#sinnohvation

[srijellyfishtempura]

i swear to fucking god every time i listen to sinnohvation again I find a new couple of songs to like

This time it's ending theme and galactic HQ so far

[darkseldarine]

Personally am never getting over this

[srigraingertempura]

Ok but why am I genuinely getting emotional over the Adam Neely video analysing the 8-bit big band and vgm jazz overall

[a-sketchy]

do you know insaneintherain? absolutely immaculate covers, i constantly listen to the sinnohvation album!!

i love insaneintherain!! i used to listen to his utdr arrangements all the time

[clowngames]

Why do jazz renditions of the Sinnoh work so well in transcribing the music from in game to reality. Like a lot of people try and fail to really capture the way older games sound for a more traditional audience. If we look at the sinnohvation by insaneintherain, he does the same things a lot of other musicians do - add texture and complexity, insert more tracks to accommodate said complexity, and so on, but he succeeds at transforming sinnoh music into something that I could believe was actually the intended sound instead of just a rendition. Idk. This ask is all over the place

The answer is sort of threefold:

Insaneintherainmusic had I think 5 years of experience at that point turning video game music into jazz, and he collaborated with a dozen other artists on that album to combine their expertise.

The man is incredible talented and has mastered his craft, and anything he does appears more effortless as a product of that.

2. The DS is really special. Diamond & Pearl released in 2006. In terms of retro music, this is some of the most technologically advanced you can get while still feeling old.

I've been meaning to make a special interest post for a while about the DS's music capabilities and how it taps into the way we think about retro game music/chiptune while still being so advanced that the composer can do whatever they want. I'll do the short version now:

Older game consoles use something akin to a MIDI system, and PC games of the same era did too. Basically, instead of a rendered song file, the console receives a series of instructions about what notes to play at what time using what instrument at what volume, and the console is performing this music in real-time. The amount of space a cartridge could dedicate to sound was limited, and the actual processing ability for instructions was limited, so songs were short, used simple (or bitcrunched) instruments, and only used so many of them at a time.

But then we have the DS. Home consoles had moved on to rendered music, but its cartridges couldn't support that so it was stuck with MIDI; but it benefited from all of the advancements in MIDI technology, both hardware and software, that had been made up until that point. What that means is that, while the quality of the instruments and sounds the DS could produce was limited, the actual quantity and complexity was not.

Basically, the instruments were not perfect but better than they'd ever been, and the actual compositional limitations were functionally non-existant.

3. The DPP soundtrack is uniquely positioned in the transitionary period from classical to pop, and that means it's weird and complex and simple and diverse in ways that create ample opportunity to jazz it up.

You may be familiar with the Mozart or Pokemon Quiz, which makes clear just how much the original soundtracks were making up for the lack of technical complexity in the music with compositional complexity. In the Red & Blue soundtrack only 3 notes could be played at a time. 3 notes. And no percussion, because that track was dedicated to sound effects. So the composer opted to use classical techniques to keep the energy where they couldn't use chords.

Flash forward to the DS and those techniques aren't necessary, since we have pretty good percussion and other instrument capabilities. Pokemon was now capable of producing more modern-feeling music, but still had an obligation to its compositional roots, to "feel" like Pokemon music. So the soundtrack is filled with interesting arpeggios and syncopation and other elements of musical complexity that make translation into jazz far less of a stretch than either the previous or the later generations.

Also some of the songs are just jazz.

[fancypantsrecords]

insaneintherainmusic - Sinnohvation: Sinnoh Fusion Ensemble Selection | Self-released | 2021 | Purple with Black and Blue Swirl | /300

[matteohudson]

Now Listening: insaneintherain - Sinnohvation. #insaneintherain #insaneintherainsinnohvation #sinnohvation #openingmovie #twinleaftown #lakevariety #eternaforest #oldchateau #theunderground #galacticeternabuilding #teamgalacticbattle #valorlakefront #lakeacuity #snowpointcity #teamgalactichq #battlecyrus #mtcoronet #chasingtheshadow #thelakeguardians #elitefourbattle #battlecynthia #starkmountain #2020 #2020album #pokemon #jazz #funk #swing #nowlistening #nowplaying https://www.instagram.com/p/CJCKPFYjnTq/?igshid=9sxsasn5rb8r

[srijellyfishtempura]

Genuinely.

I think the album Sinnohvation by Insaneintherain is magical. How do I keep coming back to this album over and over and over to find new songs that I love

How did I listen to this the day it came out and not immediately love it, but then listen to it multiple months later and only fall in love with it then??

I fall into this pattern where I'll listen to it, get obsessed with a few songs, then move on for a few months, then come back and get obsessed with a few different songs.

The first time, it was Oreburgh City, Eterna City and Forest, Lake Verity, and Surf

The second time, it was Route 216, Lake Acuity, Poffins, Route 201, Floaroma town, and Pokemon League (Night)

Then, Jubilife City, Sinnoh Trainer Battle, Galactic Eterna Building, Poke Mart, The Underground

Then, Route 209, Stark Mountain, Cycling Road, Mount Coronet, Twinleaf Town

Then, had a moment of just being absolutely enamoured with Solaceon Town

Now, It's time for Galactic HQ, Valor Lakefront, Ending Theme, Sandgem Town, and I am absolutely certain this will not be the last time.

[srijellyfishtempura-archive]

I made the grave mistake of going into sinnohvation to add one song to the queue and then suddenly there were 15 songs in the queue

[bw2]

Sinnohvation was the best album out of 2020 idgaf

[wyrmzone]

Sinnohvation: Team Galactic HQ - insaneintherainmusic and Patrick Bartley

[casper4ps1]

insaneintherain’s sinnohvation literally the best album ever

[srijellyfishtempura]

SINNOHVATION ENDING THEME

[srijellyfishtempura]

so glad insaneintherain is making original music it was real dark for a few months there

[srijellyfishtempura]

Fun facts about my Spotify habits courtesy of stats.fm:

In total I've listened to over 10,000 different tracks, for a total of 275,942 minutes

My top album (sinnohvation), I've listened to for almost 10,000 minutes, while my second top album (considering Matthew Shepard) I've listened to for 4,246 minutes. The logical conclusion of this is that considering Matthew Shepard will eventually be my top album as I started listening to that in September last year whereas I started listening to sinnohvation in 2021