Wanted to wait until after the MD24 winners got announced before deciding to post my future plans, so first off, congrats to all the winners! Last year I was surprised enough to walk away with both a front page and a #5 winner slot. No such luck this year on either front, but that will not discourage me one bit. Considering my plans, you can safely expect me to take part in Madness Day for at least the next 3 years. I can't just release a "Vol. 1" and never make a "Vol. 2", that simply will not work. Even though the Madness fandom is no stranger to cancelled or heavily delayed sequels.

But I will have to be realistic with the amount of songs I will be able to produce in a year while juggling the other music projects that I keep getting myself into. 1 track a year is fine, but 2 or 3 is better. 4 or 5 is excellent, but I think that's gonna be my limit going forward unless by some ridicilous circumstance I'm able to have up to 9 tracks finished like I did last year.

So without further ado, my plans for Vol. 2 is simply to continue on a roughly chronological order of remixing Madness soundtracks, which from this point on will be heavier on the cheshyre remixes. I want to highlight the stylistic shift that occurs at this point in the series too, by doing a little stylistic shift of my own. Still gonna be footwork, bass and breakbeats but with a harder and more industrial-tinged sound, closer to something that can resemble Cheshcore with my own twist to it.

The mainline soundtracks I'm aiming to remix will include MC5-8 but no ".5"s. But a large part of it will also be remixes of non-mainline cheshyre tracks that mostly ended up in early fan animations. To give you an idea, the tracklist might look something like this:

1. Intro (unnamed as of yet, mainly sampling the "Alternate Intro" for MC5, might also incorporate bits of the I.V. intro theme) - style: glitch hop, trip hop, dark ambient ish
2. AntiHero - style: heavy footwork jungle, strictly no nazi samples (crowd noise samples will be sourced from a football match or something)
3. Insane - style: mostly halftime footwork
4. Laying Waste (MC5 main theme) - style: footcore, breakcore
5. CSOD - style: industrial juke gabber breakcore
6. Darksong2 - style: UK bass halftime footwork jungle
7. MADNEWAT - style: more on the downlow
8. API Madness - style: jungle, breakcore
9. TrainMadness - style: schranz, acidcore, hardcore breaks
10. MC7 main theme - style: footwork jungle with halftime sections
11. MC8 main theme - style: a dark beat with a twist
12. Unnamed original finale track - style: TBD, but might end in something dark ambienty

A few more notes. The genre/style notes are my current ideas which are subject to change, even drastically, when I get around to producing the remixes. I'm also gonna be open for collaborations on some of these tracks, which might also change up the style drastically depending on how it goes. If you're interested, DM me and let me know which track you wanna try and do something with.

Finally, I'm gonna need some album art for this one as well. And once again, I'm putting out an open commision for it (although I will just end up making it myself with sprite sheets and GIMP like last year if there are no takers). The scene I want for the cover is a wider shot of a scene from MC5, when Hank is looking out from a cliff towards the red "sun" in between fighting Jesus and his zombies. But instead of Hank, it's the boombox guy.

For the occasion, I made the two final tracks I wanted to make to round out the album:

The playlist has also been updated here:

UPDATE 23.09: The full album is now also available on Bandcamp (free download), SoundCloud and YouTube

MT1 on Bandcamp

MT1 on SoundCloud

MT1 on YouTube

That's all folks, see you for Vol. 2!

And for next week I'll be tackling the Chicken Dance. I have some very specific plans for that which I don't want to spoil, but if I'll spoil anything it would be that I'm not gonna be remixing that in a serious style like I did for "Heaven". The only way to go with the Chickens is fully tongue in cheek. Could bring out a couple of genre switches for that one.

Anyway, as "Heaven In A Wild Flower" is in a bit of a rougher spot with regards to copyright compared to the other pieces of music used in early Madness cartoons, I did have to write up a few e-mails to the guy who composed it, Bill Douglas. A few weird e-mails at that, there was no real other way around it. But the good news is that I did get permission to post it on here and on SoundCloud just as long as I'm not making money off it or putting it out on major streaming platforms, and if that were to happen I would have to set up a deal with his label for clearance and royalties. But that's how the music business is, you can't step on people's toes. If you can get permission for a remix, get it. For what it's worth, he also enjoyed the rough mix of it that I sent to him.

That's all for now, you will get to hear more on Madness Day

HIAWF PREVIEW

...And as you can see, it involves choir samples and tons of drum machine patterns, and it's in 160. Hmm. Could it possibly be... a footwork remix of "Heaven in a Wild Flower" by Bill Douglas, as famously heard in the final death scenes of Madness Avenger and Apotheosis?

And what's that about those seperated choir tracks? Well imagine this: what if I didn't even sample the original song? What if I found out that the sheet music for the piece is easy to come by? And what if... get this: my mother sings in a local church choir and the conductor was more than happy to have a short snippet of the piece practiced and recorded in the church, only for me to chop it all up footwork style.

As I said last year, MT Vol. 1 isn't done. So this surprise addition is Step 1 of getting it done. Step 2, if I have time for it, is the almighty "Ententanz", or the "Chicken Dance" (actually the "Duck Dance"). And with that, Vol. 1 will round out at a respectable 11 Traxx.

Stay tuned

Happy Madness Day!

Madness Traxx playlist link: https://www.newgrounds.com/album/305646/dj-d-face-madness-traxx-vol-1

It's been a busy workweek. I was able to get the Madness4 remix just about finished though I have not had an opportunity to start working on the Chicken Dance remix unfortunately. All the more ironic considering the cover art!

So for now this is a "0.9" release featuring tracks 1-9. I'm not gonna start working on Chicken Juke today, but I might do tomorrow. And depending on how quickly I can work once I get started, I would say it will be ready for release between tomorrow evening and sometime during next week. I'm also holding off on the Bandcamp and Soundcloud releases until then, so you can call this an NG exclusive pre-release.

With one week left to spare, I'd figure I'd share how the project is going. I have now decided on the naming convention for all 10 tracks and are done with or close to completion on all but the last two.

The tracklist, and current progress per track is as follows:

1. Elfentanz (Marshmellow Juke Mix) - Arrangement and mixing completed
2. Sh3riff Traxx0r - Arrangement completed, still working on mixing and minor touch-ups
3. Fancy Fiddle (Fancier Feetle Edit) - Arrangement and mixing completed
4. Splitmek (Splitskull Bootleg) - Arrangement completed, mixing mostly completed
5. Monks (Nevada Nirvana Mix) - Arrangement completed, still working on mixing though it should not require much work at this point
6. Look Down (At My Legless Feet Mix) - Arrangement and mixing completed
7. Refraction (Maximal Ninjutsu Edit) - Arrangement and mixing completed
8. Calliope (Calliopeton Riddim) - Arrangement almost completed, mixing WIP
9. Madness4 (Club M Backroom Dub) - Not started on yet, but got a solid idea for it, and will start working on it within this week if not tomorrow.
10. Chicken Juke - Not started on, might not be completed on time, but I do have an idea. Worst case scenario it will be a post-Madness Day release

In the end, most of these remixes are leaning more heavily on footwork/juke rhythms and breakbeats than I had originally planned. Currently, the biggest outliers are the Splitmek remix and the Calliope remix, where the former has been made primarily into a tech house, speed garage and UK bass track in 138 BPM, but with a trap breakdown in the middle and for the outro. The latter, as implied by the remix title, is taking a turn towards dembow and reggaeton-inspired rhythms at a modest 125 BPM, which makes it the slowest track on the album. But I just couldn't resist the goofy combo of the MIDI-fied Powerhouse melody played on a synthesized circus organ with a banging dembow. And I am currently resisting the temptation of adding even more goofy cartoon SFX to it. I should just save that for the Chicken Dance remix if anything.

I've also gone ahead and made the cover art myself rather than commissioning it. Put about as much effort into it as I would've done for a similar project 13 years ago (except that I had to make this in GIMP rather than Flash as I no longer have a Flash install), but that's all right because it fits the overall aesthetic. Though I may end up changing the DJ D-Face logo.

But that's all I have to report for now. Madness Traxx vol. 1 will be released on Madness Day on here, Bandcamp and SoundCloud, and if I can be bothered I might put it up on YouTube as well, but that would be later on. Anyway, see you on the 22nd!

Elfentanz (Marshmellow Juke Remix) - (WIP)

I just posted a WIP mix of track 1 for the upcoming Madness Traxx remix album. It's a footwork syle remix of the very first piece of music ever used in a Madness cartoon. David Popper's "Elfentanz" as heard in Marsh-Mellow Madness. Only a short snippet of the entire piece is used in the cartoon, and I have cut it off where it would be cut off, although I have chopped and looped some of the earlier segments so it's not a 1:1 arrangement.

Next up I'm going to start working on Track 2 and 3, which would sample the music used in Redeemer. Although I may not be able to post the Fancy Fiddle remix on Newgrounds due to copyright issues.

Sometime soon I'm going to put out a commision for the album art. For now the idea I have for it is a subversion of the first scene in MC1: Boombox Man front and center in front of the tree, Dancing Guy still in the background but Hank is dead on the ground on the left, having been shot by the Boombox Man (who should also be holding a smoking pistol). Get in touch via DMs if you're up for it and we can also discuss potential pricing.

Hello again.

I have gathered up some thoughts for the MD23 idea I announced in my previous blog post. As stated, it's going to be a remix album of the earliest of the featured music tracks in the Madness Combat series, up until MC4 and including Madness Interactive. For a working title for the album, I'm thinking of something like "Madness Traxx & Combat Beatz, Vol. 1" as a nod to both early 2000s naming conventions and the footwork genre which is going to be heavily incorporated in these remixes.

Currently, the tracklist should look something like this:

1. Marsh-Mellow Juke (Elfentanz)
2. Infiltration
3. Sheriff Traxx
4. Splitmek
5. Monks
6. Look Down
7. Calliope
8. Refraction
9. Club M
10. Chicken Dance

Tracks 4-8 will use the original track titles given by mmodule and Cheshyre, but possibly with humorous remix names in parenthesis (for example, "Split-Skull Remix" for Splitmek) for the sake of differentiating them from the originals. The MC4 main theme was never given a proper title so "Club M" is the current working title. The Chicken Dance remix (which I have placed at the end of the tracklist rather than at the more chronological beginning as it is an uplifting finish) may or may not be renamed.

Track 1, as implied, will be a remix of "Elfentanz" by David Popper which was featured in the very first Madness animation, Marsh-Mellow Madness. Krinkels used a recording by Russian cellist Sergei Roldugin for the animation. That recording is probably copyrighted, and as Rodulgin is a literal Russian oligarch, a close ally of Putin and unabashed supporter of the invasion of Ukraine, I've got plenty of good reasons to not use that recording. The composition itself is in the public domain and I can easily find other recordings that I can legally (and ethically) sample.

Track 2, "Infiltration", will be a mostly original track sampling the "Ambient Metal" loop used in the beginning of Redeemer. I might also sample some of those unused tracks for that animation but those are probably copyrighted so we'll see.

Track 3 will be a remix of "Sheriff Town" or "Fancy Fiddle" by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, which was used in the form of a short loop for most of Redeemer. The sample may be copyrighted but it also appears to come from a library music record intended for use in films/TV so it may actually be more or less fine to sample it. I'll consult with the AP admins, but worst case scenario this one will just end up SoundCloud/Bandcamp.

John-Paul Walton or mmodule's "Splitmek" was used briefly in Avenger and also for the main menu of Madness Interactive. "Monks" and "Look Down" only appeared in Madness Interactive, while "Refraction" (my personal favorite mmodule track) was only known for its use in Maximum Ninja 2 and will as such be the only "non-canon" remix. I could try to contact JPW to get permission but considering that these tracks were only ever released for free on his website back in the early 2000s, it may not be strictly necessary.

Then there are the two Cheshyre remixes, "Calliope" from Avenger and the Apotheosis main theme, which should be straight-forward to obtain permission for.

Finally, the Chicken Dance. The Chicken Dance remix that was used in MC1 and MC4 has been perhaps wrongly attributed to a DJ Birdy. However, it appears to have been released in 2000 by a DJ Ducky Duck. The composition is technically copyrighted (composed by Werner Thomas in the 50s), but is now more or less part of the folk music pantheon with a mind-numbing amount of covers made over the years. I'm probably not gonna directly sample DJ Duck's remix, and instead recreate the supersaw synth lead used for the melody and throw my own beats on top. I may end up sampling an accordion performance of it, though.

I am still conflicted on whether I'm going to include a remix of "Heaven In A Wild Flower" by Bill Douglas, also known as the "sad song" that was used for Hank's death scenes in MC3 and 4. It could work with a slow trap beat but I doubt I could get permission for it. Maybe that one can be another SC/BC-exclusive bonus track.

Hello to anyone who would come across this.

This is still a mostly inactive account. What was stated in the previous update (2010 and then 2017, time flies eh?) still applies. I have however updated the SoundCloud link as I changed my name over there a few years back. I'm now known as Ammari M/S: https://soundcloud.com/ammari-ms

My main creative output is still confined to music. All of the tracks I have uploaded here, and also most of the tracks I have uploaded elsewhere are still free to use for any of your creative projects: animations, games and now apparently Geometry Dash levels. The licensing is the same: Creative Commons - Attribution Only.

There is now somewhat higher of a chance that I may return to this website with something new this year. Let's just say that an idea appeared to me the other day for something I could do for the next Madness Day. It won't be an animation, at least not animated by me. I'm thinking more in terms of music.

The music of the earliest episodes of Madness Combat have been a tremendous influence on me, and I still keep coming back to them. Why not try and remix some of those classic tracks? So I'm thinking I could make an album, or maybe even a series of albums for the next few Madness Days. But for now, I'm starting with the music of MC1 through to 4 plus Madness Interactive. Some of those old Cheshyre and Mmodule tracks could sound really cool with trap, footwork and jungle beats, is what I'm thinking.

Obviously, copyright could be a problem here. Newgrounds isn't like the early 2000s anymore where anything goes. I probably couldn't upload the entire album to the audio portal due to some copyrighted and uncleared samples as well as unsanctioned remixes. But I could probably upload one or two of the Cheshyre remixes (with permission ofc) and link to the rest of the album on SoundCloud and Bandcamp (and it would be free to download). My personal view regarding copyright is still that it is entirely an unecessary constraint on creativity and freedom, and that sampling and remixing anything should be 100% allowed no questions asked. Let it at least be known, again, that all of my original music is free real estate for sampling and remixing so long as credit is given, and I extend the same courtesy to those I sample from.

Anyway, maybe or maybe not this idea will materialize. There are still a good 7 months to make it happen. So long and until next time.

• D-Face

UPDATED 2017 (SoundCloud link updated again 2023):

This account is an inactive time capsule of my childhood and teenage years at this point. I do no animate anymore, it's all about music, but I don't upload tracks here anymore either so if you're interested in that sort of thing head over to my soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ammari-ms

Following me or sending me messages here is unfortunately pointless, but feel free to enjoy, laugh, cringe or cry at the tiny little legacy I've left here. I might check back once in a blue moon though.