A short dive into the MAD genre
I initially wanted this to be short segment for the 11/08/2024 TIGM but I ended up writing much more than expected.
Here is the song I wanted to showcase :
墓石 ⋅ 2号 ⋅ 原曲を刻む
Note. A lot of this information is obtained from Japanese websites which I had to translate with my amateurish abilities
This is an arrangement/remix (by 墓石) of the original「原曲を刻む」by 2号. 2号 is an 音MAD (otoMAD) music artist, a genre where sound clips from media sources like TV, etc..., are used as the basis for song creation. A classical example of this is the song「柴又」, also by 2号.
Check this playlist out for a full list of examples
The 音MAD genre is a derivative of the MADムービー (MADmovie) genre of videos which is, well, a term used to describe videos created by editing, combining, and reconstructing existing audio, images, videos, and animations from media like TV and games : Old Example 1, Old Example 2, Old Example 3, Modern Example.
Sometimes, original animations, music, etc... are created in order to facilitate the "mashing" of different media sources. For example, this original animation by「絵を描きマツセ」 was created to insert characters from Dungeon Meshi into the Chainsaw Man 4th episode ED. This type of MAD in particular is known as a 手描きMAD.
This is not a Japan-specific cultural phenomenon (although it does appear to be a lot more popular in the Japan-sphere). The western equivalent of this cultural phenomenon is known as YouTube Poop or YTP for short. Here are some examples : Example 1, Example 2
Back to the original topic, the tune for the original「原曲を刻む」by 2号 is, I don't think, derived from an external, pre-existing source. Rather, I believe it is meant to be an exploration/experiment in the application of editing techniques and effects normally used in the 音MAD genre (like repetition, random cuts, reverb, pitch changes, etc...) to an otherwise normal electronic/techno song. Indeed, the song title itself roughly translates to "to mince/chop up a song" and the video presents itself like an 音MAD tutorial, explaining the use of different effects with text. It is essentially a song disguised as an 音MAD tutorial (or an 音MAD tutorial disguised as a song). The arrangement of「原曲を刻む」by 墓石 cleans up and effectively "de-minces" the original song, making the significance/message behind the naming harder to discern.