malivorn
Peasant
Leave no Castle, no Dungeon, and no Tower unexplored.
Posts: 6
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Post by malivorn on Sept 2, 2022 9:05:38 GMT -5
Greetings! Today I had an interesting thought; what makes a dungeon synth project stand out? Since the genre has been revitalized several times over the past 30 odd years, we've seen an explosion of projects all over Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc. The love of Tolkien themed projects has brought us some amazing works of art, but it seems like the genre is now, respectfully, overflowing with what seems like unoriginal and uninspired projects. The Dungeon Synth projects that get a lot of attention today usually have high detailed artwork and are very well mixed/produced; the opposite of how the genre started with the basement black metal Casio keyboard sounds. The genre has now has multi-generational and multi-subgenre music. The Dungeon Synth Archives, and Dungeon Noise Cavern Youtube channels have done a great job of promoting projects big and small, including my own. That being said, in your opinion what makes a Dungeon Synth project stand out? Shameless plug: malivorn.bandcamp.com/releases
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Post by SeigneurGorbag on Sept 2, 2022 11:47:32 GMT -5
It evolved pretty much like black metal, DS is still underground, but it's a matter of time, soon someone popular is going to say that he loves this genre, and it's going to be over. In my opinion the subject of the band is really important, the aesthetic, the sound and the overall imaginary behind the album is what speaks to me the most, I have to feel a connection with the band and their music.
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engraven
Fighter
No heroes. No lords.
Posts: 119
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Post by engraven on Sept 2, 2022 13:14:23 GMT -5
My answer is going to be antithetical to most others here, but for me releases that deliberately stray from the same old tired sounds and aesthetics are actually the ones that stand out the most. It's refreshing to see people trying new things.
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Post by crystallogic13 on Sept 4, 2022 1:03:33 GMT -5
Well, as a fan, the first eye catcher is presentation itself, a kind of filter to go through worthwhile releases that artists spent a good deal of work into, and skipping low-effort stuff that could be time-loss : Album artwork, BandCamp logo etc, even BC artist info, song titles, relevant BC tags.. More or less all these form a first impression which will make someone decide to listen or not, if you skip/mistreat this stuff then it certainly won't make the release/artist seem very serious of his own work.. This first filter/barrier will probably be the deciding factor of how many people initially will listen to your stuff, especially if it's not a known DS powerhouse of a label or artist.. A great example of aesthetics are HDK releases, the aesthetics and overall presentation make people post about em, buy on physical etc. On the other side of the spectrum take a look on more than a couple of releases each day that lack some of the previous details : at best you would listen a random song in the mid-minutes of it to get a feel, at worst it will be simply skipped, since there is endless great music and not enough time to take chances with high percentage of being not adequate.. Of course this will not make the music itself stand out, if it is good it will if it is bad it will probably not, but initial impression can do wonders to getting more people listen to your music than not.. Regarding music side stuff that makes it stand out you already discussed on, music itself of course, production/mixing and all these stuff a lot of people here know best are of course the actual important stuff musicwise.. But even the best masterpiece in my opinion will have a hard time to be talked about if it has sub-par presentation, while I'm pretty sure a pretty average release but with fantastic spot-on aesthetics will certainly create at least a buzz for a couple of days (especially prerelease), even while the sub-par music will make it fade away in time.. All in all, I think presentation should get the same attention from the artists they give to their music, certainly not something to be ignored and just resolved last minute with placeholders and stuff
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Post by Darkmoon on Sept 30, 2022 15:23:55 GMT -5
Anyway we have no power over the evolution of any art form. It's a bit like language... ...there are rules, but it's the people who speak it who use it according to time, place and subculture (hence why some forms of slang emerge, for example).
Consequently, whatever our tastes and preferences (which are quite legitimate), DS will evolve, for better or for worse. When I was younger, this might have bothered me, but now I think that, in the arts, we are all free to do (ans listen) what we want. So if we don't like the new forms (sub-styles) of DS, it's up to us to make and listen to the form of DS that we like!
Also, I think we all agree that DS is not the style of music to choose if we absolutely want to make a living (make money) from our music. So no matter how the new forms may or may not impact the "industry", I don't really care. And because of what DS is intrinsically, I don't doubt for a moment that itβs becoming "too" popular. Because it's way too "eccentric", weird for "Mr. & Mrs. Everyone". It will always remain underground to some extent in my opinion.
The only thing left is the term (DS) that can potentially be used (recovered~reclaimed) by some artists making a form of music that we don't call DS, which can be annoying, but well, that's life and no one has a monopoly on definitions and words... ...just like languages (and their slang) that evolve in spite of dictionary definitions and linguists' opinions.
In short, it's like that for all styles of music, whether it's electronic music or metal, among others, after a few decades, myriads of sub-styles and subtle variants are formed, some of which keep more or less common points with the original founding style. We will not remake the world! Beyond the form, everything is always an eternal restart! The DS will be no exception!
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arcig
Peasant
https://arcig.bandcamp.com/
Posts: 7
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Post by arcig on Dec 5, 2022 2:25:09 GMT -5
For me, it's when an artist captures an engrossing atmosphere that flows through the artwork/design, composition, production and (optional) lore. There's something about that which makes me cling to it. It feels like a little world of its own that I can turn on and live inside for a little bit.
There are a lot of artists who THINK their music does that (and it might for some), but for me it's just usually not there.
There are also times where this feeling has nothing to do with the usual dungeon synth aesthetic tropes, so I really do wish people were more comfortable straying from them...
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Post by altrusiangrace on Dec 7, 2022 9:57:43 GMT -5
For me, it's when an artist captures an engrossing atmosphere that flows through the artwork/design, composition, production and (optional) lore. There's something about that which makes me cling to it. It feels like a little world of its own that I can turn on and live inside for a little bit. There are a lot of artists who THINK their music does that (and it might for some), but for me it's just usually not there. There are also times where this feeling has nothing to do with the usual dungeon synth aesthetic tropes, so I really do wish people were more comfortable straying from them... That's nostalgia. But it's a special kind. That's the dragon I'm chasing: trying to capture that one musical phrasing, or melody, that thing that makes one long for something unknown and unobtainable. If you've watched Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities "The Viewing" - that episode touches on this and Eric Andre's character talks about this nostalgia briefly. And I feel that DS is one of a few (if not the ONLY) genres whose entire existence is built upon this quest, in search of the holy grail of nostalgic evocation. Not the same shallow emotion being harvested by Netflix's nostalgia industry - but that deeper thing that one can't feel or fathom until aided by magickal musical notes heard for the first time. People have literally died from that feeling because it was so strong and intense (death by nostalgia is a thing). And by far, it's my drug of choice - or at least what I'm after.
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Post by arillius on Dec 8, 2022 15:22:13 GMT -5
I guess I'll keep it short and simple:
Composition.
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