See Retro Videogame Tunes Come To Life With The Music Animation Machine

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One of the flat-out coolest endeavours I’ve seen in awhile comes from “hattoriyaro,” who’s using a specialized program to turn the individual notes of MIDI music into complex animations. Among his creations are several dedicated to classic video games from Megaman 2 to *ahem* “cult classic” Cheetahmen. Hit the jump for videos and more information on how it’s done.

Looking not unlike some crazy Beatmania video, Hattoriyaro’s creations seem to be inspired by the way that we “see” music. Not merely flashy background animations, but the kinds of patterns that emerge as a waterfall of notes cascades from the top to bottom of your screen (as shown above), or when a series of explosions look more like an elaborate bed of flowers in Every Extend Extra.

Combining that principal (and some creativity) with a freeware program called The Music Animation Machine (which represents music in terms of colored bars as opposed to traditional notes on a scale) results in the following:

Dr. Mario
[youtube width="425" height="335"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_1eyn25eA[/youtube]

Mega Man 2 Dr. Wiley Stage
[youtube width="425" height="335"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASXnFRYf6LI[/youtube]

and my personal favorite…

Chrono Trigger
[youtube width="425" height="335"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4DjC0BdKt4[/youtube]

You can check out several more of these game-inspired videos on Hattoriyaro’s Youtube page, and there are many from other musical genres located at the MAM site linked above. The actual representations may vary in complexity, but even the most abstract moments carry with them a subtle beauty any nostalgic gamer can appreciate.

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  • http://www.musanim.com Stephen Malinowski

    Nice review! However, are you sure that YouTube user hattoriyaro made these videos? In the YouTube “About This Video” section of these videos, it says “executor: jinja” (which I’ve seen transliterated “jinjor” elsewhere). On Nico Nico Douga (where the originals appear — with real-time viewer comments — way cool), the composer/arranger/artist is anonymous, and I’ve been told that he wants to remain that way.

  • Cavin Smith

    I suppose you’re right. It may not be hattoriyaro. That’s merely the way I interpreted it, as those were the only video he’s ever uploaded. If the original creator wants to remain anonymous, I suppose there’s nothing that can really be done about it, but if he comes forth, I’m more than willing to give him his due. :)

    Regardless, these are some really cool videos, so my appreciation goes out to whoever made them (not to mention those who made them possible).

  • http://www.musanim.com Stephen Malinowski

    >not to mention those who made them possible

    :-

    Stephen (aka Music Animation Machine)

  • Cavin Smith

    Precisely. :)

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