It's so satisfying when that drumline kicks into Dire Dire Docks. It pumps you up along with the relaxation that comes with the level, putting the excitement and caution of Mario into your head.
+Tyler Meacham They are always so hard ugh. I think that's part of the reason they stick with us. Lots of time spent in those levels trying to beat them. :P
Game Score Fanfare also I knew I recognized your voice! Can I just say that I've had your old WHERE IS ANTARCTICA vid in my favorites for like 10 years? It's a classic
Awesome video dude! You did a really good job at putting the psychology behind water level music into words, especially when looking at how and why it's changed over the years :)
I know Im asking randomly but does someone know a way to log back into an instagram account..? I somehow forgot the password. I would love any tricks you can give me!
The music from Donkey Kong Country was a technical achievement at that time. I don't remember any video game that sounded like it before it came out. The melody and instrumentation of the whole 'Aquatic Ambiance' track at 4:43 is amazing! It's my favorite video game music of all time.
Underwater themes that I love are such as Garden of God from Chrono Cross, and Snow in a snow-bound land from David Wise itself, both prime examples of how great they can be
Turbo Button I think they just sound similar in the chord structure. Zora’s Domain is all major chords, the Water Temple has minor chords to give it a spookier feel.
Great idea applying the effects to your voice as you mention them. This is great, I can't really find something like your channel anywhere else, and you make some really good points, plus it seems pretty accessible to non-musicians too!
I had the idea of applying the effects, and then in the Nerdwriter's last video (on the music in Blade Runner) he did the exact same thing with the reverb. So now everyone is going to think I copied him, BUT WE JUST HAD THE SAME IDEA INDEPENDENTLY! I love your kind words. Exactly what I'm going for. Thank you!
It's amazing how much goes into animation, music and game play when making a game. Recently, I've been watching videos on music, (like this one) game design, and animation. Before I thought all there was to music is make a catchy melody and you're good. But the part where he talks about the song resembling bubbles going to the surface and waves in the ocean really makes me appreciate all the music in video games I've listened to over the years.
You have such a wonderful intuition for something you are obviously very passionate about. I am bewildered as to how you have not immediately propelled into stardom, but I am simultaneously happy to know that I found your channel this early on, and now get the chance to see how you grow and prosper. Keep at it! Soon, you'll easily have thousands of views per video, I am sure of it!
I love how in the Iron-Whale level of Shovel Knight, it starts with some descending arpeggios, making you feel like you're sinking and descending because, in that part of the level, you are. You are literally going down. And then it gains the melody, making the level feel like you are on the edge of the dark, unknown depths of the sea, where cruel creatures, be they monsters or men, lie.
Yeah, River Twygz Bed really did take the usual "Underwater Level" music and have it unravel from the inside out. Layer by layer. Violently. And slowly. Then proceeded to make a shake made out of it's remains. Then put the shake into Cake Icing. Then made a cake out of humans, using that Icing as well. Then smushed that cake into a Patty, and made a sandwich with moldy bread that was left out in the Sun for 10 years. Filled with bugs and eggs. Then threw that sandwich into a fire. *_I still have nightmares....._*
Your Channel is fucking great. I am a huge Soundtrack-Fan. Doesn't matter if Movie, -Anime, -TV-Show or Game-Score. This is right the Channel for me! Keep up the great work!
OMG you had me at Underwater Frigate. That was the first game soundtrack I downloaded and now often listen to OSTs for games I've never played. Thank you for the wonderful insight and theory behind it, I wish you had let some of those tracks play through!
I watched for 3 minutes and subscribed. I love this kind of prepared journalistic content with a clear subject and appropriate lenght and depth. Good job!
Great job at supporting your points with objective differences in the music using theory that effect the overall "feel" of the levels and games. You've earned my like.
That game ONLY HAS water levels! It's also an EVIL, EVIL game! ;_; An AMAZING game - but EVIL. I still have yet to beat the final level in any of the Ecco games. xD
New to the channel and I ABSOLUTELY love it already! I always obsessed over game soundtracks and found it hard to put into words! Keep up the great work! And by the way... you NAILED that first song pick!! Underwater Frigate from Metroid Prime ALWAYS made me feel so immersed and inspired!
Now hold on a second here - a game from 1985 is supposed to have the first ever video game song not in 4/4? The Commodore 64 released three years earlier, there are probably multiple games on it that beat SMB to this title Edit: Hey, I was right for once - Ultima III ('84) has original music in 3/4.
There are A LOT of odd time VGM songs pre-1985, stuff far weirder than 3/4 too (3/4 is honestly an incredibly common time signature, relatively speaking to what else is out there, especially in game music.), so yeah his statement is ridiculously uninformed. A few random examples: 1) Marble Madness - Intermediate Race (1984) changes time signature constantly, mixed meter The Rite of Spring style, including lots of 5/4 sections in particular. ((and this was a very mainstream game...)) 2) Congo Bongo (1983) has its theme in 15/16 in the SG-1000 port, and in 5/4 in the MSX port. 3) Tower of Druaga - Music When Princess Appears (1984) is 7/4, or at least 4/4 + 6/8 alternating. and that's just naming a few lol
Yeah, this video was good on the whole, but his claims of things being a first for games seemed pretty suspicious, like they might be drawing from a comparatively limited history. A lot happened in games before and outside of the Nintendo and Sega systems!
Yeah, this video was good on the whole, but his claims of things being a first for games seemed pretty suspicious, like they might be drawing from a comparatively limited history. A lot happened in games before and outside of the Nintendo and Sega systems!
4:43 best underwater music in video game, IMO. Back in 1996 i had a keyboard amp, a Roland sampler and some electronic pads to go with my drumkit. I used to play this sample on a loop before my band's set, while we were setting up.
Mark Brown shared this on Twitter, and I watched ALL of your videos in one go. Amazing videos, dude. You've earned yourself a sub. Keep up the good work.
I haven't played Fusion yet. So far, my favorite is either Underwater Frigate Reactor Core or Subterranean Bog. Both of those give me chills every time I hear them(like most of Metroid's tracks).
got linked to this by a colleague - super interesting! being a dev but not a musician, i think game music is reallllllly overlooked, so i'm happy i've found your channel so i can learn more about it :) also ha, if that's the nanalew i think it is, that's so cool
Wow this is really great. Refreshing to see someone nailing Game music in a video essay style (or any style for that matter). Looking forward to seeing what you do.
I love the Dive song in pokemon R/S/E so happy sounding. Sometimes I just went out to sea to hear the Surf song and then dived and listened to the underwater one then back up... so lovely.
I would like to thank you for starting the video with a track from my favorite Nintendo franchise :) this video helped me a lot as I will be helping a friend of mine compose compose music for a new game he’s developing.
I personally LOVE underwater levels ever since I was a kid. I think its my love of the ocean. Water levels and snow levels have always been my favourite types.
Dire Dire Docks remains, to this day, one of my favorite songs of all time...Aquatic Ambiance as well. And I mean general, not just video game music. Another noteworthy ( no pun intended ) underwater song I adore is from the Starfy series, used for the starting level ( usually called Cave of Lob or Lobber's Cave ).
Really cool video man! Taking music in university and I'm in some class for Music in Film/television and Music in Video Games and this video actually was really intriguing. Thanks :)
It may actually help a lot of other students. Most are film students and aren't overly adept with musical concepts and they way you spoke and presented information was very easy to follow!
2:26 The underwater theme sounds more like 6/8. You can quite clearly hear the compound duple meter, and the pulses are much too fast to be reasonably considered a 3/4 waltz. However, if anything the slower 6/8 arguably is even more "floaty", as it feels like 2/4, but with more space between given the fact that the meter is compound instead of simple. 5:20 Presuming you're talking about the track being played that you speak over, it quite obviously has a beat. You can quite easily hear very in-time eighth notes, there is quite obviously a beat. To argue there not being a beat to grab onto is incorrect. However, the instrumentation and distortions you described are definitely accurate.
Facinating. Who knew. Because now you get music out of games that could be taken for standalone pieces. My personal favorite is far and away "Gwyn Lord of Cinder." Thematically as close to perfect as you can get for that final boss.
The original donau waltz was also about the Donau, the big river that flows through Vienna, the home of Johann Strauß. Thus 3/4 pacing always has such a watery flowing feel imo
Soooo soooo amazing to open with Metoid Prime! I love all Metroid games, the music really is ethereal and feels like it takes me to these extreme, alien worlds. Amazing!
This is the first video of yours I’ve ever watched, after it showed up in my suggestions. You’re awesome! One bit of criticism, though. It would have been nice if you sampled more tracks, especially when you showed gameplay from their point of origin. Otherwise, fantastic video! You have my sub!
Aside from Labyrinth Zone Sonic games had godalike Water musics like Hidrocity, Aqua Lake, Aqua Planet, Tidal Tempest (JP), Aquatic Mine, Dry Lagoon, Aquatic Base, Aquarium Park, Water Palace...
Seriously though, anything from the metroid prime soundtrack can bring me straight back to the moment I was playing the game. Especially the phazon mines, phendrana drifts and the sunken frigate.
I don’t know why but even though I love underwater music it always gives me the creeps. A little detail on the video, what you called a delay was actually a reverb. Other than that your video was spot on!
I have zero musical knowledge, but I always seem to enjoy musical analysis such as this. I also had never considered how CD gaming changed how music is done in games, though recently learning that cartridges were essentially plug-in motherboard expansions allows me to make sense of that and it's quite an interesting fact to learn. Thank you.
All of my favorite water music comes from the Classic Sonic series. (The Chemical Plant Act 2 theme in Sonic Mania is my favorite underwater track. It's a pretty fast track for an underwater level, because there are some extremely fast parts, even in the underwater parts.)
A lot of the melodies here, remind me of the safe room or save room music in the Resident Evil Games. Really calming but also a little unnerving like the quiet before the storm.
2:41 Konami's "Antarctic Adventure" (released in december 1983, so over a year before "Super Mario Bros." in september 1985) also had music with a 3/4 time signature. It's a rendition of "The Skater's Waltz" by Émile Waldteufel. Some more examples are: the game start jingles from "Tank Batallion" (1980), "Galaga" (1981) and "Pepper II" (1982), even if those are a bit short, also the in-game music of "Mappy" (1983), which is in 6/8, and multiple pieces in certain versions of "Jet Set Willy" (1984).
This was a really really great essay! I learned a lot I wish you had expounded a bit on Banjo Kazooie but what you did talk about was great but you did talk about the most important video game levels so it was awesome!
