So, I just completed a parody song
...for a video made by one of my
friends and fellow YouTuber
...hbomberguy.
The purpose of his video was to talk
about the failings and absurdities
...of an expensive American anime called:
And part of my task
...was to create an intro that poked
a bit of fun at RWBY’s intro music.
Don’t worry if you’ve never
heard of this anime, by the way.
I certainly hadn’t.
I’ll fill you in as we go.
Anyway,
...the project ended up being such an interesting one,
...I thought I’d talk about how I
went about creating the music -
...researching, composing,
...hiring a singer, mixing, etc.
And I’ll show you the final result at the end.
But let me start by quickly telling you
a story about my history with anime.
When I was quite young,
...around 12 or 13,
...Channel 4, which was a British
channel we got for free in Ireland,
...started a late-night schedule of programming called:
‘4 Later’
...which included
...really bizarre adult programming that
played after midnight on Fridays.
One of the highlights of this schedule
included a new thing called 'anime',
...which none of us had ever heard of before.
Things like:
3×3 Eyes,
Akira,
Doomed Megalopolis,
...etc.
Now, I was pretty excited when I found out about this,
...but I knew there was absolutely no way
...my parents would never let me see any of it,
...and rightly so.
So I came up with a...
...very sneaky scheme,
...where, on Friday afternoons,
...I’d put a cassette into our VHS player
...with the intention of recording the anime later.
But it wasn’t as simple as that.
First I had to steal the remote control for the VHS
...in the hope that it would disincentivize
my Dad from trying to use it.
And this worked around 70% of the time.
"Ah, Jaysus!"
"Where’s the remote controooool?!"
Then, around 11p.m.,
...when my parents would usually be
thinking about getting ready for bed,
...I’d lurk back into the room
...by poking my head through the door behind them
...and, using the remote,
...I’d try to initiate the recording
without them catching on.
One problem with this though,
...was that the cassette player was really noisy.
And when you pressed record,
...it took around 3 seconds for it
to loudly prepare the cassette,
...which, I knew from experience,
...would instantly give the game away.
ＮＡＮＩ！？
However, I’d discovered a trick to get around this,
...which was to prepare the VCR earlier
in the day when no one was around
...by starting the recording.
...and then just pressing the pause button.
If you did that, the cassette was already primed
...so that if you pressed the
record button the second time,
...it simply un-paused the recording,
...which made pretty much no noise at all.
Ha!
Screw you, parents with your protectiveness!
And with the right cassette,
...this would ensure a solid 4 hours of recording,
...which would easily be enough to capture
...whatever anime happened to be playing that night.
Now, some of this stuff was just horrible.
There’s one I really shouldn’t have seen, called:
Genocyber.
It was just so unspeakably violent and morbid
...and had stuff that was...
Uh, what sort of description I can use
here that won’t get me demonetized?
Um...
'Not romantic'?
Yeah.
Genocyber had things that were
NOT ROMANTIC AT ALL!!!
I- I just can’t believe I watched that when I was 12.
Worse, my dad actually discovered this one
...while browsing through his cassettes a few days later.
...and afterwards told us that he was so unprepared,
...he got sick while watching it.
"Ah, Jaysus, this is revolting!"
"Thank God I found this before the children did."
"I must protect the children!"
By the way, I made ‘I must protect the children’ T-Shirts.
It’s great making fun of my Dad and
then financially benefiting from it.
I’m sure there’ll be no consequences
for me as a result of making these!
Anyway, this kind of experience helped
to form the general opinion of anime
...that most people of my age in Ireland have,
...that it’s really adult,
...and just about always involves the apocalypse.
So why am I bringing this up?
Well, I guess it’s...
...partially to bolster my anime street cred?
Because, I can’t say I’ve been the
most avid watcher over the years,
...and I’ve largely been oblivious to most of it,
...apart from maybe a few.
I still really like Akira
...and Grave of the Fireflies,
...Death Note and Berserk.
Uh, I even know what a Sharingan is.
And I may have seen these...
...uh, Packamans?
Er... Peckanamons?
Peckamenons?
But largely over the years,
...anime and I went our separate ways,
...and we never saw each other again.
[record scratches]
"Oh hey,"
"Tan... ta... crul..."
"It's me!"
"Sorry about the face and hair,"
"...I’m going through some stuff right now."
"Would you be able to parody RWBY’s music for me?"
So, if you don’t know,
...this is Harris Bomberguy,
...who, apart from making fun of alt-right buffoons
...and raising hundreds of
thousands of dollars for charity
...by streaming himself playing Donkey Kong,
...also likes to create long-form video
essays about various types of media.
For me, his particular talent
...is in being able to derive fascinating observations
...out of completely mundane material.
I mean, he has a 2-hour-long video
about a game called Pathalogic,
...which, and bear in mind that I have
no interest in this game whatsoever,
...I still watched it all the way through.
So, yes Harris.
I’ll happily write that parody music for you.
"Great!"
"But here’s the thing:"
"There are actually seven seasons of RWBY,"
"...and they’re not very good at all,"
"...and you’re probably going
to have to watch all of them"
"...to get an idea for the music."
"Sorry!"
Oh, right.
Urgh.
There had to be a catch.
And it was at this point,
...my odyssey began.
The story and tone of RWBY is very strange,
...veering from cutesy silliness to, kind of,
...sort of, attempts at serious intrigue?
ʀʀʀʀʀʀʀ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ Ａ
But it doesn’t really blend these two things
into a coherent whole at any point.
And when it comes to the different
types of music in RWBY,
...there’s a similarly incoherent clash of tone.
For example, some of the less important
background music and incidental music
...sounds like lazily written video game MIDI:
But then you also have these songs
...which are reserved for intros and larger set pieces,
...which are completely influenced
by metal and punk music,
...with some goth and pop influence thrown in there too:
Taken all together -
the bad MIDI and the metal pop songs -
I found it extremely inconsistent and
often confusing and distracting.
Judged individually,
...the songs themselves are quite harmonically
interesting and pretty fun to listen to.
They’re composed by the rock musician Jeff Williams,
...who’s also an Assistant Professor
for Electronic Production at Berklee.
And the vocals are provided by
his daughter, Casey Williams.
More about these two in a moment.
So back to the challenge at hand:
To create an intro song for hbomberguy’s video.
Something reflective of RWBY’s intros,
...which would help kick the whole
thing off in a fun and energetic way.
First, I wanted to sketch out the harmonic progression
...along with a basic idea of what the melody could do.
And when I do these sketches, I do them very loosely.
Here's an example:
I sometimes like to work this way before even
thinking about instrumentation or rhythm,
...because it prevents me from getting stuck
on awkward harmonic problems later on,
...and that allows me to write for guitars
and percussion much faster.
Another reason I like doing this is that
...you can’t ever really ever be sure
what the final result will sound like,
...because the piano gives very little indication
...of where the points of musical
interest are going to come from,
...and it leaves open a lot of creative choices,
...as you’ll see.
To record and mix everything,
...I chose Propellerhead’s Reason.
It wouldn’t normally have been my first choice,
...but they’ve made a lot of improvements
recently and I wanted to try them out.
For the guitars,
...I decided to go more of a punk
route than an overtly metal one.
So, to get the right sound,
...I played a Fender Strat,
...going through a Fender Twin amp,
...and used a lesser-known pedal
called the Jacques Fuse Blower
...to produce my distortion.
And along with drums and bass,
...this is the sound that I arrived at:
The vocals were the real star of the show though,
...and there were a few things I wanted to do
...to mimic notable aspects of Jeff’s William’s music
...and how he writes for Casey Williams' voice.
The first is how he tends to write vocal lines
...that feel like they’re slightly
straining Casey’s natural range,
...often dwelling in very high registers
...for what sounds like an
uncomfortable amount of time.
For example, at one point in the intro song
‘This Will be the Day’,
...Casey sings a melody that repeatedly has to hit
...and at one point going as high as
Casey is clearly a very talented singer, by the way,
...and when singing in a more operatic style,
...is actually able to sustain a
...which is pretty impressive.
However, when singing in a rock style,
...she can sound strained,
...and I get the feeling that Jeff is excessively
milking her range capabilities a little too much.
In addition, the production of her singing is often weird,
...and can sound a bit like there’s a liberal
amount of pitch correction taking place.
...which only adds to the feeling of unnaturalness.
On the plus side though,
...Jeff likes to write three of four layers
of vocal harmony in his music,
...which is something I really wanted to do myself.
But in order for me to explore the use of vocal
harmonies taking place in very high registers,
...I needed to find the right singer.
So I put out a call on Twitter,
...and received quite a few submissions.
The person I eventually landed on
...was Kat,
...a vocalist from Taiwan with
a background in rock music,
...who also has the ability to hit some
of those super high notes too.
I decided to try
...deliberately pushing her a little
into the upper limits of her range.
My feeling was that
...even if she couldn’t quite make it,
...I'd pitch-correct her ostentatiously
to mimic that unusual RWBY sound.
I didn’t end up doing that though,
...because Kat hit the notes without too many problems.
Goddammit!
And of course, the most fun part of this
was always going to be the lyrics.
Despite the fact that RWBY is an American series
...and the lyrics are in English,
...it seems to be following the long
established anime tradition
...of being filled with utterly meaningless nonsense,
...although, unlike Japanese anime,
...it hasn’t got the excuse of
simply being a bad translation.
When interviewed about his process for writing lyrics,
...Jeff said:
And just to give you a sense of what
kind of lyrics we’re talking about,
...here's a few typical lines:
[chuckles]
(Shoutout to House of Pain)
Okay.
Another one:
That’s a weird line.
That’s an odd line.
Yeah, it’s the Trent Reznor
school of lyric writing, basically.
So, I kind of HAD to follow this approach, didn’t I?
To get the lyrics nice and melodramatic,
...I also grabbed some random, um,
...'cool’ words from Jeff’s music.
One phrase I liked was:
And another
...was just the pointless use of the word:
But I also wanted some practical stuff
...that actually describe what the video
was actually going to be about.
So, I wanted to fit the name
...in there too, which was a little tricky to get right.
And lastly,
...because the anime is called 'RWBY',
...I thought,
...as a completely pointless
reference to the Kaiser Chiefs,
...I’d try to figure out a way to say:
...at some point.
So, once I had everything recorded,
...I did a little bit of careful mixing and EQ-ing.
Pro tip by the way:
When fixing your EQ settings,
...don’t start by bumping up
frequencies you want more of,
...like, say, treble in the vocals.
Bump down all the unneeded frequencies instead.
That way, you’re removing the
stuff that causes muddiness,
...and you get a lot more volume at the end.
For mastering,
...I had to find an alternative
to Reason’s mastering tools,
...which are...
...really bad.
So I used the Ozone 9 plugin from iZotope instead.
That made a gigantic difference.
Oh,
...by the way, nothing I mentioned
in this video is a paid promotion.
This is just what I used.
So with all that said,
...here’s all 51 seconds of my intro:
If you haven’t seen Harris’ video, by the way,
...he has this joke where it takes 20 minutes
for this intro to actually take place.
So, yeah, you’ll have to wait around a bit.
But definitely go and watch it!
By the way, I also wrote quite a bit of
the background music in that video,
...and a much larger piece that will appear in part 2.
I’ll talk about that another time.
And if you’re interested in more
videos about composition,
...I have one coming up in a few weeks
...about a piece I wrote for the renowned Fidelio Trio.
Yes, that’s right.
We’re going from anime music
to the classical piano trio.
By the way, if you want that intro music
...or if you’d like any of the background
music I wrote for Harris’ video,
...you’re welcome to reuse it for
whatever purpose you like,
...and I’m offering up both as a Patreon perk.
Lastly, you should really check out my
friend David Bruce’s channel too,
...where I and a bunch of other composers
...wrote a 1 minute piece for a small chamber ensemble
...and then another one for a full orchestra.
We’re doing a third video right now,
...where the music is going to
be written for a metal band.
I think that one is going to be a lot of fun.
The links are in the description.
And uh, hmm...
I usually end with something really punchy, don’t I?
Um...
I guess we’re going to have to
limp to the finish line this time, so...
Three
Two
One
