You are so well-spoken! This is why I always look forward to your genshin music videos because you articulate your thoughts so good that even though you start talking about technical musical jargon, it is not too much to handle.
Marco's point about the artistic aspect of Genshin is on point. For all the drama, for all the divisive stuff that happens, this fandom can always get behind appreciating the music and the visuals. The art is Genshin at its best.
1:04:40 I actually know this! The term he's looking for is "Absolute Music", which is music for music's sake. "Program Music", music inspired by an outside element like scenery, a poem or story, a painting, anything, only came about after Vivaldi showed up with his Four Seasons, and didn't really take off until the 1800s. That's why most music before that time is titled "Symphony No. 9 in A Major" or something like that.
My favorite region in terms of music is Liyue. Now I don't really play much games where the setting is China or at least inspired by it but Liyue introduced me to traditional Chinese music but with a western classical blend and it's so good. My favorite city theme is "Liyue" where to me, it is as if the people of Liyue composed the song and it sounded so hopeful for the future. Hopeful for prosperity and success even though their archon has passed away.
Hahahaha i certainly dragged my mother into the concert with her knowing she was going to hear video game music xD she begrudgingly went along but she was curious to know what the hype her two daughters are making such a big deal with. I knew she is a concert and ochestra fan. I knew smugly she was going to be impressed. And true enough she came out of the concert bewildered and enlightened with Genshin's music! She talked about it with her friends that this video game has concerts for their music like it's unheard of for her generation. My cousins also brought both their parents to the concert and their parents loved it too! When the Shanghai concert was officially uploaded, I played it on our main big screen tv in the morning to trap my parents to watching it with me xD and my grandfather was ironically the one glued to the screen and so focused on listening and enjoying the music. It was very cute and made me so happy to share this music to my family~
First, we had a collab between Marco and Philip, and now we have a podcast with Sevy and Marco. This was a good week. BTW, as a Kazuha main and Yelan simp, I'm unbiasedly appreciative of Marco's taste in characters.
Oh Yay! My 2 favorite Genshin content creators in a collab! I was in a bad mood earlier, but no longer. Thank you both for all your work; I enjoy your work for different reasons, and it is so nice to hear this conversation.
Sumeru is probably my favorite regional music, although I really do love it all. There are times when I park my character at the Statue of Seven in Tunigi Hollow, pull up the map so that I don't get any character idle lines, and just relax to the theme music for that region of the desert. Bliss.
OMG -the concluding advice on boundaries = spot on. Made me think of Brene Brown's work which, in a nutshell, found that the most compassionate people she interviewed were absolutely also the most boundaried people. I recommend anyone who wants to hear more on how creating and maintaining boundaries will make you a more loving person, do a search for her work.
Fischl’s domain battle theme will always have my heart but in terms of regional music, it’s probably Inazuma. Serei Island and Enkanomiya music just spellbounds me.
It's hard for me to pick a favorite musical region. Liyue and Inazuma create the most emotional/nostalgic reaction for me tied to the game because those were those zones that really made me fall in love with it. Sumeru has really diverse songs (love Port Ormos of course). As someone who grew up doing ballet, Fontaine's music reminds me of so much of my childhood and falling in love with ballet music.
My favorite is Sumeru's music! It just hits so different, maybe also because I'm an SE-Asian in a melting pot country so it's just so familiar. My favorite 2nd might be Enkanomiya just because how minimalistic, string-focused it is, but still effective. As a musician and music arranger I can say I learnt a lot from genshin's music.
The music was literally what got me into Genshin. I started playing when it released, but put it down after a couple hours because it was just overwhelming and didn't really hook me. But then when Sumeru released, my friend showed me some of the music, and I was like, "wait, maybe I need to give this another chance" As far as my favorite region, I'd have to say Sumeru because I've been exploring Middle-Eastern and Indian music over the last couple years, and I just love how they were able to meld those very different musical paradigms with western pop elements to create just absolutely stunning melodies. But I also have a really soft spot for Inazuma and Liyue's motifs. I also agree that Fontaine's music hasn't hit me as hard, and do think it's because it's a bit safe. It's great classical music, and I love the interesting instruments they incorporated, but for the most part, the melodies just don't feel like they're taking as many risks, so it does feel more like background music until it gets infused with the emotions of the story. The one exception is Un Nouvel Espoir, which plays around the New Fontaine Research Institute area. That's the only one where when it started playing, I couldn't bring myself to leave the area even though I didn't have anything more to do, because I just wanted to hear the music
Yep, Sumeru music really was something special and I’m getting the feeling Natlan will be too. The symphony concert was mindblowing. Really hyped for it, especially the music.
What a wonderful discussion. Excellent questions and insightful answers. Thank you both. My favourite region music is Sumeru. I listened to that music for hours even when not playing Genshin. I was disappointed in the general Fontaine music and I think Marco is right about his analysis of why that might be the case. Marco's early Genshin music reactions were astounding the way he could tell us the character and actions just from hearing the music. Been a fan ever since! and have been enjoying the series of talks with opera experts about video game music.
My favorite region musically is Sumeru. It goes so hard when it's being lively, and hits the breaks to really go chill in other areas. As I started playing only last year, I was able to explore the region way before I got there in the story and once I got there, it immediately became my comfort region, especially when I was struggling to get to the Inazuma storyline. Add to it some really impactful story beats and it just settled right for me.
Oh man, it was such a fun times listen you guys. Really glad music in videogames given more and more appreciation and more people talking about it in general. Some, like Marco, even make entire channel around it, which is great.
Genshin's music is truly world class because it uses techniques in composition that aren't typically used in creating classical music. An example is Fontaine's battle themes. There's such a natural progression in the composition that the music feels exactly that. Natural. Not overly curated, and if it is, they're so well executed you don't care. You can also gain a sense of story through the music even if you have no context. That's hard to pull off. The mark of great work can be found in anything that appears simple, but is actually complex when you dissect it
It took me a couple of sessions to listen to the whole episode because of life getting in the way, but I've finally made it to the end! Always a fun time listening to what you and Marco have to say on your respective topics, and I'm glad you guys were able to collab here :)
I went down an entire rabbit hole down Marco's channel after finishing this episode. His covers of the La Signora and Scaramouche themes were so informative! I find his voice to be really pleasant to listen to, and his energy at the hype parts of the songs is incredibly infectious. Soooo worth having him as a guest! SPECIAL REQUEST FOR THE NEXT GUEST: Genshashin
I thought I was the only one who realized that thing about Furina's and Focalors's themes. I mean, that specific melody even gets played when you stand in front of Furina's home 😮
there is a true magic about the music in liyue. it's always been my favorite and i've been ecstatic about the new additions in chenyu vale. fontaine def has bops too though. perhaps my second fave.
I never thought of there not really being environmentally distinct tracks in Fontaine as a criticism, its absolutely true. I think its my favorite region musically in the way the ambience transports (I personally play it while working or making dinner) but there's no "oh that's Port Ormos!" or "I love Dawn Winery's theme" to it. Like my favorite track in the region, I don't even know where it is or what triggers it? I just know I stop to listen every time it comes on.
My favorite music is either v1 or Sumeru. I have a fondness for Mondstadt and Liyue, and Sumeru's music is just really well done. OTOH, I find Inazuma's music (outside of Enkanomiya) to be pretty boring, and I haven't been particularly drawn to Fontaine.
42:00 the wind instrument in rainforest is Bansuri In desert its Ney 43:02 inazuma have less ethnic Instrument whereas sumeru have more cause well its based on multiple cultures My Fav nation is obviously sumeru and liyue comes second (cause of chenyu vale) My fav country is japan but i feel like inazuma music didn't get me except some pieces
45:11 I agree so much, i believe that fontaine's music "stratified" more then the rest. I mean the beautifull tracks are absolutely stunning, the one off themes in cutscenes or specific places hit very hard but the common outdoor music is a big big letdown for me, it's so plain and unrecogniseble, lacks the personality that the other nations have. Whever I speak of genshin music I need to mention 2 very, and I mean very overlooked regions that of chasm and enkanomiya. OoooooOoo. I'm heavily biased as those 2 regions came out at my gaming height of genshin and yet years later the tracks from these places still take the top spots. Chasm, especially some deeper underground tracks hit very dark tones, gives very mysterious vibes in a freighting manner. And enkanomiya is just, amazing. I could go on and on but it's besides the point, amazing work.
Kazuha's Genshin's favourite child, so it makes sense Marco likes him too. lol As far as Sumeru's arc.... I felt Chapter 1, 2, and the ending were AMAZING, but the rest was really meh(mostly because Alhaitham is the worst character in the game and we spent WAY too much time with him - could've done with like 90% less Alhaitham lol). But even the parts that were meh... were way better than most of Fontaine. I have not liked Fontaine's story, aside from like the last hour of act 5. Most of Fontaine's story has just been... not good. I have two musical preferences. First is Liyue, second is Sumeru. And I think the main reason why on both counts is that both of them were musical styles I wasn't extremely familiar with so they felt so... unique to me. I'm not super familiar with Chinese inspired music or Middle Eastern inspired music, so both of those felt so fantastical to me. Liyue is the only zone where I got annoyed when I got into combat because it was interrupting the music, and there's so much amazing Liyue music. Whereas Sumeru hits really hard emotionally for me - Dance of Sabzeruz, Nahida's theme, the forest themes, the desert... they just really have this emotional depth to them that just really resonates with me so much. There are so many tracks in Sumeru that resonate directly and internally with me, that just tug at my emotions in so many different ways.... that its amazing. I love Sumeru's music so much. Interesting that he feels that way about Star Rail, because I listen to a LOT of star rail music on its own and the emotional impact is still there. Its always fascinating to me to see how different people react to different things. The instrumental version of If I can Stop One Heart from Breaking, the Fyxestroll theme, Space Walk, the boss themes for Cocolia, Phantylia, etc... and, of course, one of my favourite musical themes of all, Samudrartha. Its always the biggest pity for me that content creators feel like they have to unengage to protect themselves because so many people are unnecessarily and needlessly cruel.
Marco: I was in a session 2 days ago. ME: BREATHING HEAVILY OVERTHINKING IF HE WILL FINALLY VOICE A 5 STAR CHARACTER BEFORE FONTAINE ENDS AND IF THE CHARACTER IS RELATED TO OPERA OR THEATER.
Ya - we all have personal struggles and things we’re trying to grow through. Criticism is one of mine - you go through an art form that berates you and belittles you based on two little muscles in your throat and then try to see how you handle criticism. We all have our things we’re trying to grow from. That one is mine.
I subscribed to this guy after Signora but he kept throwing lame Trump jokes in his videos and I unsubscribed a couple months later. The NPC he did was awful and cringe factor 12. I think that Sevy should be an NPC in Natlan and she would be better just using her natural voice.
