Danimal Cannon

Experimental, Game Music

Rhythm Game Just Shapes & Beats Now Out for Nintendo Switch

June 1, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Rhythm Game Just Shapes & Beats Now Out for Nintendo Switch Share this

Publisher and developer Berzerk Studios have finally released their rhythm game Just Shapes & Beats for the Nintendo Switch and Steam, featuring a ton of chiptune and EDM artists including those from the VGM community. The game is exactly what is on the label; a fast-paced SHUMP featuring shapes (both you and your enemies) all moving to ridiculously speedy beats as you struggle to stay alive. (fyi, you won’t for very long in most cases)

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“Just Shapes & Beats” is a trippy couch-coop musical bullet-hell based on two simple things, there’s going to be Shapes, and some kick-ass beats, and you are going to die a lot. Wait, that’s three things, just go back and edit the first part to “three simple things” in your head.

The game won accolades at PAX East and South 2015 as well as Game Developer’s Conference 2015 for its simple entertainment as a rhythm game. It also features the musical talents of familiar faces in the chiptune and EDM scene, including Danimal Cannon and Zef, Big Giant Circles, Kubbi and more. There’s also teasing of additional tracks being added by more artists in the near future.

The game is currently on Steam for $17.99 and the Nintendo Store for $19.99. Check it out and be sure to tell us what you think!
Chip Music, Events, Game Music

RE:Play Expo 2016 to Feature Danimal Cannon, Bitshifter & More

June 16, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on RE:Play Expo 2016 to Feature Danimal Cannon, Bitshifter & More Share this
The gaming and music event RE:Play is returning this year to Houston, Texas on July 2nd for another round of, well, gaming and music fun!

An event created in Houston, TX that centers around the love of gaming and the music it inspires combined. It is designed to be an outlet for game developers and musicians to perform and showcase their material, as well as fans to celebrate their love of gaming!
This time around, RE:Play has partnered with Lazybit Collective and will be featuring new games and arcades for your gaming pleasure. They also will be featuring a new lineup of musical guests and performers to tantalize your earmeats. The performer lineup is:

Danimal Cannon danimalcannon.com/
Bit Shifter bit.shifter.net/
SIXIXIX soundcloud.com/sixixix
Dual Core dualcoremusic.com
Ten Pixels Tall soundcloud.com/ten-pixels-tall
Broken Satellite soundcloud.com/brokensatellite
Float soundcloud.com/lbc-float
OVERCRASH soundcloud.com/era2077
Squincy Jones soundcloud.com/squincyjones

The event is currently $15 per ticket for the early bird pre-order, and more information can be found on their website.
Chip Music, Game Music

Joshua Morse returns for Halloween with VLAD II Castlevania EP

October 28, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Joshua Morse returns for Halloween with VLAD II Castlevania EP Share this
GameChops has just released a follow up to Joshua Morse’s spectacular 2013 Castlevania tribute album, VLAD, appropriately titled VLAD II. Like the original, VLAD II features four tracks of EDM chiptune/jazz fusion, this time with guest guitarist, Danimal Cannon, on two tracks. You can sample all four songs in the teaser video or listen over on bandcamp and check out the track listing below.

VLAD II is out now and available to buy from Loudr.fm for a minimum price of $4; just in time to pump up your Halloween week festivities. And for a limited time you can get both VLAD albums for a minimum of $7.
- Bone Ark Madness (Symphony of the Night – Rainbow Cemetery)
- Aqua Flash (Castlevania 3 – Aquarius)
- Mummy Lover (Castlevania – Wicked Child)
- Halfway to Hell (Castlevania – Heart of Fire)
Game Music

New Kickstarter Featuring Music by Jake Kaufman and Danimal Cannon

July 24, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on New Kickstarter Featuring Music by Jake Kaufman and Danimal Cannon Share this

Because Jake “Virt” Kaufman can’t seem to take a break if he tried, it looks like he’s involved with yet another Kickstarter project hot off the heels of the recent release of his fantastic work on Shovel Knight. This time around, however, it’s for VR systems such as the Oculus, putting it in a unique position. Vanguard Valkyrie is a 3rd-person rail shooter designed for virtual reality headsets and looks quite impression gameplay-wise. The music is sure to rank right up there with the gameplay (and maybe even beyond) as Kaufman is also joined by guitarist Dan “Danimal Cannon” Behrens (ArmCannon, Metroid Metal) and newcomer musician Meganeko.

Vanguard Valyrie sports the very hefty pricetag of $198,000 for a game meant for a still very-new market in virtual reality. The major of people who currently have access to an Oculus Rift are game media and developers, and the pricetag for the general public is steep for new hardware that isn’t even in its final form. While I have my own opinions about the success of such a lofty project, there’s no doubt Virt and Danimal Cannon will be rocking the music for the game to the high echelons of awesome.

Vanguard Valkyrie by Zero Transform on Kickstarter
Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music

MAGFest 12: Recap

January 15, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this MAGFest 12: Recap

A new year has begun and with it another MAGFest down in National Harbor, Maryland. This was my second year attending the annual Music and Game Festival. There’s always a ton of things to do, from attending panels to rocking out at the concerts. Now that I’ve had a chance to recover from the trip and gather my thoughts, it’s time for a recap of some of what I experienced at MAGFest 12.

Most of the panels I attended were focused on music. The first of these was the “Write Your Own Nintendo Music,” hosted by Brendan “Inverse Phase” Becker. His talk focused on the tools that he uses for creating 8-bit/chiptune tracks for his music projects. He explained the methods in which music on the Gameboy and Nintendo Entertainment System was generated and what the musical and technological limitations for each were. Since this year’s MAGFest was Zelda themed, he included a demonstration of 8-bit music writing by reconstructing the “Dungeon Theme” from The Legend of Zelda.

Brenden “Inverse Phase” Becker

Two of the other music panels that I attended were hosted by game composer Tommy Tallarico. He’s probably best known for his soundtracks for Earthworm Jim and his work as the head of Video Games Live. The first panel “Video Games Live: Behind the Scenes” focused on his work with the orchestra program that he tours with around the world. Tallarico spent a majority of the time telling the audience stories about his experiences performing videogame music and revealed some of his upcoming arrangements for the orchestra. (more…)
Chip Music, Featured, Music Production, Software

Chiptune TED talk features Dan Behrens (Danimal Cannon) at TEDxBuffalo

November 16, 2013 | Haroon Piracha | Comments Off on Chiptune TED talk features Dan Behrens (Danimal Cannon) at TEDxBuffalo Share this

TED talks have always been about presenting ideas worth spreading, so I’m glad to see they’ve put Chiptunes on display. TED talks try to gain a deeper discussion in a local field, TEDx is more for local programs, and Dan (Dan Behrens, aka Danimal Cannon) hit it off. As Dan described Chiptunes, he defined it as…

… Any music made using, or emulating the sound of, old video game consoles and their soundchips.
-Danimal Cannon

Technically with that definition, the PS4 could also be considered platform for Chiptunes, but it’s the sound that Dan and the others are attracted to, not particularly a beefy console. Dan’s chip of choice being a classic Gameboy, he continued into his list of consoles that other artists use to make Chiptunes. Consoles such as the NES, Genesis, Commodore 64, Atari Amiga, and many others. As Dan described, it’s really about taking minimalist hardware, and pushing it to the maximum potential.

The talk itself features some excellent music past the 4:35 mark. Take a listen.

Dan went further to talk about a trend taking place in music software, one that makes music controls easier to use, but leaves you ignorant to what the controls directly changed to achieve its sound. For instance, if you use a plug-in that has a fader controlling a “Smash” parameter, what is the “Smash” doing exactly? Does it EQ the sound? Is something being filtered? Does it matter? By using plug-ins like that, Dan considered it a failing to learn.

Dan also stated that such software is good for businesses, which is true. Music software that gives the end user the sounds they desire is often the goal developers strive for. However, Dan insisted that Chiptune is not a response to such easy-to-use music software, but rather it evolved by itself into where it currently stands in the community.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you agree that simple and easy to use software actually does make you less curious about how the sound was achieved?
Game Music

MAGFest 12 Concert Line-up Announced

November 16, 2013 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on MAGFest 12 Concert Line-up Announced Share this MAGFest 12 Concert Line-up Announced

Clear your calenders for the first weekend of 2014 and get ready to rock out to some phenomenal videogame music! The twelfth annual Music and Game Festival, also known as MAGFest 12, has released the performance roster for three of its upcoming videogame music concerts. The event will be taking place in National Harbor, Maryland and will run from January 2, 2014 through January 5, 2014. Two of these concerts are chiptune showcases, which will be held on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The Friday night concert will be what is known as an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Battle concert. A total of six different DJs from the VGM community will be participating to perform their repertoire for this EDM Battle. The line-up for the upcoming concerts include some new acts and a number of returning artists.

The MAGFest 12 performance roster is as follows:

Friday Chiptune Showcase (12 PM – 2 PM)

– Trey Frey
– Chipocrite
– A_Rival
– Danimal Cannon

Friday Night EDM Battle (10 PM – 2 AM)

– bLiNd
– Benjamin Briggs
– DJ Cutman
– Grimecraft
– Totentaz
– Flexstyle

Saturday Chiptune Showcase (12 PM – 2 PM)

– Awesome Force
– Auxide
– Rainbow Dragon Eyes
– Cheap Dinosaurs

More information and updates on MAGFest events, tickets, hotels, special guests, and performers is available on the official MAGFest website at http://www.magfest.org/. A handful of us from Original Sound Version will be attending MAGFest 12 to cover the events and concerts as well. It’s looking like a great line-up for this concert series. Hope to see you there.