Buffalo Rising Online

May 7th, 3:00pm By Anthony Swinnich

Back when video games were still in their infancy, developers relied on whichever computer system they were programming for to create any kind of audio for their games. Today's video games can sound like anything from an orchestra to a jazz band because the audio is pre-recorded and loaded onto a CD, eliminating the need to rely on the limited resources a primitive computer provides.

Those limited resources forced programmers to think carefully about what sort of music would play during their games, and there are beautiful compositions hidden in the bleeps and bloops because of this. These songs were so well written that many people feel a nostalgic connection with them today. Enter Armcannon – Buffalo's own video game rock maestros. This 5-piece outfit carefully splices many well-recognized video game tunes with elements of metal, jazz and straight-up rock to create a sound all their own.

According to keyboardist Chris Dlugosz, the band doesn't simply cover video game music. They take the original pieces and add their own parts to the mix, creating something that's half original. Guitarist Dan Behrens agrees. “If you know exactly what the source material is for a lot of the songs, you might realize that there are completely original sections that we interject, either as transitions to other songs, or just new interpretations that we make.”

The band said they can put together a song as quickly as one or two practices, but some take several months to come together. “'Power Rangers' might not be as intensive to play as, maybe a 'Final Fantasy VII' [track]” said guitarist Mike Willard. “We can throw together an easy song in a day if we need to... but a lot of it is doing homework.”

Like the composers of video game music, the members of Armcannon have been playing instruments for most of their lives, and their abilities reflect the amount of time they've put in. Dlugosz has been playing piano since he was three. Bassist Bill Drew has been playing for ten years and is currently studying music at Villa Maria College. Willard and Behrens have been playing guitar for 13 and 16 years respectively, and Dietz has been drumming for 8 years. The band's dedication can't be called into question either. They practice 3 times a week for 6 hours. “We will always want every new song to top all of our previous work,” said Dlugosz. “ So we're making it harder on ourselves by making it more technical and complex.”

“It's all very hard music to play,” said drummer Brian Dietz. “We take a 15 second clip and turn it into a 5 minutes song.”

Armcannon recently released their first full CD, a 10-track effort titled Leg Vacuum. The band said the name came about originally as a joke. “We wanted the opposite of an 'arm-cannon.' It was funny, and then it was still funny a week later so it just kind of stuck,” said Dlugosz.

The first track is titled “Cranial-Syphon [Kay-raid],” a souped-up version of the music from the “Kraid” level in “Metroid.” The band takes the song away from its original dark and dreary mood and transforms it into a driving hard rock song. About a third of the way into the song Dlugosz breaks into a frantic piano solo as the rest of the band drops out, and the effect it creates is as eerie as it is regal.

The original “Kraid” loop in the game clocks in at around 45 seconds, but the band has no trouble stretching this song out to just under 5 minutes because of the way they intertwine original elements with those found in the original track. Somewhere around two-thirds of the way through the song an original guitar solo breaks out over the song's bass melody, showcasing again how the band builds their own material into the compositions.

Armcannon sets themselves apart from the other video game music bands by placing the keyboard in the lead position during most of their arrangements. Since the sounds programmed to the keyboard are often reminiscent, if not exactly the same as those found in the game, this helps listeners remember not just by melody, but by context as well.

“Super Cranial Syphon [Drum Poetries]” is a medley of several tracks found in “Super Metroid” for the SNES. The song starts off with the same organic and creepy mood as found originally in the “Brinstar (red soil)” stage. The chorus effect is similar to the one found in the original (albeit two octaves lower) and lends an ominous presence to the song, while the guitar melody sneaks around. The band eventually breaks into the main theme from the game, a determined march that stands in stark contrast to the suffocating moodiness found in the earlier part of the song.

“We have a weird time fitting in with any band because a lot of our style is all over the map,” said Behrens. “Even if you could pin us down, it's still kind of a weird style anyways. I don't think we've ever played a show with a band where we've completely fit in musically.”

According to Dlugosz, the band selects what songs they cover based on both their nostalgic value and how complex they are to play. “It's really tough, because you get lots of requests from people,” said Behrens. “We can't even get to all the tracks that we want.” He said the band has a to-do list of around 88 songs, and it's only around a quarter completed.

The good news for fans is that there's a good chance the songs people want to hear are already on the band's radar. Behrens brought up a recent request asking the band to cover “Star Fox” from the Super Nintendo, to which Dlugosz proudly confessed, “I know all of it.” The band is working on a funk version of “Crash Man” from “Mega Man 2.” They are also going to be working on “Dr. Wily Stage 1” from the same game, plus some songs from “Castlevania” and “Ninja Gaiden” as well.

Nostalgia isn't the only factor when it comes to song selection – the band's layout makes it convenient to cover the older stuff. “With the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) you have a set number of channels, so that's easy to assign,” said Behrens. “We don't do too much new stuff. I want to do the 'Metal Gear Solid' theme, which is a bit more orchestral and a little bit more difficult. Some of the older stuff is kind of obvious on how it should come together, meanwhile a lot of the newer stuff is pretty much orchestra music. It's not necessarily harder, it's more difficult to arrange.”

Behrens' modesty overlooks the fact that the band does an great job with a song from a more contemporary game on Leg Vacuum already. The band took “Still More Fighting” from “Final Fantasy VII” and reworked it as their own “Bigger Boards [With Bigger Nails[With Bees in their mouths]].” It's probably the track that's the most note-for-note with the original version (for the first half of the song at least), but the increased focus on guitar creates a more vicious sound. The song moves toward metal territory when the song hits half-speed. It eventually closes with a peaceful rendition of the main “Final Fantasy” theme complete with strings and acoustic guitar.

“Smegaman Three [He Enter Magma]” is a medley of songs found in “Mega Man 3.” The song opens with the game's intro track, only here it's performed as a jazzy piano solo. The song then explodes into an up-tempo guitar race version of the game's main theme. After a brief and thoughtful repose, the band shreds through the enemy select screen tune until the song moves on to cover “Snake Man.” It wouldn't be an Armcannon song without the members infusing their own ideas into the mix – since when could 8-bit processors produce pinch-harmonics? They couldn't, but they fit perfectly here. The song finishes up with a fast paced and crushing rendition of the boss battle music.

The band members hope to someday move into creating wholly original pieces, but they're having fun with what they're doing right now. They also all agree that it would be great to make a living playing music. Drew puts it best when he asks “Why would you want to do a 9 to 5 job when you can just rock out?”

Leg Vacuum can be purchased directly from the band's website at Armcannon.com. More information can be found there, and also at myspace.com/armcannon.