Katawa Shoujo Forums

Hello, I'm Kierious. I've been getting quite into Katawa Shoujo lately, and I've had the idea to make an EP for it. Specifically, make an EP for the characters Hisao meets at Yamaku. I'm basically trying to capture the feelings the characters have throughout the game, and put it into music. So, it's sort of like a theme song or an OST, but at the same time, these are going to be standalone songs, so even someone who isn't even interested in KS can say, "I like this Hanako/Lilly/Shizune song, maybe I should play the game." Since I am better with Electronic Music, I decided to make it EDM, although the actual genre of the songs can vary wildly, from D'n'B (Think of Spor.) to House (Think of Avicii.) to Amyl House (Think of The Prodigy) and everything in between, if it fits the character.

So far, I have only released one song from the EP to try and build some anticipation. The song in question is the song I made for Hanako, and you can listen to it here:

https://soundcloud.com/kierious/hanako

I would like it if you guys left some constructive criticism, as I'm trying to make a good EP that captures the feelings of the game. Also, if you're an artist, a musician, a writer, anything, and you like the music, DON'T hesitate to shoot me a message asking to collaborate. I'll gladly accept anyone's input.

Anyway, I think that's the gist of it. It's still in its infancy, so I don't really have much to show at the moment, bar the aforementioned Hanako song, which is still being worked on. I hope you enjoyed the song, and, like I said, if you're a musician, artist, or writer, I'd love to have you on board.

Cheers!

Edit: New Song! This one's for Lilly, and I'm releasing it now because it's my birthday tomorrow and this is my gift to myself as well as you guys. As an added bonus, I've reworked Hanako's song, and made it a bit longer, as well as changing a few synths and prolonging the happy ending music. I hope you guys enjoy this!

Lilly Satou's Song: https://soundcloud.com/kierious/lilly

Reworked Hanako Song: https://soundcloud.com/kierious/hanako-1

This is great! It feels a little too upbeat for Hanako, or for any character for that matter, but it still sounded amazing! I particularly like the FTL-ish vibe it gave me.

The only thing I could say I disliked was that odd little drop towards the end. It just doesn't really make sense.

Also, can we use this music for our own purposes?

Hey Paragon, thanks for the criticisms and kind words!

What would you think would be a good tempo? I mean, Hanako's at 110 BPM, which is actually a lot slower than most EDM out there, so I already feel like I'm kind of pushing the boundaries as far as tempo goes. I was more trying to get the melodies to symbolise the characters, and then using those melodies over a beat which I feel would compliment the melody. But thanks, I will look into using lower BPMs, although I don't think Moombahton would fit any of them xD

Also, as long as you give credit where credit's due, and provide a link to the song, I don't mind if you use it for your own purposes.

Edit: You mean the part where it fades back into the piano melody? I was trying to symbolise (I try to symbolise a lot of things, don't I?) a sort of Good End with that. Like, you have this very nervous, very sombre music, then it kind of dies out and is replaced by happy, although I'll have to play the Good End and try to figure that out, before I figure this out, before it's too late and all hope is lost xD

Kierious wrote:Hey Paragon, thanks for the criticisms and kind words!

What would you think would be a good tempo? I mean, Hanako's at 110 BPM, which is actually a lot slower than most EDM out there, so I already feel like I'm kind of pushing the boundaries as far as tempo goes. I was more trying to get the melodies to symbolise the characters, and then using those melodies over a beat which I feel would compliment the melody. But thanks, I will look into using lower BPMs, although I don't think Moombahton would fit any of them xD

Also, as long as you give credit where credit's due, and provide a link to the song, I don't mind if you use it for your own purposes.

Edit: You mean the part where it fades back into the piano melody? I was trying to symbolise (I try to symbolise a lot of things, don't I?) a sort of Good End with that. Like, you have this very nervous, very sombre music, then it kind of dies out and is replaced by happy, although I'll have to play the Good End and try to figure that out, before I figure this out, before it's too late and all hope is lost xD

Thanks, other than the drop and that very minor BPM complaint, it sounded great. I hope you'll make one of these for Kenji one day, I'm sure it would be hilarious.

ParagonTerminus wrote:

Kierious wrote:Hey Paragon, thanks for the criticisms and kind words!

What would you think would be a good tempo? I mean, Hanako's at 110 BPM, which is actually a lot slower than most EDM out there, so I already feel like I'm kind of pushing the boundaries as far as tempo goes. I was more trying to get the melodies to symbolise the characters, and then using those melodies over a beat which I feel would compliment the melody. But thanks, I will look into using lower BPMs, although I don't think Moombahton would fit any of them xD

Also, as long as you give credit where credit's due, and provide a link to the song, I don't mind if you use it for your own purposes.

Edit: You mean the part where it fades back into the piano melody? I was trying to symbolise (I try to symbolise a lot of things, don't I?) a sort of Good End with that. Like, you have this very nervous, very sombre music, then it kind of dies out and is replaced by happy, although I'll have to play the Good End and try to figure that out, before I figure this out, before it's too late and all hope is lost xD

Thanks, other than the drop and that very minor BPM complaint, it sounded great. I hope you'll make one of these for Kenji one day, I'm sure it would be hilarious.

Kenji would be a Hardstyle song, mostly because of his miltant hate for the feminist scum who want world domination, and his dedication to stopping them. Well, either that or Hard Acid House.

Anyway, I'm re-listening to Hanako, and I can see a definite overload on the second drop. Well that, and the fact it's the exact same drop xD I'll have to re-write it and post it up. Thanks for the criticism again! I hope you enjoy the EP when it comes out! I may actually put a Kenji one on there, just for giggles.

Always good to see some music-related fan work.

I personally liked both tracks, though if I had to pick between the two I'd say that I preferred Hanako's. Each track is executed really nicely and all the elements fit in with each other. The piano at the end of the original Hanako theme sold me; I'm just a sucker for that kind of stuff. Great job!

All in all, quite an interesting concept. I can't say EDM would've come to mind for me personally when it came to KS, but that only makes it all the more appealing. Looking forward to seeing what you'll come out with next.

Well, I've formed new opinions!

1. Hanako's reworked track: Much, much MUCH better. The random screeches heard 2-3 times throughout the track add a lot of atmosphere and that piano in the middle, and the new ending... I'm swimming in happy.

2. Lilly: I like the fact that this track is a little less grave but a little more serious, though not in the same way as Hanako's track. No real complaints about this one.

Also, happy birthday!

Hey guys, I've been working on moving most of my work to Youtube now, so that's why I haven't been doing so much EP-wise. I do, however, have a remix of Jitter, inspired somewhat by the fact the birthday was not too long ago, and the fact I haven't been writing as much lately. Here's the Youtube video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0gfNZnB6Y

Well, that being said, I'm looking to do either Shizune or Misha next, would anybody have any ideas for those two? I' kind of stuck at the moment xD.

As a primarily rock and metal listener, please forgive me if I sound a total eejit! I really enjoyed this, I felt the build up during Hanako's was exceptional, though to be (annoyingly) honest I actually preferred the first one, as I felt that the ending was just the right length on the first. and a bit too long on the second, even with the additional melody added on. But that's just my awkward opinion, and I still enjoyed the second

Lilly's was my favourite. Around the 2:30, where there's something in the background distorting the rhythm section and making it sound slightly unsettling I thought was excellent. Maybe the melody starting at 2:52 got a little repetitive by the end, so some slight changes throughout the track would have been nice - not a key change or something, but just some notes of differing lengths to leave it to 'hang' for a brief moment would have suited it well. The drums were the standout for me though, the hi-hat/kick drum interplay in particular was really interesting.

For Shizune, you could try looking at a track which mixes traditional and modern elements, at a strong but not too slow tempo (maybe 125-135bpm?). As for Misha, I'd Jekyll and Hyde it if it was down to me, though quite how that's done in electronic music I don't know

Will be keeping an eye on this however, always good to see a music project on here and a good one makes it all the better

AaronIsCrunchy wrote:As a primarily rock and metal listener, please forgive me if I sound a total eejit! I really enjoyed this, I felt the build up during Hanako's was exceptional, though to be (annoyingly) honest I actually preferred the first one, as I felt that the ending was just the right length on the first. and a bit too long on the second, even with the additional melody added on. But that's just my awkward opinion, and I still enjoyed the second

Lilly's was my favourite. Around the 2:30, where there's something in the background distorting the rhythm section and making it sound slightly unsettling I thought was excellent. Maybe the melody starting at 2:52 got a little repetitive by the end, so some slight changes throughout the track would have been nice - not a key change or something, but just some notes of differing lengths to leave it to 'hang' for a brief moment would have suited it well. The drums were the standout for me though, the hi-hat/kick drum interplay in particular was really interesting.

For Shizune, you could try looking at a track which mixes traditional and modern elements, at a strong but not too slow tempo (maybe 125-135bpm?). As for Misha, I'd Jekyll and Hyde it if it was down to me, though quite how that's done in electronic music I don't know

Will be keeping an eye on this however, always good to see a music project on here and a good one makes it all the better

Thanks for your opinion dude I can see where the ending in both Hanako and Lilly could turn people off, and I just went into the .flps and changed their lengths by about 8 bars for Hanako and around 16 for Lilly xD.

I also took into consideration your Shizune idea, and came out with something pretty good. I had a Misha one knocking about as well, apparently the "Jekyll and Hyde" thing you're talking about is usually done in a Dubstep/Drumstep setting, as the intro and buildup can be as happy as you like, but the drop kind of... changes it a bit. It's all about relative minors and that sort of music theory nonsense. Although I'll have to change the wubs, as they're more "RAAAAGH I'MMA EAT YOU ALIVE!" rather than "I feel really horrible", and we know Misha doesn't want to eat you alive... Not on the surface at least xD.

Anyway, thanks for the crits. If anyone else is looking at this thread and thinks they've got a good idea, please do not hesitate to post them up.

Cheers!

Do you plan on doing music for just the main girls or the supporting cast as well?

I'd kinda be interested to hear what you could come up with for somebody like Hideaki or Yuuko.

What about the not-appearing-in-the-game cast like Rika or Saki?

Oddball wrote:Do you plan on doing music for just the main girls or the supporting cast as well?

I'd kinda be interested to hear what you could come up with for somebody like Hideaki or Yuuko.

What about the not-appearing-in-the-game cast like Rika or Saki?

I might end up with a supporting character on the tracklist, although don't quote me on that because I'm not at the release stage yet, so I cannot give you a final tracklist.

Honestly? I'd like to see what I'd come up with for any of the characters, from Jigoro to Mr. Nomiya and everyone else in between. But I only have so much time

Rika or Saki? I'm not really knowledgeable about them, so if I were to make a song, it would be a very broad outline of the character. So I don't think they'll end up on the EP, although like I said, don't quote me on that xD

I would love to see more of these, but you already know that. Thanks for Jitter, that was quite amazing. If you need any help, just let me know. As tough as your project may be, you should release on a schedule. It keeps your audience interested!

Kierious wrote:

Oddball wrote:Do you plan on doing music for just the main girls or the supporting cast as well?

I'd kinda be interested to hear what you could come up with for somebody like Hideaki or Yuuko.

What about the not-appearing-in-the-game cast like Rika or Saki?

I might end up with a supporting character on the tracklist, although don't quote me on that because I'm not at the release stage yet, so I cannot give you a final tracklist.

Honestly? I'd like to see what I'd come up with for any of the characters, from Jigoro to Mr. Nomiya and everyone else in between. But I only have so much time

Rika or Saki? I'm not really knowledgeable about them, so if I were to make a song, it would be a very broad outline of the character. So I don't think they'll end up on the EP, although like I said, don't quote me on that xD

Ooh, ooh, suggestion:

Hisao track.

Gratuitious heartbeat sounds and EKG monitor beeps are compulsory.

Hey guys!

I've released a new song off of the EP!

It's for Shizune, even though she doesn't seem like a popular character. I thought I'd let the underdog have their light

So, here's the link:

https://soundcloud.com/kierious/shizune

Thinking about making Emi more of a Hardstyle song, I'm just not sure how it would fit her.

Edit: Took some crits from other producers, and this is what I got.

https://soundcloud.com/kierious/shizune-v2