Neo Tokyo - Scandroid (Metal Cover)
7Neo Tokyo - Scandroid (Metal Cover) Arranged and Performed by Chris Hmieleski
Originally Composed by Scandroid
Videography by Trajon Neal and Michaela Hmieleski
You ever get an ear worm? A song stuck in your head that you just can't seem to shake? This was one of those for me. Back in september, I was in rough shape and desperately needed to get work one something fresh. I was listening to a ton of synthwave music at the time, Lebrock, Gunship, but I found that Scandroid songs just stuck with me more. So I spent all of October putting this together alongside taking care of sick kids and working on other projects.
For the guitar part, I really wanted to keep it simple and rocking. I focused a lot on power chords but also wanted to add some classic prog spindl-y chords for the chorus since I think it adds a bit more to the "retro" element. For the tone, I actually went with my little katana practice amp because I wanted to take guitar processing off my PC and honestly, I'm pleased as punch with how it all sounds going through a mesa IR.
Now I reeeeeally don't claim to be a vocalist, I don't believe I'm much good at it. My goal here was something that had layers. Harmony. That was sorely missing in my cover of Eds theme, so I wanted to prove to myself I was capable and could process them in a way that was nice to listen to. I have my own feelings on if I succeeded at that or not, but I'll let you all decide for yourself.
Then there's the video. This is the step that continually causes me the most grief and I was quite sure this process would be no different. With video games as the subject matter, settings and mood kinda come with the source material. With any other song though, you gotta get creative with how you present things. I knew I wanted to use the green screen for something, but I haven't really done anything with GS since blizzard buffalo. I had my old friend Trajon help me with the performance shots which went really smoothly, but when it came time for GS footage things kept coming up. Theres actually a whole months time between when the regular footage and the GS footage was shot. Eventually my amazing wife came to my rescue and when it was said and done, I had the best looking footage I've ever worked with.
All of this brings me to now. This is quite a deviation from what I usually post on this channel, but I'm really proud of it all the same. I think it shows a ton of growth across the board especially when compared to earlier video and I believe it signals a lot of good things to come. That said next time, I'll probably stick to something a bit more in my wheelhouse. Focus is key to progress. Anyways, I appreciate you all for taking the time to check this out. We aren't stopping any time soon.
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Equipment Used:
Music Man Bongo 5 HH Bass
Schecter Reaper MS 7 String
Roland Juno DS Keyboard (as a midi controller)
Darkglass ADAM Pedal
Boss Katana 50w
Synth sounds from Spectrasonic Omnisphere
Mixing Plugins by Neural DSP and Native Instruments
#metal #synthwave #cover