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Hey I was wondering if you could possible do Pokémon Champion Cynthia's Encounter/Battle/Victory Theme or basically in short the PTSD Suite of Music from Gen 4
Fun Fact: The vocal synthesizer you keep referring to is the actually text to speech program from Moonbase Alpha - the cover is done by Oasty, and it’s linked in this vid if you want it check it out EDIT: Thanks to Stinjin Van Droglin for pointing this out in the replies - The synth is based on DECTalk (specifically the Perfect Paul setting) - a text to speech synth that came out in 1984
2:51 this shit right there is why im subbed, going from a sentence straight into this level of improvisation is mindboggling to me. you should make an album just with you impovising, id buy it
4:04 he says “it gives us this feeling of…” then he just plays a bunch of notes and I think that really speaks to the fact that music is its own language.
for real music's not only its own language but its own home the own place one can find heart my guy this is what music means to me and i agree with you music is also its own language for me.
3:55 I love that when he knows what to say, but can't find the words necessary to say it, he instead describes it in his own, equally beautiful music. It's something that I think all musicians can relate to.
Btw, that noise that's doing Undertale's soundtrack isn't actually a synth. It's a tts voice used in a game like Moonbase Alpha. By using some funny lines you can basically play the tts voice as an instrument in that game.
Singing is an intentional feature of Dectalk, the syntax for pitch control is quite extensive. Back when it was an actual product being sold to PC users, it often came with example songs.
So many people have praised Portal 2's soundtrack being amazing but I haven't really seen much people break it down, would be cool to hear your thoughts on it!
Somethinf about 3:53 really gets to me and touches me. Not only the fantaaaasticly beaauutiful improv there, but alsl the fact that he doesn't even finish his sentence and goes straight into playing some of the most perfect 20 seconds of music I've experienced. It showed how important being in touch with your emotions and feelings are when it comes to playing and making music.
I never saw the original song or the cover or the meme as creepy I think they're all actually pretty peacefully nostalgic and calming despite the uncanny nature of the video/meme one
3:45 - so THAT'S what it's called when music does that! I've never been able to define it, but when music goes through cords and it dips slightly like that, I love it.
Really wish you used the reprise version of the song. I think the switch to the 6/8 section is a really incredible turn and brings the piece to a whole other level.
The section from 3:50 to 4:23 is really something else. Truly struggling to find the words to explain the tonality of the minor IV, so he puts it in other words, improvising with his musical vocabulary instead. This man has unlocked the connection between these two languages, and it's miraculous to see and hear him explain things.
my favorite part of this video is at 3:53 Charles attempts to describe the feeling of minor 4 then starts describing it by playing, and finishes with “you know what i mean?” words just couldn’t quite capture the emotion. but his playing described it in detail. this is why i’m such a fan of music and music theory despite not playing instruments (yet)
4:07 inspired me to do learn reading piano sheets as well as music theory. The way he just made that segment up as improvisation is amazing... It sounds so beautiful, and hopefully I'd learn to make up my own progressions someday that sounds as beautiful as this one
hey charles! I know you made a video about a few songs in the Undertale soundtrack already, but you should definitely listen to every song in the Undertale (and Deltarune) soundtrack if you haven't already. the entire soundtrack is a masterpiece!
The way you improvised over the song near the end reminds me of a homestuck song called moonsetter, the original is upbeat but this youtuber called joe Jeremiah did a cover that made it sound so somber and nostalgic, in a way that recontextualizes the events associated with it after finishing the story. It’s so good!
It sounds like something you would expect to hear when entering a jazz club during the 70s.I love jazz and fallen down so this was just something i never new that i needed to hear in its original form.
@@duhduh14 music theory is the technical part of music, like grammar and conjugation in a language. But you still don’t need to know it to enjoy music, to understand it.
I love how you sway when you're playing. I do the same thing and people made fun of me saying it was weird swaying around. Sometimes you're just really feeling the music though and can't help it.
If you love Fallen Down, you should definitely check out the reprise version, aka the extended version you only hear during the True Pacifist Route before the final boss
the original song is a cover named Underbase - Fallen Down. The creator of the “my reaction to that information” then used it in a tiktok, turning into what we know today. The original cover was made in 2015.
"That minor chord, it really gives you that feeling of..." ((plays the most beautiful improv on the piano but otherwise no other explanation)) "...you know what I mean?"
@@aatosohikaura1596 Ah I see, I did think it was something like that but some notes were the same as well. I'm assuming that that means the chord names in the version I played are different?
@@mallows9779 if you listen to the original song from the game, the key is halfway between two keys on the piano. it's in D half-flat major. its likely that the official score chose to transponse up a quarter step for piano instead of down like the meme edit did.
I think hearing those vocal synths as creepy makes sense, but I cannot hear them that way as they are the ones Moonbase Alpha uses and there were so many memes. It was a simpler time
Every time he said it was creepy I couldn't help but feel there was a better word for it. I finally found the word. It's foreboding; the way the song kinda just stops at, like he said, character interactions makes me feel as though there must be more. I feel as if the song is not a feeling from me but a long felt feeling that the whole of the underground feels. Their sorrow and the feeling of hope long gone. Or it could just be a single person's feeling such as Chara, Toriel, Asriel, or Sans. It could very well be Chara's feeling being conveyed since the ruins is where she fell, Toriel is someone she cares deeply for, and her house looks the same. Similar to when Chara has her own outlook on the house when in the genocide run except more subtle.
its really something when a guy can make you close your eyes and really listen and think about the music bouncing around in your head. Good stuff man, subbed, liked. Gonna learn fallen down on my gituar now
Undertale's entire soundtrack is incredible. My favorite aspect of it is how many times various character motifs appear throughout the game. The Ruins melody is sprinkled into so many of the other tracks. Also, the Toriel theme and the Asgore theme have so many reflections of one another, with those two characters being spouses. In both examples, the songs are so intrinsically tied while still sounding like completely different tracks. It makes my music nerd heart sing!
@@zombieboss5178 what do you mean? All the songs mentioned in this thread are from Undertale, and Charles asked for suggestions from Undertale OR not from Undertale. Who's a dummy?
I don't know why, but with that Fallen Down playing the video is extremely interesting to look at. It feels so deep though unsettling. It feels so much like a memory. It's black and white, it looks so distorted (like memories tend to get) with his large mouth. Despite all of that, there's a clear smile, and his movements are clearly of happiness, though the song doesn't match it. Memories get older and despite their happy content, the get sadder as they fade and distort, and I think this almost represents that perfectly for me. Why is this a meme? I'm almost moved to tears, who's laughing at this meme?
When I hear that on piano it makes me think of a rainy afternoon in the top story of a house looking out the window is a sad women remembering the loss in her life, in doing so I feel the same sadness
"That's not outside of your grasp!" I want every other expert RU-vid channel to repeat that mantra. At the end of the day, we're all just humans, doing our best. It can be absolutely intimidating to hear some of the music theory language you toss out and feel inadequate, but I think it's a bit more "grounding" for most people to realize that "This was done by another human." I definitely run into that dynamic in the IT stuff I make. As always, your videos are stellar. Gotta say I was surprised you didn't de-tune your piano to demo the difference in sounds, but maybe that's a separate video. :)
iv gives me vibes that, like what was said in the video, can be described as "longing for something" or "nostalgia", but I think it can also be described with the scenario of "calming down by gazing at someone you love" (well i guess technically it's still "longing for something"...)
Man i love listening to people playing the piano, especially when they play one of my favorite soundtracks from a game i love. I will definitely watch some of your other videos!
man i finally found someone as crazy as me for that altered fourth minor I litterally see myself explaining those notal and melodical relations in Charles. Great content, bro! Shouts out from Brazil! Love your mom lol
My favorite thing about Charles hands down is when he is explaining a chord or progression he will just replace adjectives with just improving piano and it works better than words. It's fascinating, effective, and also really funny lol
the two moods this song displays have been shown in multiple fangames, animations, and music videos. Fallen Down’s leitmotif would fit in a touching moment, as well as after something terrible occurred, like a genocide in-game.
This track is so pretty. I noticed that not much is mentioned about the guy in the meme that caused this song’s “resurgence”. He’s (what I would describe as) a surrealist artist who goes by the name 5:57am. He’s primarily on tiktok. And I think the way you described this track is actually super in line with the rest of his content. Surreal, unnerving, melancholy, but also very sweet. He’s very entertaining and oddly enough, kinda comforting.
You should certainly check out some of Thomas Bergersen's stuff, especially his Humanity project. He is a master of setting the atmosphere and telling a story without lyrics purely through harmony and instrumental choices. He also often mixes various genres of music within tracks and does a great job at transitioning between them.
I played Undertale in 2016 and all of the music in it brings so much nostalgia in me, and the most interesting part is I vividly remember having the same feelings WHILE I was playing the game. It's like I had a glimpse of the future me getting nostalgic from the soundtrack and thus feeling nostalgic in the present. It's kinda hard to explain, lol. Anyway, love your Undertale ost videos, I hope you could explore even more of it in the future, cause honestly, every track on that game is a true masterpiece and Toby Fox is an actual genius, who (in my opinion) is not appreciated enough outside of the UT community.
Falling down sounds happy but melancholic, almost as remembering a happy moment in your life you know Will never come back. I love It, also Nice vídeo :3
Charles' playing using the minor fourth (3:45 - 4:20) reminds me so much of Pokemon Gold/Silver's National Park theme. Is that what's going on in that beautiful theme that gets me in the feels every time?
Yup! It's even in the exact same key (Db) as the National Park theme. He's just doing a IVmaj7 - iv6 - iii7 - VI7 in Db. (Gbmaj7 - Gbm6 - Fm7 - Bb7) Sort of like the Fallen Down progression, but extending it by resolving to the iii instead of the I. Look up "vgleadsheets pokemon national park" to get a lead sheet and see!
Hey! Would it be possible to view/download pdfs of the sheet music that you sort of generate? during these breakdowns? I’ve been wondering since some of the first Hayao Miyazaki vids but finally figured I’d ask 😅 anyway, thanks again for such a quality, educational and engaging take!
I'd recommend looking at Bonetrousle or Spear of Justice, they both have more punch to them with nice progressions. Also, you don't have to worry about claims. Toby Fox does not care about policing his copyright at all. You're more likely to be claimed by someone who remixed his music than by Toby Fox himself.
As someone who has Undertale in their top 3 favourite games, I don't really see the song as a goodbye. I see it as the song of a monster who has lost her family and her home, forced to live in an empty version of her former city, and her finding of new friends she sees as her children, that ultimately leave her too. It also relates as the players own connection to this character, and gives off a sense of calm and protection.
Fallen down is lovely, but take a look at the reprise! It takes a turn and even incorporates the main theme of the entire game back into it! It’s wonderful
I like to think of Fallen Down as Happiness covering sadness. It feels and sounds happy, but with something different to the equation. That’s what I hear.
That would be awsome. Until that happens, there is a whole Undertale jazz album I love called "Live at Grillby's". While it is missing Fallen Down, it might tide you over.
the voice synthesizer used is Called DecTalk Paul, this is the same synthesizer licensed for MoonBase Alpha. before this could be emulated in software, you could buy hardware for $1,200 that would allow your old computer to make these noises.
You should definitely check out OMORI's soundtrack, a lot of the songs in here have harmonies that are not really conventional but somehow sound incredibly good, and I thought it would be very interesting if you could explain why they sound good
You know, the Undertale OST is a really good one. Although you did a video analysing some Undertale music, you could perhaps do a stream, or VOD, where you react to the entire soundtrack(maybe divided into two VODs). You will not regret it, and we all want it. I can guarantee you will fall in love with a few scores.
As a long-time Undertale fan, I'm glad you're covering more Undertale music, even if it is through the medium of a meme. Honestly there are some songs I would've loved to see you analyze in your actual Undertale video that didn't make it in, especially Core and (dare I say it) Megalovania. Toby did a phenomenal job with the soundtrack, and followed right on into deltarune as well. I encourage you to poke around both soundtracks more, because they really are amazing.
i would absolutely love for you to dive more into toby fox's works in the undertale and deltarune games, he has so many interesting musical ideas in his pieces and i love what he does with composition (and game developing)
this meme was first originated from undertale (we all know that) but someone in the internet remade the game and called it underbase and remixed the song so it goes it sounds like the song is just made out of someone saying "ba" and put it through (now i just remembered) an synthesizer and that's how they made the song in underbase, but, then that guy made a tiktok naming it "my reaction to the information" and that's the history of it
The entire undertale soundtrack is so good. I am amazed at toby fox's proficiency at programming, art, lore writing, and songwriting. I would honestly love to see any of the other undertale songs.
Wanna see what charles thinks about Al Bowlly's "Heartaches" and it's use in "It's just a burning memory" from Everywhere At the End of Time. Not to mention all the either really heavy or really funny meme spinoffs of it
5:57 leias theme has always been my favorite thing john williams has ever done. it is soooo perfect i totally understand why he reused the almost exact same in indiana jones. it is just so beautiful!!!
It's going to sound stupid, but when you explained that one note to being "painfully beautiful", I almost teared up. I've never had a word for it, but that fits it brilliantly. Even with it being so simple. Never thought that a video covering a meme, covering a video game, covering a soundtrack would somehow be so heartfelt that it made me fall in love with what makes music beautiful once more. Thank you!
Maybe it's a friendship that wasn't meant to be, a friendship so strong that it's tearing the universe apart and to save the universe would mean the friends would have to forget each other and start a new life without each other, and this is what Plays as they are remember everything they've done together before never seeing each other again
The track "An Ending" from Undertale as well.! This is the song that, for me, defines what Undertale tried to show with its story. I feel desolation at the start of it, a sense of realization that grows into hope, it then shows confusion and a sudden urge to fight, to "Don't give up", which is another song from UT that ends up being referenced into this song...It beautifully translates the exact feeling of "Determination"
You should check out the reprise of fallen down. It starts out the same as the original you know but it brings in a few other themes that were present in other parts of the game. Really brings things together in cool, emotional way in the game
3:05 Listening to the way you so casually play with the song on the piano, going through the chords and melodies, even if only for a moment... I think you'd have an amazing album of video game music covers, all in the style of like a jazz pianist playing in a quiet lounge or fancy restaurant. I'd listen to that for hours. ❤ Edit: 8:35 & 10:05 SEE?? I'd listen to an ENTIRE ALBUM of this SO MUCH.
risk of rain 2's soundtrack was all made by a single guy, Chris Christodoulou- a lot of the tracks are mostly ambience, but there's a couple gems in there that mess with time signatures/polyrhythms and... "interesting" chords. i'd really recommend checking that out, even if it's not a video. definitely worth a listen thanks for reading :D
Its made using the TTS from Moonbase Alpha, which has many commands that change the pitch and such, allowing ppl to make the TTS bot play literal songs from just text in chat
You had a best friend and together you and your best friend saved the world, but in the process forgot about each other, and this is what plays as you are remembering all the adventures and happy times you've had with your best friend before you get about them for potentially eternity
I've been doing a lot of deep diving into that whole dreamy nostalgic feeling in music for fun, because I really love this type of music. The constant bounce back and forth between major and minor really messes with the brain. The mind always wants things to eventually resolve, but since the song repeats it never quite gets there. Your left in this odd in-between state that feels like limbo. You're not building towards tension, you're not building towards release. Your just kinda floating between the chords. Also each game you play will have memories and emotions attached to them. Music is an easy way to link those memories. So when you hear the song you will be brought back to the emotions you felt while you played the game for the first time. Works the same way you associate certain songs with life events. In the end it all comes together to give that particular feeling we seem to gravitate towards. Another game composer that loves to do this is Koji Kondo in his works for Mario and Zelda. A good portion of his music has this sad, dreamy feeling to it. I swear some of the chord progressions he uses to get this effect are borderline experimental, I love it. Off the top of my head, some non-game composers I can think of that also use it frequently are Radiohead and Aphex Twin. Seems to be a good reason why there songs are so memorable, among other things.
This is the second time I've ever been in a RU-vid video by accident before. This is genuinely surreal and makes me feel better about my countless hours spent venting making funny comments and sharing my inner thoughts with people in the comments. I honestly didn't think what i said would actually resonate with many people, since most people corrected me and said what i said made no sense. Glad to know what i said actually mattered and i could get across how something makes me feel so well it was worth siting. That comment was about you btw. Crazy that you where somehow gravitated towards it and used it as a way to potray the beauty of this song and build upon my thoughts in a constructive and understandable way that fits with the musical theory. You took some casual writers reminiscing and dreaming about nostalgia, and made it so much more than i thought it could be. Thank you for giving me some bonus confidence. I've loved Undertale since it was released back in 2015. I even played through it once on my old currently broken computer years ago. And have watched many playthroughs, fan dubs and musical covers. Thank you again. This means the world to me that i could contribute somehow, although indirectly, to your content.
