3 min read Charts

ルーマー (Short Cut) (SMASH! 2023)

ポリスピカデリー feat. 花鋏キョウ (Police Piccadilly feat. Hanabasami Kyou)
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v1.0 • SM 7
5 Apr 2022
If you told me, first time listening, this song was originally sung by her – I’d 100% believe you.

About the Song

A few years ago, I was writing charts for SMA[SH]owdown! 2021, in what would’ve been a 52-song pack. 52 for each card in a set of playing cards – you could easily imagine what kind of crazy competition I was thinking about at that time. Too bad the Big C happened.

Each suit is based on a musical category, and one of them was Vocaloid songs (covers, ideally). So, I asked a few friends, and I was given some good recommendations from one who was an up-to-date follower of VTubers.[1]

I still had a few spots left, so I browsed covers solely by searching for “歌ってみた”, then came across this gem by Hanabasami Kyou from Re:AcT. My chart was a short cut for the purposes of SMASH!, so definitely listen to the full song:

Like many comments have noted, her cover was so well done, it’s as if Police Piccadilly made it specifically for her.

The Chart

Yeah, it’s my favourite SMASH! chart by a long mile. Most likely because I had a strong vision of what I wanted it to turn out to be before I even started.

I swear the scissors that’s supposed to denote a short cut song was totally not intentional

The chorus is played out in a few distinct stages:

  • The first four notes are a scale of ascending pitch (A3 B D B4), so there’s usually an appropriate staircase or an alternative pattern that fits it
  • Then a jump with a hold (actually a roll) occurs on the ↓ or ↑, with the other foot ‘swinging’ around from one side to the other. These three notes are the same pitch (A4)
  • Then it goes back down (G3 F♯), which I implemented by introducing a footswitch between the same notes of the hold and the tap, into reversing the direction of the swing. There’s a double mine here to hint it’s a footswitch
  • This swing continues around into the final five notes (E E E D F♯), which involves some kind of crossover so we’re back into the normal axis
The specific signature section of the chorus, containing all parts explained, with coloured annotations to denote intended footing
note the length of the hold to signify that the final → still uses the left foot

Other than that, there’s a few sprinkles of footswitches during parts where the lyrics have quick or paused emphasis.

Possible Improvements

  • As always for v1.0s, there’s a few patterns that, axis-wise, feel a bit off. The second 16th note at 7’ is jarring in particular because it prolongs the left facing axis.
  • I wasn’t vigilant about the consistency of telegraphed mines (i.e. no side-by-side scrutinising). This is because I didn’t copy paste anything for this song... or so I think. The verse sections feel uncannily similar.
  • Likewise, I’m pretty sure those double step parts aren’t consistent either.
  • I don’t know whether the mine during the first ‘swing’ (the singular one in the above pic) could be misinterpreted as a footswitch telegraph rather than a cue to crossover. I placed it a 16th earlier to attempt to differentiate it, but I honestly think that’s a bit too subtle.
  • The final ↓↑ jump footswitch needs a lot of IQ to figure out. It’s also inconsistent with the foot order of the previous occurrences (the foot holding ↑ is forced to hit → to resolve, rather than the swing foot double stepping, which was what’s been the norm).

This is a chart I’d love to see in lower levelled events just for chill fun vibes, and it’d be awesome if it ended up being a staple in a player’s cooldown sessions. If there’s a demand for it some time in the future, I’m super keen to work on the full length.

[1] With a particular focus on Amelia Watson from hololive, to be specific.

During that time, Kiryu Coco was graduating and released a song for her farewell, which I’d have included if SMASH! had gone ahead that year.