Stick Figures

Stick Figures
Available on:	Animusic 1 DVD
Animation Length:	5 minutes and 23 seconds
Previous Animation:	Future Retro
Next Animation:	Aqua Harp
Follow-Up:	Pogo Sticks

Stick Figures is the second and most popular animation on the track list for the Animusic 1 DVD. it is a predecessor to Pogo Sticks of this animation.

Summary/Description

Stick instruments play in a stage that is similar to the Pogo Sticks stage.

The stage is mostly made up of stick-like shapes and instruments that play together rapidly. The stage appears to be made out of wood and it seems to be night outside the stage. The stick instruments appear to be made out of wood and their robotic arms appear to be made out of metal. One of these instruments, Mr. Stick is a semi-anthropomorphic animatronic bass guitar or Chapman stick. It has a brownish-reddish finish and one string to play.

The stage is set in a cave of stars, instead of outside performing on stage, probably like Starship Groove.

Instruments

Instruments in the order they're presented:

• Fretless hammered Bass Guitar (known as "Mr. Stick", in reference to the Chapman Stick)
• Percussion instruments, including a Drum Kit (5 toms, 2 crash cymbals, 2 hi-hats, 2 snares, a bass drum, and a kettle drum), triangle, Slapstick, Gong, and Metallophone
• Trumpet and baritone horn tower
• Sawtooth Lead red synth laser
• 3-stringed acoustic guitar
• Pan Flute
• Backup Sawtooth pink synth laser
• Double Bass/ Cello (fretless; one string is a plucked acoustic and the other is a bowed string)
• Three 1-stringed Violins

Ranges

• Stick bass: D1-C4
• Horns: D2-D3, G#3-G5
• Lead laser: D4-A5
• Guitar: D4-C5
• Pan Flute: D4-G#6 (A6)
• Metallophone: A3-C6
• Backup laser: D4-G5
• Cello: C2-C4 (bowed), C2-D3 (plucked)
• Violins: B3-D5

Composition

This song is played in the key of E (with some minor keys interspersed in the middle sections, primarily G) at 94 BPM.

Notes

Trivia

• Stick Figures was written in 1995, along with Future Retro, Harmonic Voltage, Seventh Alloy, A Slight Delay, and The Harvester.
• Occasionally, after hitting a cymbal, one of the drum sticks will twirl and fly backwards.
• The sound the violins make is doubled at the octave, which can be heard clearly on the Surround Sound mix.
• This animation is named after the stick figure, a type of art which the drawing of a person or animal, composed of a few lines, curves, and dots.
• Mr. Stick is one of the first anthropomorphic instruments to appear in the Animusic series. According to Wayne Lytle, Mr. Stick is based on the Chapman stick.
• A few of the renders from this animation are seen in the art development of Pogo Sticks.
• On the commentary, Wayne Lytle says that this animation is where he learned how to animate stringed instruments, as his previous works primarily featured "drums, lasers, and bouncy things".

• An earlier version of this animation entitled “Stick Figures: A Virtual Concert” can be viewed here. The instruments' reverbs here are different and some instruments have different timbre (notably the pan flute). For the animation, camera angles are different notably the intro of the animation.
• In a beta music mix (before the 2000 prototype) of this track the vibraphone is replaced with a piano but had to be changed because Wayne didn't really like it

• Solo Cams:
• Cam 1: Bass Guitar and Acoustic Guitar
• Cam 2: Drum Kit, Slapsticks, and Triangle
• Cam 3: Pan Flute, Metallophone, and Gong

Goofs

• There was a render mistake with the violin in the middle; at 2:27 it abruptly shifts position and shifts back at 2:30.
• At 3:05, the guitar's fingers go through each other and end up in a different position than in the beginning. (This was fixed in the solo cam version)
• On the bottom at 1:44, the acoustic guitar's ending animation doesn't match that of the playing. (This was fixed in the solo cam version)
• Towards the end, at 4:35 you can clearly hear the laser play but doesn't appear until 4:37. (slow it down to see it better.)
• At 1:46, you can see that the laser in the back is very clearly red but when it turns on its purple.
• In the surround sound mix the red synth laser sounds different from the original and has a phaser effect on it, as well as an echo.

Gallery

Videos

Animusic - Stick Figures

Stick Figures