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A hypothetical j-rock anime theme song using a simulated choir, simulated singer, simulated orchestra, simulated drums, but very real guitar and bass -- it is at least somewhat rooted in reality, as is the well-known passage that serves as the lyrics.

I figured all the graphic designers and writers here might get a kick out of me using placeholder text as lyrics.

This was my entry in the music competition at Blockparty, a fantastic demoparty in Cleveland organized by our very own Jason Scott.

It's my first track done using the Yamaha Vocaloid artificial singer, which is a massive culture-spanning meme/fad in Japan, but little-known on this side of the ocean. It's amazing what they've been able to do with it over there.

• play
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posted by jake (13 comments total)

Holy crap. This is perfect.
posted by dobie at 4:30 PM on April 29, 2009

Did you slow it down to record those guitar lines? Please tell me you didn't play that at the speed it is. It is not safe to shred that hard.
posted by dobie at 4:32 PM on April 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

I really wasn't expecting what started playing. You managed to get a better sounding vocal track than the ones I heard at youtube, yours doesn't sound like Cher with the vocoder.

How long did it take you to write/produce this song?
posted by micayetoca at 5:17 PM on April 29, 2009

Hey guys!
To answer your questions:
1) No, I didn't slow it down, and thanks. There are some sloppy bits and I might have done better if I didn't have:
2) 4 hours to install and learn Vocaloid + 8 hours to compose and record + 4 hours to mix and master, each on separate nights after I got home from work.

The pressure was on to get this done before Blockparty, along with a whole 'nother guitar-based song I had to do before I left, too! I resolved to take a mini-vacation from music afterwards, which only lasted about a day, before I was back in Cubase scowling at the Track view. It's a sickness.
posted by jake at 5:55 PM on April 29, 2009

This was my favorite piece of music for the whole two music competitions; I remember walking over to Trixter running the slide machine and going "The winner." I've been pretty good at calling the winners, and this song blasting over a top-notch sound system was great.
posted by jscott at 7:22 PM on April 29, 2009

Brilliant. (And now I'm curious to know what the English-singing Vocaloid characters sound like.)
posted by lovermont at 8:52 PM on April 29, 2009

...And I meant to say I'm curious to know what the English Vocaloid characters, not English-singing characters, sound like — such as the ones mentioned on Wikipedia, namely "Sweet Ann," "Prima," but especially "Big Al."
posted by lovermont at 10:02 PM on April 29, 2009

That vocaloid, and what you've done with it, is fascinating. This is awesome -- it's like I just finished Final Fantasy XXVII.

That bass is fonky.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 4:11 AM on April 30, 2009

That's wicked awesome, is what it is.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:30 AM on April 30, 2009

The first few measures of this made me think if I write the name of a person whose face I can visualize in the Death Note, that person will die in 40 seconds. If I don't specify the cause of death, the person will die of a heart attack.

In other words, excellent work.
posted by NemesisVex at 1:00 PM on April 30, 2009

I would hate you jake, you see, because 4 hours to download and learn a program, then 8 hours to compose and record a song as complex as this just sound beyond my wildest dreams. I would hate you, yeah, but I clicked through your username and I realized you were the "Dracula Man X2 Alpha Turbo" and the "Staring at My Spaceship" guy. I can't hate you. You are gifted. I still don't even begin to understand how you do the stuff you do, but it's quite impressive. And it's no wonder that I don't associate music that complex and different with the very pedestrian character of your handle.

Great piece, man. Again.
posted by micayetoca at 6:55 PM on April 30, 2009

Thanks, micayetoca! That comment made my night.

My usual "online handle" is virt -- I like to refer to myself using four-letter words to beat everyone else to the punch.

The only reason I'm fast like that is because it's my career AND hobby to write music, so it's pretty much all I do, to the exclusion of almost everything else. I am often envious of more well-rounded people who have many different interests and skills -- but I am also envious of musicians who have a finely developed style and can perfect it. I often feel like I'm idly skipping around from genre to genre, unable to really stick with anything. Makes for interesting variety, at least. I dunno. :)

Anyway, thanks again for all the comments, guys.
posted by jake at 7:25 PM on April 30, 2009

Awesome. (In case it wasn't obvious, this won the Blockparty music competition.)
posted by teraflop at 1:35 PM on May 24, 2009