TRON Anthology - The Remixes

[+DZ-Jay]

As alluded to before, I prepared a music track for IntelligentVision's upcoming TRON Anthology game.

 

 

I have been waiting for this program since @Rev originally announced it several years ago, so I got very excited to learn that it was finally going to be released.  I asked Rev if he would be interested in a remix to put on the menu screen or somewhere, and he accepted the offer.

 

I am not a musician; I am more of a DJ/Producer, so the first thing I asked Rev is if he had already a track I could remix.  He didn't, so we quickly called on the very talented @Nyuundere for his assistance, and he graciously obliged.

 

We started a PM convo thread with a few of the involved parties to discuss the project.

 

For some inexplicable reason, Rev chose Journey's "Only Solutions" song as the track to represent the TRON Anthology.  Of all the cool synth stuff made by Wendy Carlos back in the day, Journey's song strikes me as the least TRON-ish song in the entire soundtrack.  But Rev was adamant, and Journey it was to be.

 

My aim was to try to "TRON-ify" the song as best as I could with cool techno drums and sound effects, but there was not much time, and I had to work with what I had on hand.  What came out was more of a Disco dance track -- more Miko Mission, less Daft Punk.  I called it the "Disco Remix."

 

Although it was a good track, none of us were very satisfied with it, so Rev suggested to (and I quote) "make it slower, moody ... dramatic!"  I had no idea what that meant, but I buckled up tried my best.  This time, it came out more techno-ish, which was an improvement.  Yet it was still not all that we were hoping for.  I called it the "Emo Remix."

 

By this point both tracks were incomplete -- only three channels and basic instruments with little effects, but they served to illustrate the structure of the songs.  There was no time to complete both, so we needed to choose one.  Moreover before I committed my time and effort to embellishing the track and creating the final "remix," I wanted to make sure we were all satisfied with the selection.

 

So, after a few rounds of pitting one against the other, we all decided to go with the Disco dance track.  After all, it was still a good track, if not exactly "TRON-y."  (Then again, Journey??? Pshaw!)

 

Below I offer to you all three tracks for your review:

• The 3-channel "Disco Remix" -- without the ECS extra voices
• The incomplete 3-channel "Emo Remix"
• The final 6-channel "Disco Remix" with more instruments, better drums

 

I also include the ROM binaries for you to play on your own Intellivisions (or emulators).

 

Of course, I recommend you listen to the final 6-channel remix, it's the actual masterpiece of the bunch.  I really like the "Emo Remix," but it is sort of plain.  I hope to work on it some more in the future and complete it.

 

    Enjoy!

     -dZ.

 

TRON Anthology (Disco Remix) - 6 channels (With ECS)

 

 

TRON Anthology (Disco Remix) - 3 channels (No ECS)

 

TRON Anthology (Emo Remix) - 3 channels (Incomplete)

 

ROM Files:

• tron-remix-disco-6ch.rom
• tron-remix-disco-3ch.rom
• tron-remix-emo-3ch.rom

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by DZ-Jay

[Morpheus]

Thanks a lot for sharing these interesting backstage stories Dave!👍🙏

[Rev]

You cant go wrong with Journey. 😎

 

https://youtu.be/Byp9gZlOc7E

[+DZ-Jay]

2 hours ago, Rev said:

You cant go wrong with Journey. 😎

 

https://youtu.be/Byp9gZlOc7E

 

But ... do they play Disco?

[+MIK710_0]

just amazing 😍, thanks 🙏

[Nyuundere]

I just did the notation of the song, dZ did all the magic.

[+DZ-Jay]

1 hour ago, Nyuundere said:

I just did the notation of the song, dZ did all the magic.

To me, the notation of the song is one of the hard parts!  

 

   dZ.

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

The last one sounds the best.

First 2 are too "beaty" & slow imo.

 

You should try doing an original mix Jay.

Something that would sound kindof "Tron-ish" or 80s computer-like (if that makes sense).

if you closed your eyes and just listened... would you say.. "Oh yeah, thats Tron".

 

Again, just my opinion.

[+DZ-Jay]

6 hours ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

The last one sounds the best.

First 2 are too "beaty" & slow imo.

 

You should try doing an original mix Jay.

Something that would sound kindof "Tron-ish" or 80s computer-like (if that makes sense).

if you closed your eyes and just listened... would you say.. "Oh yeah, thats Tron".

 

Again, just my opinion.

They are all original, in that I only used the notes from the melody of the Journey song, arranged completely by hand.  All instrument sounds, including the drum samples, were synthesized by hand using the PSG.

 

I think the last one is the most "TRON-ish" one, it is just not complete.  To me, it is just the basic core of a track.  You see, the project was supposed to take one week-end, and it took instead a month and a half, and we had already run out of time, so I had to get it done.

 

Also (and more importantly), I am not a musician.  It is hard to describe how hard it is for me to make this sort of thing.  Seriously, none of this comes natural to me.

 

Sure, the end result sounds good, but what you hear represents countless hours of constant trial and error, trying to figure out the timing of the envelopes, or the right noise period for the hand-clap; listening to each note pattern over, and over, and over, tweaking this and that, until it sounds good.

Perhaps someone else could do it in a few minutes, I'm sure; but it takes me three weeks just to get the instruments to sound "right." *shrug*

 

So, if after 400 hours is still sounds too "beaty" -- screw it, I give up.  Disco it wants to be, Disco it is.  😆

 

    dZ.

Edited December 20, 2022 by DZ-Jay

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

3 hours ago, DZ-Jay said:

They are all original, in that I only used the notes from the melody of the Journey song, arranged completely by hand.  All instrument sounds, including the drum samples, were synthesized by hand using the PSG.

 

I think the last one is the most "TRON-ish" one, it is just not complete.  To me, it is just the basic core of a track.  You see, the project was supposed to take one week-end, and it took instead a month and a half, and we had already run out of time, so I had to get it done.

 

Also (and more importantly), I am not a musician.  It is hard to describe how hard it is for me to make this sort of thing.  Seriously, none of this comes natural to me.

 

Sure, the end result sounds good, but what you hear represents countless hours of constant trial and error, trying to figure out the timing of the envelopes, or the right noise period for the hand-clap; listening to each note pattern over, and over, and over, tweaking this and that, until it sounds good.

Perhaps someone else could do it in a few minutes, I'm sure; but it takes me three weeks just to get the instruments to sound "right." *shrug*

 

So, if after 400 hours is still sounds too "beaty" -- screw it, I give up.  Disco it wants to be, Disco it is.  😆

 

    dZ.

I was not trying to complain about the music, or to put you down dz... far from it. Please dont take offense. I thought you posted it looking for constructive critisizm.

 

I know it takes alot of work to do.. thats why only a few can do it (I know i cant). As far as sound & the time spent doing it, they are all great and you should be proud of all versions that you have done.

 I was merely pointing out that the journey score doesnt really sound techy (is that a word?) or Tron-like. (Which has nothing to do with what youve done since you had the stipulation of using the journey song in the first place.)

Of course, this is just my opinion.

No harm meant.

[+DZ-Jay]

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

I was not trying to complain about the music, or to put you down dz... far from it. Please dont take offense. I thought you posted it looking for constructive critisizm.

 

 

Ah, no, I did not take offense at all.  I just really wish I could make music.  It really is hard for me, but I love the end result, so I keep torturing myself every time.
 

It's like the monkeys-on-the-typewriter deal for me:  keep banging until it sounds good.  That's how I do everything (including artwork and games).  Being obsessive-compulsive a perfectionist helps quite a bit.  Hehe.

 

 

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

I know it takes alot of work to do.. thats why only a few can do it (I know i cant). As far as sound & the time spent doing it, they are all great and you should be proud of all versions that you have done.

 

Thanks.  I do agree that none are very "TRON-ish," but we started with a Journey rock song, so ... I tried.  I know that my aim was to make it closer to the synth patterns that Wendy Carlos did, but ... I guess my early DJ experience with Italo Disco tends to crop up.  😃

 

 

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

 I was merely pointing out that the journey score doesnt really sound techy (is that a word?) or Tron-like.

 

Absolutely agree.  Blame @Rev.  His pick.  I thought for sure we would have started with something like what Solar Sailer had, but ... Journey.  Oh well. (The original is a cool song, just not electronic enough.)

 

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

(Which has nothing to do with what youve done since you had the stipulation of using the journey song in the first place.)

 

Yup.  I agree that the third one (Emo Remix) has the best potential.  I'll consider working on it some more ... some day.

 

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

Of course, this is just my opinion.

No harm meant.

 

Hey, no worries.  I really didn't take it as an offense or criticism.  I was frustrated myself for not being able to translate Rev's idea of a moody Daft Punk-y version of Journey's song.  I honestly do not know how to do that.

 

I'm sure that given more time (maybe a few more months of hair-pulling trial and error!!!) I could have TRON'ed the cr*p out of that track!  LOL!

All good.  Thanks for listening.

 

    dZ.

Edited December 20, 2022 by DZ-Jay

[Rickster8]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:30 PM, DZ-Jay said:

 

But ... do they play Disco?

NO!!!  

[+BBWW]

On 12/16/2022 at 4:16 PM, Rev said:

You cant go wrong with Journey. 😎

 

https://youtu.be/Byp9gZlOc7E

Yes, you actually can!

 

[+BBWW]

I think this works just fine, despite Journey.

 

[Rev]

Journey is one of the hardest heavy metal groups in all time!

[+5-11under]

18 minutes ago, Rev said:

Journey is one of the hardest heavy metal groups in all time!

Don't Stop Believin'

[IMBerzerk]

Journey and Heavy Metal music are kinda Separate Ways, no?

Edited December 20, 2022 by IMBerzerk

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

2 hours ago, BBWW said:

Yes, you actually can!

 

Lmao...

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

2 hours ago, Rev said:

Journey is one of the hardest heavy metal groups in all time!

 

[+BBWW]

3 hours ago, Rev said:

Journey is one of the hardest heavy metal groups in all time!

You need to step out of the smoking shed and get some actual air.

 

[+BBWW]

This is Journey to me: 

 

[+DZ-Jay]

On 12/20/2022 at 5:55 AM, DZ-Jay said:

They are all original, in that I only used the notes from the melody of the Journey song, arranged completely by hand.  All instrument sounds, including the drum samples, were synthesized by hand using the PSG.

 

I think the last one is the most "TRON-ish" one, it is just not complete.  To me, it is just the basic core of a track.  You see, the project was supposed to take one week-end, and it took instead a month and a half, and we had already run out of time, so I had to get it done.

 

Also (and more importantly), I am not a musician.  It is hard to describe how hard it is for me to make this sort of thing.  Seriously, none of this comes natural to me.

 

Sure, the end result sounds good, but what you hear represents countless hours of constant trial and error, trying to figure out the timing of the envelopes, or the right noise period for the hand-clap; listening to each note pattern over, and over, and over, tweaking this and that, until it sounds good.

Perhaps someone else could do it in a few minutes, I'm sure; but it takes me three weeks just to get the instruments to sound "right." *shrug*

 

So, if after 400 hours is still sounds too "beaty" -- screw it, I give up.  Disco it wants to be, Disco it is.  😆

 

    dZ.

 

I guess this was my long way of saying, that if there are any musicians out there who would like to collaborate on creating music on the Intellivision, with cool drums, instruments, and effects, let me know.

 

     dZ.

[Zendocon]

On 12/21/2022 at 8:19 AM, DZ-Jay said:

 

I guess this was my long way of saying, that if there are any musicians out there who would like to collaborate on creating music on the Intellivision, with cool drums, instruments, and effects, let me know.

 

     dZ.

I've only done the basics with the IntyBASIC music tracker, but I listened to your remixes and really like what you did with the percussion.  All I really bring to the table is compositions for 3-part harmonies, so I don't know how helpful I would be.  I didn't grow up on the Amiga tracker scene, but I wish I did.

[+DZ-Jay]

58 minutes ago, Zendocon said:

I've only done the basics with the IntyBASIC music tracker, but I listened to your remixes and really like what you did with the percussion.  All I really bring to the table is compositions for 3-part harmonies, so I don't know how helpful I would be.  I didn't grow up on the Amiga tracker scene, but I wish I did.

 

Compositions for 3-part harmonies is fine, since that's mostly what I lack.

 

I also did not grow up with the Amiga tracker scene -- I was aware of the DOS Fast Tracker II scene, but not really part of it.  I did grow up in the era of analog synths and sequences, so that's my forté.

 

The reason I took to the Intellivision Music Tracker is (apart from the fact that it was the only way to play music on the Intellivision before the advent of IntyBASIC) that the core principles of tracker programming follow the ones for analog synth sequencing:  A song is composed of a sequence of patterns, each one comprised by a set of note arrangements assigned to tracks; and instruments are a set of tones modulated by envelopes and low frequency oscillators (LFOs).

 

In the Intellivision Music Tracker, drums are a special kind of instrument described as a series of tone and noise samples.  The number of samples correlates to the length of the sound, each sample played on an individual tracker "tick" at 60 Hz.  The drums in my remixes are 32 samples long.

 

So, drums are more like they typical sound effect, whereas musical instruments are pure tones modulated by software envelopes and simulated (i.e., table-driven) LFOs.

 

The one innovative (for me) trick I employed in these TRON remixes is that instead of dedicating a track or two to the drums, I combined the bassline with the kick drums in a way that allows me to play them both in a single channel.  This turned out to be simpler than I expected:  I "tuned" the drum sounds to the period used for each bass note, and combined the sharp attack of the kick drum with the longer envelope of the bass -- essentially unrolling the instrument envelope into the 32 drum samples.

 

Here's an example of one of the drum definitions, tuned for note A-1:

Spoiler

; Macro:
;    DRUM(tperiod, nperiod, tenable, nenable, vol)
;
;    Arguments:
;      tperiod:  The period for the tone
;      nperiod:  The period for the noise
;      tenable:  1=Enable tone; 0=No tone
;      nenable:  1=Enable noise; 0=No noise
;      vol:      Volume

                    ; #5: Kick Drum (A-1)
                    ; ----------------------    ; Instrument Envelope (0-15):
@@DrmCombo_A1:      DRUM($250, $1A, 0, 1, $E)   ;    $FEED, $CBBA, $AA99, $AA99
                    DRUM($380, $00, 1, 0, $F)
                    DRUM($380, $00, 1, 0, $E)   ; NOTE:
                    DRUM($480, $00, 1, 0, $D)   ;   This instrument is a combination of the
                    DRUM($580, $00, 1, 0, $C)   ;   kick drum sample and the bass note and
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $B)   ;   instrument to support both on a single
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $B)   ;   pattern channel.
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)   ;
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)   ;   The kick drum has been tuned to follow
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)   ;   the frequency of the bass note (A-1),
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)   ;   and the envelopes of both instruments
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)   ;   have been merged.
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                                                ; Instrument Envelope (16-31):
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)   ;    $AA99, $AA99, $AA99, $AA99
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $A)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)
                    DRUM($7F2, $00, 1, 0, $9)

 

 

I did the same with the other notes of the bass that coincided with the kick drum.  Then I created a cool drum pattern using the normal drum samples, and a bassline pattern using the normal instrument.  Finally, I combined them manually by replacing the the instruments with the appropriately tuned "combo-drum" whenever they aligned.

 

I think it worked out well, and the transition from the parts where drums and bass play in separate channels to the parts where they play on the same channel, are almost unnoticeable.  Almost.

 

This trick allowed me to create a full remix on three tracks with most of the effects, including drums and multiple instruments.  This was necessary since this is not a "demo" remix to just play on a video like the others, but intended to go into an actual game -- and since not everyone has an ECS, I wanted to make sure the track sounded great even without it.

 

I worked hard on getting the 3-channel mix sounding cool, and then just embellished the track with additional drum sounds and instrument overlays for the ECS version.  Alas, the "Emo" version did not get past the initial structural-mix stage, which is why it sounds so empty.

 

     -dZ.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by DZ-Jay

[First Spear]

Hotness.