Roblox: Tower Defense Simulator - Equinox (Awakened Fallen King Theme) // Reaction & Analysis

[00:00:00]Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome back to another TDS reaction. After the last one, I had to hear more from this. And this one is actually from Focus. So, this is going to be kind of a new sound I'm expecting at least. This is Equinox, obviously, and it's one that everyone wanted me to get to. I've seen so many comments about this one, so I'm going to get to it. And without further ado, let's go.

[00:00:25]Already [music] [music] [music] a really solid start.

[00:00:49][music] >> [music] >> It's got a little bit of a a funk quality to it.

[00:01:01]Okay.

[00:01:07][music] Obviously, it's not, but I've heard that specific synth and quite a bit of funk music. [music] >> [music] >> I've also heard a lot of it in uh [music] just general EDM. So, I guess it's just a popular type of synth.

[00:01:34][music] [music] Okay.

[00:01:47]All right. baseline.

[00:01:52][music] [music] [music] Big [music] emotional moment here.

[00:02:15][music] >> [music] >> I'll always love the like guitar synth sound. It's so good and it fits really nicely in this [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Like it's just got such a good kick to it.

[00:03:06][music] I definitely understand why people wanted me to hear this. [music] Well produced, well mixed, [music] really nice progressive sound to it.

[00:03:28][music] [music] [music] It always makes me wonder when those buildups happen if there's going to be like a further evolution.

[00:03:53][music] And I think that's what this like vocal chopping sort of sound [music] was supposed to be there cuz that was different.

[00:04:08][music] Sometimes people don't do that.

[00:04:11]They just kind of drop it back down and it's kind of boring.

[00:04:17]In my opinion, [music] you should basically always lift up properly after a buildup like that. Don't blueball the listeners, you know.

[00:04:40][music] Oh, and then it ends there. Okay, I guess that makes sense. Hey, look, Jared played it. [laughter] I'm not surprised at all that he would give this a shot on the drums. So, this song is kind of doing its own thing in the most familiar way possible, which is a weird way to say it, but it's a familiar key for EDM, especially E flat minor. It just kind of sits around this, and it's a fun key to mess around in. We have this, we got D flat in there. We have B, which I believe is actually C flat in this key, but that's kind of neither here nor there. Same notes. It's the same thing. We have A flat minor, A B flat minor, and sometimes a B flat. It really just depends on where the song's landing for that one. But there's a lot of this. Also, G flat is in here as well. Just a lot of that, you know, basically the entirety of that key is utilized here. And it's very fun to hear this. Mostly because this does something fun to me at least with uh C flat in here. We have this, but it's like a seventh, but a major 7th instead of the usual seventh that would be down here.

[00:05:49]And have that sort of like kind of jazzier tone to it. the major 7th for it is lifted up and it fits and it's basically the same thing as E flat minor. It's the same notes here just with the B on the bottom. That's how these work. And I just think that that's fun to have that in there. It connects it very well to everything else that we're hearing. It just is a general chord progression for this.

[00:06:12]It just has that quality to it. I mean, [music] these chords are all over the place in EDM. And again, this key is very popular there. But I think what makes this song more interesting to listen to are the choices of the instruments and synths they used, as well as the overall feel of it, which is entirely a texture thing. I think that the use of certain synths made this song feel a little bit more distinct in that way, and it felt more quality as a result. I mentioned at the beginning how this had that like funk sort of synth in the beginning. And that's not the only thing that made me think that way, but it's the use of it.

[00:06:52]Because even though I do hear it a lot, it's when and where that makes that synth stand out because I've heard it a bunch, that doesn't mean that it's immediately a very boring choice. It's actually a really hard type of synth to get to work well and right. Like I mentioned, the uh the kear sort of sound that was in there as well. That's a lot easier. That's a lot closer to just a standard whatever the hell synth. Not a lot of extra going on there. But that like funkier one is definitely harder to get to place properly in a song. At least in my experience and my opinion, that's something that's harder to place.

[00:07:32]So you have a song that's made up of a bunch of that, a bunch of these different layers of texture that Focus clearly understands how to actually approach instead of just slamming them all over the place and hoping one of them works out. There is an understanding there. And this is something that I always say when it happens, but I always end up getting like comments usually from the producers of the songs who are just like, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just guessing.

[00:07:56]And that's fine. It just means you have a good ear, right? Like there are so many people I've gotten comments from who are just like, "I don't know how I made this. I don't really know music.

[00:08:05]I'm just clicking around until it works." And that's kind of how music works for a lot of people. It's how it works for me. It's just something that is kind of pseudo natural to you. If you listen to a lot of music, odds are you can follow along with a lot of the music theory concepts. That's why a lot of you are probably still watching this video right now because you're curious. So it's like, how do you approach that? How do you make music? What makes music good? Sometimes it is an innate thing and that doesn't mean that you're born with it. It just means that you've listened to enough music to start understanding the patterns. That's why I do these videos. That's why people like watching me. It's not like I'm actually like a pro musician in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a dude, but I've listened to so much music in my 30 years of living that I understand music to a degree that not a lot of people do. And I take that and I apply it to teach it to other people and tell you that just like for a lot of other composers, you don't have to know exactly what's going on for it to work. So for this song, having these textures present is all you really need to do. You just need to have things that sound kind of cool, but also for harder to work with ones like that funkier one in the beginning. That doesn't mean that you need to like go to a class to figure out how to work that out. You just need to make enough music that you start getting comfortable with experimenting more. And experimenting means messing up and doing better eventually. It doesn't have to be an immediate thing. And this song is kind of like a microcosm of that. just I think this song has a quality to it that is so very familiar like I mentioned but also it is so unique to this person to focus that I don't think I've heard a sound exactly like this which is a great sign for future TDS reactions because I would love to hear more of this sound and see if there's more of like a genre diversity in here or if it's like all like this which wouldn't be bad either I just like to hear varieties as well but I am curious now because this was very different from the last one, albeit those were very different composers. So even though they're in the same game, doesn't really matter as long as they get to do what they want to do. And again, these sorts of chord progressions have a lot going for them. I mean, they're just very proggy. They have a lot of natural uh friends in here. feel like all of these chords can kind of work together in the best of ways [music] and it just makes everything feel a little bit more bright and it moves very naturally just on how that is. You could probably just look up basic chord progressions and make something kind of similar to this if you're starting in music and you don't know where to start.

[00:10:40]It's totally fine using a progression that somebody else has put together or worked out and then you just apply that and make it your own. That's all music really is at the end of the day. taking something and making art with it. At the same time though, while I say that, make it yourself. Don't slap it into AI or be like, "Make me a good song." It's not the same thing. The artistry comes from your personal touch, not an AI doing it.

[00:11:03]So, make sure that it's you doing it, you know? But that's exactly why songs like this feel so familiar and even kind of nostalgic in certain ways, but also they they have an identity that is totally separate from all of the other slop out there, frankly. So, whatever you do, just have a good time with it and get a little bit experimental with it. Make sure to take moments to mess around with those weirder since those, while they might feel intimidating trying to find a good place for them while you're just starting out, will eventually start to make sense just naturally over time. Again, it's the experience that comes with doing it rather than avoiding it your entire life. So, just keep that in mind if you're willing to make music or wanting to get into it. And I think this is a really good example of all that. So, I think that's about all I've got to say here. I know this kind of turned into more of just like a I guess a lesson about how to be creative and mess around with these sorts of things, but this song was very well produced and it makes me want to listen to more focused stuff.

[00:12:00]I just need time to do that. So, maybe next week, maybe a few weeks from now, whenever it is, I know I'll be back around to hear more. So, thank you all so very much for watching. If you enjoyed this video and you want me to get to something else, by all means, drop in the comments below and I will do my best as always to get to those. But if you don't want to do any of that, maybe just want to follow me and support me for more stuff coming in the future, you know how to do that. And I'll see all of you in the next video. Goodbye.

[00:12:29][music] >> [music]