Hector Martin

yeah the tri/noise/DMC channels share the same internal output line -- & thus all three are affected. (the two NES pulse channels also share their own line w/the same nonlinear mixing effect, but it's way less noticeable -- compared to the former's relative unpredictableness).

also most of the other chord samples during the entire run of Ameiro no Jikan is carefully balanced so it doesn't start slowly deviating from the original wave position (unlike what usually happens with looping samples converted quickly). it's perfectly balanced all the way

but yeah, essentially the trippy part before the piano solo, in a way, prepares the piano solo part to have an extremely biased DMC channel for quiet looping chords without having to rely on directly writing to the DAC via $4011 (and thus having an annoying clickfest lol)

of course, the lead up to it means that the triangle and, particularly, the noise channel, gets affected from the DMC, so i have to use louder values for the noise channel. OTOH the VRC6 channels (which are independent & have linear mixing) help on that part's noise buildup haha

Oh! one other technique i used during the entire song (but esp. important for the piano solo): i wanted those stereotypical FUTURE BASS-Y finger snaps during that part (which rely on both noise+tri channel playing together to achieve in the way i want it to sound)...