Here you can listen to what I've called SIG MEGAMI TENSEI VOL. 1, or: a bundled collection of various FL Studio experiments. The project started with me asking for some prompts among my friends to come up with some good ideas while testing out what I could do with FL Studio, back in the tail end of 2021: the project was finished January 2022. While the tracks can be a little rough around the edges, I'm still proud of it as the first 'real' digital music I've produced and therefore it deserves a spot on the SIGMATIC SITE, marking its first public release!
Read further for some track-by-track notes and thoughts. (The notes might contain light 'spoilers', in case you just want to hear them first.)
The title is an obvious reference to the Shin Megami Tensei series, but there's actually no (deliberate) reference to the series in the album. It's actually named after the Discord channel in which I asked around for prompts, called #sig-megami-tensei which IS named after the series: first it was meant to be about the SMT games but then I appropriated for random personal bullshit. Also I realise I've come into the habit of naming everything after myself which I should probably kick soon lol
'Dreadful' didn't start with a prompt but with sounds. Joe (no further introduction needed) sent me a couple of acapella files which I could use in whatever way for this one and off the top of my head you can hear him in the: whispering, low engine-type-sound, chittering sound. I think the engine sound is him making a party "OUWA OUWA" sound. This is the second track I've made and I've taken a lesson away from it. Around the 1:11 mark the song suddenly shifts into a different phase so to speak, and I feel like the atmospheric momentum (atmomentum?) kind of gets lost, or at least a bit underutilized. Oh well!
This one is a pretty simple loop and is actually the first track I've made: after this they're all in chronological order as far as I can tell.
'Metal Lament's production started from the metallic screech at the 0:57 mark, earning it the development name of 'FNAFtypebeat.mp3'. But aside from that, the main inspiration was the Silent Hill series, specifically the oppressive percussion and especially noticable after the siren starts blaring. Another interesting mark is the break in the middle which turned out better than the sudden shift in 'Dreadful'. I picked a more peaceful sounding instrument (piano) because I wanted to really contrast with that screech, just to be a dick. I think that sequence achieved what I wanted it to, although it's held back a liiiitle by the fact that I don't really know how to play the piano that well.. Aside from that, I do really like this one!
Literally what it says on the tin. More specifically I had the first world from the original Rayman in mind, which is a jungle. This is one of the more uplifting songs between all of the more oppressive sounding tracks which is a nice change of pace. Good job, Rayman Type Beat!
For this one I had a shady shop in mind for a fictional JRPG: not really unsafe, but you also don't feel at ease browsing through the wares. I made this before Shin Megami Tensei V got released, but Gustave's shop in that games is actually exactly what I had in mind.
Another prompt from Joe (no further introduction needed), this time something based on 'OFF', the RPG made by Mortis Ghost. Out of all of the tracks on the album I think I'm the most proud of this one because it feels the most 'solid' to me. The inspiration is mostly noticable in the more complex percussion to give the track a more unstable vibe. Having listened to it so much while working on it I actually can not really tell if it does the source material any justice or not. As far as Joe (no further introduction needed) can tell "im hired for off 2 that was fucking awesome" so that's at least one satisfied customer.
This one is really up there for me as well because it's just really soothing to listen to. I actually considered playing this on the main index page but then I considered that people would try and beat me up over putting autoplaying music on my site. Consider this the Sigmatic Site theme, in any case! The prompt for this one was Super Mario Galaxy and so I leaned hard into the soft, spacey vibe. I actually just improvised the main melody on my keyboard and did only mild cleanup afterwards. After the energetic 'In The ZONE' I think 'Out There' is the perfect track to cap the album off in a more relaxed way.