tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32250964651296843962024-02-19T03:19:26.351-08:00El Blanco - Digital DreamsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-37928564480254027092015-04-17T13:57:00.001-07:002015-04-17T13:58:25.113-07:00Getting Real Pt Addendum - Are my ears broken?A bunch of folks have asked what's going on in the tuning with this transcription? To be honest, it's difficult. Neither musician tuned their sampled instruments to a standard tuning, and dealt with the situation on their end by simply transposing certain instruments up and down to compensate. I <i>can't</i> quite remember if Scream Tracker let you tune anyways (but Impulse Tracker did). So lots of their instruments are just a hair out of tune with respect to each other.<br />
<br />
The problem of course is that I'm remapping the music to a VSTi that has a common tuning. I think I did pretty well for most of the remapping, but some people have noted that some of the movements in the piece are out of tune with respect to other movements, while in the original this isn't the case.<br />
<br />
The truth is? Laziness on my part, plus a desire to minimize the number of note-instrument combinations and lower entropy...even if the movement was a bit out of tune to the entire song.<br />
<br />
But there was one area I really made a mistake, in the blue flowy sea landscape about 7:30 into the production, I b0rk3d up the melody. The lead that PM was using was simply tuned off from the rest of the tracks, and when I tried to fix it and transpose it, I ended up putting it a perfect fifth off of what it should have been. (greets to yzi on Pouet for catching the exact nature of the problem). Lots of people caught this issue, but lots of people didn't. I'm definitely one of those that didn't...I attributed the "off sound" to different instruments, no portamento, etc. instead of me simply being out of tune.<br />
<br />
To prove it, I walked myself back through the original score, retuned the lead to match, and simply transposed the lead till it sounded like the original and sure enough, it was a fifth off!<br />
<br />
So if you want a version with that lead fixed. <a class="vt-p" href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/wwypt71dfs56bcl/cr9.zip?dl=0">Here</a> it is.<br />
<br />
I probably won't spend the time to fix the rest of the minor issues and transposition problems. To be honest, I'm ready to move on to different music, having heard some version of this soundtrack too many times to count!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><Prev. Part 17</span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Table of contents</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-45520817661930171492015-04-12T20:50:00.000-07:002015-04-17T13:58:42.135-07:00Getting Real Pt 17. - OptionsAt last, after weeks of work, we almost had a full production, and it was fitting inside of 8k. Seven was still hard at work (and would be up until the submission deadline). It occurred to him that we might actually now be under our byte budget. He wondered if there were things I could reintroduce to the song that I had previously cut. At the same time, Coplan noted that some of the leads were a little weak and getting lost in the mix. I decided to give Seven some options.<br />
<br />
Per the Clinkster docs:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"You can use the Delay effect (under Track DSPs) with these restrictions:<br />- The "L Feedb.", "R Feedb." and "Send" sliders must be at the same position.<br />- "Mute Src." must be off.<br />- No L/R Output Pan.<br />- If you use the Delay effect on multiple tracks, you must use the exact same<br /> parameters on each track."</i></blockquote>
<br />
I had cut almost all of the hand-made digital delays in the song (see Part 9) saving considerable space. But I figured, instead of adding them back in, why not use the Delay Effect instead and make this thing fully a product of modernity?<br />
<br />
Like most things, anywhere the Clinkster docs say "you can" means you're going to use bytes doing it. It's also very limited, any track with a delay has to have exactly the same delay parameters, so I had to choose options that sounded reasonable on all the tracks I wanted to add delay to.<br />
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<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" height="368" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
This added a mere 22 bytes, far fewer than adding the original hand-coded delays. This became Cut Iteration #7. I also added back some of the instrument doubling I used to bring the leads out in the mix. This was Cut Iteration #8, and because each new octave/instrument was another set of note-instrument-velocity-length combinations just a few notes added back 159 bytes. So by Cut #8, we were <i>almost</i> back to where we were with Cut #5, but hopefully with better sound.<br />
<br />
Seven in the meanwhile was still experimenting with mono-vs-stereo playback. Using mono shaved a few bytes from the production as it turns out, but required more mutations to Clinkster.<br />
<br />
I listened to Cuts #6, 7 and 8 in mono to see if they sounded reasonable, and though I wasn't thrilled with it, they sounded "ok" over loud speakers. I decided to give Seven the final call at the party place and gave him a choice of cuts and mono or stereo as he needed. At this point there really wasn't any more I could cut without making the song start to sound completely unrecognizable. I'm actually not sure which one Seven finally went with, but I was glad to be able to give him some choices so he could focus on coding.<br />
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Here's how it played at the party:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lOH0UZFhXdE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lOH0UZFhXdE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
I couldn't attend the party in person, so hearing the crowd enjoy the song was awesome. I loved hearing people shout out and fill in the missing vocal bits, singing along with it and other mayhem. Most important for a competition, we did pretty well. We came in a close 2nd in a very competitive year. The post-party reaction was more mixed, I'm not sure that the modern scene crowd quite understands the technical limitations and the amount of effort that goes into fitting something interesting into 8k. After talking with a couple people, some even were confused that it looked so terrible for such a high resolution as 7680×4320. After correcting them that this wasn't a resolution category but a size category, the light seemed to finally click on.<br />
<br />
Stranger to me are people who seemed <i>angry</i> about this production. I've never really seen or <i>heard</i> of people get angry at a demoscene production before, so we must have pushed a button somewhere. But it doesn't really weigh on me too much. Comments surrounding the absolutely amazing Commodore 64 remix are also <a class="vt-p" href="http://csdb.dk/release/?id=908">quite mixed</a>, even though it won its competition.<br />
<br />
With productions like this, there's inevitably compromises, some are easy to make, some are hard. And of course this is a hugely compromised production. However, the entire production fits into less space than some of the intermediary images in the original! It's my hope that this series has helped provide some insight into what some of those compromises were, why they were made, and how they shaped the final production.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NJFvy8CgvzU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NJFvy8CgvzU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
(Since you've read this far, <a class="vt-p" href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ikjqgzhfrxftt6/clinkster%20reality.zip?dl=0">here's</a> all the cuts and troubleshooting mixes from this series).<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html"><Prev. Part 16</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Addendum Next></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-11918170212096556472015-04-12T20:42:00.000-07:002015-04-17T14:01:04.044-07:00Getting Real Pt 16. - Full Contact Knife LimboLast time I talked about how I cut echos and simplified the hell out of the complex rhythm parts in the score. Guessing Seven might need more space, I decided to keep going. There were still some things that I guess I could cut without being too noticeable. I think the results were mixed, but it did pay off.<br />
<br />
For example, I had noticed that the Kettledrum part generally mirrored a couple other parts in the score. And the instrument I had created for the Kettledrum, sounded a bit like another instrument I had. So I went through and either cut or merged the entire part, or reassigned it's part to another instrument played at a lower octave.<br />
<br />
I also went through and tried to standardize as many of the velocity/volumes as I could. I decided that in general, I'd allow two volumes, the default, and 30. There were some concessions I made for artistic reasons. If I felt an echo or a crescendo was particularly important I'd allow other volumes. But the idea was that a listener might not really notice a difference between a crescendo slowly moving up individual volume values, and one that just used 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60. But this might take a crescendo from 32 different note-velocity/volume combinations to just seven.<br />
<br />
I also eliminated extra channels where I could. For example, in Skaven's original introduction, he used three channels for the hi-strings. I cut one out figuring that two notes would build up enough of a chord to sound okay. This killed off a few of Clinkster's "virtual" channels, shaving more bytes.<br />
<br />
I also simply eliminated notes. For example, there's this wonderful cycle that Purple Motion starts his section with.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Bass</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C#3 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 C#3 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">03 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 C#2 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">60 B-2 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">61 OFF .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">62 B-1 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">63 OFF .. ..</span></div>
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I know that musically, the B-2 and B-1 at the end of the pattern (positions 60-63) is just a lead-in into the next go around to the notes at positions 00-04. They're less musically important than the C#s. So I simply cut them out.</div>
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Another example from the Purple Motion section.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Solobrass</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C#3 05 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 C#3 05 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 C#3 05 ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 C#3 06 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 C#4 06 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 C#3 05 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">13 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">14 C#5 05 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">15 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">Was turned into this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">Solobrass</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C#3 05 ..</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 OFF .. ..</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 C#4 05 ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 OFF .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">07 ... .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 C#3 05 ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 ... .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 C#4 05 ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 ... .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 OFF .. ..</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">14 ... .. ..</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">15 ... .. ..</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">I did this kind of note shaving everywhere I could. And finally got it down to Cut Iteration 6, the smallest the song would get and 3,653 bytes from where I started at 4,345 bytes. That's right the first 9 minutes of the Second Reality soundtrack in just hair over 4k.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" height="368" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;">At this point, Seven was still hacking away at Crinkler/Clinkster (we were attacking the problem from both ends) and building new versions of the production. We were getting really close and he was working non-stop.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html"><Prev. Part 15</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Part 17 Next></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
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</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b style="text-align: justify;"></b><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-57475909916115851232015-04-12T20:40:00.000-07:002015-04-17T14:00:28.714-07:00Getting Real Pt 15. - Pressure CookerWe lost about 3 days figuring out the broken music, and the competition was starting to draw near. The pressure was turning way up. Seven was still building out sections and my music wasn't getting smaller. We had reached Cut Iteration 4 and based on the minimal gains I made there I was ready to declare that no more music could be cut.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" height="368" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
But Seven kept sending status updates with the full production hovering in the 9k area. This wasn't good. We started talking about crazy things, like how Clinkster creates and counts virtual instruments that aren't really there and if I could eliminate any of them, or maybe Seven could start hacking at Clinkster itself, or putting the song in mono instead of stereo to shave a few dozen bytes.<br />
<br />
This didn't sound good, and I figured that Seven was already squeezing the hell out of his code. So I started brainstorming some ideas on how I could possibly cut more. I wasn't hopeful.<br />
<br />
Then it struck me -- entropy! Both composers, and especially Purple Motion had used all kinds of effects to give his sound space (see Part 9 of this series). Furthermore, he had several different drum rhythms and fills throughout his sections, but the whole production was at the same tempo. I had spent so much time cutting into the synths, with just a couple exceptions, I had simply ignored the percussion.<br />
<br />
So, in almost a fevered dream, I started "flattening" the sound, cutting out echos where I judged they were minimally needed and building up a very simple (and predictable and therefore low entropy), but general purpose drum rhythm I could use for most of the parts that called for drums. I also tried to engineer in a few layers I could simply mix and match.<br />
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I discovered the following basic drum routines in Purple Motions music (after converting them over to Renoise and Clinkster):<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Somewhat simplified here:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">read left to right</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">|| means note-off</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">lower-case notes mean lower-velocity/volume</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">assume missing instrument sections are blank</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">#1</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> .. || .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#2</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. || .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. || .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. || .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> || .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> || .. .. .. .. C5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || E5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">e5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#3</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. C3 .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">||</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. || .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> || .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> || .. .. c5 .. C5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. C5 .. .. .. c5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || E5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">e5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#4</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> .. || .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">||</span><b> .. .. .. E5 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">||</span><b> .. .. .. E5 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">||</span><b> .. .. .. E5 .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">#</b><b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. C3 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. C3 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C6</span><b> .. || .. .. .. C6 .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">||</span><b> .. C6 .. || .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 || .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> .. .. .. E5 || E5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Blipp </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. a5 .. || .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#7</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. C3 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. C3 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .</b><b>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C6</span><b> .. || .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 || .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> .. .. .. E5 || E5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Blipp </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. a5 .. || .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#8</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. c3 .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>#9</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || e5 || e5 || e5</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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And a half-dozen more. Plus an incomprehensible number of drum fills and minor variations. I realized that I could greatly simplify things if got rid of most of these. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Since I was doing this to cut space, I figured I should go all the way. The general rhythm I needed to replace these with had to be low-entropy, but also mildly interesting to listen to.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I decided to use a <i>very</i> basic house rhythm.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>BD </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C3</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Snare </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">C5</span><b> || .. .. .. .. C5 || </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">..</span><b> .. .. .. .. .. ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>HiHat </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 || .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 || .. .. </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">E5</span><b> || .. .. E5 || ..</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">00</span><b> 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">08</span><b> 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 </b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">16</span><b> 17 18 19 20 21 22...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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I didn't replace <i>all</i> of the rhythms above with this basic rhythm. But I did replace most of them. For the ones with the "Blipp" instrument, I kept that one in, simply layering it over the above.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I figured that one of the reasons Purple Motion had so many different rhythms was simply to keep the music interesting. So I also wrote a version that had a slightly more complex hi-hat part.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I also combined #9 above with a variation on a more complex bass drum part that I used in a couple places. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The effect of all this was cut iteration #5, or an 887 byte drop! All told, I had cut 3,400 bytes from my initial version or more than 3k!</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html"><Prev. Part 14</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Part 16 Next></a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-27628055132815470392015-04-12T20:39:00.000-07:002015-04-17T14:00:37.658-07:00Getting Real Pt 14. - In Case of Emergency, Break ThingsWhile going through this, I'd send Seven near daily updates of the .xrns file for him to compile into the production. Based on that and him running it under heavy compression, we'd get a near daily snapshot of how we were doing size-wise. Things were going smoothly for the most part, but we were still way too big. It seemed like every day I'd get a "we just dropped to 9.3k!" from Seven, followed by a "okay, we're back up to 10k when I added another section". Coplan, ever busy with real-life chimed in encouragement, ideas and kept moral boosted with jokes about in-laws and taxes and such.<br />
<br />
I'm not <i>exactly</i> sure what Seven's process looked like during all this, but I imagine it was something like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T8gOh0wEgLg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T8gOh0wEgLg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Except with more plasmas and scrollers, and my reorchestrated Second Reality score.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUMPB2p5Uwj3G-1NebBGNAx_1MXBL0p91EpI0cOkuEdBsknPcul6cZ2i50ihZ0jv5KxvwllyaNgkgdxkir8mq_FMQts4JZ7AWj5DTyaEeaQ2FXD2dmrdzy9_9uaKekVUfGM5J6aAWxs0/s1600/compressing.gif" height="368" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Somewhere around iteration #3, Seven sent me an email, <i>"Ahum, I notice once I actually try to play the music it sounds completely random, like one pattern from somewhere at the end plays first, and the some random notes with a lot of silence. The easy_exe gives me the same result, although the cr4.xrns plays fine in renoise. Can you confirm the music.exe that is generated by easy_exe sounds correctly at your end?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I checked, and sure enough, the music sounded like a random note explosion. Like a John Cage piece for prepared piano, except using Clinkster sounds.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8fPSz-o4zzY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8fPSz-o4zzY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
This was not good.<br />
<br />
I confirmed the problem and started trying to troubleshoot the problem. I assumed it was some issue that Renoise had introduced during transcription. Maybe some errant hidden data that was breaking everything. It was my fault, I had simply been cutting and listening to the result in Renoise, but what I should have been doing is putting the song through the entire 4-step toolchain. If Seven hadn't been trying to build the entire production everyday to verify, we wouldn't known until it was much too late.<br />
<br />
I stepped back through previous iterations until I found one that didn't break. Then I took the next iteration and cut all the patterns out except for the first one. Saved it and then put it through the tool-chain. It sounded fine.<br />
<br />
So I did the same thing and kept the first two sequences and test. Fine again. I kept repeating until somewhere around sequence 69 or 70, it broke. And this is why Seven makes the big bucks. Using this information and the 70 or so version I had created up to that point (I actually ended up with a little over 100 different test versions trying to solve this problem) Seven pinpointed the problem to an issue in the Clinkster tool-chain, not Renoise!<br />
<br />
It turns out that I had an instrument that had more than 127 note-volume-length combinations and had simply introduced so much entropy into the song that it broke during the Compile/Compress stages (Ed. Seven wishes I'd explain it this way "It turns out that I had an instrument that had more than 127 note-volume-length combinations, which is (although the documentation doesn't mention it) the maximum Clinkster supports."). Apparently, nobody had ever pushed the tool this far, we were literally pushing beyond what the tools were capable of at this point.<br />
<br />
Seven narrowed down the issue even more, edited the asm code and sent me an updated clinkster.asm file and the problem was solved! If anybody saw this production during the compo, you might have noticed the "mutant Clinkster" during the introduction of the production. Now you know where that all came from.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html"><Prev. Part 13</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Part 15 Next></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-17202041242951639542015-04-12T20:38:00.010-07:002015-04-17T14:00:46.408-07:00Getting Real Pt 13. - Cutting Yourself7,998 bytes, terrifyingly big, at least if you're considering the music for an 8k demoscene intro. Suddenly Seven and I were sending almost daily emails back and forth, was it still possible? Could we still pull this off? Nevermind that the soundtrack was smaller than it had ever been before, it was twice as large as it needed to be. What were we going to do?!<br />
<br />
I let it set for a day, thinking it over, thinking like a coder, letting my rational brain take over and analyze the situation. Maybe I could shave 2-3k off, get Seven some much needed breathing room. Maybe we could simply cut parts. People would understand wouldn't they? Compromises have to be made in this kind of production. I'm sure the tech savvy demoscene audience would get what we had attempted. So I decided to see where I could get doing some smart cuts.<br />
<br />
I didn't keep a good change log, I just saved after every session as I went along. And it started to work! With each cut iteration, I removed instrument pairings (saving note data), simplified the volumes/velocties (reducing entropy by getting rid of note-velocity pairs) and even merging instruments (further removing entropy). I also got rid of those extra patterns I didn't need.<br />
<br />
By the 4th iteration I was pretty sure I had cut just about everything that was possible and I had cut a <i>whopping 2,513 bytes!</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiom6hlbMdB0knB2TL7eExg1d7az27ZCXVle8M2bFa3dkFie6sKbPjKIjDAN_MvBbO0QyuNDEcpUfF6rPvMnmF5tKnOUh2FgSdGSIklGJhRuQ_HHWrm6e8V0-NXw4YAECFKlqwSfXzeuXg/s1600/compressing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiom6hlbMdB0knB2TL7eExg1d7az27ZCXVle8M2bFa3dkFie6sKbPjKIjDAN_MvBbO0QyuNDEcpUfF6rPvMnmF5tKnOUh2FgSdGSIklGJhRuQ_HHWrm6e8V0-NXw4YAECFKlqwSfXzeuXg/s1600/compressing.gif" height="368" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
With going over each track and each instrument over and over again to make cuts (and 105 patterns of this), it took about 4 days to get from iteration #1 to iteration #4. Or an average of 628.25 bytes per day. Each day bought back almost 8% of the size of the total production. It was hard, exacting work, but it was getting us in range.<br />
<br />
Very important, even before we got to the first final score iteration, Seven started linking the music in with the visuals and asking me to verify if they sounded correct. This was even before he synced anything, so there were even some crazy mismatches of sight and sound. Doing this early and often became very important to getting the exact amount of space needed and verifying that the music had survived the entire tool-chain intact.<br />
<br />
It turns out that this was a very good idea indeed.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html"><Prev. Part 12</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">Part 14 Next></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-68991178605300389452015-04-12T20:38:00.009-07:002015-04-17T14:00:54.846-07:00Getting Real Pt 12. - Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a CliffSo, over the weeks, I essentially transcribed and merged all of the music for all of the scoped parts, untangled the notes and gave them a more modern form, and rewrote some minor bits where Clinkster simply couldn't provide the right sounds. I actually went a little too far and even transcribed 4 patterns from the end-credits before Seven put the breaks on me. And you know what? It sounded pretty good. The sound was rich and full and exciting. It wasn't <i>exactly</i> the original music, but in some places it sounded (IMHO) a little bit better than the original, thanks to modern synth technology.<br />
<br />
So what was the result? If you remember way back in Part 3, there was a four part process: compose, save, compile, compress.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrqjFGBzTueidgj-SuPiFp-DbMnAPRSJJK29-URN1Cb4fyuBGAP0dtLsEfyz53Ug8ymMkW_Uyuu3frfnL5tKOolxtVZjvsonKrTpFQ5eAndOMm9Yta49Em84LCgulA4NcbcjS6d_q1W4/s1600/cscc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrqjFGBzTueidgj-SuPiFp-DbMnAPRSJJK29-URN1Cb4fyuBGAP0dtLsEfyz53Ug8ymMkW_Uyuu3frfnL5tKOolxtVZjvsonKrTpFQ5eAndOMm9Yta49Em84LCgulA4NcbcjS6d_q1W4/s1600/cscc.jpg" height="58" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The result was a 123k Renoise .xrns file. Yikes. It turns out these are <i>already</i> compressed files, the original .xml file in the .xrns file, the one that contains all the note data, was 8,459k. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Woah. </i>What's going on here?<br />
<br />
Well it turns out, all I'm seeing is step 2 in this process. Again back in part 3 of this series, I discussed the "compile" and "compress" steps. I haven't done those yet! So I copied the .xrns file over to Clinkster's helpful easy_exe folder and ran it only face an explosion of errors. It turns out I had forgotten many of the restrictions I pointed out in Part 3: no effects, maximum velocity of 7F, etc. It took nearly a week to hunt all of those down and get rid of them. Finally I was ready to find out the final size of the music so Seven would have an idea what his byte budget was.<br />
<br />
With trepidation I ran easy_exe's "build.bat" and waited, the screen filled with an incomprehensible array of instrument names, note values, velocities and so on. Blueberry's tool was ripping my song apart, atomizing it down to its bare elements. A moment later I saw the following:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Linking...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Uncompressed size of code: 1462</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Uncompressed size of data: 34073</span><br />
<br />
Holy cow, my heart was grinding along at triple digit BPMs. The uncompressed music, after going through Blueberrie's atomic music smasher was 34k! I think I may have passed out for a moment, for when consciousness resumed I remember that this was the uncompressed size. I still had to know the result of step 4 "compress":<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Final file size: 7998</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Oh, no. I was almost 200% over my byte budget. Seven only had 194 bytes to build the rest of the production with!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html"><Prev. Part 11</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Part 13 Next></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-56763076105648851502015-04-12T20:38:00.008-07:002015-04-17T14:00:02.745-07:00Getting Real Pt 11. - Your Left, Your LeftOne of my requirements for the demo was to blend both musician's pieces into one. You'd think this would be a simple matter of just putting Purple Motion's notes after Skaven's. But no, it turns out that both composers used different tempos for their pieces. And Purple Motion flips back and forth between two different tempos repeatedly. Clinkster doesn't support effects and therefore doesn't support tempo changes, so what could I do? Again, find a compromise and get creative.<br />
<br />
Trackers have a different kind of tempo and time signature mechanism than normal musical notation -- much of this comes from the tradition set down by old Amiga trackers. If you're familiar with traditional musical notation, music typically is structured around two markings we'll call "speed markings":<br />
<ol>
<li>The <a class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo">Tempo</a> - often given a mood term like <i>allegro </i>or <i>allegro agitato</i>. In more recent music a specific measurement is given, "Beats per Minute" or BPM.</li>
<li>The <a class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature">Time Signature</a> - which specifies which kind of note is called "a beat" and how many of them fit into a measure. A common time-signature is 4/4, which means there are 4 quarter notes per measure, 3/4 means three quarter notes, 6/8 means six eighth notes and so on.</li>
</ol>
<div>
A BPM of 120 and a Time Signature of 4/4 thus means that there will be 120 quarter notes played per minute and all other note lengths will be derived from this (a half note will be twice as long, an eighth note half as long, etc.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Trackers use a different system that uses a combination of "ticks", BPM, and Lines-per-Beat (from the <a class="vt-p" href="http://milkytracker.org/docs/MilkyTracker.html">Milky Tracker</a> Docs<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1</span>).</div>
<ol>
<li>Tick - The base time unit in traditional trackers like MilkyTracker, originating from Amiga. Notes are triggered on the first tick of a row (unless delayed) and effects are applied on the following ticks. (<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1</span>)</li>
<li>BPM - Traditionally Beats Per Minute, but in tracker terminology it defines the speed of ticks. (<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1</span>)</li>
<li>Lines-per-Beat - the number of lines available for note entry per beat.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Different trackers may use Ticks and BPM, or BPM and Lines/Beat, or may use both in different contexts or may use all three. Renoise uses either one, while OpenMPT supports all three. Needless to say, it's complex. A quick couple examples:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>BPM of 125 + Lines / Beat of 4 means you can write music at 125 BPM using "sixteenth" notes.</li>
<li>BPM of 133 + Lines / Beat of 8 means you can write music at 133 BPM using "32nd" notes.</li>
<li>BPM of 125 + Tick Speed of 6 means you can write music at 125 BPM using "sixteenth notes"</li>
<li>BPM of 125 + Tick Speed of 3 means you can write music at 125 BPM using "32nd" notes.</li>
</ul>
<div>
This isn't quite exact, but it should be close enough to understand how this work. I put the note length in quotes because trackers don't exactly have a concept of sixteenth or 32nd notes. This is really how many lines you have to enter note data between beats, and there's all kinds of things that you might have to enter that aren't just notes -- for example, note-off commands. I've found that a good rule of thumb is to target notes that are twice as fast as you'll practically need -- if your composition needs sixteenth notes, set up your tracker to support 32nd notes and you'll generally have enough space to work.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One other factor to keep in mind, pattern length -- the number of notes you can store in a pattern. This is typically 64 for most trackers, or 16 beats with a BPM of 125 and Lines/Beat of 4. This number gets halved when the Lines/Beat is 8, you only get 8 beats worth of music. Fortunately this is adjustable, many composers will set this to 32 or 128 depending on the song speed and their phrase length. Many trackers will let you set this to different lengths for each pattern, or cut to the next pattern early (usually when the composer is using a fill or a bridge of some kind). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
What does all this mean? Skaven mostly uses a BPM of 125 in his portion (with a tick rate of 6). Near the end of the credit sequence he halve's the BPM by increasing the tick rate to 12 and elsewhere in the credits he uses 8 ticks. In other places he changes the tick rate dynamically in order to draw out certain dramatic portions of his music. Purple Motion on the other hand used a BPM of 130, ticks/row of 3...except where he uses ticks/row of 6.<br />
<br />
I had to find some kind of common ground to merge the two pieces, and to merge the pieces within. I felt like the introduction was important enough that I needed 125BPM -- if it was too fast it would feel rushed. But I wanted to accommodate the higher note volume in Purple Motion's portion, so I chose a Lines/Beat of 8, giving me up-to 32nd notes to play with. However, this functions more like a tick rate of 3 or 4, meaning that a note-by-note transcription of Skavens music would simply be too fast. The solution was to extend the patterns to 128 lines and simply double the length of each of Skaven's notes, unless some specific attack, effect or note cut required me to use a finer grained note. As it turns out, most of Skaven's more creative use of BPM and ticks occur in the end-credits, so by cutting those portions out, I didn't have to worry about them.<br />
<br />
I used a similar technique for Purple Motion, where he used a tick rate of 3, I could use a pattern length of 64 and directly transcribe his notes, where he used a tick rate of 6 I simply doubled the pattern length along with his typical note length.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html"><Prev. Part 10</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Part 12 Next></a></span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-4250394148416426692015-04-12T20:38:00.007-07:002015-04-17T13:59:56.899-07:00Getting Real Pt 10. - Pots and PansOne of the hardest parts of reorchestrating the music was trying to recreate the original sample-based sound with Clinkster, as faithfully as possible. One lesson I learned through this is that I'm a lousy sound designer. About a third of the way through the work, Seven reminded me that Clinkster came with a set of pre-built sounds and that solved quite a few of the more intractable problems I couldn't solve.<br />
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Still, there were some that were entirely unsolvable. In some of the earlier parts to this series, I pointed out that between the two songs there were approximately 60 different instruments. A fairly large number of these were not-reproducible with Clinkster no matter how much time I spent with them: voices, specific drum sounds, sound effects, etc.<br />
<br />
In these sections, I tried to capture the <i>feeling</i> of the music instead of being a slave to it. In addition, for the voices, Seven wanted to try to recreate the voices using the Windows built-in text-to-speech API (an idea that was later dropped due to incompatibility issues, and most people didn't seem to like it). I simply decided not to fret too much because I couldn't create a very specific, low pitched, snare flange with Clinkster. Instead, I either chose to omit it (saving space), or if I though it was necessary for the mood the original composer was trying to build, use a combination of other instruments to try to reproduce the mood, even if I couldn't recreate the exact sound.<br />
<br />
Still, in one segment of the Purple Motion score, he uses a loud crowd shout to punctuate the music. This is really effective at building excitement about the production and drawing the crowd in. But no samples meant no crowd sound...no matter how important I thought it might be. I tried a couple variations without the crowd sound but it just came off as flat and incomplete.<br />
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Seeking guidance, I consulted the brilliant C64 <a class="vt-p" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPW40ygds4">reorchestration</a>. In their remake, they used a low drum sound to try to simulate this crowd shout. I thought this might work, and I ended up using the snare instrument used elsewhere in the production, but pitched low, and lengthened and it gives a reasonable enough approximation.<br />
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Even with all of the impossible instruments removed or replaced, I was still going to have to come up with a few dozen instruments. The problem with this of course is that each instrument was going to take up space. I decided instead to see how much mileage I could get out of the initial set of instruments I put together for the Skaven introduction -- introducing new instruments only as <i>absolutely</i> necessary. As it turns out, this was a great idea. For example, the high-string synth sound I used in the Skaven introduction, worked just fine in the rapid Purple Motion sections. If I needed another synth, the Clinkster sounds tolerated being pitched up or down an octave or two and took on different enough characteristics to usually give me what I needed. Most of the instruments I added to the Purple Motion sections were percussion (usually from the sample instruments provided with Clinkster).<br />
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One instrument to take special note of, the iconic high-pitched wood block in the Skaven introduction. I found this instrument so important to the sound that I deemed it non-optional. It even features in the C64 version. However, even after hours of fiddling with Clinkster, I simply couldn't get the sound nailed down. It turns out I didn't have to as there's a sample woodblock which sounds great that comes with Clinkster. This instrument ended up serving triple duty. I used it as a general "big bass drum" throughout the song, but pitched down a few octaves. I also used it as the mid-tone wood block featured about half-way through the production (sequence 36, "Blipp"), again at a different octave than the rest. Even though these new note-instrument combinations used more space than just the original use of the instrument, it was space-wise cheaper than a new instrument + the note-instrument combinations.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html"><Prev. Part 9</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Part 11 Next></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-66688950960112823072015-04-12T20:38:00.006-07:002015-04-17T13:59:51.309-07:00Getting Real Pt 9. - Forgotten MagicIn the last part of the series (part 8), I talked about compact composition, untangling notes, and understanding the <i>semantics </i>of the composition during reorchestration. It might be helpful to understand a bit more of what I mean by "semantics". I think the easiest way to do so is to understand the different ways that composers of olde tried to create space on the sound-stage.<br />
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It's hard to imagine, but in the time before CPUs were fast enough to automatically calculate complex algorithms that give space to a sound, you had to figure out how to do this yourself. By "space" I mean the effect that your notes live in an environment larger than the room you are listening to them in. The typical examples are echos and reverb, though other techniques exist. It turns out in old-fashioned sample based trackers, echos are one of the easiest techniques to replicate.<br />
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Consider this three note sequence:<br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C-5 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 E-5 01 ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. ..</span></div>
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By itself, this sequence plays three eighth-notes, and in general, they'll sound rather flat. It sounds like they're playing in a closed room (and they probably are).<br />
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Note consider the following six note sequence:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Track 01 Track 02</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C-5 01 .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 D-5 01 .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">03 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 E-5 01 .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 ... .. .. C-5 01 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">07 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 ... .. .. D-5 01 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 ... .. .. E-5 01 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
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It's the same three notes, but now they're repeated again, but at a lower volume. This is a simple echo, and it does wonders to give space to music. Instead of feeling like it's being played in a closed-off room, suddenly it's being played in a cathedral, or in front of a massive mountain range. It <i>creates</i> space, space that you as the listener are temporarily transported to while listening to the song.</div>
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There's variations on this technique: playing the echo sooner or later can change the echo from a 60's playing-in-a-tin-bucket reverb to a wide-open mountain range. Adding more echos (at subsequently diminished volumes) can magnify the effect.<br />
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This really works best when you can dedicate lots of channels to the effect. Two, three or four delays give even better space (and better mimic expensive multi-tap delay units), but consume tons of channels. This technique is especially effective for huge leads and other synths. Purple Motion makes extensive use of this technique throughout his composition -- for example, the opening patterns 3 through 12 use 3 channels for the main background synth and its echos (he also compactly inserts drums, other synths and orchestra hits where he can).<br />
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An older <i>more compact</i> style was to simply interleave the delay into the same channel. You trade-off note completion for space and use less channels, this works especially well for very short notes. I don't remember Purple Motion using this in his section. But Skaven does in the "flying through the city" sequence (see Skaven's music, sequence 15-21, track 08).<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Track 08</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 A-3 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 C-4 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">03 A-3 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 D#4 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 C-4 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 A-3 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">07 D#4 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 C-4 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 A-3 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 D#4 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 C-4 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 A-3 0D ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">13 D#4 0D 30</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">and so on</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b style="text-align: justify;"></b><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span></span><br />
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All of the notes with a volume of 30 (the 4th column) are echos. I believe that the first volume of 30, set on no note on position 01, is not meant to cut the note started on position 00, but simply the result of laziness, Skaven simply went down to every other tick and set the volume to 30 and it was "good enough" (TM). Regardless of the reason, this technique is also very common in tracked music, especially older tracked music where channels were at a premium. However, it's not just a matter of squeezing space-giving effects into limited channel-space, this technique also has a particular <i>sound</i> -- the echos also cut off the main notes, giving a kind of queer compressed sound to the technique.<br />
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You might be thinking back to Part 8, where I was also trying to untangle the notes and the result was effectively this second echo technique. In actuality, I tried to maintain a separation between these two techniques where I found them when possible. Often I ended up removing either kind of echo and using DSP effects to reintroduce them with fewer bytes -- remember, each note-track-volume-length combination produces new data that raises the entropy of the track.<br />
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In either case, I had to figure out which technique the composer was using, decide if I wanted to replicate it, remove the echo if needed (to save space) and reintroduce it if desired via DSP effect for the final version. I had to figure out if the composer was describing a large space that his music was supposed to exist in or a small space, and make sure I tried to reproduce that as faithfully as possible.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html"><Prev. Part 8</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Part 10 Next></a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-73517571685470863652015-04-12T20:38:00.005-07:002015-04-17T13:59:44.526-07:00Getting Real Pt 8. - Knotty KnotesDigital trackers like Renoise can trace their lineage directly back to composition software on unbelievably limited hardware like the Commodore 64. The C64 had only 3 channels to compose with. As a result composers learned to write in an extremely compact style, and use techniques to make the best use of the limited polyphony. For example, a composer might start a melody line in channel 1, but then move some of the line over to channel 2 in order to make space for a base-line in channel 1. If you can imagine in regular musical notation, this is like writing some of the violin part over in the cello score, but written in is something like "supposed to be played on the violin".<br />
<br />
<a class="vt-p" href="http://events.ccc.de/congress/2011/Fahrplan/events/4759.en.html">Tom Hargreaves</a> notes in his<a class="vt-p" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRM7wkMBSHY"> talk at the 28th Chaos Communication Congress</a> that tracking software simply aggregated and evolved features over time and never really had anybody sit down and really redesign things. As a result this compact style carried forward as computer music technology advanced -- through 4 channel digital stereo .mod files, up through Impulse Tracker. Even when trackers allowed for vast numbers of channels, processing power was too limited to allow for 32 channels of music in <i>addition</i> to the complex real-time visuals of a demo. So the compact style of tracking stayed with us for a very long time -- even when it sometimes doesn't make any sense.<br />
<br />
I'm no stranger to this style myself, having often taken quite a bit of pride in packing the maximal number of notes into the minimum number of channels. I even won a competition for a <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblanco.untergrund.net/room303/dual.zip">2-channel chip-tune</a> once long ago -- besting the C64 by 33.3%!<br />
<br />
But we're in modern times, using modern tools that effectively have no limits. To reorchestrate the music properly, I had to really tear it apart and reorganize it. This meant working in a more modern DAW-style, 1-instrument:1-track style. Even after several years working like this, it still feels weird to me to see so much empty space in my tracker, but it turns out it's just easier to work that way. So almost as hard as writing in a compact style is untangling somebody else's compact style.<br />
<br />
Issues around doing this haunted me for weeks. And it turns out that Clinkster generates a new "instrument" every time an instrument is used outside of its normal track. This adds precious bytes to the production and it's incredibly hard to track down if you missed it.<br />
<br />
Here's a brief example from Pattern 01 (Sequence 39), Tracks 4 and 5 from Purple Motion's section (columns are note, instrument and volume):<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"> Track 04 Track 05</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C#5 1B .. D#5 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. 14 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 C#5 1B .. D#5 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">03 ... .. 14 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 C#4 1B .. D#4 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 ... .. 00 C#5 1B 2C</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">07 ... .. .. ... .. 06</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 ... .. .. C#5 1B 2C</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 ... .. .. ... .. 06</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 ... .. .. C#4 1B 2C</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 ... .. .. ... .. 00</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls">
<source src="http://elblanco.untergrund.net/blogassets/8kreality/part8ex1.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source>
<embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed>
Your browser does not support this audio
</audio>
</div>
What happens here is that Purple Motion used instrument 1B (a hard attack synth with a trailing warble) in Track 04 for lines 00 through 06. He cut it off directly after the attack on the next line by setting the track-volume to 14. It's interesting that he didn't set it to 00 and just cut it off completely. By letting it ring out for another tick at a lower volume, it has the effect of giving just a <i>little</i> more space to the sound. The final note in the initial sequence, at position 04, is an octave lower. Being a sample, this implies that the waveform needs a little more space to get through the attack. So he gives it an extra tick before killing it. He repeats this basic motif several times in the opening patterns and it has an amazing effect.<br />
<br />
However, he also uses an old tracker trick to simulate a digital multitap delay (with 1 echo) by replaying the same motif right after the initial notes, but at a lower volume (about 30% lower). These are the notes at position 06 through 12. But here's where it gets complicated, he chose to play out this echo in Track 05 instead of the original Track 04. The notes filling up Track 05 for position 00 through 05 are an entirely different sample!<br />
<br />
Why did he do this? At first I thought it was so he could use the echo to cut off the last D#4 at position 04. But why do this when he's simply cutting off the original motif with a 00 at position 06 in track 04? Your guess is as good as mine. But to make this reorchestration work, I had to untangle this while ensuring I maintained the meaning of what was happening. The <i>intention</i> and <i>semantics</i> of the work were important.<br />
<br />
A modern take on this thus would look like (and sound the same):<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"> Track 04 Track 05</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">00 C#5 1B .. D#5 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">01 ... .. 14 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">02 C#5 1B .. D#5 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">03 ... .. 14 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">04 C#4 1B .. D#4 09 ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">05 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">06 C#5 1B 2C ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">07 ... .. 06 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">08 C#5 1B 2C ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">09 ... .. 06 ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">10 C#4 1B 2C ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">11 ... .. .. ... .. ..</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">12 ... .. 00 ... .. ..</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
Actually, a truly modern take would skip the fake echo and just use a DSP, but that's besides the point. Here I am 3 beats into the second pattern and already having to untangle a minor knot! It turns out both Skavens and Purple Motion's tracks are packed full of this kind of stuff. It took maybe 50% of my time to simply move notes around between columns so I could make sense of them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This may sound like an almost useless effort. After all, why didn't I just copy-paste the notes and remap the instruments and call it a day? Well it turns out that this untangling served me well later when I had to start making difficult decisions about notes to cut.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html"><Prev. Part 7</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Part 9 Next></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
</div>
<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-66283522295819798762015-04-12T20:38:00.004-07:002015-04-17T13:59:38.086-07:00Getting Real Pt 7. - Getting DirtyEven after more than 20 years tracking, it's always it's always a delight to learn new techniques and have old ones reinforced. Almost immediately upon diving into Skaven's intro, I realized how much about old-fashioned tracking I had forgotten and how much I still had to learn.<br />
<br />
Skaven's section is full of almost impossibly subtle effect usage. Ever notice that slight pulsing in the opening bass note? That's caused by Skaven <i>ever so slightly</i> lowering the volume, then just as slightly raising it a few notes later.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">C-4 01 D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D01</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D01</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">... .. D10</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls">
<source src="http://elblanco.untergrund.net/blogassets/8kreality/part7ex1.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source>
<embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed>
Your browser does not support this audio
</audio>
</div>
<br />
<br />
and so on. Here D10 is the smallest possible volume slide up and D01 is the smallest possible volume slide down (there's a finer volume slide, but this is still almost impossibly small). I don't think this would have ever occured to me, and I probably would have simply let the note play unmolested...after all, first time listeners would never know that the note was supposed to pulse like this. But Skaven cared about this and it <i>does</i> make a difference. The entire introduction is packed full of this kind of tiny fine-tuning of the sound-scape and it's a large part of what makes it work as well as it does.<br />
<br />
This is an example of one of the first notes in the entire piece, and it's already wowing me with the attention to detail. However, it was also already presenting me with some problems and my first set of compromises:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Clinkster won't let me use effects</li>
<li>Mid-note velocity settings don't work</li>
<li>All this adds more data and eats into my budget</li>
</ul>
<br />
What was I going to do about this?<br />
<br />
It turns out that Clinkster, in an effort to make the instruments sound less "flat" uses a multi-layered approach to sound construction. Each layer is slightly randomized along various parameters, but one of the side benefits is that notes often slightly "pulse". It wouldn't be the same, but it would be close enough.<br />
<br />
So I decided to just play the note out. And it sounds okay.<br />
<br />
There were other problems as well. Skaven relied very heavily on the samples he was using, and using them at low octaves, to help provide a kind of ominous mood to the score. The sampled instruments are fairly basic, a snare drum, some cymbals. But he uses them and stretches and bends the sound to build up a complex and moody soundscape.<br />
<br />
No effects means I simply can't exactly replicate the sound that way. Just as important, there's no way to coax Crinkler into sounding exactly like those samples! So I turned to the Commodore 64 remix again to see how kb dealt with the situation. I found that instead of trying to perfectly parrot the original, he had decided to simply try to replicate the mood, the <i>feeling, </i>of the opening. Instead of cymbals and drums, he simply placed in a swooshing noise-alike sound.<br />
<br />
So I went with a combination of the ideas. I had a reasonable sounding hi-hat instrument and a blippy woodblock. What if I abused them and played them far below their normal designed sound? It turns out they produce a weird moody percussive sound. So I used and repeated this sound at intervals similar to the original score and I feel like it did a reasonable job of replicating the mysterious, mechanical feeling of the original.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html"><Prev. Part 6</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Part 8 Next></a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-46326466556556424022015-04-12T20:38:00.003-07:002015-04-17T13:59:32.301-07:00Getting Real Pt 6. - Let's Talk TurkeyLast time, we talked about entropy in your productions and how it affects song size. We determined, ballpark-like, that just the Skaven introduction seemed like it was already well over my byte-budget. It was time to ask myself, "is this really possible?"<br />
<br />
So I looked around at some of the other ports and remixes out there. The one that really came to mind was the Commodore 64 port, <i>Second Reality 64</i> by Smash Designs and The Obsessed Maniacs. Second Reality 64 is an unbelievable tour-de-force that reproduces in almost exacting detail the entirety of Second Reality, on a machine a fraction of the power computer the original was designed for.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-gbnlho7w3U/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-gbnlho7w3U?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Fortunately, the SIDs for that production are out and around and I thought it might be instructive to look at them. It turns out that, at least in this case, the Commodore 64 offered <i>less</i> restrictions than a modern 8k competition. The soundtrack is broken up across 4 song files, the first 3 of which fairly cleanly mapped to the portions I needed to reorchestrate. However, 7-zip, on Ultra, compressed those 3 files down to 16,655 bytes or about 4x my byte-budget.<br />
<br />
Back to the drawing board.<br />
<br />
One lesson I can say I learned from this project was that spending too much time up-front fretting about how you're going to do the impossible <i>really</i> makes it seem impossible. Despite these setbacks, the song still had to be written. Worst-case, we'd get neck deep and simply decide to either quit or start cutting scenes till we could fit within the constraints of the competition.<br />
<br />
It was time to just dive in and get the job done.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html"><Prev. Part 5</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Next Part 7></a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-86284148867832417042015-04-12T20:38:00.002-07:002015-04-17T13:59:27.405-07:00Getting Real Pt 5. - EntropyAccording to <a class="vt-p" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_%28information_theory%29">Information Theory</a>, Entropy (or Shannon Entropy) is the "average amount of information contained in each message received" or "Entropy is best understood as a measure of uncertainty rather than certainty as entropy is larger for more random sources". Basically, low entropy means predictability which means smaller amounts of information which thus translates into something that's easy to compress. High entropy means lots of unique information, low predictability and thus harder to compress. Remembering in part 3, the last step, and one of the most critical steps, is compression.<br />
<br />
Why am I bringing this up? Well, to successfully fit a score into a 4k or 8k production, the composer <i>has</i> to think of the entropy of this music. Think of it this way. Suppose for the 8k we played a single note, <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A-4</span>, for the entire production. This is easy to compress, all that needs to be recorded is one note playing for the duration.<br />
<br />
But suppose we played a different note, using a different instrument, for different lengths, at different volumes, for every possible combination until the demo was finished. There's no way to simplify that, you have to record these combinations somewhere, when they played and all of the other characteristics. There's no way to simplify things.<br />
<br />
Another example, now suppose instead of a single note, we played the same note over and over again at a regular interval.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
While not as easy to compress as the first example, it's still pretty easy, all that needs to be recorded is that a single note is played every two places for the entire song.<br />
<br />
What about this?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">A-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
Again, this is harder to compress because we don't have a regularly repeating pattern of notes, the entropy is higher.<br />
<br />
What does this mean for Second Reality? With 23 parts, about 60 different instruments, and two different composers, the entropy is wildly high.<br />
<br />
For fun, I took <i>just</i> the note data from Skaven's introduction, removed all of the effects and compressed the Song.xml file that Renoise produces (inside of the .xrns file) and compressed it with 7zip set to "Ultra". It compressed down to 8,148 bytes. <i><b>Yikes!</b></i> This is without the instruments, the player code, the Purple Motion sections and <i>any</i> of the visuals.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html"><Prev. Part 4</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Part 6 Next></a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-50355530491183990002015-04-12T20:38:00.001-07:002015-04-17T13:59:21.450-07:00Getting Real Pt 4. - OriginsIn parts 1-3, I talked about setting some high-level goals, scoping out the production, and a rough understanding of the environment I was going to be working in. But I haven't really talked about the elephant in the room, the original score.<br />
<br />
In my opinion, the original score for Second Reality is one of the greatest demoscene music productions ever laid down in a tracker. It perfectly fuses the different styles of the two composers, mixes a variety of styles, stays interesting during the entire length, and keeps the listener engaged through many many very listenable musical vignettes. However, it's not entirely timeless, it's also very situated in the milieu of early 90s dance music (at least the Purple Motion portions) -- being called by one of my non-scener co-workers "the Mortal Kombat music?".<br />
<br />
Skaven and Purple motion are also two of my musical heroes -- working in their scores constantly put me in the feeling of standing on the shoulders of musical giants. (to this day, Starshine is one of my favorite works of music in or outside of the scene).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
The way the score is structured, and how the work must have been divided between the two composes, is actually pretty simple. The introductory sequence and the final credits were composed by Skaven and the all the middle scenes were scored by Purple Motion. It turns out that this was a perfect choice. Skaven's music is generally more orchestral and mood inducing, while Purple Motion's more structured synth-pop and techno is great at driving along a scene.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlE5CTA6pt0cRpSZsByeFx0hWjcWLUvFIHNFUXmQMt0wIGcriXn3t04rUfCD9Jf-7G9ezNqbkW1z4o43kt0ok1TEvHeVhkqlkCORdv6cd0YF3Ur045RAMKMFtwZ_VQgFr1mRlOMtqW3g/s1600/structure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlE5CTA6pt0cRpSZsByeFx0hWjcWLUvFIHNFUXmQMt0wIGcriXn3t04rUfCD9Jf-7G9ezNqbkW1z4o43kt0ok1TEvHeVhkqlkCORdv6cd0YF3Ur045RAMKMFtwZ_VQgFr1mRlOMtqW3g/s1600/structure.jpg" height="112" width="640" /></a></div>
It turns out that the song files themself are split up more or less this way -- with Skaven's portion in one file and Purple Motion's in another. After the Introduction, Skaven's music is simply stopped, Purple Motion's is started. After Purple Motion's music is finished, they start Skaven's music again from where it left off.<br />
<br />
So while we had decided to cut the end credits entirely, and thus cutting out quite a bit of Skaven's music, we still ended up with two files, and for the purposes of the production, they needed to be cleanly merged. This is tougher than it sounds as both composers used entirely different sets of instruments, have radically different composition styles and even used different tempos (remember, no effects means no tempo changes).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some hard parts, being sample-based songs, the composers made extensive use of samples that would be <i>very</i> hard to replicate in either softsynth. Skaven used lots of difficult analog percussion and sound effects, and Purple Motion used voices and had an unfortunate love of the old fashion orchestra hit. None of these were possible with either softsynth, and getting approximations of the rest of the sounds was going to be a very hard stretch.<br />
<br />
Just as important, for an 4k/8k production, you want lots of easily compressible note data. This means lots of repeated sections, with low variation and relatively few notes. For Skaven, nearly every single pattern is almost entirely unique, and Purple Motion's sections are packed full of notes and effects intended to give the productions a rich and full sound.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html"><Prev. Part 3</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Part 5 Next></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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<ol>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-2434701347169511652015-04-12T20:38:00.000-07:002015-04-17T13:59:14.134-07:00Getting Real Pt 3. - Constraints and Expenses and Pooping PartiesBoth tools operate in a similar way. The softsynths work as VSTis in your favorite music tool (but the Clinkster toolchain <i>only</i> targets <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.renoise.com/">Renoise</a> in particular). Whichever one you choose, you use it for all of your instruments. You save your song and in 4klang's case it exports a magic source code file that your coder and link into the production, or with Clinkster it has some conversion scripts that do something I believe is similar. Now your song has to be compiled into the production (usually the coder's job) and then the whole thing has to be compressed -- usually using <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.crinkler.net/">Crinkler</a>.<br />
<br />
For sake of simplicity, we'll call these steps: compose, save, compile, compress.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="vt-p" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlHve2HeaQhPvJX-y2W0JjLlj-m5wFyUPTbFB42EVqRGhyuoEr1cwbaOr1pU81453KPvHnH5rJ2wrFYq2I-7B9RuCGI_80st1QOwzfpAHGVYZxuWlWaqigCKTxbEPjAW20L5yGAJntdY/s1600/cscc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlHve2HeaQhPvJX-y2W0JjLlj-m5wFyUPTbFB42EVqRGhyuoEr1cwbaOr1pU81453KPvHnH5rJ2wrFYq2I-7B9RuCGI_80st1QOwzfpAHGVYZxuWlWaqigCKTxbEPjAW20L5yGAJntdY/s1600/cscc.jpg" height="57" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Both synths also constrain what you can do in the synth in different ways and have different costs for using certain features. In the case of Clinkster (from the docs and summarized):<br />
<ul>
<li><i>You can use per-note velocity, but no other in-track effect commands.</i></li>
<li><i>You can adjust the volume and panning of tracks using the Volume/Panning Track DSP, the post-DSP volume/panning, the mixer and the master volume.</i></li>
<li><i>The maximum velocity you can use is 7F</i></li>
<li><i>You can use the Delay effect (under Track DSPs) with these restrictions:</i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>The "L Feedb.", "R Feedb." and "Send" sliders must be at the same position.</i></li>
<li><i>"Mute Src." must be off.</i></li>
<li><i>No L/R Output Pan.</i></li>
<li><i>If you use the Delay effect on multiple tracks, you must use the exact same parameters on each track.</i></li>
</ul>
<li><i>During conversion, each note column in a track will become a separate track in </i><i>the converted music.</i></li>
<li><i>For each track, each tone / length / velocity combination counts.</i></li>
<li><i>If the velocity is omitted, it is 127.</i></li>
<li><i>Optional features used in the music has some cost in terms of the code size of the player.</i></li>
<li><i>The options are:</i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>SINE, SAWTOOTH, SQUARE, PARABOLA, TRIANGLE, NOISE:</i></li>
<li><i>VELOCITY: One or more notes have velocity less than 127.</i></li>
<li><i>LONG_NOTES: One or more notes are longer than 127 rows.</i></li>
<li><i>DELAY: The delay device is used.</i></li>
<li><i>PANNING: One or more tracks have non-center panning.</i></li>
<li><i>INDEXDECAY: Some instrument has IndexDecay different from 0.</i></li>
<li><i>GAIN: Some instrument has Gain different from 1.</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
It's worth it to understand that any of the restrictions that say "you can" end up adding bytes to your composition. So depending on your space budget, doing something simple like setting a panning position might push you over the limit. Since your songs are most likely going to be played in a loud auditorium, consider if it's really necessary to spend your bytes on subtle mixing choices.<br />
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<a class="vt-p" href="http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/thumbnails/Party%20Pooper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/thumbnails/Party%20Pooper.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
I'm also of the opinion that giving more space to the code is usually better. So anything you can do that buys your coder space is a plus. If there's space left over, it's usually easier for you as the musician to fill it up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Basically, you have to be mindful of all these items and all the restrictions for pretty much every note you put down. They either make it so your song won't play, or they increase the size of your music in the final production.</div>
<div>
<br />
As a sort of trade-off, Clinkster is extra helpful though. It offers a folder called "easy_exe" you can drop your song in (if it's named the right thing) and a utility to run that does the compile and compress steps for you to give you ballpark idea of how big your music is. The compilation step also tries to check your song to make sure you aren't violating any of the restrictions. This can be frustrating at first, until you get used to disciplining yourself within the environment. I recommend writing a pattern or two, and running the easy_exe process on your song to see if you're doing something wrong. I made the mistake of not doing that early on and spent a couple days going through my song and removing things that didn't work.<br />
<br />
Also, in my case, I didn't have a lot of control over the compose portion of the process. I had the Second Reality soundtrack that I had to try to reproduce and that was that. In the beginning, I figured I'd go for as close of a 1:1 conversion as possible and try to figure out cuts later. It turns out this was harder than I anticipated.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html"><Prev. Part 2</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Part 4 Next></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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<ol>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-85906562785196297492015-04-12T20:37:00.001-07:002015-04-17T14:00:18.220-07:00Getting Real Pt 2. - MicroscopeIn this series, I'm planning on getting down to the excruciating details in the reorchestration, and hopefully going over some scene music history. But before I do that, let's start at a high-level. Even before putting down a single note, we needed to set some constraints, define the scope of the project so I knew what big of a box I had to work with.<br />
<br />
Fulcrum usually works in 4k, so we're used to tight spaces. 8k seemed almost like a vast luxury in comparison. In a 4k production, we usually have to try to fit the music under 2k (sometimes <i>way</i> under). This includes all of the notes, all of the instruments and the soft synth that produces the music. It may sound impossible, but the demoscene is known for being almost insanely resourceful and some awesome coders have developed and released some incredible tooling that makes this almost bearable.<br />
<br />
For an 8k production, it seemed reasonable to target around 4k for the music, 4k for the code. It turns out this budget estimate was pretty good.<br />
<br />
For our 4k productions, we've almost always relied on two music production toolchains:<br />
<br />
1 - <a class="vt-p" href="http://4klang.untergrund.net/">4klang</a> - a stack-based softsynth by Gopher and pOWL of Alctatraz. It produces lush, rich sounds, great percussion instruments, and is almost impossible to figure out. Our musicians all love <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.fulcrum-demo.org/2014/267/">how it sounds</a>, we all hate working with it. It <i>really</i> needs a comprehensive tutorial. One other downside, the instrument definitions make the overall music take up more space than our #2 choice.<br />
<br />
2 - <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=61592">Clinkster</a> - an FM-style softsynth by Blueberry of the Loonies that produces surprisingly good leads and pads, not as great sounding percussion (a problem with most FM synths) but is reasonably easy to work with once you understand FM synth basics. It's also well documented and comes with a great set of testing tools so the musician doesn't have to bother the coder as much. It also tends to produce slightly smaller music in the final production. However, it sounds a little less lush than 4klang and I've never ended up completely satisfied with the final result.<br />
<br />
Having had good success with it in the past, for this production we decided to use Clinkster.<br />
<br />
That set we should be good to go right? After all, we're dealing with an 8k production here, twice as much space! We can be lazy right? Wrong! Second Reality is a 16 minute long, 23-part production. The music is so complex it took two composers to write it. So size still matters, and size will become our focus for the rest of this series.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Right off the bat, Seven figured we needed to make a big cut. Something that most people wouldn't really miss, wasn't an effect, and artistically wouldn't change the overall meaning of the production. Second reality, while 16 minutes long, is 7 minutes of end-credits.<br />
<br />
But cutting that out, we can get rid of about 40% of the music right off the bat.<br />
<br />
The question we have yet to answer is, is that 40% of the overall bytes in the music?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html"><Prev. Part 1</a> - <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Part 3 Next></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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<ol>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225096465129684396.post-78569304862763699792015-04-12T20:37:00.000-07:002015-09-13T17:47:46.934-07:00Getting Real Pt 1. - Are we crazy?The demoscene is an amazing, vibrant, highly technical art movement with a surprisingly long history. Like any art movement, great works come out from time to time. Just like every painter needs to be familiar with the Mona Lisa and know who Jackson Pollock is, the demoscene's iconic works are important viewing for anybody who wants to be part of the scene. Among them, one of the most famous, and most important, is <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63">Second Reality</a> <a class="vt-p" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Reality">[1]</a> by <a class="vt-p" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Crew">Future Crew</a>. It's inspired thousands of people through its clever effects, design and soundtrack to develop artistic and technical skills needed to compete and contribute to the demoscene. The last major production by Future Crew, when it was released in 1993 (the same year as the first Web Browser), it absolutely blew people away and took 1st in the then biggest demoscene competition ever, <a class="vt-p" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_(demo_party)">Assembly '93</a>.<br />
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Even though this all happened at a competition in a small country in Northern Europe, it sent shockwaves around the world (at least the world's technical communities). Spread via bulletin boards and early Internet connections, it showed what was actually graphically, musically and technically possible with PCs (which had <i>just</i> finally caught up to what the Amiga could do). Today, more than 20 years later, when computers are vastly more powerful, it's still celebrated in <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/7196/happy-20th-birthday-second-reality">media</a> far outside the demoscene community.<br />
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<a class="vt-p" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/FC-SR-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/FC-SR-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The 20th anniversary of Second Reality happened in 2013. That year, in celebration, the source code, art assets and music were <a class="vt-p" href="https://github.com/mtuomi/SecondReality">released</a> into the Public Domain. Since then (and even before then to be honest), it's been remade in homage and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPj1wHpFurY">tribute</a> <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1216">several</a> <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=62119">times</a> for different platforms. To say that this demo is <i>loved</i> would be an understatement. More importantly, as the demoscene continues to grow and change and go through generational shifts (some sceners are now bringing their children to scene parties), this revisitation of our shared history is becoming more and more important as we build and maintain our unique artistic heritage and culture.<br />
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Among all the <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=24343">ports</a> and <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=2059">remixes</a>, many have been <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=61633">playful</a>, or have tried to replicate the demo on older hardware, showing what might have been possible on pre-1993 hardware given the right combination of artistic vision and skill. Along those lines, my group, Fulcrum, decided this year to try to recreate it for the Revision 2015 8k competition. We wanted to ask the question, would Second Reality be possible with 2015 hardware, but packed in 8,192 bytes?<br />
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<a class="vt-p" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Second-Reality-Vector-Balls.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Second-Reality-Vector-Balls.png" /></a>At first I thought our group coder, Seven, was a little bit mad. We'd <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pouet.net/groups.php?which=2582">competed</a> and done relatively well in the ultra restrictive 4k and 8k competition categories, but those were usually fairly minimal productions -- a couple of minutes of a few interesting scenes and a thin soundtrack behind it.<br />
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Fitting Second Reality into the equivalent of two pages of text seemed impossible. But there's no way to know until you try. Here's <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.fulcrum-demo.org/2015/8k-reality/">Seven's writeup</a> on the code-side of things. The end of a few months of feverish work was indeed a reasonable approximation of Second Reality, done on modern hardware, and within 8k -- something that we're incredibly proud of. We took 2nd place, a respectable showing in a very competitive category. Sure some things had to be cut, and the production is full of the kind of compromises you'd expect shrinking a massive artistic production down by 300x, but it's all basically there.<br />
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My part in all of this was the music. And the soundtrack for the demo is as iconic and loved as the visuals. I've been writing music off and on since 1992, and this was among the most challenging productions I've ever tried, and I had the score already done for me by the amazing Skaven and Purple Motion! I've had some interest in how we were able to squeeze the production down to 8k, and thought I can't talk for the coding side and the amazing work Seven put into it, I thought it would be fun to capture what it was like reorchestrating one of the most iconic pieces of music in demoscene history in order to fit it into just a few thousand bytes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Part 2 Next></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-1-are-we-crazy.html">Are we crazy?</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-2-microscope.html">Microscope</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-3-constraints-and.html">Constraints and Expenses and Pooping Parties</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-4-origins.html">Origins</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-5-entropy.html">Entropy</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-6-lets-talk-turkey.html">Let's Talk Turkey</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">7. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-7-getting-dirty.html">Getting Dirty</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">8. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-8-knotty-knotes.html">Knotty Knotes</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">9. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-9-forgotten-magic.html">Forgotten Magic</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">10. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-10-pots-and-pans.html">Pots and Pans</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">11. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-11-your-left-your-left.html">Your Left, Your Left</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">12. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-12-running-into-brick.html">Running into a Brick Wall While Falling off a Cliff</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">13. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-13-cutting-yourself.html">Cutting Yourself</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">14. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-14-in-case-of-emergency.html">In Case of Emergency, Break Things</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">15. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-15-pressure-cooker.html">Pressure Cooker</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">16. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-full-contact-knife.html">Full Contact Knife Limbo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">17. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-16-options.html">Options</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Add. <a class="vt-p" href="http://elblancosdigitaldreams.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-real-pt-addendum-are-my-ears.html">Are my ears broken?</a></span></div>
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