Lost Waves Wiki:Checklist

Checklist for Identifying Lost Waves

Initial Analysis

• Are there lyrics or any form of spoken word in the song, if so what are they?
• Are there any key instruments or unique sounds that can be used to identify the genre?
• Does the song sound like it was professionally recorded, homemade or recorded from live gig?
• Are there external noises that may indicate a particular setting the song was recorded in? (eg. A snippet of a radio DJ at the beginning or dialogue from a movie over the track.)
• If there are vocals, what language/languages are they in?

Technical Analysis

• Can you identify tempo, key, or BPM?
• Are there notible effects or instruments used on the song that could indicate a rough time period? (eg. A Synthesiser made in 1984)
• Is it part of a larger piece? (eg. Indication that the song has been cut off at some point or links to a wider soundtrack or discography)

Lyric and Audio Search

• Can the lyrics be searched on Google or Genius? If the song has already been posted as an unknown song, try adding Before:(insert year or date) to your search to see if there are earlier results.
• Can the artist or name be identified through Shazam?
• Has the audio been analyzed for hidden frequencies? (eg. A tone that indicates it was recorded from a particular radio station or TV broadcasting district).

Community and Social Media Inquiries

• Check if there us any discussion about the song on r/lostwave or TheMysteriousSong Discord or the Fond My Mind Discord.
• Ask on active forums or Facebook groups for the genre. Please do not pester groups constantly about a specific song that they have already been contacted about!
• Trying to get viral attention can be a double edged sword; more people joining the search can be helpful, however this may lead to you receiving an influx of spam or hoax information.

Historical and Cultural Context

• Research into key genre markers of a song, such as the instrumentation and tone. Try to find bands and artists that sound similar. Reach out to experts on the genre or collectors for more information about the style of the period.
• Are there accents or references that indicate a specific country or culture of origin?
• Are there any lyrics or markers in the song that reference pre-existing material? (eg. A sample from a more famous song or lyrics referencing events of a movie).

Database and Archive Search

• Have you checked Archive.org for music with similar key words?
• If you are experienced with filesharing sites, such as Soulseek, have you explored them? Have you checked the myspace archives if you think the song was posted in that era?
• Have you looked up key phrases within the song on Discogs? Have you sorted by genre and decade or made use of the advanced search features?
• If there are indicators of the country of origin or platform of origin, have you checked to see whether they have an active archive that can be accessed online or searched via request? (eg. Archived recording of radio broadcasts)
• Are there any collectors, record stores or record labels with reasonable connections to the song that can be contacted?
• Are there any physical publications for songs of the genre, such as magazines or catalogues?

Audio Manipulation

Audio manipulation such as pitch-shifting or remastering a track can be helpful for identifying what the vocalist may truly sound like or cleaning up a track that has suffered disc rot. However, this is not useful for every song and can possibly create false avenues of search that can detract from real leads. (eg. When Above The Clouds was still lost, many assumed it needed pitch-shifting to identify the real voice of the singer but this was an unnecessary avenue.)

Utilizing Metadata

If you yourself did not record the song, check the file metadata, which may reveal hidden information. This is also is important to check for the presence of audio manipulation, such as artifical distortion, which may indicate the song is an edit, mix or a hoax.

Long-Term Monitoring

If you are involved with Lostwave search that has gained traction and met the minimum standards for this wiki, consider creating a page for the song to document debunked leads and information about the track so that old leads aren't continuously investigated. This can also help new people get involved in the search without contacting previously debunked artists.