Those robot vocals are so punchy and cute! Definitely an interesting contrast to the dark lyrics. Great work!

Those robot vocals are so punchy and cute! Definitely an interesting contrast to the dark lyrics. Great work!

Damn, never would've thought LSDJ is capable of such a diverse sound palette! Also, really charming song. The lyrics are simple, but they have a hypnotic quality and are really evocative. Killed it!

Damn, never would've thought LSDJ is capable of such a diverse sound palette! Also, really charming song. The lyrics are simple, but they have a hypnotic quality and are really evocative. Killed it!

Feels like you're really breaking new ground with this sample-kit technique.  I'd thought onehitkill had pushed LSDJ sampling about as far as it could go, but I've never heard it sound so clean.  Kudos on the drum sounds, too-they are super clear!

Feels like you're really breaking new ground with this sample-kit technique. I'd thought onehitkill had pushed LSDJ sampling about as far as it could go, but I've never heard it sound so [i]clean[/i]. Kudos on the drum sounds, too-they are super clear!

So cool! On your last one, I said that it sounded like a singular piece. As in, I'd never heard something like it. Now I realize it's more that you're a singular artist.

Love your sound and style!
Could you give me a basic run down of your process re: sample kit vocals?
You get such interesting textures and articulations with your vocals.

So cool! On your last one, I said that it sounded like a singular piece. As in, I'd never heard something like it. Now I realize it's more that you're a singular artist. Love your sound and style! Could you give me a basic run down of your process re: sample kit vocals? You get such interesting textures and articulations with your vocals.

Yeah, they came out nicely. Like a deranged child computer singing at the end of the world haha.

Thanks! One thing I'm enjoying about doing songs on the gameboy is that you have a quite limited space for lyrics. It's almost like they are suggestions of what a larger song could be haha. They're like pieces of a song to me. Evocative without being conclusive or something.

I have been doing LSDJ since 2006 and messing with samples since 2011 or so. It has been a process lol.

[quote=levelcapybara]Those robot vocals are so punchy and cute! Definitely an interesting contrast to the dark lyrics. Great work![/quote] Yeah, they came out nicely. Like a deranged child computer singing at the end of the world haha. [quote=LeBernd]Damn, never would've thought LSDJ is capable of such a diverse sound palette! Also, really charming song. The lyrics are simple, but they have a hypnotic quality and are really evocative. Killed it![/quote] Thanks! One thing I'm enjoying about doing songs on the gameboy is that you have a quite limited space for lyrics. It's almost like they are suggestions of what a larger song could be haha. They're like pieces of a song to me. Evocative without being conclusive or something. [quote=ineff]Feels like you're really breaking new ground with this sample-kit technique. I'd thought onehitkill had pushed LSDJ sampling about as far as it could go, but I've never heard it sound so [i]clean[/i]. Kudos on the drum sounds, too-they are super clear![/quote] I have been doing LSDJ since 2006 and messing with samples since 2011 or so. It has been a process lol.

Thanks for the kind words!

As far as the vocals, I sing along to the gameboy and record the vocals into Reaper. I found that my natural voice kind of blends in with the midrangey pulse instruments, so I started pitching them up to get them in the mix better. I use two plugins--a pitch shifter (up one octave) and a formant shifter (I shift the formant frequencies down almost but not quite an octave, this gets rid of the chipmunky octave up quality for the most part, and makes the vocals sound a bit more natural, but sort of childlike on my voice).

I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha.

[quote=GregVK]So cool! On your last one, I said that it sounded like a singular piece. As in, I'd never heard something like it. Now I realize it's more that you're a singular artist. Love your sound and style! Could you give me a basic run down of your process re: sample kit vocals? You get such interesting textures and articulations with your vocals.[/quote] Thanks for the kind words! As far as the vocals, I sing along to the gameboy and record the vocals into Reaper. I found that my natural voice kind of blends in with the midrangey pulse instruments, so I started pitching them up to get them in the mix better. I use two plugins--a pitch shifter (up one octave) and a formant shifter (I shift the formant frequencies down almost but not quite an octave, this gets rid of the chipmunky octave up quality for the most part, and makes the vocals sound a bit more natural, but sort of childlike on my voice). I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha.

I like to think of it more like "what a story could be" - the song feels very complete to me, without telling the "whole" story. The fact it's just a glimpse invites your brain to run wild and fill in the gaps. Which I find truly inspiring. Like a good short story, or the YouTube Shorts by Luke Humphris that I love.

[quote=roboctopus]One thing I'm enjoying about doing songs on the gameboy is that you have a quite limited space for lyrics. It's almost like they are suggestions of what a larger song could be haha. They're like pieces of a song to me. Evocative without being conclusive or something. [/quote] I like to think of it more like "what a story could be" - the song feels very complete to me, without telling the "whole" story. The fact it's just a glimpse invites your brain to run wild and fill in the gaps. Which I find truly inspiring. Like a good short story, or the YouTube Shorts by Luke Humphris that I love.

Very cool. I love how the limitations of what you're working with play such a big role in the sound!

Thanks for taking the time to explain your process!

[quote=roboctopus][quote=GregVK]So cool! On your last one, I said that it sounded like a singular piece. As in, I'd never heard something like it. Now I realize it's more that you're a singular artist. Love your sound and style! Could you give me a basic run down of your process re: sample kit vocals? You get such interesting textures and articulations with your vocals.[/quote] Thanks for the kind words! As far as the vocals, I sing along to the gameboy and record the vocals into Reaper. I found that my natural voice kind of blends in with the midrangey pulse instruments, so I started pitching them up to get them in the mix better. I use two plugins--a pitch shifter (up one octave) and a formant shifter (I shift the formant frequencies down almost but not quite an octave, this gets rid of the chipmunky octave up quality for the most part, and makes the vocals sound a bit more natural, but sort of childlike on my voice). I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha.[/quote] Very cool. I love how the limitations of what you're working with play such a big role in the sound! Thanks for taking the time to explain your process!

The chords in the intro sound so LUSH! You're really taking LSDJ to new places. Really really enjoying this style that you're developing! And I think the lyrics are great - you've really painted a lot with them given the limited space you have to work with!

The chords in the intro sound so LUSH! You're really taking LSDJ to new places. Really really enjoying this style that you're developing! And I think the lyrics are great - you've really painted a lot with them given the limited space you have to work with!

You have carved out such a distinct sound for yourself—you make the dmg sound like such an organic instrument in your hands. The vocal programming from 2:20 on is really cool. Almost like it's improvising over the chords.

> I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha.

You do that manually? Using some tool?

You have carved out such a distinct sound for yourself—you make the dmg sound like such an organic instrument in your hands. The vocal programming from 2:20 on is really cool. Almost like it's improvising over the chords. > I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha. You do that manually? Using some tool?

Absolutely wild that this is an LSDJ piece. Whole new lo-fi textures and doesn't have that stereotypical "chiptune" feel. the vocals and lyrics are brilliant.

Absolutely wild that this is an LSDJ piece. Whole new lo-fi textures and doesn't have that stereotypical "chiptune" feel. the vocals and lyrics are brilliant.

Really cool lyrics and vocal tone! Super inspiring! Cool glitchy rhythms, a la katamari! Music (and art in general) is what will save humanity, and this here song is ultimate PROOF!

Really cool lyrics and vocal tone! Super inspiring! Cool glitchy rhythms, a la katamari! Music (and art in general) is what will save humanity, and this here song is ultimate PROOF!

I'd say this whole thing came out pretty cool. Just the right amount of crunch.
- Valx

I'd say this whole thing came out pretty cool. Just the right amount of crunch. - Valx

it always amazes me when people do lower tempo stuff on LSDJ with a chill vibe and pull it off!   I'm usually putting the pedal to the metal but this laid back vibe is delightful.   As usual the glitchiness to the programming details is well executed

it always amazes me when people do lower tempo stuff on LSDJ with a chill vibe and pull it off! I'm usually putting the pedal to the metal but this laid back vibe is delightful. As usual the glitchiness to the programming details is well executed

I'm impressed you haven't ran out of memory with all these vocal kits you are making. Do you use the old sample a double speed and re-pitch down method to optimize for sample space?

Another cool one.

I'm impressed you haven't ran out of memory with all these vocal kits you are making. Do you use the old sample a double speed and re-pitch down method to optimize for sample space? Another cool one.

Such a fan of going nuts on the sample kits like this. Well done, can hear the effort that took.

Such a fan of going nuts on the sample kits like this. Well done, can hear the effort that took.

Yet another banger! Great job

Yet another banger! Great job

Thanks all!

Thanks! As far as making the vocal samples. I record my vocals into Reaper and process them with a few free plugins. But for chopping samples for loading into LSDJ, I use Audacity. Audacity is just easy to zoom in and slice for me, and it's build in compressor and normalizing work nicely to get the volume levels working for LSDJ. So it is all manual slicing in Audacity.

I just gravitate toward slower tempos haha. But even when it's 165 bpm, they still sound sort of chill lol.

I do sometimes resort to the double speed method, but generally try and avoid it, since the synth and vocal samples are usually in the same instrument as the drums, and those don't sound great at half speed to my ears. Lose to much or something. Though I definitely did that on one of the tracks last month.

Right now my album is spread across three different ROMs due to all the samples lol.

[quote=Tom Foolery]The chords in the intro sound so LUSH! You're really taking LSDJ to new places. Really really enjoying this style that you're developing! And I think the lyrics are great - you've really painted a lot with them given the limited space you have to work with![/quote] [quote=MRDRCAT]Absolutely wild that this is an LSDJ piece. Whole new lo-fi textures and doesn't have that stereotypical "chiptune" feel. the vocals and lyrics are brilliant.[/quote] [quote=horatiuromantic]Really cool lyrics and vocal tone! Super inspiring! Cool glitchy rhythms, a la katamari! Music (and art in general) is what will save humanity, and this here song is ultimate PROOF![/quote] [quote=DESLRV]I'd say this whole thing came out pretty cool. Just the right amount of crunch. - Valx[/quote] [quote=ONE HIT KILL]Such a fan of going nuts on the sample kits like this. Well done, can hear the effort that took. [/quote] [quote=.exe]Yet another banger! Great job[/quote] Thanks all! [quote=antler]You have carved out such a distinct sound for yourself—you make the dmg sound like such an organic instrument in your hands. The vocal programming from 2:20 on is really cool. Almost like it's improvising over the chords. > I then cut the phrases up into little pieces, since 2.8 seconds max in a sample kit. I think the cutting up of the vox coupled with the extreme bit crushing definitely adds some extra weirdness and artifacting to the sound haha. You do that manually? Using some tool?[/quote] Thanks! As far as making the vocal samples. I record my vocals into Reaper and process them with a few free plugins. But for chopping samples for loading into LSDJ, I use Audacity. Audacity is just easy to zoom in and slice for me, and it's build in compressor and normalizing work nicely to get the volume levels working for LSDJ. So it is all manual slicing in Audacity. [quote=Disposable Planet]it always amazes me when people do lower tempo stuff on LSDJ with a chill vibe and pull it off! I'm usually putting the pedal to the metal but this laid back vibe is delightful. As usual the glitchiness to the programming details is well executed[/quote] I just gravitate toward slower tempos haha. But even when it's 165 bpm, they still sound sort of chill lol. [quote=ENC_]I'm impressed you haven't ran out of memory with all these vocal kits you are making. Do you use the old sample a double speed and re-pitch down method to optimize for sample space? Another cool one.[/quote] I do sometimes resort to the double speed method, but generally try and avoid it, since the synth and vocal samples are usually in the same instrument as the drums, and those don't sound great at half speed to my ears. Lose to much or something. Though I definitely did that on one of the tracks last month. Right now my album is spread across three different ROMs due to all the samples lol.

That makes sense. It's halving the sample rate of 4bit samples. The degradation is probably too much. Contrary to what some say, there is such thing as too much crunch I had assumed you would have to churn out a few different roms to make these with LSDJ and the memory constraints. I always love seeing how far these machines can get pushed. I tried some vocal experiments like that with the NES and famitracker in the late 00's. I didn't have enough skill to execute as well as you did though I mostly treated the vocals like ryhthmic elements between drums and instrument samples rather than lyrics. It was cool but, at the time famitracker kept corrupting the rom when I exported to play back on hardware. I'd put it on the Retro USB PowerPak and it would have messed up playback frequently. I was probably a memory issue in hindsight. I got annoyed and never went back

[quote=roboctopus] [quote=ENC_] I'm impressed you haven't ran out of memory with all these vocal kits you are making. Do you use the old sample a double speed and re-pitch down method to optimize for sample space? Another cool one. [/quote] I do sometimes resort to the double speed method, but generally try and avoid it, since the synth and vocal samples are usually in the same instrument as the drums, and those don't sound great at half speed to my ears. Lose to much or something. Though I definitely did that on one of the tracks last month. Right now my album is spread across three different ROMs due to all the samples lol. [/quote] That makes sense. It's halving the sample rate of 4bit samples. The degradation is probably too much. Contrary to what some say, there is such thing as too much crunch :P I had assumed you would have to churn out a few different roms to make these with LSDJ and the memory constraints. I always love seeing how far these machines can get pushed. I tried some vocal experiments like that with the NES and famitracker in the late 00's. I didn't have enough skill to execute as well as you did though :) I mostly treated the vocals like ryhthmic elements between drums and instrument samples rather than lyrics. It was cool but, at the time famitracker kept corrupting the rom when I exported to play back on hardware. I'd put it on the Retro USB PowerPak and it would have messed up playback frequently. I was probably a memory issue in hindsight. I got annoyed and never went back :|

loving the chord progression here

crazy how you utilize drum samples on LSDJ

loving the chord progression here crazy how you utilize drum samples on LSDJ