Dark Pixel: Behind The Scenes
Dark Pixel is an ominous and energetic song written in C melodic minor with a focus on what some would call chip, bit, or pixel sounds. There are also strong percussive elements throughout that contribute to a 'tribal' vibe. The genre subcategory it falls under is psychedelic trance. I used square wave synthesizers to achieve the 'pixel' feel, and sticks as well as a damaru hand drum to make the percussion shine. I made a deep and driving bass to carry the melody. This is my first song with lyrics, and I chose words that would stir up emotions of being lost and scared in the woods of life.
I made this song in FL Studio. I used the Manipulator plugin a good amount to make it more psychedelic with weird sound changes throughout, especially for the lead. I did apply it to an ambient/background pixel element as well that is present in the drops and has a crystal texture. I also implemented quite a bit of panning automation to contribute to the overall movement and keep things interesting. I particularly enjoy the second drop, as the beginning has a lot of triplets forming an enchanting melody. Inspirations for this song include Infected Mushroom and Rameses B.
This song is the second in the overarching story that is Artificial Reality, my debut album. I made an animated music video for it in Blender just like the others. In order to save production time, I leaned heavily into the Blenderkit library of premade assets. I also used more video loops than I did in the Arcane Awakening video, allowing the reuse of them within the video using color filters and adjustments. Using more loops in the video also lets me reuse those loops in more scenarios for live performances. In order to remain consistent with quality, I used EEVEE again at 24 fps for the renders. This video is the first in which I added glowing magical light, which I think gives it a more mystical feel.
In the music video, Psidemica has just left the underground lab where he was created and is faced with a forest after exiting the elevator. He proceeds through the forest, passing a mountain along the way. Magical tendrils begin appearing behind him as he walks, and things get weird as doppelgangers of Psidemica appear marching beside him. After this event, he continues onward and more magic begins to appear. Eventually, he comes to a clearing filled with ancient trees. There is a familiar symbol on the ground that, when touched, begins to glow. It rises into the air and begins to pull Psidemica into the air with it. He rises up and into the symbol as it glows brighter and brighter, then the symbol disappears, and he falls to the ground with the color of his jacket and eye light changed and the symbol now on his clothes.
Listeners have said the following about this song:
- "Children's fairy tale from a psychedelic world, cool!"
- "Really trippy."
- "The vibe is great! Good job!!"
- "Beat is interesting and melody is pretty original."
- "Nice melodic track! keep it up."
- "I like the mystical atmosphere, the punchy bass and good quality production."
- "Nice shroomy vocals and groovy."
- "Good track! Very creative."
- "That into!! It's simply genius."
- "Digging the synths on this one."
- "Wow super cool intro. Sound trippy bru. I like it."
- "Very weird song but works very well. Cool buildups and the bass is mixed very well."
- "I like the strange voice. Nice structure and composition."
- "A fresh and original style with darkness and mystery. An abstract and deep journey."
- "Very deep vocals. Like the colder synth answering it at the start. Bongos are a very nice touch. Really lovely bassline, sick pulsations. The melodies are also super solid and fit in with the psytrance vibe."
- "I like the sound of the voice so much. It's a creative song."
Author: Psidemica
Published: 2024-02-14
Edited: 2024-10-20
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