Seasons greetings! Here are a couple of 3-packs from some of the biggest names in east-coast hip-hop and computer-animated music videos! (Those two genres don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive, though I suppose they are in this case.)

Animusic was the brain child of collaborators Wayne Lytle and David Crognale, who together developed computer programs that could take MIDI music files and turn them into stunning computer animations of musical instruments playing themselves! The two artistic computer geeks then turned these programs loose on a collection of songs composed and recorded by Lytle, played by virtual instruments — some very abstract by real-world standards — created by Lytle and Crognale. The result, first released in 2001, was a visually and musically impressive collection, so much so that fans immediately wanted more, and finally got their wish in 2005 with the release of Animusic 2. The first collection boasts a more rock-oriented collection of songs, just perfect for a game like Rock Band 3!

In fact, with the release of these three songs for RB3, MIDI has circled around itself several times over! You see, Lytle and Crognale authored MIDI files to create the music and visuals, which I then used to author more MIDI files, which the game will now use to create new visuals and challenging gameplay! It’s MIDIception! (Yes, I know, “inception” was never meant to imply multiple layers of dreams or anything else, but that’s the meme and I’m running with it!)

“Future Retro” starts things off with a tune that very much sounds like what science fiction writers in the 1980s thought music would sound like in the future. They weren’t quite right, but they did succeed in creating one of the most defining styles of 1980s music, with wailing guitars, bombastic synthesizers, and of course, lots of lasers!

Next, “Stick Figures” showcases some of Animusic’s most famous “characters”, including a living 1-stringed stick bass who knows how to jam and inspire his fellow instruments to play along. Drummers, beware: If I had authored the drums exactly as they are played in the song and video, the chart would be quite literally impossible for a single person to play. As it is, the chart will heavily test your coordination and especially your endurance, with some kick patterns that are just this side of playable without needing a second pedal (or maybe you will anyway)!

Finally, “Harmonic Voltage” finishes both the pack and the original Animusic release with a beautiful, melancholy performance by… an alien electric substation? Something like that. Whatever words are meant to describe the visuals, the music is perfectly described as haunting, stirring, maybe even tear-jerking. Don’t take this for a slow, easy song to play, however, especially those of you playing bass. A perfect chart for a video game, the bass starts with nothing at all, then slowly, gradually gets more difficult, until at the end you’re tasked with a veritable rainbow of Skittles! Good luck!

D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince came to be when West Philadelphia born and raised Will Smith (the rapper) teamed up with Jeff Townes (the D.J.) to form a hip-hop group. With Smith’s infectious charm and Townes’s turn-table wizardry, the two became just the third hip-hop recording act to have albums sell in the millions, following Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys. The biggest album by far was their second from 1988, He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, from which two songs appear in this pack.

“A Nightmare on My Street” tells the story of a Fresh Prince who enjoys an evening watching a certain ’80s slasher movie with friends, and then discovers, that might not have been just a movie! More than just a tribute to the Elm Street movie series, “A Nightmare on My Street” was actually considered for inclusion in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, before the movie producers decided to look elsewhere. Consequently, the hip-hop duo had to add a disclaimer that their song was not officially endorsed by the movie creators, who thankfully didn’t otherwise get in the way of the song’s release.

“A Nightmare on My Street” was originally charted for Rock Band 3 by Nunchuck & Sygenysis, and their work makes up the bulk of this release. I added genuine pro keys and also tweaked the 5-lane keys part a bit to make the song truly complete for the game!

Next up is the duo’s Grammy-winning “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, telling the story of a hapless teenager who’s stuck with a pair of hopelessly unhip parents, who can’t even understand why their son might want to, you know, take their new Porsche for a joyride despite not having a license! Teenagers of all ages will relate to how arguments with the previous generation seldom go their way, regardless of who’s actually right!

Now for the last song of this pack, I at first wasn’t sure what to pick. The duo have no shortage of hits, and if I wanted to, I also could have picked something from the rich discography of Will Smith’s solo work. But nothing quite seemed worthy enough of including with legendary pop tunes like “A Nightmare on My Street” and “Parents Just Don’t Understand”. Then, suddenly, it hit me. DUH! There’s only one song that could possibly do any justice completing this pack!

When it came time to write a theme song for Will Smith’s upcoming sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Smith and Townes decided to do it themselves, and spent 15 minutes doing so. Yes, you read that right. 15 minutes. Less than half an hour to come up with one of the most popular TV themes of all time. Quincy Jones, hired to handle the show’s music, knew better than to suggest anything else once he heard their work, and the rest is indisputable TV music history. What might be a little more disputable is, what exactly do you call this song? Most people just know it as the theme to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The song’s official title, though — or at least the closest the song has to an official title — is “Yo Home to Bel-Air”, assigned when the song was given a European single release (criminally, the song was never released as a single in the U.S., which is why it never registered in the Billboard Hot 100). Funny thing is, Smith doesn’t ever actually say “yo home to Bel-Air” in the song. Listen very closely, and you can make out the actual words: “Yo, Holmes, to Bel-Air!” Despite the misnomer, the name stuck. Oh well, people are gonna love rapping this one no matter what those words actually are!

That’s it! Remember, if you download these songs and like them well enough to keep, please consider donating $1 each to the National Down Syndrome Society. Enjoy, and thank you for your generosity!