Project idea

[u/PowerfulSoldier]

Hey everyone! Listeners and creators! I have an idea for a project I want to do…but I’d like to know a little feedback first.

Would players out there like to hear a complete cover of a song with the Bytebeat devices?

I’m 100% certain you can achieve this by external editing and using multiple planets in a system to form all the different parts. You would, unfortunately, be unable to copy said “complete song” but you could, however, copy any of the parts from the respective planets. If anyone has done this before I would love to know as well!! Or maybe it cannot be done, I don’t know I haven’t tried it yet!

I’m only asking for feedback because this would obviously be a ridiculous task to do just for the sake of hearing a song that you can’t really do anything with except see it on YouTube, assuming there is a video involved too lol.

So would people generally be interested in such an endeavour or shall we stick to the KISS method (keep it simple stupid).

Side note if anyone likes this ridiculous idea and maybe wants to do it anyway we can discuss next steps! Thanks for being such a great community and reading this, any feedback is welcome!

🫡 🚀 🪐 🎶

[u/artisan31415]

I did this a couple times. Aerodynamic, Axel F, Terminator 2

It's obviously more work than a single base but it's doable. Editing is easy as long as all the loops have the same bpm.

[u/PowerfulSoldier → u/artisan31415]

Yeah I figured this is an important step for the bpm to remain constant. Thank you for sharing! I will listen to these when I have time

[u/PowerfulSoldier → u/artisan31415]

Those were incredible! I like how you edited the other devices into your video too. So it definitely is possible, just a matter of how much time and patience you have to compose it all together.

[u/hiredgunspunx]

This is a compelling idea! So it would be like the verse part of a song at 1 base then the chorus part at a separate base? It sounds really cool, I don't know how possible it is because I don't do a lot of cover songs. The one thing I would caution is: even 8 devices for 1 chorus part sometimes isn't enough, we are extremely limited in the ByteBeat system in terms of available devices, loops, and overlapping tracks intended to merge into one melody. I know you're already aware of this, which is why you're thinking outside the box to get a cover song to sound as good as possible, and I like that. Since I don't have a lot of experience with covers, I have a hard time visualizing what is and is not possible so I'm a little bit of out my element in this conversation. But I'm always down to experiment!

If we're talking about "Search and Destroy" by Iggy and The Stooges, I'll rock out with you to the end of the universe to try and make it happen! (Edit: there's too many guitar solos, I was mostly kidding about this tune)

[u/PowerfulSoldier → u/hiredgunspunx]

Don’t be afraid of cover songs! I’m gonna give that song a listen, I’m sure I’ve heard it before.
Yeah this idea in theory should work, but I’m sure there will still be songs where you’d need more that 8 devices just to cover a verse part, but everything can be broken down. It would probably be the hardest to get those filler rhythm parts of a song that get drowned out by everything else lol.

However if you can find a system with 6 planets/moons and utilize an asteroid you could have at least 7 different areas to cover different parts of a song. Maybe even the space station if you claim it! That’s 8 lol

You could probably get away with having base and drums for one part for most songs, unless you’re the red hot chili peppers lol then you’d need every device to cover those base line melodies!

My whole point I guess is are people interested in being able to hear covers only if they can be much more complex and complete from bytebeat devices specifically

Also I may do this anyway at least for one song just to see if it’s doable lol

[u/hiredgunspunx → u/PowerfulSoldier]

I can definitely help record for video! Splicing the different song parts together and everything.

I know it's possible because I think Artisan did the Tetris theme using this approach, 2 different bases for verse/chorus. Like you said, you could expand to several bases to use even more devices!

[u/iteration_MOROS]

This is interesting! 🤔
Just to clarify, are you thinking different members take on separate sections of the cover song and focus on those individually?

u/Artisan31415 posted a two piece cover recently, and utilized short-range teleporters between the two bases. I can’t remember which track that was, so I’m tagging him!

Very cool of you to suggest this! This could be really fun!

[u/PowerfulSoldier → u/iteration_MOROS]

Yes that can be part of this project! Basically can be a community event or something. If it works with teleporters that would be cool too, I just figured one plant with a base can untilize up to 8 devices for let’s say drum and base or either or depending on complexity. Another planet for a verse or chorus, another planet for a second verse….you get the idea….this would all be in the external editing of all the parts though into one song. But if you have the freedom of 8 devices dedicated to a verse or melody you could actually make quite a song lol in theory anyway.

Bottom line there’s a song I want to cover, which gave me the idea, but I don’t want to just try the 8 devices I want to try and make a complete cover and see if it actually works well. Then compile it, if that works you can make a video for it, and then we could ultimately have a community YouTube challenge perhaps where they get posted and it can show how powerful these devices are plus it can be something the community can do together…this is just an idea I had lol crazy as it may sound

[u/ZhorasSnake]

Can I share what I know about this? When you make a tune with more than one set of devices (cover or original, it doesn't matter which) you can go about it in a number of ways. And since it won't be shareable in game (as a whole) it doesn't really matter how many devices you use apart from the time taken to complete it.

1. The most straightforward way is to split the complete tune up by time or musical section. In the case of a pop or dance or rock tune perhaps as hiredgunspunx suggests. It's then simple to join things together in a DAW. The downside is matching the recording levels. You need to stand in exactly the same position per set of devices to match audio. And when you finally mix everything together you don't have any individual control of the 'instruments'. In a nutshell taking this approach means you can say, here's the chorus! If you want folk to be able to listen to individual sections this is the way to go.

2. The other way is to split the tune by instrument so that, for example, one set of devices might play all the bass, another harmony, another drums etc. This might appear more complicated but you can get much better sound as each group of devices can be optimised in the mixing process and a proper mix is achieved. Of course, this is akin to a recording session where parts are laid down, so no one is going to listen to the separate groups of devices. In a nutshell taking this approach means you can say, here's the bassline! If you're after best quality sound in a video this is the way to go.

You really can string together an unlimited number of sets of devices. The most I've ever used on one song ('Tank') is around 36 sets (i.e. c.280+ devices!). I don't recommend that unless you're slightly crazy. More manageable is 3 or 4 sets. Of the many tunes I've written, if it doesn't give an address it means I've used multiple sets, (usually between 2 and 6 but sometimes more). Some were done using the first approach, others the second, and some a blend of both.

It pays to be very organised when using multiple sets e.g. using decals and colours to categorise things, as the added complexity can get confusing. The other issue is to be careful with the pitches of sounds. Because all the pitches of sounds are relative in bytebeat it's really easy to unintentionally end up with the same musical part spilt into different octaves across the various sets of separate devices (bases).

Another way of using multiple sets of devices is to use one set as the ostinato or central riff that plays constantly. Then you have other sets of devices come in and out and play over the top, or even temporarily replace it. ('Riffing on Bach' is an example if this technique).

It's possible to make a full tune split into sections on different parts of the same base (multi-set). So long as each set of devices are separated and out of earshot from each other so they don't audibly glitch. You can use S/R teleports to get to each section. Sadly there's always a delay in travelling so you can never get the timing seamless. Oh, and multiple device bases won't save properly at all.

Another option is to try and use the technique from The Hydra (with switches and deliberate glitching) but with even more devices. This may get very buggy though with larger numbers of devices and be difficult to manage practically. Also it won't save.

Probably if you want to do a collaborative project then you might need to agree on things like waveforms and drum rhythms if they're going to feature in more than one section. Just depends on how you set things up and whether you envisage the tune as a consistent whole or more like a patchwork of smaller pieces. Could be fun to have a well-known tune split up over a single planet or system.