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Yutaka Minobe - A Duel Frenzy (WIP)

Just a little update on the project, since I’ve been slowly working on this track for the last week, give or take thanks to work.  I really could’ve sworn this song saw more airtime, but it surprisingly only played 15 times throughout GX! Which means it’s a bit hellish trying to get a few seconds here and there completely SFX-free, hence a few points where I’ve been inserting the vocal-removed version of its sample from 172 (which I used since it loops the first bridge/“verse”[/whatever lol] a few times [a part that some of the other uses skip or truncate).  It’ll sound a bit better once it’s all done and I add some more reverb to that vocal-less track and move things around a bit, but here’s a taste!

I also kinda want to change the name I’m giving it; maybe “An All-Out Duel?” To fit how it’s used with Alice or Manjoume VS the SOL or Kenzan at a few spots (especially his Pair Duel with Judai and Asuka, and his duel with Sorano), and also how Tanya and Judai had that hand-to-hand duel lol.

Yutaka Minobe - A Touching Moment

And here’s the last short track for this release! This thing only played twice in the series (in a flashback with Judai/Hayato in 9 and as Shou leaves Red in 56), so it’s definitely the least-used unreleased track, and interestingly enough, it’s also tied with a piece I’m calling “Resolution” (plays only when Chronos looks at all the grad pictures in 167, and when Shou’s by Judai’s bed in 109; that’ll be done after I get these tracks done).  As a result, the beginning lead-in was hard to get intact, so I had to remove the vocals for it.  Then the sample from ep.9 gets most of the song, and it would’ve gotten it all if it hadn’t been for Kuzuo’s “HMM…” towards the end; that’s where I switched to the ending bit from 56 to cover it up, keeping the footsteps for a second or two, and then going back to the 9 sample for the end.  Because it’s not an ideal fade-out there (with birds chirping near the end and all), I cut it short just before the chirps and crossfaded with silence, and then added some reverb in Cool Edit to give it a fade-out.

Enjoy! I’ll be cracking my knuckles for the first longer theme, “A Duel Frenzy” (aka Tanya’s Theme) next.

Yutaka Minobe - Suspenseful Encounter

Rip #6 all done! Here’s Suspenseful Encounter (working title, since I feel it could use a better name but I have no ideas lol), played about 25-26 times in the series, putting it up there with A Close Call.  This track wasn’t too hard to work with, minus the “why can’t I get this ONE second clearly” thing.  The beginning comes from 29 after some static-removal, and then most of the track is a re-reverb’d vocal-removed version of the sample from 103 and then 93–the latter of which gives us the fade back in towards the end.  I was debating whether or not that was either a new part or part of the opening fade, but the fade goes on to keep fading in as the new piano part kicks in, so I kept it.

Enjoy; one more short track left!

Yutaka Minobe - Standby

Here’s rip #4, “Standby,” which is probably the least-played unreleased track in the series (at seven times, and usually before a duel), second only to “Amnael’s Theme” (four times).  Unfortunately, even 7 uses weren’t enough to get the theme as originally heard, and while I resorted to just vocal-ripping the sample from 106, I did want to intersperse parts of the un-ripped samples to restore that one “strummy” instrument that comes in every few seconds; but doing that and going back to the ripped sample seemed a bit jarring.  106’s sample doesn’t give a clear fade at the very end because of the transition to the Cobra scene and the background noise but it was the only one that I could use, so once I vocal-removed it, I had it crossfade with a few seconds of silence, and then added some reverb in Cool Edit to give it a fade.

Enjoy! Two more short tracks to work on, and then it’s on to the longer ones.

Yutaka Minobe - Contemplation

Here’s rip #3, pretty much done: Contemplation! A nice piece that played about 21 times in GX, first at the start of 46, and finally in 179 as Yugi and Judai prepare to duel.  Left in only 2 pieces of SFX (that footstep and Judai sighing), thanks to its use in 47 getting me the beginning (before Ojama Yellow has to–pardon the pun–butt in and cut it off) and its use in 164 (where Judai sighing comes from) getting me most of the end.  Enjoy!

(EDIT: Fixed up the track to get rid of those bits of SFX by using samples from 78 and 159 [after restoring it to its original B note, since it was higher-pitched].)

Another one fresh off the presses! Presenting “A Sprung Trap”, first played at the start of episode 28, last played in 149 (when Amon attacks Yubel!Johan); all together, it played about 31 times in GX.  Had to leave in a grunt or two to keep it flowing (that mid part was hard to get intact), and I removed the vocals from 60’s sample (when Judai can’t see his cards) to get us that clear end.  Enjoy!

Also, as I post these on my Soundcloud, I’ll have downloads enabled for the week I post them, and then disabled after, since I want to release these all together. :P

(EDIT: Updated the track to get rid of what was left of the title card music in the beginning, and inserted some of the vocal-removed track [with some restored reverb] to replace the parts with said grunts)

Yutaka Minobe - A Close Call

Makin’ some headway on things!

So I finished my little unreleased-BGM spreadsheet and nabbed a few samples venomas6 hadn’t already sent me for this song, and got to work in Vegas today trying to snip the best parts I could use to get it with as little SFX as possible (rather than just vocal-remove and lose some of the instruments).  Thankfully, its clips in 51 and 143 helped with the ending (51 in particular chipped in for the very end), 93 for the beginning, and the other clips here and there.  This’ll probably be the final version I’ll use, having bumped up/lowered the volume here and there to make it sound more even, though it sucks that I can’t get those footsteps out of there. D:

[About the “Sound Duel 1.5” thing, that’s how I’ll eventually be releasing these rips (EDIT: I said this thinking Tumblr would show the album title lol).  Originally, I was going to make that and a 1.75 for the Season 3+ stuff, but making it a 2-disc thing would probably work better lol.  I’m also planning to include a bunch of the extended tracks I’ve made for stuff that’s been released, and some I’ll whip up for more of them and for these unreleased tunes.  Now, I do want to start working on GX Season 1 soon, so once things get a bit more stable IRL, I may do a tune or two in between each episode; we’ll see how it goes.]

This one played 24 times throughout GX (and yet none of them gave me a solid way to get the first few seconds completely dialogue-free lol).  One of my favorites, too.  Enjoy!