Have you considered using the NSF/SPC/VGM files and players so that you can isolate individual sound channels for your demonstrations? It can be difficult for non-music majors to understand and follow the sheet notation and to differentiate which notes that correspond to, but highlighting the notes as they play like what MIDI players like Noteworthy Composer do and playing the specific chiptune channels in isolation would help make your point clear to even non-music theorists.
New subscriber here, totally in love with your channel! I find really interesting how the compositions of Koji Kondo and Masato Nakamura generally contrast each other in a way similar to how the franchises they worked on did: the Mario games showcase Kondo's old fashioned composition skills by basing his pieces on fast harmonic movements of simple chords (like in classical music) alongside with a great feel for jazz and swing (chromatic notes, syncopated rhythms, etc); Nakamura goes in a totally opposite way with Sonic by creating slower progressions with richer, extended chords and simpler melodies to emphasize specific sonorities (almost with a modal approach), kinda like many contemporary music acts in the 80's/90's.
A friend of mine just linked me this. I gotta say man. I'm floored. This shit is amazing. Like... as a fellow musician and composer, who likes analysing music as well, its really cool to see someone go so in-depth with this. I've not looked in depth at your channel yet but may I make the suggestion you do some virt or tim follin games. That stuff is amazing, both from a technical and compositional perspective.
Agreed! I plan to transcribe Follin's stuff from Solstice. That opening theme is ridiculous! I'll post it up on my channel along with an analysis once I am able to get around to it. Until then, I have a growing list of transcription videos if you have a chance to check 'em out!
Oh, so the composer is a bassist! No wonder those tracks are so fun to play with an electric bass :) As for my favorites, pretty simple: Green Hill Zone and Emerald Hill Zone. Simple, punchy and unforgettable :3
Great as always. Might I suggest a video on Earthbound or Undertale at some point in the future? I'm sure there'd be plenty to look at in either. Keep up the good work.
I am a musician and I also have a youtube channel (where I talk mostly about development of emulators like MAME). I decided I should create a video about music theory applied to the Sonic 1 sound track. Found your video. My video is not needed anymore. Thanks!
I feel like Sonic 2 is where this kinda thing met its zenith, with tracks like casino night zone, chemical plant zone, and mystic cave zone giving us incredibly memorable hooks and melodies and rhythms, while its ending theme is just straight up an existing pop song by Dreams Come True. then Sonic 3 kinda does a little less "complex masterpiece studio album" and a little more "playing guitar with your teeth" in terms of composition, but it gives us super memorable tracks nonetheless
So good! You just know me, bro. My faves have got to be Flying Battery Zone from Sonic & Knuckles, or Metropolis Zone from Sonic 2. I'd love to see this same exploration for 2 & Sonic & Knuckles, but you knew that already!
Favourite Sonic tune? From the first game, it'd have to be Labyrinth Zone, cos the bridge is super cool and funk-esque. From all of them, it'd be Chemical Plant.
just started watching these videos and I'm almost out of them I'm still in classes for music theory, I can uderstand this more then my class .lol thank you
Best Sonic song?! How can I choose just one?! Personal favorites are Flying Battery, Hydrocity, City Escape, Aquatic Base (yes, from Sonic 06), Grand Metropolis, and Starlight Carnival.
My favorite Sonic BGM? Jeez, that's tough... There's so much to choose from. There's Techno Base Act 2 from Sonic Advance 2, Mt. Red, a Symbol of Thrill and the Sand Hill Theme from Sonic Adventure, Planet Wisp Act 1 from Sonic Colors, THE ENTIRE SONIC 3 AND KNUCKLES OST, Studiopolis Act 1 from Sonic Mania.... Let me stop...
Just discovered this channel and it is amazing! It would be really nice if you make a video about other Zelda songs like Saria's song or Song of Storms used in the games. An analysis on the soundtrack of The Last of Us would be really cool as well :)
I'd like to see you deconstruct Yuzo Koshiro's work on Streets of Rage II, Jeremy Soule's scoring of Oblivion, with it's themes linked to regions gimmick.
Man, i've been somewhat of a self taught musician for almost 10 years. I find it hard to follow most of your explanations. And now all these years of being lazy, not wanting to learn from score and harmony... Dude, please tell me: What did you study? i'm from Argentina, so i'll have to find some equivalent. But your videos are so cool it makes me want to get serious about music (and mostly videogame music) and be able to stand as a professional in the industry :D
Alan David I am able of following it and most of my knowledge comes from the first result in Google Images with term "music theory 5 minutes cheat sheet".
In sonic 1, Marble zone. Sonic 3, two player mode, that one night time city level that I keep forgetting the name of. That water level in normal one player mode, the second area. Sonic and knuckles, flying battery zone. (I’m a ho for that melancholy/dramatic sounding shit 👀 what can I say?) Oh I forgot! Sonic Chaos for GameGear, the aqua level that takes forever to get to because that stupid spring level before it… I used to play through just to hear the song until I finally got ahold of cheat codes for the sound test mode. Can you do Ecco the Dolphin, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Kirby’s Adventure? Ecco had some hidden music in the cheat code music menu, some were really nice and I can’t find them at all on the sound tracks or videos talking about them, but it was as if they weren’t published but left in the game’s data bank. Also apparently Michael Jackson helped with the music for Sonic 3 but didn’t have his name because he didn’t want it to hurt his reputation 🤣
From a different sonic the hedgehog, but honestly my favorite song is the main theme from sonic O6: "His World". Terrible game, Criminally amazing music.
As much as I've heard this soundtrack over the years I didn't notice/know about the chromatic parallel stuff! Also, any chance of a Mega Man video? (The early NES titles, especially the first 4 games?) There's a key factor/flavour to the music that makes a Mega Man track that I can hear but I can never place what characteristic it is that unites them, mostly because I don't know the first thing about the mechanics of music (which is why I'm here!) but I'm betting you'd be able to explain it!
For the love of God and all that is Holy, please do Sim City SNES. I'm 34 and that contains some of the most soothing music I've experienced in my entire life. Also, Jerry Goldsmith was in love with V I.
This makes me realize how repetitive the rhythm of the first Sonic game is, I never realized most of the soundtrack is 4 3 2 1. At least it avoids 5's, but the fact that most if not all the zones use it makes it repetitive. Mind doing Sonic CD? I always though that one had the best one.
My favourite Sonic music piece? Well that's hard... I'd go so far as to say Sonic 1 is the weakest in the series, but my favourite is the Labyrinth zone. From all Sonic games, the most unexpected positive surprise was definitely this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Wrna1ioqlU0.html My reaction was "Wait, my GameGear is doing WHAT? ...wow..."
You have annotations for "1", "2", "3" and "4" in this video, but are they footnotes and if so how do you read them? I tried the captions but they're just automatic transcripts of what you said.
mmh. I haven't got a clue about musical theory, but it's definitely fascinating seeing the kinds of patterns that show up in music. By the way, Do you have any thoughts on the rumours that Sonic 3's soundtrack was composed by Micheal Jackson? Because he apparently didn't like what it sounded like in the end he didn't want to be listed in the credits. Or so the story goes. But is there anything that would give clues here? And how likely is it he did the whole soundtrack, or just a handful of songs (one has an element very reminiscent of 'stranger in moscow'), or maybe it is just that, a rumour that isn't actually true at all?
I never believed that Michael Jackson myth, it just doesn't make any sense for me. Those "Jackson-esque" tracks you're hearing were just a last-minute addition composed by musicians who worked with MJ around that time. That's all.
Great channel! Hydrocity Zone Act 2 is perhaps the most awesome Sonic track to me, both the classic version and Mania version (which is very similar). I find the chord sequence very dramatic in the chorus, particularly when it lands on the F major chord on the second phrase (it keeps switching the scale throughout the song between natural and melodic C minor, and also the mixolydian mode). I also like how percussion is used as an answer to the melodic question in the intro. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wRbP8c35sCo.html
I love when Bassists write music because they always pay a lot of attention to bottom end and either do some off the wall stuff and create something that uses the bass to harmonise instead of just copying the roots, or they make it orchestral and really use it to emphasise the flow of a piece
Exactly. I was used to play Sonic on the Master System and the first thing that got my attention when I first started Sonic on my Genesis was the BASS. Strong, defined and well written bass!
Sakuraburst I don't normally do this, but your production streams are mind-blowing, it's great seeing how such complex productions are made from one of the pros, thanks, man!
Its true, I have always wanted to do a youtube channel like this, I have the music theory and analysis mastery down, I have the tech, but I have no video making knowledge, I'm glad someone is doing this though! I would love to send you requests or send you some recommendations on some of my favorite vg pieces I have analyzed, I plan to back your patreon as well, anyway, keep doing this man! I know there are a bunch of people who enjoy these who don't even know how to read music, but for those of us with a passion for video games and useless degrees in music composition and theory are absolutely in love with this!
Yay a great video about Sonic Music Theory, it is unbelievable the lack of material about it even with the soundtrack having almost 30 years. Thanks for the video. Subscribed and hoping for more Sonic videos :P
Is it? Historically, people couldn't have cared less about game music. Remember that a lot of people still alive today used to laugh at gamers for "wasting their time playing with toys" and expected the video game market to phase out because "we've already got movies" So the lack of material doesn't surprise me. Its literally taken this whole time for gaming to begin to be considered as a serious form of entertainment, so only now will we start to see this kind of info to come out more and more. And to the doubters whom it may concern: told you so. 🖕
As a music noob, I can't help but wonder if the composers were aware of all the technical tricks they did, or if they composed with their gut and it turned out like this. I'd love for you to talk a bit about this in a video if you have the chance!
Hey, I just discovered this channel and I'm really digging this video. I've been writing arrangements of video game songs for the Gamer Symphony Orchestra at UMD, so just hearing more about the technical side of music (since music theory isn't my strongest suit) is very interesting. I think I might just subscribe. Now, if I could recommend a game, I know someone in the comments has already mentioned Earthbound and Undertale, but I'd actually like to recommend Mother 3. I'd love to see a video about how Mother 3's rhythm based battle system influences the musical compositions, and see some of the more music theory side to how those songs were constructed. Like, for instance, how the song Strong One is in 15/8, but in order to make the song more difficult and unsettling for the Masked Man boss fight, they threw out a 16th note and made it 29/16, completely throwing off the player's rhythm. Mother 3 does things like that to make the songs more difficult all the time, like adding additional beats in between measures (Piggy Guys vs Piggy Something), changing a song with a constant 4/4 meter into something with a meter I can't even really place consistently (Zombeat vs Tough Zombeat), and just making the song faster (Dry Guys vs Even Drier Guys). It really is just a fantastic and well crafted soundtrack. And that doesn't even mention it's fantastic motifs and compositions outside the field of battle. Just saying, it might be a fun episode to do.
dude, incredible analysis!! I loved that soundtrack as a kid. Some of the theory behind this is really complex and the general weirdness/unique quality of the soundtrack is down to that - it'd be interesting to find out how much the composer thought about the writing in terms of theory vs how much was just coming up with the ideas naturally!
Hi! Finally! A Videogame music channel that goes in! I have a single request (okay a first request) HYDROCITY ACT I and II ...but especially Act II. The way the main motif of Act I is taken and then ramped up in the A section (after the intro) of Act II is so hype and actually quite "cool"
That was a pretty good mini-analysis, buddy! Now it'll be stuck in my head for the next 48 hours haha. Seriously, one of my favorite video game music tracks of all time.
What really sets Sonic music apart from the competition is the sheer variety found within each game. Additionally, Sonic music is significantly more complex, relying heavily on background/foreground melody switching, harmonies and counter-harmonies, broken and full chords, and a large variety of instrumentation. Finally, Sonic music is composed by multiple collaborating composers, especially Sonic 3 and Knuckles. In Sonic, musically, anything goes, provided it is of superior quality.
Could you please examine the music of Undertale? I think it's a great soundtrack and that you can shed some light on how Toby Fox made his world sound so alive. Thanks!
most of his compositions are actually very similar, the big difference with Toby is all of his songs have themes that either fit the location or character.
Ramblings I've had about classic Sonic OST's Sonic soundtracks benefit very well from zone theme variations. The best example in Sonic 3 and Knuckles is probably Angel Island Zone, where Act 1's melody line (the one heard midway through the song) is this cheery quip in C Mixolydian (strangely enough), and Act 2's is identical to Act 1, only changing every E to an Eb, changing the mode to Dorian. This mode change from major to minor adds urgency to the song, giving plenty of reasons to keep Sonic's pace up. In Sonic CD's JPN OST, Palmtree Panic's Present theme is kind of a troll version of Green Hill Zone's theme, since it basically cuts out the IV and iii and continuously loops the iim7 and the Imaj7 for about a minute. Then, it cheekily brings back the IV and iii, but removes the I (IVmaj7 iiim7 iim7 iiim7, IVmaj7 iiim7 iim7 iim7) to prick-tease the listener, before going to a V chord with no mediant (and no sus4 as far as I can hear) and THEN resolving itself to I and making more progressions I don't feel like analyzing here. Then PP's Bad Future theme ends up being even more trolly by running almost the whole song in C's iim7 chord, to the point where the song could be interpreted as Dm. The song is sort of cursed with emptiness as no real focal point can be found until the iconic sax solo from the Present theme comes in... heavily distorted and looping on itself like a broken record, keeping the focal point obfuscated. Not to mention the Ab (serving to add a blues interest) in the bass line, or the distorted/reversed voice clips used from the "good" counterpart to add more unease. Then, in the most intense part of the song, the iim7 Imaj7 progression returns, but is overlapped with the established accompaniments from earlier, kind of turning the Imaj7 into a Imaj9 due to the prevalence of D's. (Tidal Tempest Zone's JPN present theme's intro does an almost identical 9 chord progression to Spring Yard zone, right down to the 9-7-5 arpeggiating melody, with the only difference being it goes DOWN from A9 to G9, and there is no extra V to be found.) ^ this doesn't relate to anything, I just like the parallel. And let's not even DELVE into Sonic Mania's brilliance with Act 1 and Act 2 themes. The way Tee adds color to Act 2 themes (especially in Green Hill, Studiopolis, Press Garden, Mirage Saloon, Metallic Madness, and Titanic Monarch) is nothing short of ingenious.
Hello, Your videos are so awesome. Thanks for doing these. Since the pandemic, I'm looking for teaching videos that my students can understand. I wanted to ask if you could do more middle school and high school music level information, if able. thanks
Since I was a kid Nakamura es one of my big musical influences. So weird when you are growing and having bands and everyones talk about Deep Purple, Floyd, Metallica, Black Flag, etc..
Zachary McCoy The spring is blocking the jump The slope is too steep The Platform and the wall is your only excuse, He might missed something he just wanted to get back.
Great work, man! Really impressed by your analysis, you obviously know what you're talking about and it shows. I didn't realize how often Nakamura used the IV-iii-ii-I! If I had any "complaints," I'd mention keys - there were a couple things you mentioned that felt a little lacking to me in explanation. When you mentioned the one A7 in Labyrinth Zone, you compared F to Dm, mentioning how A7 exists in Dm so there's some common ground there. I could see that, but Labyrinth Zone is in C, not F (and given that your score seems to have no sharps/flats in the key sig, I assume you knew this), so it makes even less sense... I'd argue that the biggest factor in the "smoothness" of the A7 is the preceding Em7 - since E is the V of A. A7, then, is a secondary dominant, but non-functioning... Or perhaps kinda half-functioning if you consider the following FM7 to be a Dm9 w/o the bass, haha... But maybe that's what you meant to say? In addition, I would bring up the one bit in Star Light Zone. The A section's tonal center isn't D - in fact it's not even in a minor key at all, it's in the key of C all the way through. While that particular descending pattern is almost /always/ heard on the tonic of a minor key (or at least on the submediant of a major one), it's certainly not the case here. While D is absolutely tonicized for a moment, it's not the key... But those are nitpicks. This video is fantastic, and I wish you luck w/your channel. I especially appreciate the mention of the suspended V chord Nakamura (and so much J-Pop) absolutely adores, as well as the F#7alt in Labyrinth Zone (
it can be an 11-cord without the third, it mostly depends on the chord before and the chord after. Haven't watched the video in a while so I don't remember why I posted this comment, but I can watch it again when I have more time and come back to you on my verdict!
Arvid Olson Dude why do I see your comments on like every video I watch? Jacob Collier, Adam Neely, and now here lol. Guess we have the same taste in videos and music.
