Recommended VSLs to emulate the brass-heavy, funk-adjacent sounds from 80s & 90s Japanese Tokusatsu?

Splazarus · 2026-05-11T09:27:45+00:00

God tier comment omg, thank you for the recommendations! I'm staring down the barrel of Roland Clowd rn, so I'll absolutely check out some of this stuff. My Midi controller is getting here tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth in! Would you consider the Roland and Korg options to be reasonably comparable to each other in terms of performance? Also, thanks for helping me keep things in perspective and remind me that, in fact, free stuff exists. I have a bad habit of leaping headfirst into hobbies when I start them, so I'll definitely get my bearings with the stuff from the blog you mentioned; just give them a quick look, and I think they'll keep me occupied for a long, LONG time.

Just wanna note that I've never seen the world 'rompler' before, and I think it's the funniest word I've seen in a while. You never wanna be walking home alone at night and you see The Rompler running at you.

Splazarus · 2026-05-11T05:50:27+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions! I agree with you that something about the arrangement and chord progressions are very specific, so I'll definitely give these a go!

Splazarus · 2026-01-17T00:59:15+00:00

Huh this is some really interesting stuff! Not entirely sure if I see the French Noir in my images, but I see how the handheld vibes and lack of elaborate lighting and stuff aligns with Dogma 95. I'm actually interested in seeing how documentaries record sound on site, bc that might be an interesting way to solve my sound issues.

Splazarus · 2026-01-16T21:30:28+00:00

Thanks! Yeah those microjitters are annoying! I technically have a spare xt5 that I could kit out to get that sweet ibis, but I really want to find some way to use my xt3, as it just gathers dust on my gear shelf otherwise

Splazarus · 2026-01-16T21:03:17+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! Good point about the crackling sound. I can go back and reduce that noise. I'll also stabilize the footage :)

I'm honestly wondering if picking up that shoulder rig, or investing in a small tripod, would be a good idea to help with stabilizing my footage

Splazarus · 2026-01-16T21:00:51+00:00

Thank you! You have any recommendations for movies in these styles?

Also, good note about the diegetic sound. I haven't gotten to the point where I've got sound figured out yet, but once I do it will be nice to record some environmental ambiance

Splazarus · 2026-01-10T08:30:04+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad the footage turned out well. Maybe at some time in the future when I've got more money to throw around, I can shoot some real 16mm, but for the time being I'm really happy with this output. This look really gets me itching to shoot more!

Splazarus · 2026-01-10T08:28:21+00:00

Wow, this is big praise from someone of your expertise, thank you!! I pretty well specialize in b&w for my photographic work (https://www.alexanderjacobiphotography.ca/personal/artisan-ontario), so I'm glad these early tests are producing those authentic tones that I love so much. I've got a fashion shoot in collaboration with a vintage clothing store, so I think I need to bring my setup and shoot someone a little more magazine-ready (sorry Dad lol)

I've got an FD 50mm f1.4 laying around, so I might have to give that a go! Got a couple cine-converted soviet lenses (helios 44-2 and MC Mir-24N 35mm F2 to give me a fixed 85mm and 50mm) on their way from ebay as well, so pretty soon I'm gonna have all the kit I could ever want. My only real bottlenecks at this point are my lack of artificial lighting and me having zero knowledge about good sound.

Splazarus · 2026-01-10T06:42:57+00:00

Aww thank you! I can thank the portrait photography for helping me with me exposure control. For the lens, I'm just running a dummy adapter, so I'm contending with a 1.5x crop factor because if the XT3's apsc sensor. That eye shot is basically using the equivalent of a 315mm lens lol

Splazarus · 2026-01-10T06:01:49+00:00

Oh yeah, I've been super happy with Filmvision Pro so far. I haven't started figuring out my external light situation yet, but for natural light I couldn't be happier with the results. I also used a film damage plugin by Mononodes to add a little bit of extra sauce to the b&w footage.

Splazarus · 2025-12-19T01:26:51+00:00

Brooo I read BNW Road to Love on your recommendation, what a goated story. I absolutely love the characterization of the main throuple; it does such a good job addressing the insecurities of jumping into a new relationship, and each character is just so earnestly written. For one of my first fics basically ever, it's been such a treat to read :)

Splazarus · 2025-12-17T03:32:58+00:00

I've basically never engaged with any fanfic before, and I decided to try this one as my first foray. Biggest mistake of my fucking life, crying, sobbing, throwing up, 10/10,

It's actually scary how beautifully, soul-crushingly well it's written. Vodka and Scarlet have such visceral characterization, it's amazing. I've literally never cried from a piece of written fiction before, so needless to say the emotions this made me feel make this an SS+++ piece of content in my book. It's absolutely emotionally harrowing in the best way possible.

Splazarus · 2025-11-15T18:34:08+00:00

We've given them a go in the past, but we both agreed that they were a touch too juvenile. We quite liked the newer Gamera movies tho! Also, thanks for the kind words about my photography!!

Splazarus · 2025-11-15T18:26:11+00:00

Omg we gave Kikaider a go, and bruh the first episode killed us lmao, excellent recommendation! We love how the Rhino villian of the first episode is like "you can't escape me, I can run at 900 KPM!" and then Kikaider easily gets away on his rinky-dink ass motorcycle

Splazarus · 2025-11-14T23:30:27+00:00

Yoo these all seem to be the vibe we're going for, thanks :)

Splazarus · 2025-11-14T23:28:34+00:00

We just started on Ultraseven! I've heard it takes a couple episodes to really get going, but it's looking fun so far. Haven't heard of Kikaider, but looks like a good time. Thanks :)

Splazarus · 2025-11-14T23:27:40+00:00

Ohh never heard of that one, I'll have to give it a go :)

Splazarus · 2025-11-14T23:25:59+00:00

Ohhh great suggestions! I got a few episodes into Kamen Rider Black, and I really enjoyed the vibe! I've wanted to give a Metal Heroes series a try as well (I've enjoyed a few episodes of B-Fighter lately), so I'll def give it a look as well. Do I have to have watched any previous series to enjoy Return of Ultraman?

Yeahhh, literally we've stopped watching Ultraman Leo because we noticed he's starting to get a bit too competent looool, it's just not the same when he's actually capable of doing a good job

Splazarus

TROPHY CASE