eric's permobil :) (mrdeath-erics_permobil.xm)

Posted by Uncertain on Sat 22nd Jun 2019, rated 8 / 10.

A nice little short tune, would be great if it was longer.

Posted by Octopvs on Wed 30th May 2007, rated 9 / 10.

This piece is composed in the classic Commodore 64/Amiga style -called the "Oldskool"-, wich songs are called "chiptunes" beacuse of the characteristic FM synth sound. We can find a great number of different musical styles, going from groovy-funky to baroche, that fit into the same genre. The thing that makes them all sound familiar is the sample sounds and the way in wich the effects are used to make an expressive tune out of rigid sounds: vibrato, glissandi, arpegio, percussion rebounds, volume, delay, etc. This particular song from Mrdeath, is a very short one, but features all of these characteristics that may include it into this specific style. Mrdeath reaches a dilicate point: an original, simple song, featuring the best of the so called "Oldskool". The song consist of four patterns at a relatively fast tempo (21´´ aprox.) in two small parts. The melody is very adorned, it sounds energic and elegant and clear. Combined with the rythm and harmony, they make an agile song that reminds me the classic arkade games. It could fit quite well into a game, more precisely in a bonus level or any short part that needs strong music. I incline towards this argument specially because of the song´s short duration that makes me think of it as a functional part of something else, like a game or a demo. I asked myself why did Mrdeath make a song this short. Was it because he doesn´t have the creativity to make it longer? Just listening to any other Mrdeath song, there´s no doubt about the asnwer to that question. NO. But I don´t know if Mrdeath wanted to make a game-style song or a demo-song of it; it´s just a possibility. Resuming, "Eric´s..." is a very enjoyable tune, vibrant and transparent. I think that musically the song speaks for itself, so I will pass directly to the technique. When listening to the melody line at a slower tempo, I found some notes are emphasized by putting the other notes at a lower level, playing with a complex and subtle game of intensities, so when you hear the whole melody in normal tempo you perceive the louder notes as making the "real" melody without any interruptions between them, and the rest of them as adorn notes. The use of ascendant and descendant glissandi is very frequent and they sound correctly, without abuse. There is also a channel delay channel to the mean line with a lighter and less strident instrument. The use of soft vibrato in the larger notes of the melody softens the flatness of the chip sound; this little detail is properly used and contributes addyng a lot of life and expression to the pure-sound but expressionless chip sound. The second part presents a different melody doubled at the octave, with similar techniques. The melodies fade and blend with new patterns correctly. There are no unwanted volume resets or sudden vibrato cuts. The pattern structure is very simple and cyclic. In channel #1 we find the bass melody and the snare drum all together. There´s a delicate and subtle volume work in the bass line, emphasizing some of the notes and attenuating the others to give the song more rythmic movement and agility. Drums keep simple and changeless during the song, but it sounds well within the whole. The sound is very clear, transparent and balanced with headphone. I recomend not only this, but all the other Mrdeath´s songs, specially "The Amiga I" (mrdeath-the_amiga_i.mod) and "Sun and Rain" (mrdeath-sun_and_rain.xm). He is an active demoscene composer who recently won the second place at the Dreamhack party 2003 with "Castles and Adventures"; he also obtained the first place at the Compusphere XIII with "Frequency Shifter", emulating the classic Amiga sound in his fabulous chiptunes. He also appears in the chiptune musicdisk "Razor 1911 chipdisk 2".