#tg_001

[dj-tg-001]

Rising of the Shield Hero | FAITH OP | Review

It’s one of your biggest weeb producers, back with another Anime Opening review. We’re looking back at the Anime, “Rising of the Shield Hero”. Looking at the video itself, the opening is vastly different from the pervious one. The fact that the art looks very appealing, feels more expressive, and more fluid. 

At this point in time, the anime is still Naofumi’s journey of being an outcast from the world he has been summoned in (as usual). 

The vocals, the instruments, and the use of drums are all similar to one of my previous blogs talking about “Rising of the Shield Hero”’s first Opening: “RISE”. Which is produced and sung by the exact same music group that I will talk a bit about today. The group is “MADKID”. 

The lyrics are as follows:

Now or Never Just fight it out ... Night sky reflects in my eyes Reaching out to the glowing stars Time is ticking and bleeding into the future But I want to be honest with myself Come clean, Wind direction (ah?) Change and cause a scene Keep it real, proof of life (ah?) Leave a masterpiece Everybody betray me No, your finger touched me Every thing betray me That ’s not it It won't disappear even if it fades Hundreds of times, Even millions of times No matter how many times I get scarred, I won't give up my faith Proof of existence, always being myself I gotta make a change (make a change yeah) In the distorted world, following the footsteps Suppress the silent shout Hundreds of times, Even millions of times I Find & Create myself Now or Never Just fight it out ... [Full Version] Break out public pressure This never ending chain I'm just tangled up and spinning around No matter how much I resist, I am still in this world that I don't understand To be honest with myself Can not lose Disrupt Myself and Blow up But I'll conquer Never lose Negative emotions Fly up and out from this drifting world Even if I lose sight of myself in the fence that blocks my way I'll believe in you Hundreds of times, Even millions of times No matter how many times I get scarred, I won't give up my faith Proof of existence, always being myself I gotta make a change (make a change yeah) In the distorted world, following the footsteps Suppress the silent shout Hundreds of times, Even millions of times I Find & Create myself Life is short, like a Benjamin Button Images are flashing in my head No brake, no frame Solve the broken truth Blatka blah wow eh Searching glory like a zombie (Skrrr skrrr) Find a reason for fighting, turn it back Nothing to lose, Supa dopa fly Let's fight to the limit scream louder Let's Break out Let's Break out oh yeah Truly, Keep savage Hundreds of times, Even millions of times No matter how many times I get scarred, I won't give up my faith Proof of existence, always myself I gotta make a change (make a change yeah) In the distorted world Suppress the silent shout Hundreds of times, Even millions of times I Find & Create myself Now or Never Just fight it out ...

The lyrics can still be seen as how Naofumi sees the world with his eyes, and what he thinks about his current life, and the life of those around him. However this time, these lyrics can be seen as Naofumi climbing the ladder to becoming recognized as a hero instead of a villain or demon that the people see him to be. 

Halfway through the anime, we also take a took into the lives of Naofumi’s companions. Such as Filo, Melty, and Raphtalia. 

From here, the song itself is fairly similar to the previous Opening song: “RISE”. To be fair though, this song was made by the same musical group. The song itself still has that great sound and feeling that makes it so that you (the watcher/listener) keep listening. It’s something that sounds great, and that deserves not to be skipped. 

This is DJ tG_001 signing off. Next week, I would just want to talk about DJing and stuff like that. 

~tG_001

[dj-tg-001]

Avicii - Tough Love - Review

Okay, okay. I did say last time that I was going to be talking about DJing, however, change of plans. Avicii’s team and family have released yet another single, this time with only one day until its official release. As of now, it is released, and in my opinion, it’s great. 

.avicii_tough_love

Talking about the instruments, the way strings were used in the song along with the Progressive House genre was amazing. A huge upgrade from Avicii’s original melody, and makes things more interesting by making a melody derived from an authentic instrument. Fun fact: the melody was recorded in a studio by one of the producers actually playing the new melody on the violin. 

.violin

I also read up on the decision for the vocals, which was an amazing decision to have the sing and his wife both sing. This is due to the lyrics being about a relationship (just like every other popular song). That one has to teach the other., hence the name “Tough Love”.

.relationship

Lyrics:  

Weight is on me Weight is on you We scream and we fight like there's nothing to lose End of the day Come and take my arm There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms Weight is on you Weight is on me Sometimes I'm not who you want me to be God knows I try We stumble and we fall There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms Give me tough love And a lesson to learn Your tough love Is what I deserve Sweet tough love You're my pretty good luck charm There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms Weight is on you Weight is on me Sometimes I'm not who you want me to be God knows I try We stumble and we fall There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms Give me tough love And a lesson to learn Your tough love Is what I deserve Sweet tough love You're my pretty good luck charm There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms Give me tough love And a lesson to learn Your tough love Is what I deserve Sweet tough love You're my pretty good luck charm There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms

In my opinion, the lyrics are fairly repetitive. Because of this, this track is also as similar to the previous single: “SOS”. Where it can be put on loop for hours and hours. For some, the track will easily get old. For people like me, it’s something that you/I can’t stop listening to, even though it would be on loop. 

.vinyl

Anyway, that’s it for this week. Hopefully, next week I do actually start talking about DJing, and my current inspiration into becoming one. 

~tG_001

[dj-tg-001]

Avicii - SOS | Review

Alright guys, Avicii’s newest single just hit on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8tdT5pAE34

So anyway, I’ll be reviewing this song.

The instrumentals really give a 2016 radio vibe. Something you’d hear on the radio in the afternoon. The synths used for the drops are simple and to the point, while still having a memorable melody. The use of the piano also helps give the song it’s ambiance.  It’s chord progression is also something to take note. This is where it sounds a lot like something you would hear on the radio. The drums are simple and to the point as well as the melody, which helps mold the story being told. 

Now, this would be more relevant if Avicii was still alive. This track would fit with songs like:  Waiting for Love The Days Without You Friend of Mine All You Need is Love / Tracks of my Tears

This is due to how it gives off the feeling of love, and advancement in the lyrics. To me, this is also how it gets its radio vibe. 

Now although this doesn’t fit within the music part of my usual blogs, I want to talk about the video the music video provides:

The video itself has a beautiful background of Avicii’s “◢ ◤”. With shapes of the Earth, the Eiffel Tower, a car, headphones, a happy face, a speaker, lips (a kiss), a thunder bolt, a heart, and sparks. Each shape representing a key moment in a fan’s memories associated with Avicii’s music. 

 Onward to the review of the song! The track provides great vocals of Aloe Blacc, singer of Avicii’s most popular song: “Wake me Up”. 

Lyrics: 

[Verse 1] Can you hear me? S.O.S. Help me put my mind to rest Two times clean again, I'm actin' low A pound of weed and a bag of blow [Chorus] I can feel your love pullin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your touch pickin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers [Drop] We could be more than just part-time lovers We could be more than just part-time lovers [Verse 2] I get robbed of all my sleep As my thoughts begin to bleed I'd let go but I don't know how Yeah, I don't know how, but I need to now [Chorus] I can feel your love pullin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your touch pickin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your love pullin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers [Drop] (We could be) We could be more than just part-time lovers (Part-time lovers, yeah) (More than, more than lovers) We could be more than just part-time lovers [Outro] Can you hear me? S.O.S. Help me put my mind to rest

To me the lyrics are those similar to a love song, more specifically an advancement of love. To explain, the song repeats in the Drops and the Chorus, “we could be more than just part-time lovers”. However, similar to other songs by Tim (Avicii), there are small little bits that are associated with Avicii himself as of now. If Tim was still alive, some of the lyrics would make some sense, such as, “I get robbed of all my sleep, as my thoughts begin to bleed, I'd let go but I don't know how, yeah, I don't know how, but I need to now”, most likely associated with the stress Tim had to deal with while performing shows. There is also the “S.O.S.” parts that can support this way of thinking. 

But in my opinion, it clearly is something not too different. If you keep listening (just like any other song) you’ll get used to it, and start to like it. 

This is tG_001 signing off for the week. 

~tG_001

[dj-tg-001]

Replacement Lead Singles [◢ ◤]

Okay, so hear me out here:  “Avicii - SOS” is a good track, even though it was Albin Neder and Kristoffer Fogelmark with the thought of Tim’s vision. And was said to be “dry”, and not a lot of ambiance. Still, it’s a good track with its instrumentals and lyrics. 

But why does this blog say “replacement”, if “SOS” was and still is a good lead single for Avicii’s “Tim” (Album)?

Recently I have gone through r/avicii, which is a subreddit on anything Avicii related. And I read a post where the Reddit user was asking, “Why SOS? Why not songs like Lord or Heaven?”. Now, me reading more through the comments, it was said that “SOS” was chosen due to its lyrics. Looking through SOS’s lyrics: 

[Verse 1] Can you hear me? S.O.S. Help me put my mind to rest Two times clean again, I'm actin' low A pound of weed and a bag of blow [Chorus] I can feel your love pullin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your touch pickin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers [Drop] We could be more than just part-time lovers We could be more than just part-time lovers [Verse 2] I get robbed of all my sleep As my thoughts begin to bleed I'd let go, but I don't know how Yeah, I don't know how, but I need to now [Chorus] I can feel your love pullin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your touch pickin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers I can feel your touch pickin' me up from the underground, and I don't need my drugs, we could be more than just part-time lovers [Drop] (We could be) We could be more than just part-time lovers (Part-time lovers, yeah) (More than, more than lovers) We could be more than just part-time lovers [Outro] Can you hear me? S.O.S. Help me put my mind to rest

...it was a cry for help. This track was chosen by Tim’s family above tracks like “Lord” or “Heaven”, due to how much the lyrics speak for Tim and to the speaker. That this was a cry for help by Tim, and that this can see heard/seen as a little push for anyone to call for help. 

Looking into lyrics like “Heaven”: 

[Verse 1] Step out into the dawn You pray ’til, you pray ’til the lights come on And don't you feel like you’ve just been born? Yeah, you come to raise me up When I’m beaten and broken up And I’m back in the arms I love [Chorus] And I think I just died I think I just died Yeah, I think I just died I think I just died And went to heaven And went to heaven, yeah [Verse 2] Beaten and bathed in blood I'm hit by, I'm hit by your love and drug And now that you've come to raise me up Oh [Chorus] And I think I just died I think I just died Yeah, I think I just died And went to heaven And went to heaven And went to heaven Oh, and went to heaven [Bridge] It’s such a night, such a beautiful night It’s such a view, such a beautiful sight I think I just, oh, I think I just died, oh And went to heaven And went to heaven Oh, yeah, yeah [Refrain] We’re going be birds and fly We're gonna set the world alight We’re gonna lose ourselves tonight, oh We’re going be birds and fly We're gonna set the world alight We’re gonna lose ourselves tonight, oh [Outro] Heaven (Heaven) Went to heaven And went to heaven

...this can be easily seen as Avicii ascending to Heaven. This is more of a track of positivity, how things can still be seen as beautiful and majestic even though death has occurred. 

Now lastly, I want to talk about “Lord”. The song length of “Lord” is fairly short just like “SOS”, being a fair 2 minutes or so. 

Lyrics: 

All my life I just wanted to be free All my life been blind I've been taught by greed Oh lord, what's wrong what's wrong with me? Oh lord, that dollar is all I see That dollar is all I see All my life I just wanted to be free All my life been blind I've been taught by greed Oh lord, what's wrong what's wrong with me? Oh lord, that dollar is all I see All my life I just wanted to be free All my life been blind I've been taught by greed Oh lord, what's wrong what's wrong with me? Oh lord, that dollar is all I see I left my home as a gift to my past Next to the things I know will never last I looked for fire but found nothing but ash Was at my lowest when it hit like a flash

The song could have also been a considerable possibility for “Tim”’s lead single. Just because of the lyrics, how instead of speaking about a call for help, they talk about the life of Avicii. Of his struggles during his time of performing. 

This is tG_001 signing off.

~tG_001

[dj-tg-001]

New Track: “Let Me Be/Substantial Sunrise”

Yes, I know. I’m pathetic for self advertising my own tracks on my blog, but I just want to talk about it for a bit. 

This one is actually a strange one, because I used a sample instead of making the first four chords first. The sample was from a sample pack from Cymatics, an Audio File/Preset company. I kept the sample consistent throughout the majority of the track. However, I did add some audio devices like Reverb, an Auto Filter, and High EQ. 

From there, I did an Audio to MIDI conversion to get the notes of the sample, so I can start making a melody, and adding instruments. From there, I created the main melody, its calls and response variations, the bassline, the chords, and the main progression. 

I also started working on the SoundFX (sound-effects), which mostly consisted of cymbals and reverse cymbals. Which was the starting point of the SoundFX, this is due to me adding impacts, white noise, and other varying noises. Where the SoundFX shine the most is the buildup, by adding a White Noise Up and an Up Riser. 

Now, it’s not really a track without Drums. The drums honestly, I was lazy with. I just put the basic: Kick, High Hat, Snare+Kick, High Hat Pattern, and then added a drum/percussion loop over it, so it can sound different. I also added a fill in the buildup, so it can, well, “buildup” toward the drop. The “buildup” is usually just a bunch of snares, slowly playing more and more frequently. 

Back to the sample I used, I did say that I used the same sample consistently. However, in the drop, I had each note play 8 times before proceeding to the next note. This is because some of the drops I listen to have a chord progression that sounds similar to that. 

I also did mention that I made a bassline. In the bassline, I needed to include a sine wave bass, and a gritty bass. I’m sure you’ve listened to Skrillex at least once, that’s the kind of bass I’m talking about. The sine wave bass is more for giving the drop an atmosphere. 

Continuing on with the bassline, I used the sample for it. Now you may be thinking, how the heck can you use a sample for a chord progression, in a bassline? In Ableton Live Producer terms, I used an audio device that cuts off the higher tones, and only keeps the lower ones. I also used an EQ Eight to give more emphasis to the bass. 

Lastly, I would really be calling this a track if it were all instruments. But in this case, I wouldn’t really call it a song, without vocals. In this case, I did use vocals. I don’t recall where I got the vocals from, but it was indeed from a random vocals pack that I downloading off from the internet. The one I specifically used was an altered vocal labeled “Let Me Be”. Which, happened to work very well, so I kept and used it in this song. 

Originally, this track/song was intended to be named “Substantial Sunrise”, a polar opposite to “Translucent Nightfall”. But, I will be releasing two versions, one with vocals (“Let Me Be”), and one without vocals (“Substantial Sunrise”).

You can find the track on my SoundCloud, and hopefully YouTube at: 

https://soundcloud.com/tg_001

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_xMaFr3ZzPykk_addpqcVQ

[dj-tg-001]

Most Iconic Songs in EDM

Hey, it’s tG_001 back with another blog. This time, I want to talk about some of the most popular and iconic songs within the genre of EDM, and all of it’s sub genres. 

Taking a quick look at one song, you may know of this one:  Alan Walker - Fade

Now this one is a real classic. This came out in November 19, 2014. If you still haven’t recognized this song yet, its because it was used in direct correlation to his more popular songs: Faded. This true beauty of this track is it’s melody. The melody throughout the song constantly changes from the drop to the next break. 

Now, a quick lesson from a music producer:  The drop is usually associated with a buildup and a break. A buildup, which, well buildups to the drop. And the break, which, takes a break from the actual intensity of the drop. The buildup most commonly will consist of a repetition of snares and kicks, mostly focusing on the drums and percussion. Sometimes associated with an uplifter noise/white noise. 

.snaredrum

Well that was the end of that quick lesson! Back to the blog!

Next off we have another song from Alan: Alan Walker - Spectre

This one, along with Fade, is usually used with a whole ton of YouTube videos due to it’s record label:  No Copyright Sounds  Or, NCS for short. 

Anyway, the song itself has a lot of similar aspects as Fade. It also uses a whole lot of the same synths, like in Fade. This song specifically focuses on it’s “call” and “responses”. Looking at before the drops, like the intro, Spectre has a few noticeable “calls” and “responses” in the synths. 

Now quickly, what a “call” and “response” is: Call - Think of yourself playing the main melody, but along with another instrument for the first few notes. 

Response - Basically the same as the “call”, but instead of playing the first few notes, you would be playing the last few notes. 

Shifting away from Alan Walker, we have:

Avicii - Levels

This one is a true classic. It can never be a true iconic list without this iconic main melody. Although the song itself is very repetitive, it actually does a well job in utilizing it’s own flaws. Usually you would want to add as much diversity as possible in a song. In Levels however, the use of other instruments, pauses, and sound effects, make the song sound more and more interesting throughout the track. There really is no drop, but when the break hits, it’s really something unexpected, along with the well known vocal track: 

“Oh, sometimes, I get a good feeling. Yeah”

Next off we have a track from a fairly young Producer:

Martin Garrix - Animals

Now if you may, I want to tell a little story about this track:  Apparently, Martin had the idea for the track when he was 14, and finally finished the track at the age of 17 in this own bathroom. 

Pretty short story right? Well anyway, the track itself actually makes a sound, typically used for breaks, as a well crafted drop, and I’m sure you know which drop I’m talking about. The way it just casually uses a drop synth throughout 80% of the song is one major aspect, along with it’s strange “break-drop”. 

There’s one more iconic song, that everyone’s heard of: 

Darude - Sandstorm

There’s honestly nothing particular that I can say about this track, except for the way the melody is used. The melody is constantly changing and associates itself with other elements like an arpeggio in the background and its own beginning chords (the chords that start off the song). One major feature I can think of at the moment is the fact how it starts strait off with a somewhat “drop” with the synths Darude uses, and breaks into a break, where you might but still least expected. 

That’s all for this week, 

tG_001 signing off. 

[dj-tg-001]

tG_001 | Turning Back

Hey what’s up guys it’s tG_001 back with another blog where I’ll be  *cough*  self-advertising myself. *cough* Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/tg_001/turning-back To start off, I just want to talk about how I tried to plan this out.  A couple weeks before I watched a documentary about Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii. The documentary was named “Avicii: True Stories”. 

And thanks to this documentary, I actually felt really inspired and started 5 other tracks just like this one.  By the time I started the 5, I left the files alone for a good while. Until I got back onto this file.  Songs like Avicii’s “Heaven” and “I’ll Be Gone”, start with an arpeggio like melody.  So, based on that idea, I wanted to start the song off with only an arpeggio.  From there my only problem I had in mind was the main melody. Which me mashing my hands on the piano, actually turned out well in my opinion. 

(It was not as elegant as this) At this point I needed to find what chords that I needed to use that can match up with the arpeggio and melody.  So, back to mashing my hands on the Keyboard! By the end of the day, I had a full rough draft of the track all on a compressed piano. 

Now you may be questioning, “what the heck is a compressed piano?”. 

Now to answer your question, there is a VST called OTT, which compresses instruments and makes certain sounds on certain frequencies sharper. 

In the end, this makes the piano sound much “better”. 

I kind of just abandoned the track project after that. Which was actually because I was preoccupied on school. 

But it being near the end of December, I decided that I wanted my next track on 2019 to really count. So I worked hard, and asked friends of mine what I should  do to improve my work. 

At the time, I was told that the “drop” wasn’t really there. So by the time I searched up “How to make a good EDM drop” I was given search results about “How to make a good buildup”. 

By doing more research on the topic, it turns out that the buildup is what helps the drop sound better and hard hitting. 

So, by having two drops originally all I had to do was add in two buildups to make each one hit hard. 

And by adding a one second pause before each drop, it makes the effect of a rest and then hits to the drop. 

Most commonly, the one second pause has 4 drum stick sounds or some form of drums before the actual drop. 

In the end, the last thing I had worked on was the buildup and drop. I even looked back at one of my favorite personally created tracks: “Translucent Nightfall” for reference. 

Anyway, I’ll be in the next blog as always! ~tG_001