LogFAQs > #962464129

80st
Game: DDRMAX2
Title: Burning Heat
Composer: Mr. T with Motoaki.F
Nominator: @jcgamer107
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTt8-z27Fd4

oh, knowing jcgamer's history with me, i can totally see why he chose this as a nom hahaha. A perfect example of a lot of stuff we talked about in the past in old topics about odd rhythm stuff these many years we've both been on the board. This blasts you with straight 16ths (with vaguely implied 4+4+4+4/etc) on that filtered synth bass, but the drums come in at a bouncy 3+3+3+3 12/8 on top of it instead, which is an awesome instant layering. This tune plays around plenty with that layered feeling of different pulse timings. never quite as lengthily or bluntly as the start, but it's there at plenty of moments, where the 3s get challenged by some layer doing some element in 4s (Especially 0:35 - 0:47). OR you just hear unearthly syncopation that makes it so you can't mistake the 12/8 feeling for "bouncy swing 4/4". The same sort of feeling one of my favorite PAt METHENY GROUP tunes known as "5-5-7" always gives me (Sorry; i just had to shoehorn this ridiculous comparison, but if you pay attention to the rhythms it should not be hard to understand what i am talking about hehehe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQv4JGnXei4

Burning Heat is SO gradius-y in sound pretty instantly. I'd know it's from that whether or not i heard it before, and i talked about in the recent gradius writeup how positively i feel about that series' contribution to the history of vgm as a whole. It's very much so and the original of this is an iconic track from the series i've always loved since i knew it.

i LOVE that subtle additional harmony on those chord hits :34 and :35 so much, stacking additional information to a chord essentially just for textural variety is one of my favorite feelings. a lot of time when composing or improvising these days i'll do that sorta thing, as a method of highlight just like duplicating a chord or elements of one a 4th or 5th up and suddenly it sounds like COMPUTER REALM and that's good in my books (See: previous writeup). it's nice that this tune's centered around one of my more favorite stereotypical chord progressions, so i can enjoy both sides of the very conventional and more unusual contrasts in harmony when each happen

those cool harmonies like instantly being followed by the big 4/4 against 12/8 layering comparison section thing makes :34 pretty much the climax of the tune to me. winds up being a really powerful barrage of so many of my favorite possible musical elements in my face in a row

hahaha i'm loving all the comments on the video that are like "this song sounds like it would be in a past video game before being in ddr" who have not learned the TRUTH yet

my original shorthand notes say that i'd probably rank this higher if this were one of the FM versions from like arcade, but i have no idea why i said that because those versions don't go nearly as all out as this one does with all the rhythm stuff that i spent half this writeup talking about!

i neglected to say so far, i've always loved how jumpy it sounds when the start of this main melody happens after anything else. it's so abrupt and somehow perfect. i find often with 3/4-6/8-12/8 type zone of things, that it's very common for melodies to do things that'd feel awkward in any other context, but because that category of bouncy timesig is so naturally smooth (arguably even more easily smooth than 4/4), that you can do pretty much any randomized rhythm on a melody and it'd feel cool. idk if anyone perceives what i'm talking about, i mean the bit of the melody line you hear at :12/:35/:58. it's mathematically simple (literally just the first 6 beats of a 12 beat bar all taken up), but something about the timing, notes used, context of everything surrounding, makes it always feel like it's pushing the tune forward in this unbalanced jagged way...while still feeling natural and smooth at the same time just because it's a 12/8 song, and i REALLY like that. the original is like this even more often, like every time the track loops, and although i'd say that's one way i like the original more...my favorite portion of this song is the exact thing that subverts that all, the whole transition to the more layered pace changeup at :35

i never really thought much about this particular ddr song even though i believe i've been aware of it since forever, so thanks for like "pointing it out" to me in this topic!