It’s 9:30 pm. I just finished a LONG day 1 of BlizzCon, followed by Din Tai Fung with The Guildies. Good times. Time for the third and final day of NES chiptunes, featuring my favorite track from my favorite NES soundtrack.
- Day 3: 8-Bit Music
- Game: Mega Man 6
- Track: Knight Man
Mega Man is well known for its colorful, high tempo, high energy music. The first few games are a bit rough, but I’d say MM3 beyond all have good music (and great platformer gameplay). I’m not sure what most people think of MM6, but it’s by far my favorite… and also the only one I owned prior to the Anniversary Collection.
This track is a good example of a particular technique that…. probably has a name? But I don’t know it. Let’s focus on the first 30 seconds.
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:05 Riff A
- 0:12 Riff B
- 0:18 Riff A
- 0:25 Riff B
The first A, B, and A are mostly about the lead and the harmony, which are playing the same rhythm but different pitches (duh). 1-2 seconds in to the the 2nd B, a third voice comes in. But these are NES chiptunes – you only have 2 voices (excluding bass and noise).
As you’ve probably noticed by now, they accomplish this by dropping the harmony, which they continue to do throughout the track. The cool thing about this technique is, if you’re not listening to it, your brain kinda fills in the gap. You might not notice, especially while focusing on the gameplay!
Another cool thing is that this technique is not exclusive to video games – it’s also used in metal, particularly in bands with 2 guitarists. This is where I should link some examples, but it’s now 10:00 pm so that ain’t happening. But honestly, take any 2-guitar band that doesn’t use multitracking – good chance they use it.
On a completely different note, I’m only 3 posts in and I’ve already started to notice certain writing tendencies I (apparently) have. I wonder if honestly is gonna sneak its way into every post. Maybe I should make a Keattz Writing Tendency bingo card at the end of this.