Behind the Scenes of the "DTM Club Introduction Video" Production

Self-Introduction
Hello! My name is Hachimori, a third-year student serving as the club president for the 2024 academic year at the Sendai KOSEN DTM Club (Hirose campus). I produced an introductory video for our club activities for the freshman welcome party this past April. I've put together some behind-the-scenes stories and more here!

Production Background
・The freshman welcome party was held in a style where only first-year students gathered in the gymnasium, so a video introduction was necessary (under 3 minutes).
・Since we are a DTM (Desktop Music) club where we make music on computers, we were enthusiastic about adding music and making the video feel just right.
・Of course, we wanted to increase the number of freshmen joining the club, but our primary goal was to raise awareness of the unfamiliar "DTM Club" among many people both inside and outside the school (we also post it on the club's YouTube channel).
・We aimed for content that would make those interested in the club go "Oh!" and that everyone watching could enjoy.
→ That is how we started producing the video during spring break.

Produced Work

Released on 2024/04/10 at the freshman welcome party & on the club's YouTube channel!
We made a video that pays homage to Vocaloid MVs and the like, set to an original song.

Video

Software used: Aviutl
For materials, I used many freely available assets, starting with the Zundamon standing illustrations by Ahiru Sakamoto. I am extremely grateful.
Production time: 24 hours
With the submission deadline approaching, I realized it would be more efficient to just make it all at once.

Source Material Explanation

From here on, I will explain the source material for each scene in the video.

・First of all, introducing yourself is important.

・The blue sky background & YouTube auto-caption style editing are based on Nori Nori Chopper.

・I actually wanted to reproduce the typos in the auto-generated captions, but I gave up because it would be boring if people just said, "These are typos, right?"

・The intro part that follows is also an homage to MADs.
・It's fun to cut out Sendai KOSEN, make it transparent, and have it pop up and move around.

・Anonymous M, our policy was to choose Vocaloid MVs that are easy to reproduce.

・By the way, there is something called the Omocoro Icon Generator that lets you easily create these round icons.

・Zundamon's green

・Yukkuri commentary
・If you use a Japanese-style room background and the 'Kei Font', it usually looks the part.

・Ultimate Senpai

・Teikyo Heisei University
・As for Pimura Takuya-san's MADs, I like 'Rino Kouzan'.

・It's technically an homage to Yukkuri Chabangeki.
・I personally think the background is a commonly used free asset.

・Override
・Yosei Yoshida explained the font and how to make it shake on Twitter, which I really appreciated.

・Liar Dancer

・Strong Wind All Back
・The recreation is a bit questionable, but the background color is the same, so it's fine to force it.

・Favorite Side Dish Announcement Dragon
・Sorry, it seems this joke overlapped with other clubs this time.

・Lagtrain
・I love the Zundamon with the deadpan look.

・This is how I felt while making the middle part of the video

・Alien Alien(and other NayutalieN MVs)
・I remember this being the first song where I properly listened to Vocaloid

・This part is likeSolar System Discois

・Kyu-kurarin

・p.h.
・Since this homage is more based on sound MADs derived from the original song, it was difficult to guess the source material
・I saw a tweet asking if it was "Higan", and I thought that made sense

・The source material is a group of BB materials
o Unstoppable Zundamon BB
o Zundamon BB that looks like it's dancing at an orchestra venue
o Cossack dance Zundamon BB
o Celebrate it! Zundamon's birthday or something! BB
o Zunbara Zunzunzun BB
・As for Vocaloid songs, I've seen Namiguru use them

Supplementary Note

・The idea to pay homage to various Vocaloid MVs came from this OtoMAD (1:38~)
〇 Nori-nori Utchan Nanchan
(It's a bit eccentric, but it's my favorite OtoMAD)

Song

Software used: Cakewalk and various plugins
Production period: 2 weeks
Since this is for the DTM Club, I will also explain the song properly.

Overall

・If the DTM Club were introduced with this vibe for the entire 3 minutes, it would be too much, so I only explain the DTM Club for the first minute or so.
・The remaining time is dedicated to the message: "To those who won't join the DTM Club, I recommend joining some kind of club! ✨" and "To those who won't join any club, just start something! 💪"
・The song title is "Let's begin nanoda!"
・The song title is based on a 1972 youth school drama called "Tobidase! Seishun" (Who even knows that?)

・The theme song is also a great track.

Lyrics

・"Super Zun-Zun Time!" has no deep meaning; if I had to say, it was influenced by the Zun-Tsumu yuri song "Kira Kira Sweet Happiness Time!"
・I often struggle with lyrics, but this time the content I wanted to convey through the song was mostly decided, so it was extremely easy to write (I wish I could only write lyrics like this all the time)

Composition (Melody)

・There is only a melody in the chorus.
・In my case, the chord progression comes first, so I built the melody to match that and the lyrics.
・I thought it didn't need to be an eccentric melody... and it ended up being a very stable and overly calm melody (my later thought was that I wanted it to have a bit more originality).
・Unintentionally, the melody for the final "Let's begin nanoda!" ended up sounding like "Hajimete no Acom♪"

Arrangement (Chord Progression)

↓ Chord progression is here

・For the A-melody, I ripped off "SUN FLOWER" from THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS.
・It's almost the same chord progression, but it's interesting how the feeling changes completely when the tempo, key, and arrangement are different.
・It's a so-called descending cliché, and since it connects smoothly, it doesn't get in the way even when repeated, and it's a wonderful chord progression that you won't get tired of.

・The B-melody also uses a descending cliché from VIm
・IV#7-5 ← I love this
・The four chords before the chorus are the same as in "Fantastic Party!"
・Vaug is a particularly favorite chord of mine

・The chorus uses a so-called "con-fame" progression
・The VI#→V at the end of the chorus, including the descending bassline, was influenced by Masayoshi Oishi's "Imperfect"

・The chord progression ended up being calm overall this time
・My goal was to appeal to a wide audience, so I settled on not doing anything too flashy (which turned out to be a good thing)

Arrangement (Voice Tuning)

・For the parts where Zundamon speaks, I was helped by melonade's "VOICEVOX BPM SYNC" (or rather, that's all I used)

・Since it just needs to match the song's BPM, I didn't edit the accents at all
・It turned out well, bringing out the natural Zundamon-ness
・For the "Super Zun-Zun Time" part, I layered different talk styles

・The parts where Zundamon sings use VOICEVOX Humming
・The fact that this was released right during spring break was also what prompted me to use Zundamon
・I didn't tweak the pitch for this either (it was before the pitch adjustment feature was even implemented)
・By layering Chisei as a chorus, I supported Zundamon's soft, mushy singing style
・I made a video comparing it with NEUTRINO Zundamon, so please check it out if you'd like

Arrangement (Instruments)

・I learned about drums from Yuro Majima's "Kamaboko Kamahoro Kamakoto ka"
・I am super grateful that they uploaded a video like that

・I don't know the acoustic environment of a gymnasium, so I just made the kick and snare loud and easy to hear (at worst, if you can hear these and the vocals, it sounds like a song, so it's okay)

・For the A-melody and B-melody arrangements, I used the aforementioned video as a reference for both the bass and piano

・For the chorus, I added the following to the existing instruments to make it work somehow:
　〇 Brass recorded on an Electone
　〇 Electric guitar, which I don't know how to play because I've never touched one
　〇 Some mysterious strings, also added faintly
　〇 A sound that I'm not even sure what instrument it is anymore, but probably something like a glockenspiel
・It's still far from the arrangements of the works I respect, but since it's the latest in my own work, it should be well-made

・I feel like there is room for improvement not just in how I use instruments, but also in my mixing methods

Summary

・It's a work I put a lot of effort into, and I really like it
・I definitely want to make a new one next year

・I was very happy with the response after the release
・I was especially excited when people guessed the source of the MV homage

・The video will remain on YouTube forever, so please feel free to watch it anytime!
・The DTM Club's spring album "Tabi" (Journey), which also includes this song, is available in full on YouTube
・It also features a lovely jacket and crossfade, so please check it out!

Well then, thank you for reading this far!!!