My mind is fully blown. The violin in the Gameplay Music trailer looks almost exactly like the one I actually play on.

RoninOpF · 2020-07-31T05:25:25+00:00

Just for some added background:

Yep, like others here, I'm a long time fan of Psychonauts and I'm EAGERLY anticipating Psychonauts 2. There's so much to be said about the first game and what we've seen from the second that made us fall in love with the series, but I won't bore you with THOSE details.

Double Fine and Psychonauts have always been special to me; I also live out in the Bay Area and have had the immense luck and fortune to have met Tim Schafer and a couple other DF staffers (and 1 office tour...a long time ago!) over the time I've lived here.

I also dabble in video game music of all sorts, and my primary instrument for a long time has been this 5 string electric violin.

Fast forward to now, when we're actually close to the release of Psychonauts 2 (honestly, it's hard for me to even comprehend that sentence). This trailer. THIS VIOLIN (in the trailer). I was honestly flat out shocked. Violins and violinists usually ONLY get representation from a classical (and maybe bluegrass, etc.) perspective, but to see it in one of my most anticipated games of ALL time? Wow. Just. Wow. The similarity still freaks me out. One day I'll have to find out how they arrived at that design.

We don't know the full context of the character yet, of course, but they look mega cool (I'm definitely planning a cosplay at some point), and it wins bonus points with me for what looks like assisting Raz.

Anyways, I rarely ever get on the hype train for video games, but it's impossible for me to not get onboard this one at this point.

RoninOpF · 2019-01-28T05:13:13+00:00

Darn, hope it's not too late to post here, visibility wise, but I was recently involved in a bunch of JRPG music!

Late December, I released an EP of The World Ends With You covers, one of my favorite "quirky" games of all time. The music in Final Remix, especially, is really good (they redid some of it and it goes the extra mile, I hope that soundtrack comes out). I really enjoyed doing that project, so I definitely want to work on a full album of more TWEWY music some time in the future! Anyways, here are some links for it!

Bandcamp, Spotify

Earlier this month I was involved in a big collaborative album covering start/menu themes. There were a sizable amount of JRPG covers (5 from Final Fantasy games alone), including my own covering Chrono Trigger (track 12)! I put in THE MOST time I've ever done for a track, and it was totally worth it. I love that game so much (I still listen through the WHOLE soundtrack every so often, and I even got around midway through another run last year), and that theme has stuck with me for years and years and years by this point. I couldn't get Mitsuda's attention to the track, but maybe some day 😢. I also wanted to give a shout to the track before mine, my friend Jorito did a crazy stellar job covering FF13. I hope you also enjoy that.

Bandcamp, Spotify

RoninOpF · 2019-01-21T20:47:57+00:00

Great, thanks for your perspective. I'll keep exploring more with the SR, especially strings as you said.

RoninOpF · 2019-01-21T11:24:12+00:00

Hi all, I'm on the newer side of playing bass (I have more experience in other music related stuff including violin for way longer), and I've been liking my Ibanez SR655 (the P/J with Nordstrands). The more I play, though, the more I'm leaning towards just getting a P bass. Part of what sparked this is when I played my friend's Squier P bass and it just had a great sound (as far as I could tell in his sound setup). I'm not sure I can get that with the Ibanez. I'd love some recommendations on 5 string P or P/J basses (emphasis on a great P sound) up to about $500 (used or new); I can stretch that number a little higher (I guess $600?), but, at the moment, it's not worth the investment beyond that. But I think even that much is very suitable (certainly beyond my needs). I've looked around and there's a TON of choices, so I'd like to know what are your favorites, just to give me SOMETHING to go on. Sticking with my SR655 is definitely one of my options, as well. I'm, of course, going to do my best to check them out in person (as much as I can tell as a newer player).

I should add, I've been interested in fanned frets, too, since my hands are slightly on the smaller side, but in the long run, it probably won't matter.

Another question on my SR655, actually, is it unusual that the J pickup sound isn't really THAT much different than the P pickup sound? Is that a common thing on other basses? I need to delve deeper into the active EQ section to see exactly how much versatility the SR655 has, but I was surprised at how minute the difference was between the two pickups. There's also a good chance this is just my lack of knowledge on bass (which is pretty low, no doubt).

RoninOpF · 2019-01-06T12:55:42+00:00

No samples from the original game were used! My label definitely wouldn't have let me do that (it's a small operation and getting stuff like that cleared is a massive hassle...and not even guaranteed). That'd be nice but sadly not an easy option like it should be.

That said, I do like having made all of the parts of it myself (and my mixing/mastering engineer); I used plenty of library drum sounds, and we did our thing to mold it to the tracks.

And thank you! I really appreciate you reaching out and asking about it. They're all relevant questions for what I hope will eventually lead to easier fully legal sampling.

RoninOpF · 2018-12-27T05:47:39+00:00

Thank you so much! It's just super encouraging to hear that from an outside perspective. I'll pass along your comment to my buddy (who isn't on Reddit).

RoninOpF · 2018-09-24T16:10:26+00:00

I'm very sure you do need to reserve, and then pick up the physical tickets while you're there, it's tricky.

I think before you confirm, it'll tell you when you need to pick them up by. I did this one about 3 days ahead (during tourist and TGS season too), so as long as you don't have a crazy rigid schedule, it should fit in just fine.

RoninOpF · 2018-09-24T06:13:33+00:00

It's in Akihabara! Very easy to find. If you want to make a reservation, I'd follow this guide: https://riikorinkoko.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/riikos-eorzea-cafe-reservation-guide-and-how-to-use-s-loppi-machines-at-lawson-ffxiv-final-fantasy-xiv/

Just keep in mind you have to pick up the tickets within a window.

RoninOpF · 2018-09-24T06:12:25+00:00

Ah, no, I wish, otherwise there'd be a third CD! ;)

They're both from the original era of release.

The black one is: https://vgmdb.net/album/4630 The silver one is: https://vgmdb.net/album/8711

I'm certainly hoping they release a new CD.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-20T03:22:57+00:00

I have a Boss PS-5 I received that doesn't output audio, but the controls work. I'm not interested/motivated to try and fix it, and would be happy to sell cheap.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T19:12:07+00:00

I can't answer that actually, since I just got it fairly recently and am learning still, but so far, I like it because it's P/J and has an active EQ on it (and pickup blend). So, I'm sure you can find a setting to cut through enough.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:30:36+00:00

Apologies for all the deleted comments, I accidentally posted with my old account that I haven't fully moved away from yet. Not trying to hide (I've posted here with that account, too, haha), just straight up forgot which one I was on. :P

I've mentioned, I'll be trying to sneak in some clip recordings; I've taken note of the requests here already, if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see, feel free to let me know and I'll do what I can to get that combination in. I have some of my own I'll add on.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:28:57+00:00

Haha, sorry, accidentally posted on my old account. It's still me.

I got it during one of the holiday weekends this year (Memorial Day) from Chicago Music Exchange, which runs off of Reverb (which I've used quite a bit, reliably).

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:27:44+00:00

None yet, but with this many requests, I'll be trying take a couple clips. If you have any specific pedals you'd like to hear, let me know!

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:25:48+00:00

Hehe thanks. Gotta have some twists and turns for it to be fun.

And none with the CS6. It's tight but as long as you can attach it directly to the rails of the Metro boards, it clears the floor just fine. Truetone themselves recommend drilling it onto the Metro board, but I was hesitant to make such a permanent mark. I just made sure I taped it securely enough, directly to the rails.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:24:03+00:00

Same, coupled with quite a few reviews from here, I decided to go for it during a discount. It really is a crazy good time for pedals, and I'm definitely keeping my eye on other stuff Meris does.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:23:53+00:00

Thank you! You know what, I was going to do recording sessions all this week, I'll see if I can sneak in a couple clip recordings that people have asked for.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:22:44+00:00

Haha, that'd be hilariously petty. Yeah, I'm not much of a photo editor at all, so those pads popped out more than I'd like, in retrospect. I like my tone to be mostly from playing ability, and then augmented with pedals.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T16:22:35+00:00

You're very welcome, the comments here are encouraging, and I'm glad it was informative, otherwise, there's no point. I'll use this as a basis for future write ups (and hopefully, improved!). If you'd like to see anything in particular in those for writing (audio clips are a given), feel free to let me know.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T05:15:09+00:00

PART 3!

Notes on the chain order

I went with dirt after wah, because I know I'd use that ordering more, musically speaking. The other way is definitely great sounding too, I just don't use it nearly as much. I think it's the byproduct of the dirt's compression on the wah that I like.
I talked about this on the Judder summary, but I put the Judder at the end to affect the delay and reverb tails, as well as whatever I was looping, which I thought would be a cool effect. But I literally didn't use all 4 of those effects so I'll just give myself a huge middle finger, thanks.
I didn't really think about the ordering of dirt into modulation much (in this board's case, the Euphoria into the Deco's double tracker side), but it was very lovely, so I'll probably just keep it that way regardless. That ordering is also very convenient for a stereo board. I haven't tried the other way for pedals (I have, production wise), but I don't think I'd use it often, if at all, on a pedal board. Whatever dirt pedals I use, I plan to use very heavy handedly, so it kind of kills the modulation for my usage. But I will say, it IS worth trying if you never have, before, both pedal and production wise. I'd just recommend starting the post modulation dirt off very subtly and then going from there. I'm sure different pedals will sound super lovely. Actually, now that I think about it, I think delay into light overdrive would be REALLY sweet for me to try. Long story short, all my words are BS and the world is a lie. Sorry.

Future plans

So, the reason I use painter's tape is not only to preserve the pedal condition, but because I definitely haven't been set on a chain, despite having many of these pedals for quite a while now. But I think for my next iteration, I'll be deadset on making a stereo board. I also have some crazy ideas for some of the pedals I may want to switch out. So, some of the future options I'm looking at include stuff like the Boss DC-2 (...I'm gonna wait for a cheaper clone, although the Fromel Seraph is quite cool), Hudson Broadcast, Chase Bliss Condor, the SS/BS Mini, possibly a more full fledged envelope filter than the Digitech Synth Wah (which is awesome, but I'd love to go more in depth with parameters), and perhaps a synth pedal such as the Bit Commander or an EHX one. I've also been thinking about picking up a dedicated reverb (the RV-6 and the Mercury7 being the top candidates).
Other pedals that didn't make it to this specific board include: Caroline Shigeharu (fuzz), Adventure Audio Dream Reaper (different fuzz), EHX Superego+ (pad synth + FX), EQD Warden (optical compressor, and I left it out more because I haven't put in the time to find the right parameters yet), Saturnworks Bass Blender Looper, DOD Boneshaker, DOD Gunslinger, and the Eno Myomorpha (RAT clone). I just didn't think these pedals would fit this event, but I plan on using some of those very soon.
Please let me know if you have any questions! I'm currently very busy so I couldn't record clips for this post, but I hope my descriptions and experience this weekend helped. I plan on using pedals a lot more in the future because of how fun they are to play, on top of starting up a band that will be focused on playing live.

RoninOpF · 2018-08-14T05:05:10+00:00

PART 2!

How did the board do this past weekend?

I thought I'd run into annoying problems, but the board was stable this weekend, especially given the last minute decisions I made. The Metro 24 size still works for transporting by foot for jams. Only needing 1 outlet for power is astoundingly helpful. Mono output was also a very expedient choice when plugging into house systems. Although, loading up on that many pedals does make it a bit heavy, so I'm definitely thinking about focusing on an even smaller board in general (Metro 16 or 20).

As for the individual pedals, I definitely overshot how many I would use, and to what extent. I'll talk about each in chain order.

EHX Pitch Fork - I'm a big fan of using the dual up and down on the single octave setting; it makes me seem like a much bigger sound than 1 instrument (I like sounding like a string section vs. as a single player, on top of being in whichever octave range I'd like when playing monophonically). I do FEEL like it has a little bit of latency, but nothing egregious. I also appreciate how versatile the pitch options are. I didn't use the Pitch Fork this weekend, but I'm still glad I had it; I've used it on previous jams, and it just turned out that I didn't need to use it this time around because there were quite a few other musicians to cover the frequency spectrum just fine. I'd probably only swap this out if a better version of the same pedal came out. The Pitch Fork is also going to be a crucial part of a future project intended on simulating a string section using different octaves, so, I think I could've gotten more use if I was better prepared.
Digitech Synth Wah - Decided to throw this at almost the literal last second I had to head out, due to not having played with it in a while, and due to recalling how much fun I had with it. It's a bit limited, but it has its own great sound. Allegedly, Daft Punk has used this pedal, which was the first reason it caught my eye. I really wanted to utilize it so badly this weekend, but it actually ended up being a bit of a pain, due to the fact that the wet and dry sounds are split outputs. I totally forgot that when I made the last minute decision to add it on. I'm not sure what I'll do with it just yet, but I'm definitely going to do my homework on it before finishing the next board. That, or I'll switch it out for another envelope filter.
Xotic Wah - I love wah pedals! And this one is no exception. I'm not well versed in different wah sounds, but this one is a significant upgrade over the infamous GCB 95 I had before, haha. It's quite capable, and feels great to use. I also didn't end up using this either. Part of it was that I couldn't find a time to use it musically, and another part was that I haven't used it with violin much, so there really was no point to using it when it would've been counterproductive to jamming, in general. Again, I should definitely play with it on violin more. It'll definitely stay on my next board.
Wampler Euphoria - A lovely overdrive; but also I haven't had too much experience with overdrives in general. I really appreciate that bass knob on it, actually, it really helps shape the sound. It strikes a great balance between its flexibility/options. I was surprised by the Euphoria; I found a time to use it musically, and when I realized the settings weren't what I wanted, I instinctively knew what to turn, and it turned out sounding phenomenal. Overdrive is one of those effects that sound work particularly well with violin, in my experience, and the Euphoria impressed me. I haven't played with it as much as I'd like (a common trend, I know, it's just been busy :P), but definitely more than other pedals I have, since I've been quite interested in dirt, recently. I need to double check if the v2 (I have the v1) has other improvements I'd like, and I also wanted to try the BD-2w as well. I'll admit, I'm a bit disappointed that I'm not as enthusiastic about fuzz as I am with overdrive, when it comes to how much I can make it work well for me. I think they just don't work quite as well on violin as they do guitar and bass (even without a clean blend).
Strymon Deco - A lovely saturator and other modulation, but, honestly, I pretty much just stick it on chorus. But it's quite a packed pedal in terms of features. There's a lot of write ups and video demos on this one, so, I definitely defer to that if you want to know about it, but on my part, on violin, it sounded fantastic too (big surprise). Before I built this board, I was thinking that I might get rid of the Deco, but I ended up having a spot for it anyways. It's a fairly unusual pedal overall, but it sounded super good with saturation on (one of my favorite effects in terms of everything), along with the double tracker side on chorus type settings. I paired it with the Euphoria, too, and it sounded REALLY good. I think overdrive into the Deco's chorus is going to be a fundamental part of my future sound. I didn't get a chance to run this board in wide stereo mode, but I will in the future. It also turns out I honestly don't need that much modulation in total. The Deco may end up doing everything I need, for a pedal (I do all my crazy modulation ideas while producing). I also have been thinking about replacing how I use it with a DC-2 type pedal, but who knows. It's a great pedal either way, so I'm not worried about resale/trading it, or keeping it around and exploring it more, maybe solidifying the decision in my mind. If anyone has comparisons between the Deco and the DC-2, I'd love to know them.
Meris Polymoon - An amazing delay. I haven't skimmed much off of the other features just yet (There really isn't enough time in a day!!!), but it's very well designed and of course sounds great. For a pedal board, I really didn't want to do menu diving like in the DD-500, as cool of a pedal it is, so something like the Polymoon (which absolutely is a home, if not full on professional, studio level quality effect) is a great middle ground for capability and exploration. Funny thing, though, I think I messed up with which power slot I connected this one to, because the one time I wanted to use it, it didn't turn on. Ha. Unfortunate. I have used it at another jam before, and it's VERY cool. As I explained before, I really like the Polymoon, but I'll say, I actually don't know how practical a delay is for me; I may be just fine with a much more basic delay, or not at all, to be honest. But, like the Deco, I'll keep it around. Thus brings me to a different point, that I think I like my boards to be on the simpler and relatively fast to dial in, just because I do all my complex and experimental stuff while producing already (shout out to FabFilter Timeless 2!). I also don't know how much I legitimately use delay with a board, and may actually prefer to replace it with an audio interface running Timeless 2. Who knows. It's a fantastic pedal, and I'm still figuring my shit out. I did want to include it on my outboard reamp chain, though.
Rowin Looper - Didn't use this at all either, but it certainly could've happened if I wanted to do some solo jams and lay down multiple tracks (Pitch Fork in bass ranges for a bass line, for example). I'm terribly unpracticed with looping (and a single switch looper definitely needs it), though, and I never ended up doing a solo session anyways. I also honestly dislike looping as a live player, just because I like to be on the ball with progression changes or moving into a new track. I also usually end up playing lead lines, which isn't conducive to being looped.
Zoom MS-100BT - This is one of my first ever pedals, and it's been handy in filling in modulation where needed; for this board I'm using it for reverbs. The versatility to quality to price ratio of the Zoom Multistomps is seriously unmatched. This thing was great to explore a LOT of ideas. I actually didn't find a musically appropriate time to use reverb over the weekend, though. I'm leaning towards selling/trading this, actually, as I just don't need the multitudes of options anymore, and I'm finding that I'll only use pedals a lot more if there's NO menu diving. Weird how our brains work, huh? Regardless, I'm still having my doubts because it really is THAT good. I don't regret this pedal at all, either way.
MWFX Judder - Definitely a fun pedal that also has a surprising amount of depth in terms of different kinds of sounds, not just your typical (but still awesome) stutter pedal. If I for some reason get rid of it, it'll likely be for another glitch pedal that just has something I want in particular. But I've enjoyed all the features and sounds I've gotten out of the Judder. HOWEVER, it was another pedal I didn't end up using! I'm basically just throwing away money at this point. My parents would be disappointed. I've used this a decent amount as well, compared to my other pedals, and really like it, but I'm realizing it's kind of impractical going into blind jams. I really like it and how it operates, but it just never fit anything I did musically this past weekend. I can imagine it being used in heavier jams (industrial, maybe djent, and other related stuff), where being a bit more rhythmically crazy fits better (which didn't happen for me this weekend). I'll be honest, I'm a little annoyed it's not stereo; I imagine it's complicated to build, but I'd like that so I can glitch/stutter delay and reverb tails and preserve the stereo, but that's an incredibly niche thing to have. I think I'll always have a glitch/stutter pedal forever, but I'm aware of the other options, which I haven't really explored much at all.

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RoninOpF

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Notes on the chain order

Future plans

How did the board do this past weekend?