virtjk

YO, virt here. I'll try to give you as much detail as I can (because I can't sleep, so I might as well try to do something useful).

I started out by writing a MIDI sequence as a "mockup", with synthesized guitars and drums, and synth leads in place of the vocals, so I could get the harmonies worked out properly on a staff instead of just "winging it" in the studio. I have always loved choral arrangement and vocal harmony, but this the most strictly I've ever tried to work within a set of guidelines. I analyzed the harmonies in Bohemian Rhapsody and tried to write voicings of my own which were as close to Queen as possible (barbershop style for the main sections, with bass, baritone, lead, and tenor, but sometimes layering in additional voices -- up to 20 for the "choir" sections!)

Once the whole thing was mocked up in MIDI (and sent off to zircon to prove I was actually working on something) I started recording live versions of the rhythm guitar and solos, and the bass guitar. It's interesting (read: frustrating as hellllll) to have to play the same solos and licks on a guitar after having written them on a keyboard. Usually I just write solos directly on the guitar, but these were very specific and it took a lot of practice to play less like a poor man's Eric Johnson and more like a poor man's Brian May.

So then, we brought in Tommy (and our other pals James and Tony, who did thickener parts) and laid down the vocals over the course of two all-day sessions. Tommy is brilliant, and has an incredible ear for pitch, so it took shockingly little effort to get his takes into shape. A little timing adjustment, a little Melodyne touch-up, but I refused to (and didn't need to) Autotune the life out of everything.. If you listen to the old Queen soloed multi-tracks that are floating around the internet, Freddie is all over the place pitch-wise, like incredibly sloppy in some places, but there are just so many layers that it flanges beautifully and sounds like 20 different people singing in a choir. So I tried to keep things as natural as possible.

I was originally planning to use high-quality drum samples and call it good, but our buddy Dogboy (who also played drums on my soundtrack for WayForward's "Adventure Time: Hey Ice King") heard the early mix of the track, flipped his shit, and volunteered to contribute live drums. As you hear, his performance was absolutely incredible. That's two huge favors I owe him now, haha.

Finally, it was time to mix the whole thing, and my engineer/producer Robbie sat in the studio (and later invited me in for finishing touches) tweaking EQs, compressors, amp simulators, and general volume levels for about a week. Listened countless times on many different sets of speakers, from expensive studio monitors to my car stereo.

In general, the theme / lesson of this project for me was "working with other people makes my music better", something I'd already known, but this really drove it home. Even just getting a second set of experienced ears on the mix is invaluable.

As far as the lyrical inspiration, let's just say it's basically a West Side Story pastiche (or, beyond that, Romeo and Juliet). Boy meets girl, drama happens, girl dies tragically, boy dies too. Totally not original, but I enjoy writing lyrics almost more than music itself. It's like playing Tetris with syllables and rhymes, amazingly challenging and rewarding.

Hope that satisfies your curiosity! I had a LOT of fun working on this track, but now I have to try to outdo it, and am quite sure I don't have the necessary skill yet. :( Back to studying and practicing.

SUP!!!! Jake here. Today's a workday at WayForward but I usually work more of a night shift over there, so it should be okay if I chat with you guys, long as I put in my 12 hours later on. :) Though if anything urgent comes up I might have to duck out! (......pun maybe intended)

Yep, getting Matsumae-san on board was a gigantically insane bonus for the project; I already would have given it everything I have, because I love doing crazy stuff with this team.. but having her contribute (and even collaborate!) is a dream come true. I'm gonna beg so hard to do a "duet" track with her where we take turns doing leads/chords. Total fanboy gratification.

I don't know if you know, but Mighty Switch Force 2 has been announced, and hopefully it will come out soon! (nobody tells me about release dates because I'm just the piano player).. This time I had a professional do the mastering, so it sounds like a totally legit electro house album, but still with the gamey discoey stuff. So excited!

Word. Yeah, that Moon theme will be my undoing. There's so much pressure (some externally but mostly in my head) to do it perfectly, and I rarely assess my own work as even remotely competent, let alone perfect. I'm on my third rework now, I really just hope as few people as possible are actively pissed at me / send death threats / etc..

But between WF, YCG, and my various indie collaborators, I'm incredibly lucky have so many talented people to work with. It's taken over a decade (and moving literally across the country) to get there, but every day, every new level or piece of artwork I see is thrilling, just makes me want to work harder to do them (shovel) justice.

Woo, hey Robb! As you may or may not know, I'm still doing audio at WF fulltime, and I was pretty worried that they'd see my contribution to YCG as a conflict of interest.

But I was open about my intentions from the start, and as it turns out, WF trusts my loyalty and judgment. So I feel much better about pitching in, AND I love my day job even more. This has been one of the more prudently handled "going indie" moments I've witnessed, on all sides.

As YCG's resident queerbo / feminist / trans* ally / Semitic guilt-giver, I am wholly impressed by my friends' good taste so far, and will be dishing out disapproving glares if Gender Swap mode does stuff like "Boob Armor". Though I'm just the sound guy so they could just ignore me like everyone else does. (See? Just a taste of the impending guilt)