ryan yoshikami · @quarkimo
9th Sep 2019 from TwitLonger
TAC5 (Vib Ribbon Blues): Transcription/Analysis
TAC5:
"Vib Ribbon Blues"
Composed by Masaya Matsuura
From "Vib-Ribbon" (PS1)
This track is super cute and I love it...I discovered this game a few years back, and it was so cool to see a tutorial done in such a fun and engaging way.
---
Initial Analysis:
p.1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/44w3qj5tdyn1akg/TAC5%20Initial%20Thoughts1.pdf?dl=0
p.2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5b6nqafi7nxdkl7/TAC5%20Initial%20Thoughts2.pdf?dl=0
It's blues! Blues......yeah it's blues. So most of it follows a classic 12-bar blues pattern, specifically the harmony, and the chord rhythms. The walking bass is also characteristic of this track, and with the improvisatory nature of the vocal part, it manages to be honest to the style while injecting some of the game's unique charm.
As a song for a tutorial, this does a really really REALLY good job with keeping you interested in the mechanics of the game. It does so many scoring things that are super effective; the shift to minor when you get hit, motifs for each of the button presses, slowdowns to match the character's movements, you get the point, it's amazing.
Sheet Music: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ekdchnz1l11a8hu/TAC5%20-%20Full%20Score.pdf?dl=0
So this sheet music was way more of a pain than I thought it would be. The music itself didn't take too long to transcribe (section B is basically one 12 bar blues 3x), but the lyrics ooHoohhHOhOHOHOHHHhh the lyrics took forever. I knew how to read/type Katakana (one of the Japanese alphabets), but putting that in the context of rhythmic lyrics along with putting the Romaji under it, and there being translation errors and having to dig through different translations, and Sibelius not being able to resize symbols so you have to go into Text and put it in Special Symbols mode and the spacing and
anyway yeah it was annoying lol
Because of this and other events and stuff, I wasn't able to do a LPX replication. It would've been interesting to see how I could get a Vocaloid to sing Vibri's part but hey, stuff happens.
Thanks Vibri, see you all on Sunday where I learn how to use a Vocaloid to write a comp, and remember to brush your teeth and eat your greens!!