11 ms·

Gunship “Tech Noir” Breakdown

220 points by ecliptik 5y ago

perlpimp 5y ago
Please do this: https://youtu.be/uYRZV8dV10w https://youtu.be/uYRZV8dV10w
- busymom0 5y ago
  Another recommendation: https://youtu.be/zMhEJ0CKUEI https://youtu.be/zMhEJ0CKUEI
hala 5y ago
I have to say that I love your work and your graphic designs.
sen 5y ago
Great track, and as someone very non-musical I always love seeing breakdowns like this.
black_puppydog 5y ago
I love this song. The only thing that's stickier for my brain is "Fly for your life" IFF I'm stupid enough to open the video [1] on youtube. I find it interesting that the visuals are not made specifically for this track. But the original video [2] never had the appeal of the gunship version, and it's not even just the music, but mostly the editing. Really goes to show how much good editing matters. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1ZN8c4_Gs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1ZN8c4_Gs [2] https://youtu.be/qPELcGcVHfU https://youtu.be/qPELcGcVHfU
- Legogris 5y ago
  I don't know exactly why, but the friends-and-fans-collab video to "When you grow up, your heart dies" made me tear up quite a bit https://youtu.be/watch?v=ri9IefTuNzc https://youtu.be/watch?v=ri9IefTuNzc
  - twic 5y ago
    I sort of enjoy the dissonance of knowing that this was specifically, almost cynically, crafted to emotionally affect people of my age and background, rather than to express any genuine feeling on the part of the composer, and being emotionally affected by it. It's the feeling of being subjected to an ingenious hack.
    - james-skemp 5y ago
      > rather than to express any genuine feeling on the part of the composer Having found Gunship a few years ago, I'm not sure that this is true. At least one of the members is in their 40s, and based upon their other works, they definitely seem to have a love of the 80s and 90s (at least the media of it).
  - XenophileJKO 5y ago
    This feels so wierd to watch. I was a kid when all the referenced pop culture was created. Then having the realization that many/most of the people in the video were not alive when these movies were released.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - cronix 5y ago
    My entire childhood just flashed before my eyes. What a great video. Non-stop nostalgia. Thanks!
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  Amazing music and video. Thanks! I saw a post here about a similar dogfight in the macross anime, not sure what happened to it. Probably this one: https://youtu.be/0zdJVajCCFE https://youtu.be/0zdJVajCCFE It's always nice to watch planes flying. https://youtu.be/CaIMo1B4ryM https://youtu.be/CaIMo1B4ryM
- IgorPartola 5y ago
  This song got seriously stuck in my brain for a bit, and not just the melody but the video as well. What I didn’t know is that it wasn’t the original video for the song and honestly somehow that makes me feel better about it. For those reading this comment that listen to The Adventure Zone and finished the first season, there is an amazing edit of fan art as a music video to Hey Brother that will hit you right in the feels about Taako’s story. It’s not the same genre, obviously, but I bring it up because context + music + amazing editing = magic in that case also.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- maxden 5y ago
  That Fly for your life music video is amazing. Thank you for posting it. It made me look into the making of the visual elements [0] and a more technical look here [1] of the short film "Paths of Hate". Given some (or all?) of the elements are 3D models, that would make a great experience in VR. Would it be possible to have it as a VR music video?, or do those compositing shots/passes mean you wouldn't see the same thing? Amazing how creative people are... and how much work goes into such work. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1eJ40IWwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1eJ40IWwk [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1J9Af01PY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1J9Af01PY
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
grozzle 5y ago
I recommend the Song Exploder podcast for fans of this post. It goes deep on each component of a song, the influences, and often has interviews with the creators.
mmaunder 5y ago
If you love synthwave check out Mega Drive’s VHS album. It’s epic and not known by many. I’ve seen acts like Com Truise live and I think Mega Drive is seriously under appreciated. It has a Neuromancer or Johnny Mnemonic cyberpunk urban dark city feel. VHS is incredible and quite raw. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mXGjRDw-7y_OaK9NHOqTOfPJ9vFGCHq_o https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mXGjRDw-7y_OaK9NHO...
- devmor 5y ago
  A couple of these songs come up on Spotify mixes for me regularly, I really love them.
- ensiferum 5y ago
  Checkout Boostergangs by misanthropix. Def the sickest synthwave tune https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgBxLNHhY8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgBxLNHhY8
  - noir_lord 5y ago
    Trevor Something - Trevor Something Does Not Exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc Hands down my favourite in that genre.
    - 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
      I love Trevor Something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qQky5t3vxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qQky5t3vxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxSVf7zoD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxSVf7zoD8
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    That sound is amazing. The cover reminds me of the protomen albums.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  I love Mega Drive! The earlier works are really great too. A favorite: https://youtu.be/a0Q7e9Q6DlI https://youtu.be/a0Q7e9Q6DlI
Jolter 5y ago
I think some English lessons are in order for whoever wrote this.
- KineticLensman 5y ago
  Yes. Especially the idea of paragraphs that contain multiple sentences.
- jasonvorhe 5y ago
  People publishing their opinion on the internet don't owe you anything.
  - Jolter 5y ago
    Well I certainly don’t owe them an upvote, or my approval in general. Not sure where you’re going with that argument.
skinkestek 5y ago
This is seriously cool and interesting. Do anyone have tips on how to get off the ground for someone whos experience can be summarized to something like 1 hour of fruity loops but who now starts to get some free time? (videos, explanations etc that start from scratch)
- sgentle 5y ago
  If you don't mind the, uh, colourful presentation, the You Suck at Producing series (and channel with the same name) on YouTube is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjCxfEZZKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjCxfEZZKo - he also does pretty regular livestreams doing critique and analysis of user-submitted tracks. If you're looking for a free wavetable synth comparable to Serum from the article, I recommend Vital: https://vital.audio https://vital.audio - there's a fairly active community forum there as well.
- creamytaco 5y ago
  Fruity loops is great, since it comes with everything you need. Reason used to be another good choice but I haven't used it in many years. The best advice I was given relating to this exact question (20 years ago) was to invest in a midi keyboard, stick with one piece of software and use my free time experimenting with it. That's it. Watching youtube videos is a complete waste of time in my opinion, since a lot of that crowd has fallen into the trap of reviewing one plugin after another, without really being able to create art. At best it's a circlejerk of mimicry and patterned-knowledge regurgitation.
- indigochill 5y ago
  There's a hands-on educational program called Syntorial that introduces you step-by-step to all the features of a typical subtractive synth using just your ear. On every step, you listen to a sound producible with the features you've unlocked so far and recreate what you hear, then it tells you which parameters weren't quite right so you learn what to listen for to hone your ear. Subtractive synthesis is different from wavetable synthesis, but most of the concepts transfer. And Syntorial even has a free download (after the initial purchase) which covers Serum specifically, as well as a couple other industry standard synths. It might be pricey depending on how invested you are in learning, but they have a demo so you can see what you're in for. From my perspective, outside messing around by yourself, I don't know of a more cost-effective way to learn everything that it covers, and it saves significant time over messing around.
hardwaresofton 5y ago
https://postpoprecords.bandcamp.com/album/gunship https://postpoprecords.bandcamp.com/album/gunship
gorgoiler 5y ago
John Carpenter was recently interviewed on BBC Radio 3, if you’re into this sort of thing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010phy https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010phy ”[John Carpenter and Matthew Sweet] discuss John's iconic scores for Halloween, Escape from New York, Escape from LA, The Fog, Vampires and Village of the Damned. John explains how he came to work with the great Ennio Morricone who wrote the score for 'The Thing'. He describes the great pleasure he now gets from writing themes for imaginary films in the 'Lost Themes' series, and the joy that performing his music live has brought him.”
adzm 5y ago
Serum is such a wonderful and visual, intuitive synthesizer. There is also a free one, Vital, which is comparable, but Serum still is one of the most popular and versatile ones around for a reason. Visualizing the waveforms was such a breakthrough moment for me when really trying to understand how everything actually is working under the hood.
IAmGraydon 5y ago
Here’s a recreation of part of “Fly For Your Life” I did a couple of years ago just as a sound design challenge. The synth sounds were created in U-he Repro 5, which is the best softsynth available for these kinds of sounds, IMO. https://soundcloud.com/strange_satellite/fly-for-your-life https://soundcloud.com/strange_satellite/fly-for-your-life
- tuzemec 5y ago
  Wow... very good job! U-he's synths are amazing.
  - IAmGraydon 5y ago
    Thanks! Yeah Urs really seems love what he does and it shows in the quality of his plugins. If I’m doing synthwave, I usually go for Repro or Diva (which is also incredible). I have a number of analog hardware synthesizers and while they have their place and can be great fun, I find myself using them less and less and using plugins more and more.
tuzemec 5y ago
Also worth checking: Timecop1983 - Night Drive (https://songwhip.com/timecop1983/night-drive https://songwhip.com/timecop1983/night-drive) The Midnight - Days of Thunder (https://songwhip.com/the-midnight/daysofthunder https://songwhip.com/the-midnight/daysofthunder)
- noir_lord 5y ago
  Also Lazerhawk Skull and Shark - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvqDqoYXMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvqDqoYXMY Redline - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co (my intro to the genre closing on a decade ago). Trevor Something - Trevor Something Does Not Exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc Hands down my favourite in that genre.
- Vaslo 5y ago
  Came here to recommend The Midnight. Different style than Gunship but an excellent more pop-ish compliment.
  - joshmanders 5y ago
    The Midnight's songs Los Angeles and Sunsets were the first two songs I came across in Synthwave and got me addicted. Now I have a playlist called CODING SUCKS[1] that I put on repeat and random all day while I work. [1]: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/coding-sucks/pl.u-7m7uxm9bBW https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/coding-sucks/pl.u-7m7uxm...
- PKop 5y ago
  The Midnight are great. This is one of my favorites: Gloria (https://youtu.be/18-Ye2L3ej8 https://youtu.be/18-Ye2L3ej8)
  - dageshi 5y ago
    And then there's this that always gets paired up with Gloria on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAlgFq9Xq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAlgFq9Xq8
dvh 5y ago
Don't mess with the playback controls people! If you make your own controls I guarantee they will be worse than built in media controls. I'm on mobile and I have no idea if that is 3min or 30 min track (because of no indicator) and I can't seek/skip. Leaving audio element "as is" would make it 100% better. You make it pretty but useless.
airstrike 5y ago
While we're at it, I should really recommend Mitch Murder - Breeze, particularly the unofficial video, which is really a clip from Skateboard Kings (1978) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_hF5_o-lYDA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_hF5_o-lYDA
arrakis2021 5y ago
Gunship is so unique. I feel like their sound transcends generations, in that it feels just as fitting for the 80s as it does for the 2020s. Very few bands get that vibe. “Drone Racers” is my personal favorite https://youtu.be/3kOWOAi5_2o https://youtu.be/3kOWOAi5_2o
- smithmayowa 5y ago
  The Midnight, I'm actually biased as they are my favorite band, but you should check them out they also have timeless sound.
  - arrakis2021 5y ago
    Ty will do
2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
Bookmarking this thread. Lots of good recommendations to chase down. Thanks
- twic 5y ago
  I've done a lot of synthwave discovery via Spotify - once you've listened to a few artists, it quickly supplies a lot more. It seems to do this much better for synthwave than for many other genres i've listened to! That said, Gunship and Starcadian are the only synthwave artists i've liked enough to actually get out my wallet for, and i think i heard both of them from recommendations. I probably will for Occam's Laser at some point, who i think i first heard on Spotify.
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
    I don't use Spotify. My "in" was Trevor Something - Death Dream as a freeleech staff pick on w.cd. From there I've discovered a lot by searching for popular artists on certain tags and branching out. I get my wallet out regularly for Hello Meteor, Trevor Something, and George Clanton despite being very active in the torrent scene.
smithmayowa 5y ago
Hackernews always surprises me, who could believe there are so many synthwave lovers in this forum. Synthwave is the greatest genre of music as far as I'm concerned.
- bob1029 5y ago
  > Synthwave is the greatest genre of music as far as I'm concerned. I agree - Synthwave is where my weirdest and most enjoyable music journey began. If you are a fan of synthwave, you may also enjoy stuff like techno bunker (slightly more minimal). Spotify decided to start lacing playlists with this stuff and my monkey brain got addicted really fast. Something about the repetitive minimalism of these genres turns me into a coding terminator. I find I forget the music is going after about 5 minutes into the first track. That's not to say this is the only reason I listen to this music, but it's one fun benefit. It's a bit harder for me to concentrate externally when listening to things like trap instrumentals or dubstep (not that these are invalid sub-genres either - I really enjoy them too).
- brandonmenc 5y ago
  > Hackernews always surprises me, who could believe there are so many synthwave lovers in this forum. Funny, I always assumed the hn type crowd was the target audience for stuff like synthwave.
motohagiography 5y ago
Synthwave is funny, but I don't have any real affection for it because it lacked eros. Even though I like a lot of the original artists it borrows tropes from, the pecularity of synthwave is it does it all without any edge. It's the easiest of smooth listening, which I think is its point. Bret Easton Ellis wrote American Psycho about the very people original synthwave was written for in the 80's, and I suppose that's what makes it such an amazing and appealing retro movement today. The music is like the bland, empty affect part of the Patrick Bateman character's outward personality, which only barely concealed the serial killer "depth" on his inside. Any edge in synthwave at all appears to be playing on this, where the smoother it is, the more meta and uncanny it seems, and with it the implication of extreme and bizzare hidden depths behind it. Like a David Lynch theme. To me this makes synthwave perfect for the way millenials and younger people have had to manage their smooth social brand exterior in every concievable micro aspect of their lives, down to the organization of their bathrooms because it's all being competitively scrutinized for performance on video. When I hear synthwave, to me it is the soundtrack to embracing that insanity, which I don't have, but can appreciate. Maybe people just like it, but that seems more insane than I'm really prepared to consider.
- deadly_syn 5y ago
  I'd like to start by saying you made a very good argument here, but I would like to make some comments of my own as someone who is absolutely infatuated with this genre. You mention that a lot of synthwave is easy listening, but ironically most of the synthwave artists I tend to enjoy are a lot more "hardcore" I'd list 'carpenter brut','dance with the dead' and 'master boot record' as some good counterexamples to what you described. As for the social aspect, many people agree that the movie 'Drive' really kicked off the modern synthwave movement with its soundtrack and how the music played into the actions of the main character. The interesting thing about that movie is that it exists in a world almost directly opposite of what you described as "smooth social brand exterior" all the characters are living in some form of grime or filth, and the main character is a socially stunted badass. This movie (atleast for me) really set the stage of what synthwave conveyed, its fantasy of what I was told growing up were better times. Hotline Miami is another piece of art that prominently uses the genre to convey harsh ultra violent scenes of death and destruction, the beat and tempo drive the player to move quickly and kill swiftly in these dingy crime infested apartment complexes. Because I was so heavily influenced by Drive and Hotline Miami I see the genre as this brooding soundtrack for antihero's, like the kind of music that plays when the protagonist does some horrible stuff and subsequently smokes a cigarette looking off into the distance trying to understand what they just did. I'll post some example tracks below of darker stuff that fits this ethos. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9r2qeouiQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9r2qeouiQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9-rDplPrM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9-rDplPrM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNE2oCZH_4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNE2oCZH_4k
PUSH_AX 5y ago
I think Gunship are one of the few bands in this genre that are mostly using original synth hardware from the 80s. Not a cheap pursuit these days. Getting close in a VSTi and publishing a breakdown is a nice way to sell your presets I guess!
LaserDiscMan 5y ago
Since other users are posting their favorite Synthwave songs, I'll add some of mine: FM Attack - Dreamer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ88xK3XmpQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ88xK3XmpQ Mitch Murder - In The News - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7rK3Eks4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7rK3Eks4s Mitch Murder - Television - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_h7AM9UeaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_h7AM9UeaA (Contains clips from Videodrome, possibly NSFW) Miami Nights 1984 - Ocean Drive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC42MRmiAt0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC42MRmiAt0 Droid Bishop - Stunner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEk5iD2dUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEk5iD2dUk iamMANOLIS - My Future Girlfriend Video - (WARNING: Video contains some strobing) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TuiZMrHMiU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TuiZMrHMiU Arcade Summer - Ocean Break - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXdXywI4-qM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXdXywI4-qM Miami Horror - Bellevue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFCmZZKB70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFCmZZKB70 (the most popular video is better but NSFW) I've been into Italo disco for much of my life, it's similar but usually relentlessly positive/upbeat in comparison with some Synthwave tracks.
andywaite 5y ago
I've started a Spotify playlist of songs/albums recommended in the discussions here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/707TEJD6lGwX9mUoeKbzJS https://open.spotify.com/playlist/707TEJD6lGwX9mUoeKbzJS
- lanamo 5y ago
  Fantastic! Thank you for compiling this playlist :)
jermeh 5y ago
Seems like a ton of people here enjoy synthwave! Here's a big ole dump of synthwave I've got on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uLlGEXFZwaSjzSoeFKMBE?si=2388f9ba33ec4523 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uLlGEXFZwaSjzSoeFKMBE?si=...
snshn 5y ago
Crying Vessel is another good synthwave project. There're also gems like Boy Harsher, Zanias, HTRK. Lots of great musicians hidden away in that scene. I maintain a project aimed at obtaining/transcribing, and publishing rare lyrics, can be found here: https://lyrics.github.io/ https://lyrics.github.io/
0x001D 5y ago
Gunship was my entry into this field. Many other artists I admire too - Waveshaper, https://waveshaper1.bandcamp.com/album/mainframe https://waveshaper1.bandcamp.com/album/mainframe - Oscillian, https://oscillian.bandcamp.com/ https://oscillian.bandcamp.com/ - Code Elektro, https://codeelektro.com/ https://codeelektro.com/ - Morgan Willis, https://morganwillisofficial.bandcamp.com/ https://morganwillisofficial.bandcamp.com/ - FM-84, https://fm84.bandcamp.com/ https://fm84.bandcamp.com/ also, perfect music to endlessly hack on code.
aunty_helen 5y ago
Can recommend Carptenter Brut's remix of this also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr7Lt3sP9QI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr7Lt3sP9QI If you want a pretty solid intro to this genre and music like it I would suggest the Night Ride FM mixes. You can find them on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tKnpDwTio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tKnpDwTio
solarkraft 5y ago
Ow, cool to see this featured here and the discussion around it. The whole album is great. It’s available on Bandcamp and absolutely worth owning: https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com/album/gunship https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com/album/gunship
andywaite 5y ago
https://theriseofthesynths.com/ https://theriseofthesynths.com/ is a somewhat interesting documentary on the synthwave scene (requires payment).
philsnow 5y ago
Not related to Tech Noir, but since people are posting their favorites in this thread: Gunship released "Art3mis and Parzival" [0] a couple weeks before the movie Ready Player One was released. I had liked the book and was looking forward to the movie. I listened to the music video probably hundreds of times on loop, and then, when I finally saw the movie, I wished it had been more like the music video. [0] https://readyplayerone.fandom.com/wiki/Art3mis_%26_Parzival_(GUNSHIP_Song) https://readyplayerone.fandom.com/wiki/Art3mis_%26_Parzival_...
cphoover 5y ago
I would love to see more of these technical breakdowns of songs on hacker news.

220 points by ecliptik 5y ago

perlpimp 5y ago

Please do this: https://youtu.be/uYRZV8dV10w https://youtu.be/uYRZV8dV10w

busymom0 5y ago
Another recommendation: https://youtu.be/zMhEJ0CKUEI https://youtu.be/zMhEJ0CKUEI

hala 5y ago

I have to say that I love your work and your graphic designs.

sen 5y ago

Great track, and as someone very non-musical I always love seeing breakdowns like this.

black_puppydog 5y ago

I love this song. The only thing that's stickier for my brain is "Fly for your life" IFF I'm stupid enough to open the video [1] on youtube. I find it interesting that the visuals are not made specifically for this track. But the original video [2] never had the appeal of the gunship version, and it's not even just the music, but mostly the editing. Really goes to show how much good editing matters. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1ZN8c4_Gs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1ZN8c4_Gs [2] https://youtu.be/qPELcGcVHfU https://youtu.be/qPELcGcVHfU

Legogris 5y ago
I don't know exactly why, but the friends-and-fans-collab video to "When you grow up, your heart dies" made me tear up quite a bit https://youtu.be/watch?v=ri9IefTuNzc https://youtu.be/watch?v=ri9IefTuNzc
- twic 5y ago
  I sort of enjoy the dissonance of knowing that this was specifically, almost cynically, crafted to emotionally affect people of my age and background, rather than to express any genuine feeling on the part of the composer, and being emotionally affected by it. It's the feeling of being subjected to an ingenious hack.
  - james-skemp 5y ago
    > rather than to express any genuine feeling on the part of the composer Having found Gunship a few years ago, I'm not sure that this is true. At least one of the members is in their 40s, and based upon their other works, they definitely seem to have a love of the 80s and 90s (at least the media of it).
- XenophileJKO 5y ago
  This feels so wierd to watch. I was a kid when all the referenced pop culture was created. Then having the realization that many/most of the people in the video were not alive when these movies were released.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- cronix 5y ago
  My entire childhood just flashed before my eyes. What a great video. Non-stop nostalgia. Thanks!
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Amazing music and video. Thanks! I saw a post here about a similar dogfight in the macross anime, not sure what happened to it. Probably this one: https://youtu.be/0zdJVajCCFE https://youtu.be/0zdJVajCCFE It's always nice to watch planes flying. https://youtu.be/CaIMo1B4ryM https://youtu.be/CaIMo1B4ryM
IgorPartola 5y ago
This song got seriously stuck in my brain for a bit, and not just the melody but the video as well. What I didn’t know is that it wasn’t the original video for the song and honestly somehow that makes me feel better about it. For those reading this comment that listen to The Adventure Zone and finished the first season, there is an amazing edit of fan art as a music video to Hey Brother that will hit you right in the feels about Taako’s story. It’s not the same genre, obviously, but I bring it up because context + music + amazing editing = magic in that case also.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
maxden 5y ago
That Fly for your life music video is amazing. Thank you for posting it. It made me look into the making of the visual elements [0] and a more technical look here [1] of the short film "Paths of Hate". Given some (or all?) of the elements are 3D models, that would make a great experience in VR. Would it be possible to have it as a VR music video?, or do those compositing shots/passes mean you wouldn't see the same thing? Amazing how creative people are... and how much work goes into such work. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1eJ40IWwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1eJ40IWwk [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1J9Af01PY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1J9Af01PY
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

grozzle 5y ago

I recommend the Song Exploder podcast for fans of this post. It goes deep on each component of a song, the influences, and often has interviews with the creators.

mmaunder 5y ago

If you love synthwave check out Mega Drive’s VHS album. It’s epic and not known by many. I’ve seen acts like Com Truise live and I think Mega Drive is seriously under appreciated. It has a Neuromancer or Johnny Mnemonic cyberpunk urban dark city feel. VHS is incredible and quite raw. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mXGjRDw-7y_OaK9NHOqTOfPJ9vFGCHq_o https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mXGjRDw-7y_OaK9NHO...

devmor 5y ago
A couple of these songs come up on Spotify mixes for me regularly, I really love them.
ensiferum 5y ago
Checkout Boostergangs by misanthropix. Def the sickest synthwave tune https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgBxLNHhY8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgBxLNHhY8
- noir_lord 5y ago
  Trevor Something - Trevor Something Does Not Exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc Hands down my favourite in that genre.
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
    I love Trevor Something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qQky5t3vxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qQky5t3vxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxSVf7zoD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxSVf7zoD8
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  That sound is amazing. The cover reminds me of the protomen albums.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
I love Mega Drive! The earlier works are really great too. A favorite: https://youtu.be/a0Q7e9Q6DlI https://youtu.be/a0Q7e9Q6DlI

Jolter 5y ago

I think some English lessons are in order for whoever wrote this.

KineticLensman 5y ago
Yes. Especially the idea of paragraphs that contain multiple sentences.
jasonvorhe 5y ago
People publishing their opinion on the internet don't owe you anything.
- Jolter 5y ago
  Well I certainly don’t owe them an upvote, or my approval in general. Not sure where you’re going with that argument.

skinkestek 5y ago

This is seriously cool and interesting. Do anyone have tips on how to get off the ground for someone whos experience can be summarized to something like 1 hour of fruity loops but who now starts to get some free time? (videos, explanations etc that start from scratch)

sgentle 5y ago
If you don't mind the, uh, colourful presentation, the You Suck at Producing series (and channel with the same name) on YouTube is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjCxfEZZKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjCxfEZZKo - he also does pretty regular livestreams doing critique and analysis of user-submitted tracks. If you're looking for a free wavetable synth comparable to Serum from the article, I recommend Vital: https://vital.audio https://vital.audio - there's a fairly active community forum there as well.
creamytaco 5y ago
Fruity loops is great, since it comes with everything you need. Reason used to be another good choice but I haven't used it in many years. The best advice I was given relating to this exact question (20 years ago) was to invest in a midi keyboard, stick with one piece of software and use my free time experimenting with it. That's it. Watching youtube videos is a complete waste of time in my opinion, since a lot of that crowd has fallen into the trap of reviewing one plugin after another, without really being able to create art. At best it's a circlejerk of mimicry and patterned-knowledge regurgitation.
indigochill 5y ago
There's a hands-on educational program called Syntorial that introduces you step-by-step to all the features of a typical subtractive synth using just your ear. On every step, you listen to a sound producible with the features you've unlocked so far and recreate what you hear, then it tells you which parameters weren't quite right so you learn what to listen for to hone your ear. Subtractive synthesis is different from wavetable synthesis, but most of the concepts transfer. And Syntorial even has a free download (after the initial purchase) which covers Serum specifically, as well as a couple other industry standard synths. It might be pricey depending on how invested you are in learning, but they have a demo so you can see what you're in for. From my perspective, outside messing around by yourself, I don't know of a more cost-effective way to learn everything that it covers, and it saves significant time over messing around.

hardwaresofton 5y ago

https://postpoprecords.bandcamp.com/album/gunship https://postpoprecords.bandcamp.com/album/gunship

gorgoiler 5y ago

John Carpenter was recently interviewed on BBC Radio 3, if you’re into this sort of thing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010phy https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010phy ”[John Carpenter and Matthew Sweet] discuss John's iconic scores for Halloween, Escape from New York, Escape from LA, The Fog, Vampires and Village of the Damned. John explains how he came to work with the great Ennio Morricone who wrote the score for 'The Thing'. He describes the great pleasure he now gets from writing themes for imaginary films in the 'Lost Themes' series, and the joy that performing his music live has brought him.”

adzm 5y ago

Serum is such a wonderful and visual, intuitive synthesizer. There is also a free one, Vital, which is comparable, but Serum still is one of the most popular and versatile ones around for a reason. Visualizing the waveforms was such a breakthrough moment for me when really trying to understand how everything actually is working under the hood.

IAmGraydon 5y ago

Here’s a recreation of part of “Fly For Your Life” I did a couple of years ago just as a sound design challenge. The synth sounds were created in U-he Repro 5, which is the best softsynth available for these kinds of sounds, IMO. https://soundcloud.com/strange_satellite/fly-for-your-life https://soundcloud.com/strange_satellite/fly-for-your-life

tuzemec 5y ago
Wow... very good job! U-he's synths are amazing.
- IAmGraydon 5y ago
  Thanks! Yeah Urs really seems love what he does and it shows in the quality of his plugins. If I’m doing synthwave, I usually go for Repro or Diva (which is also incredible). I have a number of analog hardware synthesizers and while they have their place and can be great fun, I find myself using them less and less and using plugins more and more.

tuzemec 5y ago

Also worth checking: Timecop1983 - Night Drive (https://songwhip.com/timecop1983/night-drive https://songwhip.com/timecop1983/night-drive) The Midnight - Days of Thunder (https://songwhip.com/the-midnight/daysofthunder https://songwhip.com/the-midnight/daysofthunder)

noir_lord 5y ago
Also Lazerhawk Skull and Shark - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvqDqoYXMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvqDqoYXMY Redline - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co (my intro to the genre closing on a decade ago). Trevor Something - Trevor Something Does Not Exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYOtZvwNCsc Hands down my favourite in that genre.
Vaslo 5y ago
Came here to recommend The Midnight. Different style than Gunship but an excellent more pop-ish compliment.
- joshmanders 5y ago
  The Midnight's songs Los Angeles and Sunsets were the first two songs I came across in Synthwave and got me addicted. Now I have a playlist called CODING SUCKS[1] that I put on repeat and random all day while I work. [1]: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/coding-sucks/pl.u-7m7uxm9bBW https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/coding-sucks/pl.u-7m7uxm...
PKop 5y ago
The Midnight are great. This is one of my favorites: Gloria (https://youtu.be/18-Ye2L3ej8 https://youtu.be/18-Ye2L3ej8)
- dageshi 5y ago
  And then there's this that always gets paired up with Gloria on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAlgFq9Xq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAlgFq9Xq8

dvh 5y ago

Don't mess with the playback controls people! If you make your own controls I guarantee they will be worse than built in media controls. I'm on mobile and I have no idea if that is 3min or 30 min track (because of no indicator) and I can't seek/skip. Leaving audio element "as is" would make it 100% better. You make it pretty but useless.

airstrike 5y ago

While we're at it, I should really recommend Mitch Murder - Breeze, particularly the unofficial video, which is really a clip from Skateboard Kings (1978) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_hF5_o-lYDA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_hF5_o-lYDA

arrakis2021 5y ago

Gunship is so unique. I feel like their sound transcends generations, in that it feels just as fitting for the 80s as it does for the 2020s. Very few bands get that vibe. “Drone Racers” is my personal favorite https://youtu.be/3kOWOAi5_2o https://youtu.be/3kOWOAi5_2o

smithmayowa 5y ago
The Midnight, I'm actually biased as they are my favorite band, but you should check them out they also have timeless sound.
- arrakis2021 5y ago
  Ty will do

2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago

Bookmarking this thread. Lots of good recommendations to chase down. Thanks

twic 5y ago
I've done a lot of synthwave discovery via Spotify - once you've listened to a few artists, it quickly supplies a lot more. It seems to do this much better for synthwave than for many other genres i've listened to! That said, Gunship and Starcadian are the only synthwave artists i've liked enough to actually get out my wallet for, and i think i heard both of them from recommendations. I probably will for Occam's Laser at some point, who i think i first heard on Spotify.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
  I don't use Spotify. My "in" was Trevor Something - Death Dream as a freeleech staff pick on w.cd. From there I've discovered a lot by searching for popular artists on certain tags and branching out. I get my wallet out regularly for Hello Meteor, Trevor Something, and George Clanton despite being very active in the torrent scene.

smithmayowa 5y ago

Hackernews always surprises me, who could believe there are so many synthwave lovers in this forum. Synthwave is the greatest genre of music as far as I'm concerned.

bob1029 5y ago
> Synthwave is the greatest genre of music as far as I'm concerned. I agree - Synthwave is where my weirdest and most enjoyable music journey began. If you are a fan of synthwave, you may also enjoy stuff like techno bunker (slightly more minimal). Spotify decided to start lacing playlists with this stuff and my monkey brain got addicted really fast. Something about the repetitive minimalism of these genres turns me into a coding terminator. I find I forget the music is going after about 5 minutes into the first track. That's not to say this is the only reason I listen to this music, but it's one fun benefit. It's a bit harder for me to concentrate externally when listening to things like trap instrumentals or dubstep (not that these are invalid sub-genres either - I really enjoy them too).
brandonmenc 5y ago
> Hackernews always surprises me, who could believe there are so many synthwave lovers in this forum. Funny, I always assumed the hn type crowd was the target audience for stuff like synthwave.

motohagiography 5y ago

Synthwave is funny, but I don't have any real affection for it because it lacked eros. Even though I like a lot of the original artists it borrows tropes from, the pecularity of synthwave is it does it all without any edge. It's the easiest of smooth listening, which I think is its point. Bret Easton Ellis wrote American Psycho about the very people original synthwave was written for in the 80's, and I suppose that's what makes it such an amazing and appealing retro movement today. The music is like the bland, empty affect part of the Patrick Bateman character's outward personality, which only barely concealed the serial killer "depth" on his inside. Any edge in synthwave at all appears to be playing on this, where the smoother it is, the more meta and uncanny it seems, and with it the implication of extreme and bizzare hidden depths behind it. Like a David Lynch theme. To me this makes synthwave perfect for the way millenials and younger people have had to manage their smooth social brand exterior in every concievable micro aspect of their lives, down to the organization of their bathrooms because it's all being competitively scrutinized for performance on video. When I hear synthwave, to me it is the soundtrack to embracing that insanity, which I don't have, but can appreciate. Maybe people just like it, but that seems more insane than I'm really prepared to consider.

deadly_syn 5y ago
I'd like to start by saying you made a very good argument here, but I would like to make some comments of my own as someone who is absolutely infatuated with this genre. You mention that a lot of synthwave is easy listening, but ironically most of the synthwave artists I tend to enjoy are a lot more "hardcore" I'd list 'carpenter brut','dance with the dead' and 'master boot record' as some good counterexamples to what you described. As for the social aspect, many people agree that the movie 'Drive' really kicked off the modern synthwave movement with its soundtrack and how the music played into the actions of the main character. The interesting thing about that movie is that it exists in a world almost directly opposite of what you described as "smooth social brand exterior" all the characters are living in some form of grime or filth, and the main character is a socially stunted badass. This movie (atleast for me) really set the stage of what synthwave conveyed, its fantasy of what I was told growing up were better times. Hotline Miami is another piece of art that prominently uses the genre to convey harsh ultra violent scenes of death and destruction, the beat and tempo drive the player to move quickly and kill swiftly in these dingy crime infested apartment complexes. Because I was so heavily influenced by Drive and Hotline Miami I see the genre as this brooding soundtrack for antihero's, like the kind of music that plays when the protagonist does some horrible stuff and subsequently smokes a cigarette looking off into the distance trying to understand what they just did. I'll post some example tracks below of darker stuff that fits this ethos. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9r2qeouiQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9r2qeouiQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9-rDplPrM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9-rDplPrM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNE2oCZH_4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNE2oCZH_4k

PUSH_AX 5y ago

I think Gunship are one of the few bands in this genre that are mostly using original synth hardware from the 80s. Not a cheap pursuit these days. Getting close in a VSTi and publishing a breakdown is a nice way to sell your presets I guess!

LaserDiscMan 5y ago

Since other users are posting their favorite Synthwave songs, I'll add some of mine: FM Attack - Dreamer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ88xK3XmpQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ88xK3XmpQ Mitch Murder - In The News - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7rK3Eks4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7rK3Eks4s Mitch Murder - Television - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_h7AM9UeaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_h7AM9UeaA (Contains clips from Videodrome, possibly NSFW) Miami Nights 1984 - Ocean Drive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC42MRmiAt0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC42MRmiAt0 Droid Bishop - Stunner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEk5iD2dUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEk5iD2dUk iamMANOLIS - My Future Girlfriend Video - (WARNING: Video contains some strobing) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TuiZMrHMiU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TuiZMrHMiU Arcade Summer - Ocean Break - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXdXywI4-qM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXdXywI4-qM Miami Horror - Bellevue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFCmZZKB70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFCmZZKB70 (the most popular video is better but NSFW) I've been into Italo disco for much of my life, it's similar but usually relentlessly positive/upbeat in comparison with some Synthwave tracks.

andywaite 5y ago

I've started a Spotify playlist of songs/albums recommended in the discussions here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/707TEJD6lGwX9mUoeKbzJS https://open.spotify.com/playlist/707TEJD6lGwX9mUoeKbzJS

lanamo 5y ago
Fantastic! Thank you for compiling this playlist :)

jermeh 5y ago

Seems like a ton of people here enjoy synthwave! Here's a big ole dump of synthwave I've got on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uLlGEXFZwaSjzSoeFKMBE?si=2388f9ba33ec4523 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uLlGEXFZwaSjzSoeFKMBE?si=...

snshn 5y ago

Crying Vessel is another good synthwave project. There're also gems like Boy Harsher, Zanias, HTRK. Lots of great musicians hidden away in that scene. I maintain a project aimed at obtaining/transcribing, and publishing rare lyrics, can be found here: https://lyrics.github.io/ https://lyrics.github.io/

0x001D 5y ago

Gunship was my entry into this field. Many other artists I admire too - Waveshaper, https://waveshaper1.bandcamp.com/album/mainframe https://waveshaper1.bandcamp.com/album/mainframe - Oscillian, https://oscillian.bandcamp.com/ https://oscillian.bandcamp.com/ - Code Elektro, https://codeelektro.com/ https://codeelektro.com/ - Morgan Willis, https://morganwillisofficial.bandcamp.com/ https://morganwillisofficial.bandcamp.com/ - FM-84, https://fm84.bandcamp.com/ https://fm84.bandcamp.com/ also, perfect music to endlessly hack on code.

aunty_helen 5y ago

Can recommend Carptenter Brut's remix of this also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr7Lt3sP9QI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr7Lt3sP9QI If you want a pretty solid intro to this genre and music like it I would suggest the Night Ride FM mixes. You can find them on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tKnpDwTio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tKnpDwTio

solarkraft 5y ago

Ow, cool to see this featured here and the discussion around it. The whole album is great. It’s available on Bandcamp and absolutely worth owning: https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com/album/gunship https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com/album/gunship

andywaite 5y ago

https://theriseofthesynths.com/ https://theriseofthesynths.com/ is a somewhat interesting documentary on the synthwave scene (requires payment).

philsnow 5y ago

Not related to Tech Noir, but since people are posting their favorites in this thread: Gunship released "Art3mis and Parzival" [0] a couple weeks before the movie Ready Player One was released. I had liked the book and was looking forward to the movie. I listened to the music video probably hundreds of times on loop, and then, when I finally saw the movie, I wished it had been more like the music video. [0] https://readyplayerone.fandom.com/wiki/Art3mis_%26_Parzival_(GUNSHIP_Song) https://readyplayerone.fandom.com/wiki/Art3mis_%26_Parzival_...

cphoover 5y ago

I would love to see more of these technical breakdowns of songs on hacker news.