Sad Pixcels

R2 VPC Challenge Notes I read the challenge and instantly thought of Dungeon Crawler Carl as a theme; if you’re unaware, the story is about the Earth being paved over and all of its resources being collected by an alien civilization. Said resources are then recycled into an elaborate dungeon where things are remixed in a way that doesn’t seem right, like a safe room could be an old Arby's or a Taco Bell and even dead humans could be brought back through nefarious means. In that same breath, I thought since this theme was encouraging recycling concepts and samples, that’d be a sort of meta-theme that would work really neatly. I have to thank my partner for encouraging me to put more references in than I initially did — full disclosure I was more focused on making the verses work in the DCC universe, so I didn’t immediately think about using a whole ton of references, but Sads helped reframe things for me. In the first verse, we have references to “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns & Roses, “The Best is Yet To Come” by … well, let’s just say by Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, the cursed existence of wikifeet is referenced as well due to the AI’s canonical foot fetish. Also in V1 is a reference to The Cat in the Hat. In verse 2, there’s a reference to the everlasting wait for Half Life 3, I also went ahead and injected one of Carl’s most infamous lines: You Will Not Break Me. Also in verse 2 is a reference (or a couple of references) to Avengers movies. Finishing out V2 is a nod toward DC comics. V3 references “Her,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlet Johansson. It also name drops “Wonderwall” by Oasis because wynaut?

Hello Judges! I am reporting my sample uses for round 2. From the Dollar Bin, I used Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combnation & Brass - Waitaminute. used from 0:17.573 in the original instrumental to 0:18.065. The original sample was reduced in playback rate to 0.05, reversed, and pitch shifted in the settings of the instrumental by -1.2 semitones. From there, the track was further compressed, equalized, and had a Flanger applied to help aid the foreboding by transmitting the frequency left and right. I also duplicated the track, and both are panned 100%, one left the other right. used throughout our submission. The introductory four bars as well as the hook and transitions all used the same 4 measure sample. In the first verse, the sample was slowed down to 0.0125, as it lasts from the start to the end of the verse. During the 2nd verse, I chose to take the first 4 bars of what was used in the first verse, and repeated it during the verse. I repeated this audial metaphor again in the third verse, dropping the 3rd and 4th bar of each 4 bar section. From the Free Bin, I used All The People; Robert Moore - Cramp Your Style [Mono Version]. Used in the hook, and transitions into and out of the hook. This sample was reduced to a 0.3 Playback rate, and sampled from 0:00.224 to 0:00.958. The sections used within the lead in and out are at -8 semitones, as are bars 1, 2, 5, and 6. Bars 3, 4, 7, and 8 are set to -6 semitones. This sample was also duplicated, though they have only been panned 50% left and right respectively. They also have received compression and equalization, however they have received a sweeping resonant lowpass filter, frequencies swapped. Left starts with 1019 Hz, ending at 2617.4 Hz. Right has those values but flipped. The sweep time is 1.55 seconds, with a 0.81 resonance. From the International Bin, I used Francesco De Masi Raoul - Who Is The Man. This is used in the Verses section, as well as the Hook Transitions. The sample used was from 0:00.388 to 0:02.836. Within the track, this sample is one measure long. The first 4 measures received no semitone shift, the second 4 measures received a -0.5 shift, the 3rd 4 measures received a +1 shift, and the final 4 measures received a +1.5 shift. The only additional work done on this sample is compression and equalization. From the Tools and Instructional Bin, I used Klopfenpop - Kombat Kuts. “I Rule This World (0:27.706-0:29.630),” “Prepare to Die (0:35.5-0:37.142),” Two Laughter sections (0:30.430-0:32.162, 0:32.889-0:34.776), and a static sound effect (0:40.659-0:42.5). For “I Rule This World,” used in the Intro as well as the Hook. Chopped the sample. For “Prepare to Die,” used in the intro, also had chopping. The static effect is consistently used in the transitions into and out of the hook, as well as the intro into the first verse. The Laughter sections were used at the outro. I Rule This World and Prepare to Die both were reduced to .75 Playback rate, and both laughters were reduced to .5 Playback rate. All of these were on a single track, with only a global pitch shift FX used (Slift of 9 semitones, 4 cents, 8 semitones, -1 octave, and Formant shifts of 76 cents and 4 semitones.), and a bit reduction/dither of 4 bits, dithering off. Thank you for your time, I look forward to seeing your feedback. -Cliff B aka TheComicSads Track Timeline: 0:00-0:09 Intro 0:09-0:48 1st Verse 0:48-0:58 Transition into Hook 0:58-1:18 Hook 1:18-1:28 Transition from Hook 1:28-2:07 2nd Verse 2:07-2:17 Transition into Hook 2:17-2:36 Hook 2:36-2:46 Transition from Hook 2:46-3:25 3rd Verse 3:25-3:35 Transition into Hook 3:35-3:55 Hook 3:55-End Outro

[Intro — 0:00 - 0:09]

[1st Verse — 0:09 - 0:48] (POV = Dungeon AI)
Welcome to the Dungeon / we’ve got fun and games /
We got your entertainment at a wicked sixty frames / 
I hope you’re all excited / I hope you’re down for fun / 
I hope you live to see that the best is yet to come / 

You said your name is Carl? / Isn’t that a treat? / 
I haven’t been this happy since my days on wikifeet / 
Let’s get going shall we? / Are you ready for a whirl? /
It’s time for another go of Dungeon Crawler World! / 

I see you brought a friend / a fuzzy little cat? / 
The only thing you need right now’s a red-and-white striped hat / 
You could have brought a dog in / a full-breed or a mutt / 
Instead you chose a pussy and you called it Princess Donut / 

I think you have too much / on your plate to munch / 
The two of you got tons of orcs and gobs’ left to punch / 
I don’t wanna hear bitching / so stow your stupid grievance / 
I’ll be around as soon as you’ve got a NEW ACHIEVEMENTTTT! 

[Transition into Hook — 0:48 - 0:58]
AI: I really must be going, but do take care … of those precious little feeties, Carl!

[Hook — 0:58 - 1:18]
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: No, you tore it all down and replaced it all with shit / 
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: If I’m gonna make a difference here I gotta learn to cool it /
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: Everything you know of Earth is nothing but counterfeit / 
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: The human race is more than you would care to admit / 

[Transition From Hook — 1:18 - 1:28]
Carl: I really wish someone would do something about this AI and its sick fetishes … it’s getting really annoying.

[2nd Verse — 1:28 - 2:07] (POV = Carl)
I can’t believe this happened / this dumb fucking shit / 
If I don’t get a smoke soon I’m gonna fucking lose it / 
Hey Donut, where you goin? / I think we should regroup / 
I think we should be sure if we need to fly the coop / 

I think this is the dungeon / sky above our heads / 
Just our luck / a monster’d tear our corpses into shreds / 
Go fuck yourself, AI / I will not let you break me / 
I’ll send you into hell like GabeN did with Half Life 3 / 

I think the hand I’ve drawn / is rather commonplace / 
But if my master plan’s to work / I’ll wear my poker face / 
I need to keep my cool now / my mind must be a temple / 
It’s like Avengers: Endgame and I’m here to yell ‘ASSEMBLE’ 

I messaged everybody / all the crawlers in this war / 
I found it hard to sell them / even with all my rapport / 
I managed to convince ‘em / we were made of stronger stuff / 
Like Batman fighting Darkseid / it was fully based on bluff / 

[Transition into Hook — 2:07 - 2:17]
Carl: I didn’t think I’d ever find a use for the Doomsday Scenario, but when in Rome, I guess …

[Hook — 2:17 - 2:36]
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: No, you tore it all down and replaced it all with shit / 
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: If I’m gonna make a difference here I gotta learn to cool it /
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: Everything you know of Earth is nothing but counterfeit / 
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: The human race is more than you would care to admit / 

[Transition From Hook — 2:36 - 2:46]
Donut: CARL! I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD BE JOKING AROUND ABOUT KILLING US ALL IN A DEADLY EXPLOSION. I DON’T THINK MONGO WOULD LIKE IT. NEITHER WOULD I. 

[3rd Verse — 2:46 - 3:06] (POV = Princess Donut)
I don’t think we should do this / it’s a bit too much! / 
Besides, I think explosions have become your tiny crutch / 
I’d really hate to see you / obtain a stupid skull / 
Why don’t I teleport us free by using my spell ‘hole’? / 

I wish your AI boyfriend / was like the one in “Her” / 
Instead we’re forced to reckon with the world’s biggest pervert / 
In any case, calm down / Don’t start a bare-fist brawl / 
Instead, enjoy my record-breaking cover: “Wonderwall!”

[3rd Verse — 3:07 -  3:25] [POV = Carl]
OH GOD DON’T GET ME STARTED / I need my drums intact / 
There’s nothing more I’d hate right now than hearing that song whacked /
I cannot think why Bea / left you home with the TV / 
But now I gotta suffer when you want to karaoke / 

I’m really sorry Donut / that came out really mean / 
I know that in the end the two of us should be a team / 
I won’t blow us sky high / let’s save the bomb for later / 
Maybe we can use it when we meet this game’s creator / 

[Transition into Hook — 3:26 - 3:35]
AI: OOPS, it looks like Carl said something vaguely threatening to yours truly or the Kua-Tin! I might have to punish that dumb nerd later … 

[Hook — 3:35 - 3:55]
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: No, you tore it all down and replaced it all with shit / 
I-I-I-I RULE THIS WORLD
Carl: If I’m gonna make a difference here I gotta learn to cool it /
YOU-YOU-YOU-YOU DON’T RULE SHIT
Carl: Everything you know of Earth is nothing but counterfeit / 
YOU-YOU-YOU-YOU DON’T RULE SHIT
Carl: The human race is more than you would care to admit / 

[Outro — 3:55 - END]