm 877 KB 18 6 Princess 1:12
    STRM_BGM_16.strm 847 KB 16 Dark Tone 1:11
    STRM_BGM_17.strm 1956 KB 13 Rookie Witch Battle 1:57
    STRM_BGM_18.strm 1211 KB 17 Get Serious! 1:27
    STRM_BGM_19.strm 1086 KB 15 Alice's Servants 1:53
    STRM_BGM_20.strm 1052 KB 19 1000 Years Of Sorrow 1:22
    STRM_BGM_21.strm 627 KB 30 Jabberwock's Theme 0:54
    STRM_BGM_22.strm 1672 KB 2 Once Upon A Time 2:07
    STRM_BGM_23.strm 562 KB 4 Babayaga's Theme 1:06
    STRM_BGM_24.strm 868 KB 22 Unbound Spell 1:09
    STRM_BGM_25.strm 236 KB 35 Blessings 0:09
    STRM_BGM_28.strm 515 KB 31 Card Dance 0:49
    STRM_BGM_30.strm 310 KB 34 Game Over 0:12
    STRM_BGM_31.strm 1111 KB 27 Promises (part 1) 2:43
    STRM_BGM_32.strm 1822 KB 23 Song Of Despair 2:16
    STRM_BGM_33.strm 308 KB 32 Demon's Mouth 0:11
    STRM_BGM_34.strm 529 KB 14 Battle Victory 0:30
    STRM_BGM_35.strm 126 KB 33 Level Up 0:06
    STRM_END1.strm 4752 KB 24 Between Dream & Reality (Game Version) 3:12
    STRM_END1.strm 3:14
    25 Graveyard Reunion 0:33
    STRM_END1.strm 3:45
    26 Other Side Of The Dream 1:09
    STRM_END2.strm 4554 KB 27 Promises (part 2) 2:43
    STRM_END2.strm 3:33
    29 Moonlight 1:11
  • Benefit #7 or so of being in a small fandom:

    The music from the thing you love doesn't get taken down from Youtube.
  • now all the STRM_XXX_YY.strm files have been renamed and reordered
  • A Witch's Tale's composer is Sara Sakurai.

    I dunno who she is but she apparently did quite a good job with it.
  • edited 2016-05-01 05:20:12
    My idea for Israfel's theme is a demented scherzo in E-flat minor.

    This is because C minor is the key that represents humanity and its emotions, while F# minor is the furthest key from C minor and thus represents The Deity.

    E-flat minor is intermediate between the two.  I figure Israfel gets a theme in E-flat minor and Zeruel gets a theme in A minor (the other intermediate).

    A scherzo, because it was a choice between that and a waltz.  The original battle against Israfel in Neon Genesis Evangelion is a very memorable experience involving a specially-written track, "Both of you, dance like you want to win!", which is a glorious waltz in C major, in keeping with Israfel's thematic reference of being related to music.  I figured I wanted to keep that reference, but I have to make a battle theme out of this.

    Incidentally, in A Witch's Tale, Liddell's theme and the title screen theme are in A minor, while Loue's theme and Between Doors (which is based on Loue's theme) are both in E-flat minor.  Loue's theme is a waltz in E-flat minor -- rhythmically similar to what I have in mind for Israfel.

    Now, Loue isn't an antagonist (at least as far as I know), nor an angel (he's a vampire, in fact), but I wonder if I should include some sort of reference to Loue's theme in Israfel's theme.
  • the second sentence of the Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero OP is filled with so much emotion

    that part of the music that goes with the tune "do...do-ti, la so re-mi," etc.
    i can't find the lyrics because presumably proper uploads of the song have gotten takedown'd :(

    meanwhile the singing in this video is hard to tolerate but the English lyrics are quite nice; they really bring out the emotion

  • edited 2016-05-03 06:28:41
    this track puts a enthusiastic, perhaps even manic smile on my face -- one of overflowing satisfaction and energy, one of YES, HOLY CRAP SO MUCH YES


  • edited 2016-05-04 01:34:59
    really awesome vocaloid songs include:

    JimmyThumbP - Reboot
    apple41 - Puzzle
    Scop - Irony
    John Zeroness - Meteor
    KOBATYU - Spring Sky
  • crazy idea of the moment

    y'know how the chinese zodiac has twelve signs, and those chinese restaurant placemats in introducing those signs say briefly which signs are compatible to which

    well

    there are twelve notes in the chromatic scale

    i wonder if they could be correlated in fun ways...hmm....
  • crazy idea of the moment

    y'know how the chinese zodiac has twelve signs, and those chinese restaurant placemats in introducing those signs say briefly which signs are compatible to which

    well

    there are twelve notes in the chromatic scale

    i wonder if they could be correlated in fun ways...hmm....

    "You two have tonally compatible theme tunes, so I think you'd make a good match."
  • i can't help but feel that "Machine Memory" (the track I posted a few posts up) has an undercurrent of painful sadness beneath its rhythmic rigidity
  • edited 2016-05-06 10:29:44
    One thing I really love about the first movement of Chopin's Op. 11 piano concerto (i.e. E minor/major) is how tightly organized and compact it is.

    The orchestra plays an introduction in E minor.
    The piano joins in and brings that first theme to the second theme and closing themes in E major.
    The orchestra plays a bridge to the development section, bringing the music back to E minor, then C major.
    The piano joins in and carries the music through the development, returning to E minor.
    The orchestra plays a shortened reprise of the introduction in E minor.
    The piano joins in and brings that first theme to the second theme, this time in G major, then follows it with a different set of closing themes back in E minor.
    The orchestra ends the movement in E minor, reprising material from the introduction.

    This is a very tightly organized exchange, with clear sectional distinctions.

    Incidentally, between this -- and the fact that the orchestra really takes a back seat whenever the piano comes in -- you could actually semi-viably perform this piece on piano solo.

    I believe the piece expresses a story of tragedy in the form of betrayal.  The piece expresses unhappiness early on but follows it with hope, modulating to E major -- more typically an ending key for a piece in E minor, as opposed to the more usual early modulation to G major.  It becomes bright and hopeful.

    But that bright conclusion does not come to fruition, and it is pulled back to the dour mood that it began in.  After a short period of reflection, emotions start to pour in furiously, reflected by the quick succession of high-intensity key changes in the development section.

    Following the recapitulation, there is a meeker key change from E minor to G major -- less hopeful, but trying once again.  But, alas, it was not to be -- hopes are dashed, poignantly, and emotional turmoil returns to conclude the tragic ending in E minor.

    Thing is, there's very little in the way of excess, flair, or exaggeration in this piece's expression of these emotions.  Everything feels tightly and elegantly organized, but if anything that just "inability" to pour out one's emotions freely just makes them more intense, making every note expressing them just that much more meaningful.



    Incidentally, the first movement of the concerto is almost exactly 20 minutes long, and the latter two movements are almost exactly 10 minutes long each.
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