The end of Nekoprism?
Of course not.
Just this blog. Blogs are getting more and more tedious to maintain, I just deleted 418 spam comments even though I have 45 spam filters on here.
If you want updates, and God knows I don’t make many of them, just go to Facebook and do a search for Aeroprism.
Peace out.
Oh boy.
Tonight, I had my mind set on something. There was this old, OLD Phantasy Star midi file that I REALLY wanted to listen to.
Well, you need to understand that I wanted not just t he midi track, but the way it sounded when I first listened to it some … almost twenty years ago?
So I went to work and cooked up some nerd-porn by gathering various old components I had in my basement. We’re talking A motherboard with full complement of 4 first gen SDRAM sticks totalling a staggering ONE GIGABYTE.
i know what you’re thinking. “Dude that’s like BLEEDING EDGE legacy tech, why not settle for 64MB EDO RAM?” Well sorry, I lost my bloody time machine, ok?
So yeah. This motherboard was equipped with THREE awesome IDE connectors, one of which was used to connect a QUANTUM FIREBALL hard disk. Oh yes. I know that felt good.
But the best part is the ISA slot on the board which allowed me to connect… A sound blaster AWE-64. (The AWE-32 sounds better but guess where it is: Exactly. In my time machine.)
So I fired the computer up. The Motherboard started blaring error codes at me. Google translated those to: WHY DID YOU WAKE ME FROM MY ETERNAL SLUMBER, YE MORTAL! LET ME GO BACK TO…
and then it died.
Well.
I was not defeated.
I went back to my (real) computer and fired WINAMP up and started hacking the ISH our of its midi plugin. I managed to let it allow me to load any soundfont i wished and reroute it to any output and synth table I liked.
I found a soundfont that emulated AWE-32 I’d say 95% faithfully and I BASKED IN GLORIOUS MIDI.
Then, I had an idea.
And another.
I’m on fire. Two more remixes started, one of which will be done REALLY soon.
It’s a good day to be Prism.
Yesterday one thing led to another and I started a new Phantasy Star 4 remix: PS4’s ending theme, “The Promising Future.”
It’s already 30-40% done, I’m way more inspired than anything I could have hoped for.
Currently playing with an electronic cello. The sound shape is magnificent. It just sounds incredible.
Can’t wait to publish this one!!
Here we are, with such a common question in a world overflowing with wannabe artists such as myself.
Yes, I’m still here.
I have been completely absent, quiet and inactive for a few weeks. My two last remixes (Dark Force 3 and Babylon 5) were major flops, especially the last one and all my attempts to share Nekoprism’s original have received next to no response.
Considering that I do not earn a single dollar from all this work, I do this entirely for the entertainment of it, I tend to lose focus when I’m the only one being entertained.
Nevertheless, sometimes, things happen. The occasional very nice comment on my Youtube channel, the rare but lovely message of shared praise and feelings on my Nekoprism blog and slowly the flame re-awakens.
And then you discover a gem, a fantastic piece of Phantasy Star history made by the extremely talented Luke Jansen who is not only awesome but nice and friendly. We exchanged ideas, discussed techniques and in the end, such an encounter makes you want to dive in again and say “I can still do this.”
So there I am. Still doing it.
I have received an official request to remix PS2’s “Violation” as a standalone, atmospheric remix so I will do just that. I have also been working on a 100% rehaul of Journey on Alisa 3 to commemorate the fact that I have been as this for nothing less than 20 years so you can also expect that to show up eventually.
See you on Algo.
My DF3 remix will be here and on youtube this weekend, finally.
And while you wait, here is something I fiddled today for the heck of it. Sometimes, melodies can evoke powerful feelings or memories. One such melody for me is the Item acquisition fanfare from Metroid. Such a simple melody, a few measures long yet, every time I hear it, I smile.
I was curious to see how it would sound, Nekoprism style. Well, listen to this and tell me if you guys think I should remix Metroid music.
Here is something I made for a friend:
This is the old version made somewhere around 1999
And this the same thing, one semitone lower, a bit slower.
A combination of both, some tweaking done : this brings very powerful feelings to me.
I’m gonna share a bit of honesty: I’m overwhelmed and discouraged.
None of my current remixes really want to work out the same way Deadly Mota and Orakian Anger did. Whatever I do, I just can’t get that exact right sound I want.
Yesterday I was listening to a new song launched by a fellow composer and I felt quite a bit of jealousy, looking at the constant influx of new songs and the thousands of followers that ensue.
Then it hit me.
A lot of remixers and electro/gaming music composers keep the same set of samples and instruments. They generally have enough composing skill to twist, turn and arrange their stuff to make it sound fresh and new every time.
This is not my case. I have no official musical formation, I can’t really read sheet music and I can’t play piano/keyboard either so, I do everything by ear every time, trudge through endless hours of grueling note-by-note hand placing and with every new remix comes a new set of samples, otherwise all my stuff would sound the same. Sure, there are 3-4 regular samples I like to re-use but as a general rule, I keep reinventing and it can get very frustrating. I have to get to know every new sample intimately, how it meshes with the others, if it plays nice with the bass, with the drums etc. I multiply my workload by 10, easily.
Maybe I should try to stick to the same few samples and see if I can still make original contents.
Meanwhile: still cleaning DF3, trying to make it into something else than a cacophonous mess.
Granted, it doesn’t take much to excite me.
Someone posted a comment on one of my remixes this week end. That much is usually enough to make me giddy, bear with me, I’m not one of those super-popular dudes who get millions of views and comments every week.
Soon after the comment, that person suggested that I remix a song she suggested!
YES ladies and gentlemen, someone wants MOI to do a remix of a song they like!
I will seriously explore the possibility.
For those three of you wondering: the song is this one.
Now… I’m not exactly the most enthusiastic PSIV fan so, what sort of remix could I do with that…
Hey there boys and girls!
Which one do you prefer? Why?
I’m having a terrible time deciding…
This is the intro I posted in my last post:
This is a second version to compare with:
You know what? You guys have been super patient with me and I’ve kept talking DARK FORCE THIS and DARK FORCE THAT but all I’ve shown you are intros, peripheral parts, misc non Dark Force-ish stuff. We’re at a point where you guys must start to wonder “Are you remixing this theme or not??”
Well, you guys just deserved a YES I AM!
Remember my last post Slow and Dramatic? Well i used it.
Well, not exactly “that” part, but the idea behind it to make my intro to the DF3 remix. I wanted to share this because it’s unique. First of all, OH MY GOD THE EMOTION. I have rarely written a melody so simple yet so intense with melancholy and power.
Which brings me to my second point and main reason why I wanted to share: The extract I am posting right now is part of my remix but it’s not remixed music per se. It’s a 100% composition I made to introduce the DF3 melody that kicks in 4 measures after the following segment ends. It’s not the final, final version, I will always improve before the final post but still, I wanted to share!
I am really, really proud that I can do that now. Composing. I would never have thought…
Oh yeah you guys are definitely getting a remix for Christmas.
Ok this completely cracked me up. I must have accidentally hit a hotkey somewhere while I was entering numbers, I suddenly dropped my remix’s tempo from 144 BPM to 16 BPM.
And the result is actually not too bad! It kinda reminds me of some lingering, cheesy score for some dramatic movie scene.
The cute (and clever) girl on the horizon looking at the handsome (and talented) hero as she goes “Ooooh Aero… come back to me after you saved the world with your awesome remixes…”
Very, very dramatic.
I got a few encouraging comments and praises lately spread out over all my media outlets: Youtube, Soundcloud, Facebook and of course, here.
You guys have no idea how powerful those are to me.
I need to go remix. Now.
But one thing is for sure, I’m becoming one heck of a remixer, (Modesty is for boring people)
Here’s a teaser for my DF3 remix. It’s easily one of the loudest, most energetic part of the remix. It’s actually crazy how much the audio clips in this segment. For those who complained in the past that my remixes were too quiet: not that one.
It’s however not over yet and I’m not entirely satisfied with the sound but it’s getting there and fast.
Enjoy, comment etc.
Holy crap has it been almost 6 months since I last posted here? I post most of my comments on my Facebook page these days.
Anyways.
It’s rather frustrating when you spend days and weeks chipping at a remix to realise that the final result just doesn’t turn you on.
My Dark Force III remix. It’s ok, it’s just not great.
So I made a decision: I will think outside the box and start mixing parts that were not meant to be mixed together. I’m going to start introducing completely original counter-melodies like I did in Orakian Anger. I’m going to stop limiting myself to what is and I’ll try to discover what could be,
I’m likely to share something soon, just to show I’m still alive.
So my 2016 (Final) Alisa 3 remix started passionately but quickly hit a wall. Why? Strings may be beautiful, they also happen to be bitches. Too many string instruments packed over a narrow segment of the audio spectrum tends to create distortion and general cacophony.
In this case, it was bad. Really bad. I wanted to ignore it and pretend I was just being a damn elitist again but when I put on the magical headphones… yeesh.
So there. Combine that with a brutal PHP assignment, I left this remix along for almost 10 days. But yesterday I had time AND ideas. I had a quatuor playing the main melodies: a violin, a viola, a cello and a bass. I ditched the viola because it was the main culprit. Replaced it with a trombone/horn combo which plays buddy really well with the cello. The violin part has been greatly simplified to weigh less and I’ve doubled it with an electronic piano that blends just fine. Well, It`s not really a piano, it’s actually four instruments, including 3 strings that play together but since it’s heavily modded by two electronic devices, it doesn’t compete with other strings.
With that done, I was able to fix segments 2 and 4 of my song. Segment 1 is the intro (Piano + minimal strings), Segment 2 is an ascending melody which concludes with an epic bass-happy finale (mostly strings), part 3 is a quieter reprise of part 2 (three pianos and a vibraphone playing together) and part 4 is a mix and match of all of the above.
Now all I need is to steer this baby toward a worthy finale.
I have made myself scarce lately. I have just fallen victim to a terrible event which I shall call “THE HORRIFIC SEMESTER OF DOOM, featuring a teacher who doesn’t know when to quit. Yup. When you have kids a full time job, a semester of even one class can quickly fudge up your schedule.
On the flipside, I’m now REALLY good with PHP, JQuery and json.
But hey, it’s over. Time to make music.
In retrospect:
I don’t think that I have any more significant projects opened right now. So there we are.
Not too many people played this game in the 90s but hey, maybe someone will join me in the nostalgia.
Very early draft, early project but I felt like it.
The first 25 seconds of the audio clip are NOT representative of the actual state of the remix. I only wanted to show you guys a comparison between what this remix went through.
Much progress has been done on my Dark Force remix and though it is FAR from what it will most likely be in its final incarnation, it’s still worth sharing a bit.
Compared to some of my more difficult projects which took twice forever to make, namely Death Trance and Orakian Anger this remix is not “that” old. Still, it feels like it’s been dragging on forever.
So to stay in the mood, here is a little audio clip mixing my very, very first draft with what it sounds like today. Enjoy!
I have been an IT tech for almost 20 years now. I know my way around the Microsoft universe really well but my Linux portfolio remains rather weak. So I’m trying to learn and with Linux, the best way to learn is with hands-on experiencing, face in the terminal.
So I have this old Dell D820 laptop at home. It’s really outdated but it’s got a really nice 15 inches screen so I wanted to use it as an internet browser next to my emulation console. It’s a Core2Duo with not much RAM therefore I thought, “Windows ought to be really slow on this, I need an alternative.” What a beautiful opportunity to learn more about Linux.
First pick: Mint (Cinnamon). I do not dislike this distro at all because I succesfully installed it on an archaic P4 at home and not only does it boot relatively well, it looks pretty. So I tried that. Unfortunately, the GeForce card in my D820 is not initially supported by Mint. There is an alternative driver offered but, it only works in troubleshooting mode (or whatever it’s called, the Mint equivalent of Windows safe mode). Oh well.
Next runner up, Xubuntu. It’s like Ubuntu but silly looking and really REALLY fast. The video card works! Great! Unfortunately, my broadcom wifi card doesn’t. There is an alternative driver suggested but it doesn’t work either. Oh well,
So by searching for alternatives, the linux community suggested Solus. Solus looks NICE. When it boots. Because sometimes it fails to boot. And it’s a pain to install too: There is no data validation in the entry fields. IT asks me: “What should we call this computer?” I try something… The NEXT button doesn’t light up because Solus doesn’t like the name I picked but won’t tell me why. Try to guess, mothertecher. I finally get it to work. Yay! It’s pretty! Broadcom card not seen.again. No driver alternatives. Oh well.
I am then directed to Arch Linux. It looks nice (on google). I couldn’t tell otherwise because I never managed to use the ISO they provide. I refuse to burn CDs for this experiment, especially since it represents one CD per attempt. I use a Universal USB installer (which works REALLY well) to make a bootable Linux USB key. Unfortunately, no matter what linux god I pray to, this ISO won’t boot on my laptop. Oh well.
Then I am told to try Knoppix. The ISO boots in 0.7 nanoseconds and OH MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, everything is detected and EVERYTHING WORKS! Unfortunately, Knoppix is meant to be a LIVE linux which you cannot (or at least should not) install on a HDD. This means I need an USB key perma-connected in this laptop. It also mean that unless I manually mount it each and every time, I have no HDD to store my stuff. I ignored the warnings. I tried installing Knoppix. I failed. Oh well.
An alternative to Knoppix was given to me in the form of Kanotix. Full of promises, this is supposed to be “the installable Knoppix”. Haha. Even my Universal USB installer wanted nothing to do with their broken ISO. Completely unusable. (I admit, I was so fired up by knoppix that I even tried burning this one on a DVD but my software quickly told me “Dude, are you kidding me?” and then crashed. Oh well.
So apparently Knoppix/Kanotix is derived from Debian and we do use Debian at the university so, I downloaded Debian. A net-install version. Meh, it’s fine, I have bandwidth. And time. So an hour passes and Debian finally loads up in all its KDE desktop glory. You need your brain examined if you like KDE. Guess what? Broadcom card not detected. There ARE drivers, but to certify, download and install them, you need to invoke Yog-Knoppox, elder god of the Debian city of Xplwhjsr. Oh well.
So you know what? They say Ubuntu can do EVERYTHING, right? The graphs I found on the net even say “you’ll get a bit less performance but it can detect EVERYTHING.” Ubuntu’s ISO is over 1GB. My old USB key is 1GB (don’t judge me). Meeeehhhh…. Wait. Apparently, Lubuntu is like, Ubuntu minus a few apps so it’s lighter, faster but still compatible with EVERYTHING. So I got Lubuntu. Installed. Booted. It’s fast. It’s pretty! And broadcom? Broaaadcom??
Brodcard com not failed. Invoke haha here to install Yog-fuckmylife. Oh well.
Arrrrghhh.
Then I had an idea.
I installed Windows 7.
I updated it to Windows 10.
Everything is detected.
Laptop is fast.
Life is happy.
So what if my OS takes 3-4 times more space than any Linux would take. Who doesn’t have 6-8GB to waste in 2016?
So what if I’m stuck with Cortana. She can be silenced.
So what if Microsoft spies on me. OH NO! THEY WILL LEARN WHICH GAMEFAQS GAMES I BROWSE!
So what if my laptop is as safe as a blind cat trying to cross a highway during evening rush hour in the middle of a snowstorm. I’ll only be going to gmail and a few game sites.
So what if it’s the vile Windows I use and endorse. It installed, I can boot it, I can troubleshoot it, I can fix it. IT WORKS.
Linux, I am trying REALLY HARD to love you and you can’t say I did not try my best but, you are a very finicky mistress that just cannot be taken seriously.
That being said, if any of you have any Linux distro suggestions that can be thoroughly tested via live-USB boot, I’m still game. I’m just cool like that.
Yesterday evening, what was supposed to be a casual, video game evening with my friend Aniran quickly took a turn for the awesome.
“Let me show you what my Dark Force remix looks like now. I’m still hitting a wall, no real progress, I’m getting discouraged. Still, I tweaked the drum tracks today, added a second bass drum”
And then he said… “That’s cool but what if…”
And then we started working on my remix together for a solid 3 hours. As a result, I can say with confidence that I am no longer blocked. The remix is back on track. Magic should soon happen.
Thanks Aniran!!
I’ve been chipping away at the Dark Force remix ever since I recovered from my crash but for some reason, I just can’t get any steam.
So I decided to poke other unrelated projects in the meanwhile.
So there we are. I decided to cover one of my own songs. Actually, the very, very first song I did all by myself around 1999. The original version, made on Impulse tracker, sucked balls, terribly but hey, it was my first song without Neko’s help.
Then around 2002 Neko decided to import it into Reason and give it a better sound without really changing the melody. We were still very inexperienced with Reason by then so the result was rather uneventful.
So what the hey. Let’s see if I can turn this into something palatable. Here’s a loop made in about 15-20 mins.
It’s still ridiculously basic, borderline terrible but I have a feeling I can make it into something really nice. To be continued.
Well, everything is back up, backed-up and ready to roll.
I’ll need to find my inspiration and remake the progress I had on my Dark Force remix.
My data HDD died. Just right now. My system SSD is fine but my data is gone. My last official complete backup dates from august.
All my current remixes are gone.
Fuck. My. Life.
I’ll try to recover what I can but the drive is just dead.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
Edit: HOLY SHIT I have versions dating december 31st on my laptop! This means I lost SOME but REALLY NOT THAT MUCH.
I feel MUCH better now.
I was wondering why there were no new comments in the last few days… Stupid comment system decided to un-approve my previously approved users so all of you guys who commented last week needed re-approval. Sorry!
I can read your comments now, appreciated!!
I overdosed on the new remix, I’m going to take a step back for a few days because everything I’ve tried in the last few hours I worked on it has been utterly destructive.
I think I’ll work on my Bab5 remix or maybe try to wrap up my Awaken orchestral version and finally publish it.
Overdoses aren’t fun.
Dark Force 3 theme s a bit simplistic so I decided to push my crazy idea to the limit and use a second song in the mix so yes, this will be another medley, although the “other” song will be only about 20% of the total product while the remaining 80% will be Dark Force’s theme.
Thing is, unless I re-utilize themes I already mixed, Phantasy Star 3 is fast going out of candidates.
So I decided to plunge and use this guy there, playing from 24:40 to 25:35. I have no idea why I chose to mix this since I don’t have much love for it but I wanted a challenge.
Well, here is what it sounds like.
I’m having so much fun with this.
Two days done. I can honestly say that I’ve taken down every major wall I had in the way of this song’s completion. The structure is very solid (though not quite complete) and the new instruments are very nice and catchy.
Best part? I’ve been busy learning new tools and techniques. Not an easy task, considering I’ve been using Reason for what… 15 years now? After that many years, you become complacent, happy to use the same old tricks over and over.
Well, not this time. First thing I did was to try and involve myself more with what happens behind the rack. I looked at the electrical connections for many of my devices, notably my drums and I learned to user a “spider” splitter/coupler device. So now my drum kit had two outputs: one for the bass drum (channel 1) which goes through a distortion engine to give it the hardcore kick we’re looking for in this remix while the rest of the drum kit bypasses the distortion and is sent directly to the next devices.
Rather fun, actually. Not quite easy to understand at first but hey, I’m a certified tech in electronics so if I can’t figure a few inputs and outputs…
And the next toy I’m experimenting with for the very first time is called an arpeggiator. What does it do? On its most basic setting, it allows me to play a note on different octaves to create a cool electro vibe. Let me show you.
With arpeggiator
Without arpeggiator
So vacations are fun, I get to work on my remixes a lot! Phantasy Star 3: Dark Force remix to come soon! Teaser version should be here in the next 1-3 days too!
I’m working on my PS3 Dark Force theme and I am forced to admit something.
It doesn’t make any sense.
The drum + bass line are amazing but the rest of the instruments, when soloed, sound like… crap. It does not compute that together they give something this “decent”.
Time to play with them and see what we can do?
One thing I learned with my last 8 years working with code engineers: version control. Time to make a backup of the current DF track as it is so if I mess it up “experimenting”, I will have a fall back point.
That being said: let’s do some damage!
Edit: There. Spent a good 4 hours today trying to medley this with another PS3 theme and the result is extremely dubious at best. I’ll try to have something to so for tomorrow as I will be spending another day alone which means more time to work.