Having opened up the sound of Super Hematoma last week by incorporating the MMC5 sound module for the Rain City theme, I decided to revisit the other two themes to see if they could use some extra depth as well.
I actually spent a while attempting to re-work the Title Theme, but in the end decided that I was happy with the way it sounds. It has a simplicity to it that I like, and I had intentionally kept it somewhat subdued from the start. It has more of a brushing type soft rhythm to it as opposed to something more prominent like a stick on a snare. I didn’t feel that adding any extra kick or altering to a snare was improving anything, nor did I think that any extra harmonies or melodies were having me a feeling that was more satisfactory than what we already have. I suspect that the Super Hematoma Title track will remain as-is.
The Oil Sands theme on the other hand did go through some revision. There was the occasional bass melody which I changed, and I think one or two of the original trebble notes may have been altered as well, though subtly. What I did do however, was make a change similar to how the Rain City theme works. I wanted to use a square channel for bass, and free up the triangle for kick drums. The MMC5 module wasn’t giving me a bass sound that I liked. In this case, I was happy with the timbre of the triangle channel and wanted to try and retain that sound. After some experimenting with the Konami VRC6 module, I found a sound that I liked and was successfully able to move the bass over. I also was able to get a little more response out of varying the sound and I think I’ve improved the rhythmic pulse of the bass by emphasizing certain notes.
The kick drum sound is pretty much the same as what I’d used for Rain City, and I think contributes a lot to the sound of the Oil Sands. I think it’s got a much more interesting mood to it now rather than the constant chug that it used to have. I was originally trying for that sound, and I think it’s still there, but I like the extra emphasis of the new triangle channel.
Finally, I added in a new additional melody. Honestly, my vocabulary isn’t good enough to describe what I was going for with this, but I think it works. Especially in the middle section, which I always had
felt was a little stagnant, I think it helps add a bit of a building up quality. It retains much of the same feel of the original with just a little bit of extra depth.
In other news, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got some Steam Keys gathering virtual dust. I ran a random draw via Twitter today, and @SeeminglyJaded was the lucky chap that got a free copy of Fez. I’ve still got a copy of Bastion, FTL, Limbo, and Mark of The Ninja to give away. Keep your eyes peeled for a chance to win something fun!
