Would've 7'd if not for volume F

very much enjoyed this.

yea, i never work with vrc7 ever. wish famitracker would emulate the clipping

(uploaded the ftm render)

I thought the ftm export to wav was the default choice for export?

not for me, i prefer using virtuansf or nsfplay since they're more "accurate". virtuansf had some nasty clipping with tho, which wasn't intended of course. i thought that's what you were commenting on, tho nsfplay plays it just as intended.

why is there a taboo on volume F'ing? i thought this was nice balance since the harsher square melody was so much higher than the smooth fm keys.

It seems the standard rule to almost never go above C on VRC7 due to balancing issues. (though I think some bass notes sound fine at F too)

The more I listen the more I'm not sure of my initial opinion. You've got really well balanced tri echo following Pulse1, and the volume gap between Pulse1 at F and Pulse2 at 3 isn't really a space I myself am comfortable with. If you were to lower Pulse1 to like A and Pulse2 to 2 or 1, and maybe Z3F the tri...well then you sacrifice noise volume! Which is _exactly_ where it needs to be already. So the real question is just the amount of power of VRC7 over the 2a03 It probably comes down to taste I don't take since I like equal focus on both chips (in which following the rule of NothingGreaterThanC leads to such a balance).
Also, I'd argue that nsfplay is more accurate for this chip since iirc rain's updated default patches are implemented.

I'm glad you brought this up cos it's made me realize something kinda interesting.

I went back and readjusted things to sound a bit more traditionally balanced, with the melody more toward the front and the fm key bits at a good supporting volume. I thought maybe it'd just make an objective difference but it completely changes the character of the thing, which I didn't actually expect.

I did choose the original balance because I was in the moment and liked the way it sounded but kind of analyzing it now, I think that the melody being clearly audible yet slightly overpowered created some extra emotional effect. Bringing the melody more forward or the keys more toward the back creates a completely different vibe that more clearly exposes how bland and simple the composition is. It doesn't quite feel the same.

My ears always hear as much a drastic change in mood from mixing as you would from orchestration. It should be normal that a different mix feels different, no?

idk, i plead the fif. my jaw hurts