Four Lights (Revised 2009)

Uploaded by Norrin_Radd on July 19th 2009, 03:50 AM

Ok, so I really feel the need to explain this track, as it will probably annoy any of the listeners who are not into progressive/technical music. My entire purpose behind this song was to write something extremely technical. I went out of my way to make nearly every pattern an unusual time signature (7/8, 9/8, 11/8, 13/8 and combination in between). Writing this song actually took me about 6 months, and 120 revisions to do. I spent a lot of time researching interesting time signatures, and getting ideas from different drummers, until I felt I was qualified to attempt such a bizare concept. To make matters even stranger, I went out of my way to make nearly every pattern an "evil" sounding chord progression. Another thing I spent alot of time researching. I tried to figure out what actually makes a melody sound evil, or malicious. The first two main riffs in this song are HEAVILY inspired by both the War of the Worlds soundtrack (the Tom Cruise one), and a 70's Zheul band called Univers Zero. Ok, so after all that, if you are still with me, this is a revised version of this song. I originally wrote it in 2008, but there were always some parts that I felt needed a tune up. I finally got around to bringing this track up to code. This is another track that will be on my death metal chiptune project album, whevever I finally finish it. Annnnnnnnnd done. Go!

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More Music Submissions From Norrin_Radd
Date Title
10/05/09 Spinning (NES Spiral Architect cover) 329 53 58
07/19/09 Four Lights (Revised 2009) 437 74 85
07/07/09 A Castle Under Siege - Knight 506 72 116
06/30/09 Gunslinger Prototype ver 1 198 20 26
05/28/09 Process of Macrocosmic Emaciation 219 41 36
Add Comments (73)
  • Wheely : More ... moore ... MORE! That is really great man (fan of technical deathmetal ;))
    on March 21st 2010, 09:24 AM
  • waxinwary : you know this is brilliant right? :) lovin it :) you are: chip artist!
    on January 2nd 2010, 09:58 PM
  • bryface : i was watching this video of patrick stewart talking about domestic violence (do a youtube search) and it made me think about this TNG episode, and also this song. when picard gets ragey you can almost see exactly where it comes from now.
    on November 28th 2009, 02:40 AM
  • LordMachino : Oh man! This is incredible! Really pushing chiptune and music in general to some serious limits here.
    on October 18th 2009, 08:33 PM
  • xr : I love this so hard, IT COMBINES ALL MY FAVOURITE GENRES OF MUSIC
    on October 6th 2009, 10:21 AM
  • Chema64 : the drum patterns are delicious, so are the shredding solos (laking in univers zero, obviously). this is why i love zheul, it keeps you uncomfortable, don't know what to expect in the next section. next step: microtonal zheul-chanting suite? the kids would just call it pretentious button-mashing-wankery. As djinnocide said, you're my favorite composer. VIVA KOENJI!
    on September 29th 2009, 08:59 PM
  • mulch : go Picard!!!!! hero of mine too.... absolutely phenomenal sonic construct there Norrin_Radd..... mulch 8)
    on September 7th 2009, 07:21 PM
  • Nintendude : The perfect song for eating live taspa. nomnomnomnom
    on August 11th 2009, 02:28 PM
  • Set_Diamond : I said cynic before but after listening to it again this is soooo Necrophagist/Pestilence :).
    on August 2nd 2009, 08:09 AM
  • Jredd : Hey, I've got chip jam experiment 02 up. Perhaps you'll enjoy that one too. Also, I can't wait to see what you come up with next :)
    on August 2nd 2009, 12:50 AM
  • NESMETAL : so many great parts! awesome job man, seriously awesome job. nice touch with the clip from star treck too haha. very nice.
    on August 1st 2009, 10:24 AM
  • villewannabe : OMFGZZZZZZZZZZZZZ loving this! I like how it's alot like a prog metal song but still the arrangement isn't just band instruments turned into 8bit sounds - it's more like hardcore, clearly electronic composement. This really deserves my like, and if there was a "love" -button, it'd get my love too. Totally epic =|
    on July 31st 2009, 04:10 AM
  • Moldilox : Yo, Norrin, I just wanted to let you know that I held my boombox out to the ocean, turned this track up to the max and SUMMONED THE MOTHERFUCKING KRAKEN.
    on July 30th 2009, 01:52 PM
  • vibe_crc : Sounds epic. :)
    on July 30th 2009, 07:24 AM
  • greenhouse : I'd never heard of "Sprial Architects" so I Myspace'd them, and I can totally see their influence on you with this piece. I'm a huge metal/hardcore fan and this for sure has the makings of an epic track. I really want to hear more stuff like this, but maybe a bit more deathcore or metal, dunno if you're into that, but I think that'd be badass. Sliver is the closest I've found to metal chiptune. But anyway, nicely done bro.
    on July 29th 2009, 09:36 PM
  • Subway Sonicbeat : Oh, you changed my favorite part of it, near the end. :( Still good as hell, but that part was actually the best of it all, the cherry on the top etc etc etc. But anyway, it's your work and I still love the rest of it. I still think this is the best chip composition.
    on July 29th 2009, 12:25 PM
  • leeni : Yes...actually EPIC is the word for this piece of awesome. Soooo rad.
    on July 29th 2009, 11:46 AM
  • heathcliff : fucking 13/8...I love you..why do so few bands now-a-days stray from 4/4??
    on July 28th 2009, 01:30 PM
  • Set_Diamond : The main riffs sound like something that would be on the new Cynic album.
    on July 27th 2009, 07:47 AM
  • likeluke : this is beyond unbelievable. you're such a fucking huge deal to me. please drop the full death metal album, gee whiz!!
    on July 26th 2009, 09:40 PM
  • djinnocide : You've reached the mountain top with this one, Norrin. You play by a different set of rules, my friend, and this is a prime example of why you're my favorite chip composer.
    on July 26th 2009, 09:12 AM
  • Kid_Flyaway! : fucking hell, this is crazy good. Amazing composition
    on July 26th 2009, 03:01 AM
  • Norrin_Radd : Spiral Architect absolutely changed my life in 1999. Probably the reason I write the way I do now. I still listen to that album a lot, and to this day, it remains one of the only albums so technical, I find it hard to break down an analyze. Absolutely love it. Twisted Into Form is great too, but not as consistantly wicked as Spiral Architect. The singer does a better job in Twisted Into Form than he did in Spiral Architect though.
    on July 25th 2009, 06:38 PM
  • Yep : Interesting ! Just listenned once but I know this kind of song grows in you after a few listenings. You might want to hear some Spiral Architect or Twisted Into Form, they play a lot with time signatures.
    on July 24th 2009, 11:02 PM
  • xaimus : Norrin: Modplug makes IT-S3M conversion pretty easy! S3M has no support for instruments, so that might be an issue--if you were using instruments, you would have to recreate each volume envelope manually using volume effects applied to each note. Still, it would be neat to see your tunes as NSFs, and using s3m2nsf with Modplug is probably easier than learning a new tracker. :)
    on July 22nd 2009, 09:05 AM
  • Devnull : Norrin: Yet another success. Keep up the good work it is appreciated by many.
    on July 22nd 2009, 04:21 AM
  • Norrin_Radd : boomlinde: A definitely influence for REAL! Blotted Science was one of the albums that was too insane to study from. I really hope they do another one! *** xaimus: I have not attempted to use s3m2nsf before. Actually the thought never occured to me. What if all my source files are in .IT format? *** KyRomite: I have a nearly finished version of Gunslinger almost ready to upload here, as well as a game over theme in the works. Thanks for your support man! YOu'll liek the extended Gunslinger! There are some tastey suprises ;)
    on July 22nd 2009, 03:20 AM
  • boomlinde : If Ron Jarzombek was born in the 80s...
    on July 22nd 2009, 02:54 AM
  • Thretris : Shit man, this is some face raping sound. I like it... THOUGH, I have been checking your page very frequently to hear more of the tunes your making for this game of your friends. Gunslinger is just the fuckin most awesome track and when you do stuff like that its more up my alley than this.. THOUGH thats just my personal taste and it doesn't make me blind to see the amount of awesome in the song. Keeping time count on this one is like TORTURE (like picard ;) get it)
    on July 22nd 2009, 01:25 AM
  • IAYD : This is just so intimidating.
    on July 21st 2009, 10:59 PM
  • xaimus : Norrin_Radd, have you tried using s3m2nsf?
    on July 21st 2009, 09:31 PM
  • RushJet1 : obvious /add to likes
    on July 21st 2009, 08:36 PM
  • the hamlet : You pose some intriguing musical conundrums, I love it.
    on July 21st 2009, 05:24 AM
  • Norrin_Radd : Again, thanks for the comments everyone!*** PDF format: Excellent work with the clip. Picard is unbeatable! *** elsh: No, this is modplug. I am manually following the restrictions of the NES sound engine though, so I could recreate this in FT if I wanted. It would probably sound better too, if I could just use FT as confidently as I could modplug. :( *** Nanoshine: Comes in at 4:56 of the song. You can also count it as 9/8 + 4/8, which is what I do when I want to tap my head to it. That reminds me, I posted a list of all the weird time signatures in this song, and their time indexes at # 8BC Commons forum, for anyone who is interested.
    on July 21st 2009, 12:48 AM
  • PDF format : http :// www . youtube . com/watch?v=moX3z2RJAV8 < -- relevant
    on July 20th 2009, 05:46 PM
  • Nanoshine : 13/8??? thats insane!!
    on July 20th 2009, 02:04 PM
  • Shnabubula : Awesome tune norrin radd!
    on July 20th 2009, 11:03 AM
  • Blitz Lunar : oh my, dissonance and time wanking, it must be my birthday. this is remarkable stuff.
    on July 20th 2009, 06:07 AM
  • t.e : seriously inspiring
    on July 20th 2009, 03:31 AM
  • mcfiredrill : Thought I was gonna get prog rocked out but I actually like this graet job!! Pretty fucking insane too.. @_@
    on July 20th 2009, 03:07 AM
  • Groovemaster303 : Proper mad skills mate.
    on July 19th 2009, 11:14 PM
  • Roxas : How in the hell. you have taken chip music to a whole new level my friend. this is too epic for words.
    on July 19th 2009, 11:00 PM
  • hpizzle : NORRIN - YOU WIN. YOU WIN AT CHIP ROCK. YOU'VE BEAT THE GAME. THIS IS IT. seriously though - incredible. i don't know how you can top this one... but i am sure you will find a way
    on July 19th 2009, 06:46 PM
  • pandaPLUS : So I suppose this is what they call math rock? Ah, screw genres, man, this is great. Love those progressing melodies. I can tell that that research really paid off. Everything feels like it has its place; every sound in the song seems to have a purpose. Really cool.
    on July 19th 2009, 06:27 PM
  • smiletron : thanks for the comment! i feel i must warn you that most of my tracks on 8bc are not my usual style though so i cant really accept that title :P all your production is flawlessly immaculate.
    on July 19th 2009, 06:19 PM
  • noisewaves : holy shit. famitracker? just...how? jesus this is so good.
    on July 19th 2009, 06:16 PM
  • accentalpulse : yes yes yes yes #1#1#1#1 !!!! >:D
    on July 19th 2009, 05:28 PM
  • retroboytimo : I love this, since there's so much work in the time signs ;) it's like mathcore in a nes for some reason, really great!
    on July 19th 2009, 05:22 PM
  • smiletron : even i, 8bc's shitty pop maker, can tell this is a masterpiece :P i love the mixed time signatures, and cen tell a lot of time went into it. it doesnt lose the listener's attention through the whole thing. technical, heavy, and all around fantastic :)
    on July 19th 2009, 05:18 PM
  • exileFaker : Absolutely wonderful track! And I love the analytic approach you took to achieving the mood you wanted, without this interfering in any way with its intensity & energy. A+ all around.
    on July 19th 2009, 04:25 PM
  • Disasterpeace : I dig this new version! Definitely better. I think i could hear another solo during the power chord extravaganza towards the end. Maybe that's just me though! The ending is a LOT better. I'm not sure about that sample at the end though, I was very satisfied with the ending you tracked, haha @Select: This track does have structure. The parts are easily discernible and there is even some repeated sections with variation, Listen again! @Norrin: Tatsuya Yoshida rules
    on July 19th 2009, 03:57 PM
  • Norrin_Radd : Wow, thanks for the warm reception guys. This is such a great community! cTrix: Whoa! You're the only other person I've run into that even knows about Ruins! They, and other bands the drummer Tatsuya Yoshida are in, are actually some of the bands I was using as research, no foolin'! Best vocals too hahaha!
    on July 19th 2009, 01:50 PM
  • wedanced : NICE!!! this is amazing.
    on July 19th 2009, 01:33 PM
  • EvilWezil : Always loved this track, really looking forward to a whole album of NES death! And if any listeners are "annoyed" by this as you feared, then it is clearly a direct result of them being annoyed by awesome. The song takes you on such a journey that the time signature changes just wash over you while you're too busy following the interesting melodies to notice... You fuckin' tell 'em, Jean Luc!!!
    on July 19th 2009, 01:00 PM
  • yerzmyey : Brilliant. Downloaded.
    on July 19th 2009, 12:48 PM
  • Exidy : Great work, and it was really cool to read about your thought process in composing it. I guess I listen to a lot of progressive stuff already, and I have to admit that music like this makes everything else sound comparatively boring.
    on July 19th 2009, 11:10 AM
  • NOM STAR : This is just epic in every sense of the word. Amazing.
    on July 19th 2009, 10:59 AM
  • Ultrasyd : Excellent. It's like Necrophagist and Yattering. Don't you play the guitar too ?
    on July 19th 2009, 10:47 AM
  • Pompei : I actually like awkward time signatures. I've never played anything in one, but they're very interesting and cool sounding.
    on July 19th 2009, 10:45 AM
  • Deepearthvoid : wow it still grooves REALLY hard for having the odd meters. reminds me of sick 70's rock combined with necrophagist. haha.
    on July 19th 2009, 10:08 AM
  • AlexLuthor : whoa 6 months? well your dedication definitely payed off, very entertaining track :)
    on July 19th 2009, 10:07 AM
  • calmdownkidder : Hey Norrin_Radd I'd like to speak to you about a physical CD track, where should I email you? Or can you email - records (at) calmdownkidder (dot) com - and I'll forward you the info - cheers!
    on July 19th 2009, 09:26 AM
  • L-tron : LAZER
    on July 19th 2009, 09:11 AM
  • rockmonitor : Really interresting and impressive. Provided that you don't follow the steps of DT ( technical and prog EP but boring ) ;)
    on July 19th 2009, 08:02 AM
  • cTrix : Yeah! This is off the plannet :-) Time sigs are great and the various lines work amazingly together. The Piccard sample (Cardassian torture scene!) slots in really well too. I'm looking forward to this metal chiptune project album. If you havn't, check out a japenese band called The Ruins... especially a release called "Refusal Fossel" from 199?. They are a little raw but for time sigs are great fun plus they sing in their own language.
    on July 19th 2009, 07:55 AM
  • lucasmarmitt : I have been recording death metal bands for a year in my studio and I really liked everything in this song. Its not my favorite style of music, but its good music.
    on July 19th 2009, 06:59 AM
  • Nestrogen : Man, what's up with all of the ghost-notes on the snare? Is that your new shit? Very,very prog...but that's fine with me...I followed it just fine. You know, years of playing in jazz/black metal bands gets you prepared for things of that nature. You have a lot of patience. I think that 120 revisions were probably necessary. Well, you know that I like it.
    on July 19th 2009, 05:28 AM
  • Je Deviens Dj En 3 Jours : There is 3 artists I'm listening to every day. I'm not gonna say who it is, but you are one of them.
    on July 19th 2009, 04:46 AM
  • Norrin_Radd : Select: Totally understandable. If I didn't listen to so much bizare music myself, I'd probably say the same thing. I appreciate you checking it out though.
    on July 19th 2009, 04:42 AM
  • Norrin_Radd : Thanks Jdredd! You're damn right it's from TNG! Picard is pretty much my all time hero, as far as fictional characters go. The idea with this song was to tie in the madness and the derangement, being tortured and depraved can do to a man. Afterall, at the end of that episode, he told Troi he really did believe he could see 5 lights (even though there were only 4). But the fact that the torture actually led him to see 5 lights means he went through HELL. Just like the average listener might go through trying to tap their foot to this song ^_^.
    on July 19th 2009, 04:37 AM
  • Select : I disagree, once is enough. The track itself is ok, especially considering all the hard work you've put into it. But the whole point of the song (the unstructured-ness) really puts me off, don't like it =(
    on July 19th 2009, 04:34 AM
  • Jredd : Ha ha that clip is from Star Trek TNG isn't it? Dude, you are such a bad ass. I'd love to see this song hit number 1. Liked!
    on July 19th 2009, 04:17 AM
  • Hugoboy : Epic!
    on July 19th 2009, 04:03 AM
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