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I love how Charles focuses first on the bass. Nakamura, being a bass player himself, really went the extra mile in all of the songs for Sonic 1 and 2 on the bassline.
I used to ride around listening to the Sonic 2 soundtrack after highschool and thought "man, whoever wrote this must have been an awesome bassist" and years later I found out he, indeed, was.
Really deciphering the depth in these songs always gives me a new found appreciation for the composers who made the songs we liked but never payed attention to
First time I noticed vgm was when the kids played Club Penguin and I realised the music had to be loopable without the player getting sick of it. Then we discovered The Consouls vgm jazz covers and really started to appreciate the brilliance of vgm composers!
Right off the bat, I'm SO glad you mentioned the bassline! Nakamura is a bassist, and you can tell -- the basslines all OVER the sonic 1 & 2 soundtracks are absolutely absurd, I love them. Not even 2 minutes in, and I love this video lol
Seeing people react to music is one thing, having musicians react to music is another, having a musician actually breakdown and explain why a song works so well is a horse of different color. This channel is super informative and the passion for helping people understand the known theory behind music theory is simply beautiful. And to cover one of my favorites is just fantastic, always loved the counter melodies in Sonic, from the energetic and carefree to the imposing and mechanical, but always carrying a beat, a melody that pushes you forward. Also have noticed there's also a Megalovania breakdown aswell, I would recommend checking out Toby Foxx's number one inspiration as well. The musician known as ZUN, aka the creator of a series known as Touhou, has done a number of notable songs like U.N Owen was Her and Necrofantasia. But as those songs are very ZUN, the song I'd recommend for a breakdown would be Hartmann's Yokai Girl, as that song is so unique and baffles a good number of musicians (in a good way)
It's actually more common than you'd expect, and I've listed the two that come to mind immediately. Peggle 2 matches the sound effect of pegs hit to go up the scale of the key of the music, even changing with the song's key. Mario Wonder has a similar thing with its note blocks, except it adheres to the chord, will play the current chord when you jump, and in some cases plays the melody.
@@xXCursedWorgenXx Same here fam! Don't have the box for STH2 but have the cartridge still. Also have Sonic & Knuckles, with the flip-top lid that allowed you to stick another cartridge into it to unlock the "secret" emerald tracks (and other things from memory).
Sonic 2 - Aquatic Ruin zone is basically latin fusion, back then I didn't know Chick Corea yet. Now it's impossible to unhear how this track was inspired by him.
This song is burnt into my mind - “you know it is up to us now, it really is up to us now” ❤ Makes you think about how we recall music and imprint it to memory - I can hear this music (and lots of other music) in my mind’s ear. Last thing to say, this is such liminal, nearly throw away music and yet its structure is rich and the product of a master musicologist, largely unsung.
To boot, I used to just leave this on, to develop, and it does. Partly to wait to see if Sonic did anything weird, didn’t he go to sleep eventually. It’s the little touches. 🎉
The most iconic sound when thinking of Sega Genesis PERIOD! If you don’t get chills listening to this tune you weren’t born in the era of gaming most essential moments.
Can we please have an entire album made of slow sonic covers? 😅 I've always seemingly enjoyed slower stuff, usually ballads and slower alternative rock (think slower Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox Twenty, Lifehouse), so this idea you've planted fits right into my wheelhouse.
1991, June. That day I was at a store, then this song is playing from a tv. Watching the animation go by, a blue hedgehog with sneakers. The music in the first game was amazing. The opening melody is beautiful. The rhythm in every note, makes you feel like Sonic running, keeping that speed going throughout. Excellent coverage of this timeless classic 🫡
This song has so many layers to it that it really is amazing that it was produced with such restrictive hardware for it's time! I never learned music theory, but when I wanted to learn how to make music, I broke this song down to its 4 individual tracks to learn how the melody and bass line interacted and reconstructed it in a playstation music sequencer by ear and it helped me enough to learn songwriting to start my own projects and 16 years later I got to write music for a videogame! I still can't read music, but I owe my own personal successes to this one random videogame song I fell in love with when I was 8
Just wanted to mention that I heard this the first time from Jon Batiste - Green Hill Zone and it's incredible! The original version is so nostalgic but Jon's version is very nice to hear too, check that out!
Dude i need to say your enthusiasm for this stuff is so infectious. Your like one of those people you see beaming and being way to happy than they have any right to be.... at 5 am on the morning news. Not that its a bad thing it always cheers me up your passion really shines through.
I love the energy you bring to these videos. I know nothing about playing music, but I am interested in the feeling a song can bring to something. This game was the first I ever played, and there is something pure about this song that feels me with joy. Having you express your own appreciation for it just makes my week ❤
Love how you've broken and explain this tunes all those years playing games never truly appreciated the happy and awesome music these guys have created ❤❤❤
In Genecyst emulator i remember you have an option that could split music in chanels and hear every single "instrument" for separate. It was Legendary. When i was a kid i use my Megadrive with earphones, i remember listen every single note of the theme. Man, what a memories.
I don’t understand anything about music or instruments other than listening to it. Watching this made me appreciate music more even if I don’t learn how to play.
Another absolute master composer of this era of videogames was Tim Follin. I highly recommend checking out the main theme for Solstice (NES) if you haven't already!
Bro Sonic and a host of other classic games on the Sega Genesis had epic soundtracks. I found myself in the options menu on Sonic 1 and 2 listening to the music for hours. Eternal Champions, Shinobi III, both VectorMan, the list goes on. Gratitude to you for the attention to detail
I love this one! I’m a big music lover and never really paid much attention to how well everything went together seamlessly and hearing it on a piano was even better! It brought back memories of the sega! Well done man🎉
I absolutely love this video. Hearing someone speak with such passion about the music of the Sonic games just makes me smile, not to mention how beautifully you play on the piano. I hope I can play to your level one day :)
Dude composing the intricate music for these games is one thing but to program it into these early games is way more complicated than people realize!! Every note has to be converted into computer code for length pitch volume etc. so fascinating!! As a youngster and still now I loved trying to figure out video game melodies!! Great use of pedal bass, major seventh chords, and rhythm on these games...
This is a soundtrack that I recognized as beautiful when I was a kid, but never had the words to describe it. Thanks for the analysis! That 4-3-2-1..... Incredible.
"We're going to start doing slow Sonic covers!" Go for it! A few minutes before you said that, I was thinking I needed to search for a slow tempo Green Hill Zone jazz piano cover.
when i was a little kid and this came out my grandpa gifted me $200 to buy the sega genesis that had the sonic bundle. i can think of nothing that has more nostalgia for me than this. i was seven in 1991.
Music was my favrite part because besides sprites which were easy at the time puting a melody in early games was crazy and they hired the very best composers . Video game music is a wonderful constraints manifestation
Grew up playing Sonic and now I'm in the games industry so this video was a joy. Could we get a video on Emerald Hill Zone though because that's a BANGER. 🙏
I like this video because it talks about the "SHAPE" of the way he writes the music. Take the bridge for instance; He leads the 5 year old brain with a predictable ba ba booom... Stepping down, but then, when changing chords, it steps up with the same cadence but in a chord progression that is straight out of Music theory. But then, coming back down using the exact same predictable pattern-recognition but in a different chord (nothing too difficult for the kiddies), and then hits that C-chord. at the end in the exact same cadence. It is predictable and he refuses to subvert that. It's a kid, but it's Sonic. Sonic is going quickly through turmoil, turning left and Badknicks, turning right... loopty loop upside down, and then C-chord.. Lands safeley. It embodied the game perfectly. The game is a masterpiece with layers that a 5 year old cannot appreciate, which is why, I love this video.
1. "My next musical release: slow _Sonic_ covers." YES PLEASE 2. SFX + Music integrated -- yes! And, maybe just me, but if you really get into the flow of the level, it even starts to feel more like a rhythm game than a platformer. Try it sometime!
your piano thing sounds incredible. I'm using a second hand Casio with heavy weighted keys. I decided to get it after watching this video 7 months ago. Countless hours of satisfaction. Thank you
I absolutely love how you break things down! I think you should do a video about this soundtrack and do Sonic 2, as well. Please keep up the good work putting out great content!
I love this so much! As a kid, I would break down video game soundtracks, and this is among my favorites! Please breakdown Sonic 3…the first and second levels songs were variations of each other, with a jazz element added to it.
One of video games all time greatest songs. Local band around here plays it and it makes me melt. Had to learn it on guitar.. I always loved the verse part bassline every 7th and 8th measure goes down and resolves on the Root. It taught me a valuable lesson on you never have to start on the Root to write a great melody.
The first time I heard this particular piece of music was at a Toys "R" US. It was in the early 90s. It was in the begining month of October, 1992 to be exact. My brother had his Birthday weekend and he had one of his friends from school come to our house. I'm not sure why we were at Toys "R" US but that music. The video game had some type of demo like other video games, but this music. It would start with this little tune, 🎶SEEEEGAAA🎶 Then it goes to the title theme with Sonic popping up and acting cool. Hey, I'm Sonic The Hedgehog. Then it will go to the demo and this Green Hill Theme as it was mentioned would play. The best video game music I've ever heard.
It's awesome to see that you're so excited about music!!! If you REALLY want to freak out over some INSANE music listen to some of the Warframe video game music Especially "Keith Power - This Is What You Are" , "The sacrifice - Smiles From Juran" and the amazing twin songs "We lift together" and it's dark future version "For narmer" even if you never make a video you just HAVE to listen to those songs!
I was listening to / watching some videos while soaking in an epsom salt bath to heal the body. Your video came on just as I had to get a shower started. My phone was obviously out of reach to protect it from the elements. When the shower started, I could hear you but I couldn’t really hear what you were saying. The only thing I could hear was that awesome score and your utterly spectacular enthusiasm. I played it back after the shower lol. Good stuff brother!
I think some of the charm is definitely due to the "MIDI" esque quality of the sounds, many of these retro video game themes were using a Yamaha FM chip to run the MIDI script. You could feed it into a modern hi-fi VST and it wouldn't sound the same ! I wonder what influenced mr. Nakamura. Great vid as always Charles !
2:35 I guarantee you, if you were to play that at a jazz night club, everyone would be listening like "Ohh... ssso beautiful! what a talent! truly a virtuoso!" ....without the slightest fucking idea of what it actually is.
Love the breakdown. One thing not fully explored in the video, and maybe its not your thing, is how it interacts with the level. The high speed intense start drives the intent of the game roght at the start. As it progresses, i feel a mlre carefree floating melody and it goes well with flying through the air on the springs and jumping long distances from high points. If i play the level poorly, at the lower level, impeded by obstacles, it feels quite disconnected with the music and i think that elevates the experience of when it played well.
This is 16 bit btw. Sega Genesis had incredibly intricate music because they had double the space to work with. You should check out the original Toejam and Earl soundtrack.
