The Well-Tempered Manual

I started to post this on my tumblr and then it turned into a giant review. so here you go.

http://electronicartisticdesign.tumblr.com/post/57465008316/the-well-tempered-manual-by-gaoyubao-this-is-one

The Well-Tempered Manual by gaoyubao

This is one of those tracks that you know is a game changer before you’ve even finished watching it.
Parts of this track can be appreciated by everyone - the overall structure for example, a bizarrely all-out intense middle section framed by two sections fond of suspended moments, flat lines, sudden spurts of speed, and small curves.

Other parts of this track will only be appreciated by someone who has played line rider for a long time. The manuals in the first section and the third section are all almost impossibly steady, despite often being very slow, and anyone who has tried to do this can testify to how incredibly difficult it can be. Despite this, they are often contrary to the “natural" state of manuals. Gao pushes them a little further to the left or right then they are supposed to be and holds them in that exact position, which plays with our expectations and creates delightful tension, and is also an extremely impressive demonstration of skill. The absolutely insane amount of control over the manuals makes the occasional wobble suddenly seem intentional, which plays with our expectations even more and makes the whole experience even more delightful. The best place to see this is in the long manual at 2:33.

Another amazing part of this that is harder to see is the recycling (re-use of a part of the track) which is done so flawlessly that if you’re not paying attention you’ll probably miss all of it. A third aspect is the incredibly creative integration that pops up everywhere and is never expected or predictable. And a final stroke of genius is the homage to 45 degree tracks around the 3 minute mark, where we shift from a base in vertical and horizontal lines to a base in lines at 45 degree angles, creating a more playful relationship with gravity that is just a joy to watch.

The middle section is ironically synced to the music in brilliant fashion - the music has a relaxed interlude and the track goes absolutely nuts. This heightens the contrast between the smooth and relaxed (but in absolute control) first and third sections. The transition in and out of the middle sections are both incredibly well-done (the start being sudden and as dramatic as possible, the end being slow, fluid, and subtle, but ending with a thud, falling onto a line in a tail manual), and the all-kramual moment at 4:25 is unlike anything seen before in line rider. The two gigantic shoulder flings are well placed and a wonderful way to emphasize the insanity of the section set against the chill music. The middle section as a whole feels like a brutal style of stop’n’go, with a lot of emphasis on getting the speed down to nothing and then back up again as quickly as possible.

The final section is much like the first section but shorter, framing the track nicely, and with a lovely brief moment of traditional curves at the very end that puts and excellent button on the track.

Overall, the track demonstrates incredible skill, precision, creativity, and vision. It is impressive, immersive, fun, and an incredible work of art. It clocks in at over 4 minutes, which is surprisingly long for a line rider track, and yet I never once felt bored while watching it, or even aware of how long I had been watching it until afterward. One of the best tracks I’ve seen in years.

I also want to go through specifics.

1:04 - probably good that you started with an overbalanced nose manual, to let us know this was gonna be a thing.
1:06 - one of the strangest-looking things I've seen in line rider
1:10 - the recycling in general is off the hook in this track but this moment especially was good
1:13 - and now an underbalanced one. I started smiling at this point.
1:18 - great way to mix it up and introduce a playful vibe
1:20 - spectacularly defies my expectations
1:21 - I love this and all the other times he falls and lands hard on a tail manual. I know that's not easy.
1:30 - especially here because it's recycled. damn son.
1:34 - I don't understand how you recycled that with an unbalanced manual. Blows my goddamn mind.
1:42 - nice
1:45 - I love how it's not just the nose manuals that are overbalanced/underbalanced and held there. I don't think anyone's done this with tail manuals before.
1:47 - I love how he just pops up there. brilliant.
1:53 - I love the intentional wobble playing with our expectations. love love love it. and then how the manuals continue to sometimes be "off" but held there in perfect stillness.
2:00 - also glad you didn't shy away from head manuals!
2:06 - I love how you held the same position two different ways on the same line without breaking a sweat, and then I love how it curves around. brilliant way to exit it.
2:24 - yes this is great. overbalanced tail manual.
2:30 - the hell you just recycled that
2:33 - okay this is probably my favorite part of the track. after playing with our expectations for a while you just throw it all out there. Hey, I can balance this manual however I like because I'm a boss.
2:44 - perfectly timed transition into the diagonals. It kind of feels like the first half was, like, an XY on an enormous scale, and now this section is a 45 degree section on the same scale. Just brilliant.
2:52 - more playing with expectations
3:01 - I love how, throughout this section, you have this... playful relationship with gravity because when you're on a slope he tends to speed up and/or slow down. just really enjoyable, especially this moment.
3:08 - love the parallel between this and 2:52
3:17 - dunno why I love this thing but I do
3:19 - I love how you maintain the incredible balance control on the slopes. great job.
3:37 - I literally laughed out loud at this. SO GOOD.
3:39 - I love how we pass this and you're like "wtf?" and then we come back to it later
3:49 - this moment was like, the best thing ever all the other moments can just go home I want to marry this moment
3:55 - perfect way to start the section because it emphasizes how different this section is from the first two minutes.
4:08 - I love how these sections are in chunks. Also, you're really good at making this ridiculously intense stuff. damn.
4:25 - unlike anything I've ever seen before and probably the most impressive moment in the track
4:30 - I like this section because it's so brutally stop'n'go
4:48 - perfect way to transition back
4:49 - did I mention I love those hard-landing flat tail manuals? not much to say about this last section except that it's great and just the right length to frame the intense section.
5:23 - the one normal curve in the track! perfect way to cap it all off. The last second could have the last second of a highspeed high-intensity manuquirk and I love it. One of the best endings thematically I've ever seen.

Few more things:
- I didn't mind the length at all and never once even realized it was long
- I found the intro to be quite enjoyable and didn't mind it being long either. Flowed into the track nicely.
- I appreciated the color playback to see how you balanced the manuals
- It strikes me as funny that Opal is one of the few people who don't think this track is amazing, since it was dedicated to him.

~boo wrote:

Sheldon wrote:I see a feature and LCC in your future!

Stop doing that >_>

I love this track, gao. I laughed at one point irl when he went from one unbalanced position to another and back. And your intros are so awesome, keep it up.

Oh ok. I cannot predict something I know is coming, and tbh so did everyone else. I can correct myself, and I have the right to post what I want. Oh and the 'stop' its not something I have done before.

Huh never thought I would see another style like this again, now wow that was pretty long but a very stylish track though. I liked those nice smooth curves with those straight manuals. The other thing that I liked was the flow which added affect with those smooth manuals. Overall that was a very awesome track and congrats on LCC dude, you deserved it.

Thanks to everyone for the good reviews, even the critical ones.

Summoning wrote:

gaoyubao wrote:A track almost not worth watching!

u make joke

The whole title of the track is a pun/joke/play on words/whatever you call it.

ACwazHere wrote:I have never seen that ridiculous alternating kramual stuff before--is that new?

P.S. I really enjoy your editing, especially because you record it yourself.

Kramwood has done everything and more with kramuals. He just doesn't release them.

And thanks, I do enjoy filming strangers and making everyone think I'm a creep/stalker/whatever you call them.

mhenr18 wrote:My only complaint is the length of the video, a complaint I almost universally have. I had no problems with the length of the track as it's the only track I've wanted to watch the whole way though. However I think that it would have been a lot better with a much shorter intro (edit the audio - there's no need to do an extended title just to keep sync) and without the color playback. A track that cool and that filled with moments of "WTF I don't even" is better off basking in the mystery of no-one knowing how exactly you pulled it off.

Made a shorter version (you probably already saw it?)

efrazable wrote:Really wasn't impressed with the manuals, though. Like you sacrificed what you wanted to do to keep the track too consistent.

It's hard to be creative with those x manuals. Especially with the 45 degree ones, changing direction just kills the speed.

IGLima wrote:Could be interesting to scene too, but I'd have to come up with some creative way to do it first.

Snooze also thought of that. Go ahead! Never finish it! I'm fine with that!

rabid squirrel wrote:The absolutely insane amount of control over the manuals makes the occasional wobble suddenly seem intentional

Right... those wobbles were intentional...

Anyways, enjoyed the timeline review, I love those kinds because I can see the track from another person's perspective.

Stallie wrote:Huh never thought I would see another style like this again, now wow that was pretty long but a very stylish track though. I liked those nice smooth curves with those straight manuals. The other thing that I liked was the flow which added affect with those smooth manuals. Overall that was a very awesome track and congrats on LCC dude, you deserved it.

Thanks!

EDIT: What?! I'm no longer grey?

Finally got to watch this, and I was just blown away. There have been a bunch a masterful tracks released this summer, and this one is among them. *insert a blown mind here*

gaoyubao wrote:

rabid squirrel wrote:The absolutely insane amount of control over the manuals makes the occasional wobble suddenly seem intentional

Right... those wobbles were intentional...

Didn't mean to imply otherwise, that was sort of an explanation for people who looked at it and were like "those manuals are wobbly"

glad you enjoyed the review

rabid squirrel wrote:

gaoyubao wrote:

rabid squirrel wrote:The absolutely insane amount of control over the manuals makes the occasional wobble suddenly seem intentional

Right... those wobbles were intentional...

Didn't mean to imply otherwise, that was sort of an explanation for people who looked at it and were like "those manuals are wobbly"

glad you enjoyed the review

I think (maybe) he was being sarcastic, implying the wobbles were actually unintentional, but since you said they looked intentional, he said "sure we'll go with that."

I might be completely wrong though

Votale wrote:

rabid squirrel wrote:

gaoyubao wrote:

rabid squirrel wrote:The absolutely insane amount of control over the manuals makes the occasional wobble suddenly seem intentional

Right... those wobbles were intentional...

Didn't mean to imply otherwise, that was sort of an explanation for people who looked at it and were like "those manuals are wobbly"

glad you enjoyed the review

I think (maybe) he was being sarcastic, implying the wobbles were actually unintentional, but since you said they looked intentional, he said "sure we'll go with that."

I might be completely wrong though

I think the wobble at 1:53 was certainly intentional, at the least

Wobble
wobble
wobble wobble wobble
/referenceget

This is a great track. I love the concept behind it, and it's executed very well. For me, it isn't Holy Shoe-material, but congratulations anyway!

Kramwood wrote:

Hedgehogs4 wrote:Also, Conun and I want a tutorial for those crazy infinite shoulder stack thing

Had a recording done for it, just haven't really gotten around to publishing it.

Publish it!

Very original, nice work.

Kramual alt fling was absolutely beast and in an absolutely beast part of the track. The rest was awesome too. Very original, even though the manuals got predictable and and therefore a bit boring at the two minute mark or so.
I'd love to see you mix more styles and tricks into this concept and that it will evolve into a new hype in some way. You invented, now who'll innovate?

Blew my pants right out of the dryer. Just fantastic.

Holy crap you are a god