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Light Dash is the main band covering most global music, the main theme, and some stage music for Sonic Battle. They could be described as a Hard Rock band with a jazzy or bluesy flare. They were the first band created and represent the scope of the Sonic GBA Project. 

The Sonic GBA Project is greatly inspired by the Splatoon series, which utilizes fake bands inside its own universe to create the game’s soundtrack. To further highlight the Sonic GBA Project’s inspiration for Splatoon, Light Dash is inspired by C-Side, the main fake band for Splatoon 3.

Musical Inspiration

I have always been inspired by Splatoon’s musical concept of having characters in lore playing music that acts as soundtrack music. The concept isn’t new (Vocaloids and AI nowadays), but the idea of this being developed to work as game music grew on me. Specifically, I had always thought that the older generation Sonic style music (Sonic Genesis or GameCube era) could mesh well with Splatoon’s music. To this, the idea of recreating Sonic Battle music was born.

I had the idea to redo the Sonic Battle soundtrack for a long while, but I didn’t consider myself skilled enough to program the MIDI guitar then. For the scope of work involved, I didn’t have enough money or backing to consistently hire live musicians either. There was also client work, the day job, and the other stuff I mentioned in my channel update video. After going on something of a “self-reflection” challenge, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge on the project.

The four Sonic Battle remixes I did in 2019 can be considered Alpha or Beta concepts of the project. In fact, before deciding to proceed with the project, I referenced those remixes as starting points for what I wanted to change or keep for Light Dash. I go in-depth on each character’s specific virtual instrument in their corresponding meta-instrument post, so I won’t cover that here. 

I will, however, mention that Light Dash’s core writing style focuses on “Question & Answer” writing. This type of writing is very common for anyone studying music composition or music theory. It is also common in many songs used throughout the Splatoon series (especially for the leading bands of Splatoon 2 & 3). One instrument (or “voice”) plays a part of the melody, and another voice responds or restates that same melody. Sonic Battle’s Musical Identity works well with this writing style given its heavy use of Lead Guitar and Organ in its melodies. In Light Dash specifically, this translates to Picks and Les taking turns playing or developing the melody.

In analyzing C-Side and my older Sonic Battle remixes, I realized that I had the means of expanding the “fake band” concept a little further than what Splatoon usually does. For Splatoon, they give you just enough information about each character to get a sense of their dynamic and role within the band. Take C-Side for example. What’s the story behind the individual members? How did they meet? How exactly did they end up as a grungy group? Who’s behind the Synths we hear in most songs?

I understand that exploring character backstories isn’t the goal or function with these characters but the same sentiment can also apply to musical elements. Compare the drummers between each fake band in Splatoon 3. If, for example, C-Side’s drummer played a song from Front Roe, can you “hear” how C-Side’s drummer would play it? Compare the guitarist between Yoko & the Golden Bazookas and Damp Socks. If they swapped, could you tell their playing styles apart?

I hope this provides a glimpse of the depth I plan on put into this project. A notable feature within the Sonic Community is the fanbase’s broad scope of fictional characters both in and outside the current Sonic universe. This made me pursue giving each character a personalized touch to break them into that community.

I want each band to have a layer of depth that can separate members even if they play the same instrument. How I plan to do that takes me into my MicroMacro System. We’ll use Light Dash as an example to explain this system.

Light Dash’s MicroMacro System

As the name implies, “Micro Elements” are small components, or musical quirks, that each character does to contribute to the band’s “sound.” The sum of these components sculpts and influences the “Macro Elements” that help to set each band apart in a way that is non-reliant on genre.

With this system, I can take musical quirks from various characters to form unique traits that drastically alter the same song (if you’ve read the Sonic GBA Observatory, this might come in handy once I reach Sonic Advance 3). Put another way, if I combined different members from different bands playing one song, that song would sound completely different depending on which members are being used.

Les’ Micro Elements

Les is a simple example of this. The organ parts in Sonic Battle often play melodies in 4ths. To keep in line with Sonic Battle’s music style (and for the sake of being faithful to the original), Les has incorporated this into his playing. In some cases, I stack 4ths on top of each other, going beyond what you’d hear from the Sonic Battle soundtrack. Used correctly, it introduces a nice jazzy shimmer to the compositions.

For those unaware, if you look at a piano and play a note, counting 5 notes up or down will be that note’s “4th.” By exclusively giving Les this quirk, this will eventually grow to separate Les from any keyboard player heard from other bands.

Lowen’s Micro Elements

Omitting complex playing can also be considered a Micro Element. Lowen highlights this with his playing. Being a novice at his instrument, he can only play simple parts. As a novice at guitar, I own a real beginner 6-string electric guitar that I sometimes tune to bass to simulate the parts I write. If I can almost play it, a novice actively studying bass can.

The style of music Light Dash plays also gives Lowen another Micro Element. In most rock-oriented songs, you don’t hear many advanced articulations such as palm mutes, slap/pops, or harmonics in the bass playing. Put another way, most players for the style play normally without many articulations. This is great because any future bass player I introduce will have many options for differentiating them from Lowen.

Lowen’s lack of experience is why Picks’ rhythmic playing is simple despite being an experienced player. That’s Picks compensating for Lowen. Visually, Lowen being a novice is also why I was drawn to Lowen’s meta instrument which features different colored strings. I imagine the colored strings help him find and hit notes faster.

Picks’ Micro Elements

As the main guitarist for Sonic Battle, Picks is the only one who can borrow from most of the guitar-related motifs and rifts presented in Sonic Battle. A big one is the hard, fast-paced vibrato (some call it the screaming vibrato). Another common guitar-type rift preset in Sonic Battle is the use of the Blue Note. For those who know theory but don’t know the Blue Note, it’s the sharped 4th (flatted 5th) added to the scale. 

I’m on the fence about making these two Micro Elements. With vibrato, it’s possible to give this Micro Element exclusively to Picks as there are different types of vibrato. Still, given that vibrato is such a staple technique to guitarists in general, it may be hard to differentiate it from other players in future bands. The Blue Note is another common note that many guitarists use in rifts and lead playing. This is easier to work with when combined with rhythmic motifs which we’ll get to in a bit.

Something special that Picks does (that’s in line with Sonic Battle’s sound) is occasionally octave-doubling his Lead guitar parts. The songs that use a high lead guitar often lose a lot of weight/power when translated to Light Dash, but omitting it means negatively tampering with the song’s excitement and energy. The solution was to add a guitar playing the same part but lower. Sometimes I even use completely different performances. Aside from octave doubling, I had to focus more on motifs with Picks than little quirks.

Shell’s Micro Elements

For drums that can only utilize rhythmics, Shell’s Micro Elements were tricky. As such, Shell has 3 major Micro Elements. The first Micro Element comes in the form of Tempo/BPM manipulation. I mentioned this briefly in Shell’s meta instrument, but Shell is implied to have a hard time keeping up with time while playing.

Of course, I couldn’t risk emulating that too realistically so I decided to musically automate tempo changes in music. Because of this, the drums are often the first instrument I program for any Light Dash song as they act as a metronome for the other instruments down the line. In many areas, these changes are subtle, but for certain parts of songs, this helps to make sections “feel” more impactful or energetic. Needless to say, this one Micro Element is strong enough to be considered a major Macro Element of Light Dash’s sound.

The 2nd & 3rd micro elements developed through natural happenstance and often work in tandem with each other. The 2nd micro element came from me trying to emulate “a Hard Rock tone that could dip into Metal” for Light Dash’s sound. Double Beating for Kick drumming is becoming a staple for Metal drumming so Shell uses double beaters (two kick drum pedals instead of one). Currently, I plan to make Shell the only drummer in the entire Sonic GBA project that uses double beaters.

The 3rd Micro Element is subtle but greatly influences how Shell handles Fills. “Fills” are little solos that drummers play that often indicate changing to a new part of the song or section. If you read Shell’s meta instrument post, you’d know that Shell is sitting between two floor Toms. To explain the significance of that, understand that for live drummers, the placement of the drums has a significant influence on what kind of beats or Fills they play because it influences how “comfortable” the player is playing them. For the Sonic GBA Project, the type of fill is another Micro Element that can be manipulated because it influences Rhythmic Motifs.

Micro Motifs

This is the final layer of Micro Elements for each character. I attempted to develop a few musical motifs or rifts each member uses throughout their playing. These elements are snuck into many of the band’s songs.

Les

Here’s an example of Les playing a simple melody, then playing it with 4th as discussed before:

To get that Sonic Battle vibe, these 4ths are often paired with raising or falling chromatics often centered around the Blue Note which helps Les pair better with Picks.

Picks

Picks has two big rhythmic motifs. The first is the Blue Note. Again, to capture that Sonic Battle hook, he often plays this Blue Note in a raising or falling motion similar to Les.

The other motif is one I’d thought of for creative purposes. I want Les and Picks to still be their own characters and not too “linked” to Sonic Battle. This next motif is snuck into many of the tracks Light Dash plays.

There is another motif I took from Sonic Battle that you may recognize if you’ve listened to the soundtrack a lot. For the tracks Light Dash would play, I don’t hear this being used as often as the other two.

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Hears another cue demonstrating the octave Lead you’ll hear often with Picks.

Shell

As stated, I plan to make Shell the only drummer using double beaters. I also mentioned that this and Shell’s Micro element of sitting in between two floor toms pair really well together. A common fill Shell uses is switching between hitting the toms and double beating. 

Another rhythm motif was taken directly from Sonic Battle. If you’ve listened to the soundtrack often, you’ll likely recognize this one.

There is a specific beat I like playing that I stole from Splatoon 3’s C-Side. Specifically, it’s from Clickbait. In the first verse (also a little before it), the drums would play a bunch of Toms while playing the main beat. I want to include that as Shell’s Micro Element, but giving an entire beat to a drummer who can only differentiate from other drummers via rhythms might limit me in the future. 

I can’t quite let this idea go as it’s the only Micro Element that references the Splatoon series. I personally like this beat and find myself using it quite a bit in various Light Dash songs.

A final micro element comes from Shell’s omission of ghost notes. Ghost notes are little hits on the snare drum during the beat. Here’s an example of a beat 1st without ghost notes then with:

In addition, Shell doesn’t use a lot of fast bounce strokes or open rolls either. I didn’t have any real reason for excluding these. I just wanted to make sure I had some basic drum elements to work with for future drummers.

Macro Elements

At this point, you can start to see how each character’s elements work together to shape Light Dash’s sound. That said, there are a few elements that can’t really be placed inside of a particular character. The synths are a good example. Although Lowen programs the synths, that isn’t specific enough to classify under a Micro Element as many bands both in and outside Sonic Battle will utilize Synths.

Synths

At first, I planned to use very few synths for this band, similar to the four Sonic Battle remixes I did back in 2019. I decided to include them for a few different reasons. Firstly, it better highlights the inspiration between the Sonic GBA Project and Splatoon which uses some form of synths in all their tracks. Second, although I wanted the Question/Answer writing style between Lead Guitar and Organ, that proved too limiting for a band playing the bulk of Sonic Battle’s music as only two instruments would be highlighted at any given time.

Introducing synths adds a 3rd instrument for melodies which can help break up the Question/Answer style from time to time (you can really hear this if you compare my 2019 Title Theme and Green Hill Zone to my current versions). It also helps to make Sonic Battle feel “newer” and more “modern” because of the lack of implied synths in the original soundtrack. Side note: Originally, Les was supposed to handle the synths. Not only did this not make much sense for Les’ character, but Lowen needed more auditory representation aside from playing bass.

As stated, I foresee many bands utilizing synths to some degree, so I’d like to incorporate a “Focus” for different synths spread between different bands in the Sonic GBA Project. One band for example, plans to use synths “Focused” toward game audio chips while while another is planned to use more complex sound-designed synths “focused” towards Dubstep, Drum n’ Bass and other heavy electronic styles. 

Another band later down the line could utilize synthwave-styled or older synths. In anticipating future bands, I limited all of Light Dash’s synths to 4 sources (read Lowen’s Meta Instrument if you want to know more). Still, I can’t put a “name” to the “Focus” of synths I’m using (electronics are a weak point for me). The closest I think sounds correct is “Hardcore” synths.

The “2nd / 9th” of Scale

The next Macro Element is for those who know Music Theory. In many Light Dash songs, you’ll often find me playing with the “2nd” or “9th” of the scale. To my ears, this paired with the other elements adds a nice shimmer to the Sonic Battle “sound” as a whole. It sounds more “updated” or “revamped” to me while still maintaining that essence of the original game.

Room Simulation

This is directed towards audio engineers but for those that have an interest in the process, there is software out there that allows you to produce music as if you were in a professional studio. You know how they have virtual walk-ins online when looking for an apartment to simulate being in that room? Room Simulation for audio engineers allows people who can’t get to a professional studio to “hear” how their music would sound sitting in a professional studio from their rooms on their headphones.

Steven Slate Audio VSX Modeling Headphones is a piece of hardware/software my mom surprised me with for Christmas one year. It comes with a collection of virtual Room Simulations or “spaces” I can use for mixing. I mix the bulk of Light Dash’s music on the Sonoma Studio space. For other bands, I plan on using a different space in means of getting a slightly different music profile for each band. As such, this could also be considered a Macro Element. 

Side note: I started to explain in one of Light Dash’s character profiles what a newly established Hard Rock group was doing in a professional studio but I decided to draw the line there. That’s a can of worm I’m not ready to open anytime soon. xD

Putting It All Together

With these, we can now list the rest of the elements that contribute to Light Dash’s sound, creating their musical profile.

• Core writing style is Question & Answer
• Focused Synths occasionally break up Question & Answer format
• The use of the “2nd/9th”
• Band is produced in the Sonoma Studio Room Simulation
• Shell’s inability to play in time requires Tempo/BPM automation
• Lowen’s inexperience at his instruments forces Picks to use simple parts for Rhythm guitar.
• This also demands simple chord progressions, patterns, and cadences.
• Lead Guitar and Organ parry off each other
• Sometimes they play in unison

Jump Start (Introducing: Light Dash)

Go back and listen to some of Light Dash’s music and you’ll hear all of these elements. In fact, “Jump Start” from the Meet The Band video is designed to highlight each character’s Micro Element which then builds the Macro Elements of Light Dash. 

A few can easily point out the clear inspiration to the Splatoon series with this song. For those unaware, the Splatoon series has an “Onboarding” process each time a new player logs into the game for the first time. You can view this as a simple tutorial level teaching the player how to play. If you listen to the music for each of these levels from their corresponding games, the music builds into the main theme or motif of the main theme.

This is concept exactly what Jump Start is based off of as it does exactly that; building towards the main theme (or Title Screen) of Sonic Battle. When the song flatlines, you can pick out many musical motifs from the Title Screen music. Given the symbolism to the inspiration from the Splatoon series, I thought it would be fitting for the first meet the band video.

Mixing / Master Plugins

For those interested in the mixing/mastering chain, I plan on using different plugins for different bands. Adjusting my mixing chain to use more/less analog styled equipment could also be considered a Macro Element but that’s harder to hear for the average listener which is why I didn’t list it.

Below is the list of plugins that i’m using for Light Dash. Considering that this is the first band, Light Dash having the most amount of tracks, and how inaudible this is to the average listener, I thought it best for productivity sake to use plugins that I personally like and are well familiar with. There is no special reason for selecting any of these plugins outside of personal preference.

EQ:

Logic’s stock EQ and FabFilter’s Pro-Q are the heavy hitters for all of my EQ moves. I use Logic’s stock purely out of habit and generic moves. FabFilter is mainly for surgical stuff and Linear Phase on the master output.

I also use Fabfilter’s Pro-MB. Though a multiband compressor, the way I use has nothing to do with compression. Pro-MB is what I use when utilizing a mixing technique I read about called Rainbow Mixing. Its basically when you listen to each individual frequency range and make mixing decisions. 

For example, I write Les’ Organ fairly high on the frequency spectrum to get it away from Picks’ rhythm guitars and Lowen’s bass. I shouldn’t be hearing much of it around 200Hz. Same with Lowen’s bass in the high 7kHz area (don’t like hearing the bass too much in higher frequencies).

Compressors:

Logic’s stock Compressor is used for Lowen’s synth parts and Shell’s Drums (both stems and drum bus). Fabfilter’s Pro-C is used on Picks’ lead guitar before it hits the amp to tame dynamics before going in. When experimenting with Title Screen, I used to use Pro-C on the master as well, but I stopped in favor of another compressor.

Before getting to the master, I want to highlight FabFilter’s Saturn. Similar to Pro-MB, I’m not using it for distortion (although I do put a little tape saturation on Les’ Organ and Lowen’s bass sometimes). I’m very fond of the Dynamics knob on Saturn and often use it on Picks’ Rhythm, Lowen’s fundamentals on bass, and Les’ Organ. I’m at the point where I can’t accurately describe why I like it so much. It just works the way I want it. 😀 

The compressor I’m using for the overall mix comes from IK Multimedia T-Rack series. Specifically, the Dyna Mu which is a Vari-Mu Tube Compressor. In short, Dyna Mu achieved what I was usually after in Pro-C in getting a transparent compression without a too-noticeable thumb. Of course, using Pro-C correctly you can get the same thing but it was simply easier to get to what I wanted with Dyna Mu.

I do however use FabFilter’s Pro-L for limiting. Sometimes its not needed as the Dyna Mu can sometimes get the song to -14 LUFS naturally. When it can’t I often reach for Pro-L. As far as limiting, Dyna Mu can get the same results but I still use Pro-L for the metering of peaks/clips and for their LUFS metering.

Translation & Reverb

For Reverb, I used to use Fabfilter’s Pro-R but I found myself gravitating towards IK Multimedia’s CSR Classik Room Reverb. At first, I wanted the band to be put on an actual stage for its reverb but had a hard time getting what I wanted from Pro-R. Again, CSR just got me from point A to point B faster.

For translation (the process of making sure it the mix sounds good on all devices), I use a combination of SoundID Reference and Steven Slate’s VSX. I mentioned “Rainbow Mixing” which is where I go through each range of frequencies and look for elements I should/shouldn’t be hearing in those frequencies. This process is done through VSX, which emulates the Sonoma Studio space. I start with the Near-Fields, which is more mid-range. After its complete, I do a full listen through on the Mid-Fields and make any broader adjustments.

For those curious as to why I have both this and SoundID, I happen to have already bought the latter but my headphones broke and my mother insisted on buying me another set (Christmas was coming up). VSX is what she got me to my surprise and after fumbling around with it, I realized that it was a good reference Mix checker in addition to SoundID. As stated, I plan on changing the room emulation for other bands later down the line. 

SoundID Reference is mainly used to check for boominess and low-end junk. I like listening to the Car presets for this as well as a test on their studio speakers for a final Mid Range test. Sometimes, I’ll listen to their Over Ear Headphones emulation for more low end check.