Current Events > Never listen to One Punch Man music when you're depressed.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7GjzjYw3LU

It's the ultimate theme for when you feel sorry for yourself.
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I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.
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I listen to a few Boko no hero songs when i workout. Some really uplifting shit in that OST.
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pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

me too, always found it odd
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I mean I don't listen to any anime music and I think I have one video game soundtrack I've ever bought but if it's good music what's the problem
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pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

What's wrong with listening to the music of the media you enjoy?
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RedWhiteBlue posted...

pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

What about dubstep and EDM? Closest to game music, that is.

And what suspicions?

For the most part (the overwhelming most part) game and anime music is just atmospheric background noise designed specifically to help evoke the emotion that the media is trying to portray. It was never supposed to be listened to on its own. That's why even with Academy Award winning orchestral scores (for example Lord of the Rings, anything John Williams) you get a grand swirling sound that crescendos and dissipates in less than 3 minutes, and flits around awkwardly in between, when really the grandiose theme in the piece should have been fleshed out over a good 15-20 minutes at the very least.

So I kind of have to wonder about people who just listen to anime and game music, because usually it means they don't listen to a lot of music at all and this is their main source of inspiration. There are some exceptions, sure. And I get that sometimes you just want to be reminded of the cool music that was in your favourite anime scene. But it's not the real deal.

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious fuck
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Panty and Stocking OST has some legit great anywhere tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snV4qUFRRzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBF8uA3UJ6w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn_2sxlbWVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi58X2xoMFo
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pinky0926 posted...

For the most part (the overwhelming most part) game and anime music is just atmospheric background noise designed specifically to help evoke the emotion that the media is trying to portray. It was never supposed to be listened to on its own.

I mean, I'm going to have to strongly disagree, and I'm sure many here will as well. Sure it's meant to originally go with the show/game, but tons of them are great enough to listen to on their own.

pinky0926 posted...

For the most part (the overwhelming most part) game and anime music is just atmospheric background noise designed specifically to help evoke the emotion that the media is trying to portray. It was never supposed to be listened to on its own. That's why even with Academy Award winning orchestral scores (for example Lord of the Rings, anything John Williams) you get a grand swirling sound that crescendos and dissipates in less than 3 minutes, and flits around awkwardly in between, when really the grandiose theme in the piece should have been fleshed out over a good 15-20 minutes at the very least.

So I kind of have to wonder about people who just listen to anime and game music, because usually it means they don't listen to a lot of music at all and this is their main source of inspiration. There are some exceptions, sure. And I get that sometimes you just want to be reminded of the cool music that was in your favourite anime scene. But it's not the real deal.

Now I'm beginning to think the problem here is that maybe you don't know many good tracks in games/anime
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pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

Anime I understand but game music? The hell man?
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pinky0926 posted...

RedWhiteBlue posted...

pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

What about dubstep and EDM? Closest to game music, that is.

And what suspicions?

For the most part (the overwhelming most part) game and anime music is just atmospheric background noise designed specifically to help evoke the emotion that the media is trying to portray. It was never supposed to be listened to on its own. That's why even with Academy Award winning orchestral scores (for example Lord of the Rings, anything John Williams) you get a grand swirling sound that crescendos and dissipates in less than 3 minutes, and flits around awkwardly in between, when really the grandiose theme in the piece should have been fleshed out over a good 15-20 minutes at the very least.

So I kind of have to wonder about people who just listen to anime and game music, because usually it means they don't listen to a lot of music at all and this is their main source of inspiration. There are some exceptions, sure. And I get that sometimes you just want to be reminded of the cool music that was in your favourite anime scene. But it's not the real deal.

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious fuck

you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about

pinky0926 posted...

have been fleshed out over a good 15-20 minutes at the very least.

So I kind of have to wonder about people who just listen to anime and game music, because usually it means they don't listen to a lot of music at all and this is their main source of inspiration. There are some exceptions, sure. And I get that sometimes you just want to be reminded of the cool music that was in your favourite anime scene. But it's not the real deal.

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious f***

Uh, what? 15-20 minutes? And what non-media songs follow what you said or doesn't suffer from the same "flaw"? I don't see how adding lyrics changes the flow of the music.
Also, game and show/movie soundtracks are closest to classical music, which is generally seen as the "intelligent" music so...
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CoolMaskGuy posted...

I mean, I'm going to have to strongly disagree, and I'm sure many here will as well. Sure it's meant to originally go with the show/game, but tons of them are great enough to listen to on their own.

Sure, I accept the caveat that some of this music is great. The point I'm making is that when you specifically create a piece of music to be a support for another kind of media, it's not going to be a complete experience to only listen to it.

Give you an example - one of my favourite movie pieces ever, the Ice dance from Edwards Scissorshand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMfs1rlw4tc

How beautiful is this? But it's just frustrating that it's barely 3 minutes long. The themes here could have been fleshed out into its own respective piece, but obviously it was designed just to bring whatever happened on screen to life. That's why I don't think music created to be supportive of other media is generally great music to listen to by itself.
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Yomi posted...

Now I'm beginning to think the problem here is that maybe you don't know many good tracks in games/anime

FighterStreet posted...

you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about

Or that I just think about it in different terms than you guys do, that's all. Let's not do this "clearly you don't know what you're talking about" bull, it's boring. It's ok that we don't like the same stuff without making this a gatekeeping conversation.
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Pretty much the only video game music I like is from Zelda and some of the Sonic songs with lyrics. I also rarely even notice music in video games so I try not to judge other people as much as I want to.
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GiftedACIII posted...

Uh, what? 15-20 minutes? And what non-media songs follow what you said or doesn't suffer from the same "flaw"? I don't see how adding lyrics changes the flow of the music.
Also, game and show/movie soundtracks are closest to classical music, which is generally seen as the "intelligent" music so...

I wasn't talking about pop songs, I was talking about a big orchestral score (using the LotR soundtrack as an example) with complex motifs that can't (in my opinion) really be communicated that well over such a short timeframe. Nothing to do with lyrics.

I think if these guys had their way, they'd have made the pieces longer. But that doesn't matter when the piece you're making is purely made to support visual media.
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pinky0926 posted...

Yomi posted...

Now I'm beginning to think the problem here is that maybe you don't know many good tracks in games/anime

FighterStreet posted...

you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about

Or that I just think about it in different terms than you guys do, that's all. Let's not do this "clearly you don't know what you're talking about" bull, it's boring. It's ok that we don't like the same stuff without making this a gatekeeping conversation.

Haha you set this whole thing off with an ignorant comment to begin with give me a break dude, you need to listen to more music it's not a matter of you having some unique viewpoint
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pinky0926 posted...

Yomi posted...

Now I'm beginning to think the problem here is that maybe you don't know many good tracks in games/anime

FighterStreet posted...

you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about

Or that I just think about it in different terms than you guys do, that's all. Let's not do this "clearly you don't know what you're talking about" bull, it's boring. It's ok that we don't like the same stuff without making this a gatekeeping conversation.

Or maybe you should've thought about that before saying that people who listen to videogame/anime music unironically make you "suspicious."
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BignutzisBack posted...

Haha you set this whole thing off with an ignorant comment to begin with give me a break dude, you need to listen to more music it's not a matter of you having some unique viewpoint

There is no more dismissive or useless argument than "you just don't know what you're talking about" when said because you don't like what you read. I mean I could tell you that I've been playing instruments since I was 4 years old, that I studied music and trained classically, that I've been in 4 different rock bands, a jazz band, the school choir and a classical ensemble, that I spend as much time and energy as I can going to shows and listening to all kinds of things. Doesn't matter though, Bignutzisback things I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't like vidya game music as much as he does right.

Like I said, let's not make this a pissing contest. I think for the most part video game and anime music is pretty garbage but it serves the purpose as intended. Throwing me some classic standout examples doesn't change that argument.
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pinky0926 posted...

GiftedACIII posted...

Uh, what? 15-20 minutes? And what non-media songs follow what you said or doesn't suffer from the same "flaw"? I don't see how adding lyrics changes the flow of the music.
Also, game and show/movie soundtracks are closest to classical music, which is generally seen as the "intelligent" music so...

I wasn't talking about pop songs, I was talking about a big orchestral score (using the LotR soundtrack as an example) with complex motifs that can't (in my opinion) really be communicated that well over such a short timeframe. Nothing to do with lyrics.

I think if these guys had their way, they'd have made the pieces longer. But that doesn't matter when the piece you're making is purely made to support visual media.

I see. Just asking out of curiosity, have you ever been in an orchestra or band? I played the piano and violin from when I was in preschool to high school and I find that game and melodious show soundtracks are much more interesting to both play and listen to than pop songs. But if you were a guitarist or drummist I can understand the difference in opinion.
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Yomi posted...

Or maybe you should've thought about that before saying that people who listen to videogame/anime music unironically make you "suspicious."

I would also say I'm suspicious of people who don't drink but for some reason when I say that nobody gets triggered into a serious conversation about the dangers of alcoholism.

It's a turn of phrase dude. I don't actually think less of anyone who listens to anime music for realsies. If you want my serious opinion, refer to post #21.
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pinky0926 posted...

BignutzisBack posted...

Haha you set this whole thing off with an ignorant comment to begin with give me a break dude, you need to listen to more music it's not a matter of you having some unique viewpoint

There is no more dismissive or useless argument than "you just don't know what you're talking about" when said because you don't like what you read. I mean I could tell you that I've been playing instruments since I was 4 years old, that I studied music and trained classically, that I've been in 4 different rock bands, a jazz band, the school choir and a classical ensemble, that I spend as much time and energy as I can going to shows and listening to all kinds of things. Doesn't matter though, Bignutzisback things I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't like vidya game music as much as he does right.

Like I said, let's not make this a pissing contest. I think for the most part video game and anime music is pretty garbage but it serves the purpose as intended. Throwing me some classic standout examples doesn't change that argument.

You're just being pretentious though as well as ignorant about entire genres, and you still haven't explained why you think people are suspicious for listening to it you've already backpedaled into the songs not being the long enough because they were made for a game or movie. You said something stupid and got called out for it by multiple people
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As a game music nerd I normally look down on anime music nerds, but this is pretty alright.
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GiftedACIII posted...

I see. Just asking out of curiosity, have you ever been in an orchestra or band? I played the piano and violin from when I was in preschool to high school and I find that game and melodious show soundtracks are much more interesting to both play and listen to than pop songs. But if you were a guitarist or drummist I can understand the difference in opinion.

Yeah, I've been involved in all kinds of music my whole life. But I think comparing anything to pop music in terms of difficulty or how interesting it is is kind of a redundant argument, no? I mean, pop music isn't meant to be complicated or intelligent. It's supposed to be catchy and relatable. And you don't get something to be catchy and relatable with an unusual time signature or a unique melody or unusual harmonies.

Basically my entire point here is that I think for the most part anime/videogame music is only designed to be a side dish. It's a supportive feature for the visual media it was created for. Whatever creative freedom the artist intended tends to get squashed out in the production because it's fundamentally secondary.

Opinions.
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BignutzisBack posted...

You're just being pretentious though as well as ignorant about entire genres, and you still haven't explained why you think people are suspicious for listening to it you've already backpedaled into the songs not being the long enough because they were made for a game or movie. You said something stupid and got called out for it by multiple people

Pretentious sure, I'll give you that. Ignorant about entire genres, no. I think when music is created as a secondary feature to visual media you can comment on what that means about it fundamentally. I've not backpedalled at all, if anything I've doubled down. And I explained (twice) that for a large orchestral score it's difficult to extract the motif in 3 minutes or less. Clearly these pieces are made because they support what's happening in the movie, not the other way around. That puts certain limitations around the music.

And how many times have I measured my comments here by saying "not all" or "most" or "there are exceptions"? I'm making a point about what I think of the concept of soundtracks as a whole, not a rule about every piece of music ever written for a video game.

Finally, I'm not at all surprised that my opinion that video game music is by and large total garbage is considered a controversial one on CE.
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pinky0926 posted...

GiftedACIII posted...

I see. Just asking out of curiosity, have you ever been in an orchestra or band? I played the piano and violin from when I was in preschool to high school and I find that game and melodious show soundtracks are much more interesting to both play and listen to than pop songs. But if you were a guitarist or drummist I can understand the difference in opinion.

Yeah, I've been involved in all kinds of music my whole life. But I think comparing anything to pop music in terms of difficulty or how interesting it is is kind of a redundant argument, no? I mean, pop music isn't meant to be complicated or intelligent. It's supposed to be catchy and relatable. And you don't get something to be catchy and relatable with an unusual time signature or a unique melody or unusual harmonies.

Basically my entire point here is that I think for the most part anime/videogame music is only designed to be a side dish. It's a supportive feature for the visual media it was created for. Whatever creative freedom the artist intended tends to get squashed out in the production because it's fundamentally secondary.

Opinions.

Yeah, I just saw that post, you have me beat in the music field lol. I quit during high school. But I suppose you're right that the majority of games and visual media have atmospheric music that sound incomplete or awkward. However, I feel like the stand-outs like the music in Nintendo and Square Enix (so really, mainly in JRPGs and other genres that don't have as much action) have the music meant to play a prominent role, so focus on it is just as important or in some cases more important than the gameplay or visuals. For example, the creator of Touhou, an inspiration for Undertale's music is said to have actually focused on the soundtrack first, and the gameplay and other elements are more excuses to use it.
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GiftedACIII posted...

Yeah, I just saw that post, you have me beat in the music field lol. I quit during high school. But I suppose you're right that the majority of games and visual media have atmospheric music that sound incomplete or awkward. However, I feel like the stand-outs like the music in Nintendo and Square Enix (so really, mainly in JRPGs and other genres that don't have as much action) have the music meant to play a prominent role, so focus on it is just as important or in some cases more important than the gameplay or visuals. For example, the creator of Touhou, an inspiration for Undertale's music is said to have actually focused on the soundtrack first, and the gameplay and other elements are more excuses to use it.

I think basically what I'm getting at is that this is music made for a commercial purpose. It matches a brief given to the artist, with usually pretty strict limitations over what the artist can do. I work in a creative field and most of the time creatives (basically anyone who's a graphic designer, artist, illustrator, etc) has grand ideas that get completely crushed in the process of building the piece of "art" that is required for the work. The art is supplementary, not the focus. So often I receive beautiful designs that I have to basically hamstring and cut in half because they don't meet the project brief.

I think music for games and anime and movies has a similar problem. I don't mean to say it's inherently bad or uncreative, but that the medium it's created for is limiting.

Don't get me wrong. There are some beauts. As you say Square Enix - Nobuo Uematsu has a gift for melody. To Zanarkand has a melody so memorable I could probably sing it back to you in another 50 years time if I'm even alive by then. That kind of thing is the exception and not the rule, I think.
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Not all composers will actually approach their work as secondary to the product. This is probably more true of games but there are a lot of examples in movies and TV as well. There is a lot of filler, though, yeah... but it's worth wading through to get to the good stuff.
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pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

Hey, Cowboy Bebop has great music.
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Kineth posted...

pinky0926 posted...

I'm generally suspicious of people who listen to anime or game music unironically in their free time anyway.

Hey, Cowboy Bebop has great music.

Sure did.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENhR9FHf_0c
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the medium it's created for is limiting

what kind of hack blames the medium?

and also, the intro is fine to listen to when you're depressed, even advisable. HE RO
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pinky0926 posted...

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious fuck

No, you're just an idiot. A huge idiot.

Music is music end of story. You've evolved past 'pretentious' to 'giant fucking moron'.

Go fall asleep and burn another pizza, Pinky. You're done.
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Pancake posted...

the medium it's created for is limiting

what kind of hack blames the medium?

I'm not blaming the medium. I'm saying when you create music that's designed to be supplementary to whatever is being watched it's not the same as music that's just designed to be listened to. That's a pretty obvious point.

Yaridovich posted...

pinky0926 posted...

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious fuck

No, you're just an idiot. A huge idiot.

Music is music end of story. You've evolved past 'pretentious' to 'giant fucking moron'.

Go fall asleep and burn another pizza, Pinky. You're done.

What a rare reference. To think somebody on CE would remember a funny thing I did at home like a year and a half ago. Who are you?

"music is music" means absolutely nothing. No more than "a potato is a potato".
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I'm saying when you create music that's designed to be supplementary to whatever is being watched it's not the same as music that's just designed to be listened to.

nobody bursts in and forces me to wear different headphones depending. sounds rough.
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pinky0926 posted...

"music is music" means absolutely nothing. No more than "a potato is a potato".

Oh shut the fuck up.

It's something you listen to and you're in no fucking position to judge what the fuck other people get out of listening to things.

"Oh, people who eat mashed potatoes don't really enjoy potatoes because mashed potatoes are a side dish DUH DUH DUH" that's what you sound like you idiot.
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Pancake posted...

I'm saying when you create music that's designed to be supplementary to whatever is being watched it's not the same as music that's just designed to be listened to.

nobody bursts in and forces me to wear different headphones depending. sounds rough.

But artists are generally forced to temper their work for commercial purposes and to fit into the visual space, which is the same reason why most advertising music is fucking awful.

Actually let's use that as an example. Do you think we'd be having the same argument if the topic was about advertising music and not anime music? Because much of the same creative process is involved in both. It needs to be low budget, inoffensive, quick to produce, vaguely familiar, and most specifically designed for a pre-decided purpose (specific to length and structure). It's art created to fit a brief.

I can't imagine you getting upset if I said that the music you hear in TV ads is in fact not generally stellar and unoriginal stuff.
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Yaridovich posted...

pinky0926 posted...

"music is music" means absolutely nothing. No more than "a potato is a potato".

Oh shut the fuck up.

It's something you listen to and you're in no fucking position to judge what the fuck other people get out of listening to things.

"Oh, people who eat mashed potatoes don't really enjoy potatoes because mashed potatoes are a side dish DUH DUH DUH" that's what you sound like you idiot.

If you enjoy mashed potatoes that's fine. Hell you can enjoy whatever potatoes you want. But if you told me that all potatoes are created equal and I'm just being a snob I would in fact tell you to shut the fuck up, because some types of potatoes are just objectively better than others.
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But artists are generally forced to temper their work for commercial purposes

that's true but the end user doesn't know or care about this until you tell them. it's not part of the experience until you make it that way.
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pinky0926 posted...

Yaridovich posted...

pinky0926 posted...

"music is music" means absolutely nothing. No more than "a potato is a potato".

Oh shut the fuck up.

It's something you listen to and you're in no fucking position to judge what the fuck other people get out of listening to things.

"Oh, people who eat mashed potatoes don't really enjoy potatoes because mashed potatoes are a side dish DUH DUH DUH" that's what you sound like you idiot.

If you enjoy mashed potatoes that's fine. Hell you can enjoy whatever potatoes you want. But if you told me that all potatoes are created equal and I'm just being a snob I would in fact tell you to shut the fuck up, because some types of potatoes are just objectively better than others.

You do need to shut the fuck up because you're wrong.

It's not your fucking place to decide that. That falls to the individual and that's why you're a big fucking idiot.
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Pancake posted...

But artists are generally forced to temper their work for commercial purposes

that's true but the end user doesn't know about this until you tell them. it's not part of the experience until you make it that way.

I don't know about that. The video posted in the OP is about the most unoriginal sad piano theme you could think of. I think you could probably find hundreds of almost identical samples of royalty free music just like it on the internet in about 5 minutes, because writing a basic minor key melody on piano with some synth in the background is one of the easiest ways to create a sad atmosphere.

That's all my point is. The creator of that theme was just trying to match a brief. He did a good job of it too. But this is my argument. His brief was to create music to listen to while watching that specific scene in the movie. It was never written to just listen to by itself. I think the creator would have written something totally different if that was the case.
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I think the creator would have written something totally different if that was the case.

you're saying he'd have done things differently if he didn't have directions to follow. no shit?
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Pinky

You used to be a cool dude. I drew that thing in your sig.

But you here and now? You're being an idiot. Pretentious is too good a word for what you are.

I'm sorry you've become...this. See you never.
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Yaridovich posted...

You do need to shut the fuck up because you're wrong.

It's not your fucking place to decide that. That falls to the individual and that's why you're a big fucking idiot.

No, you're completely missing the point.

If you told me that Yukon gold potatoes are your favourite kind of potato I'd say that's completely fair enough. You are entitled to your opinion on what you like, and actually I won't really judge that. But if you said to me "Yukon gold potatoes are the best for frying", id say you're flat out wrong. Yukon gold have basically no starch. You fry that and it will dry out. You'll get shit fries. use a rooster potato."

You need to relax a little. I'm not insulting your taste in music, not really once we put the jokes aside. At this point we're having a reasonably academic discussion on the nature of music created for visual media. I think anime and video game music is created as supplementary, and is fundamentally incomplete to just listen to. That's something to have a discussion over, not get butthurt about.
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Yaridovich posted...

Pinky

You used to be a cool dude. I drew that thing in your sig.

But you here and now? You're being an idiot. Pretentious is too good a word for what you are.

I'm sorry you've become...this. See you never.

Cool, if it bothers you I'll remove it.
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I think anime and video game music is created as supplementary, and is fundamentally incomplete to just listen to.

how do you explain the hordes of people who do just that, then?
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pinky0926 posted...

And yes I'm aware I'm a bona fide pretentious fuck

So if you're aware, why are you still talking?
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