It's interesting how this, as a tune for beach/cove levels, doesn't use the typical tropical Caribbean instruments, but does a well job of keeping the carefree, cool, and breezy vibes of the breezy beach.
On the contrary, I don't think the magic is ruined, I'm astounded by what they achieved with such technical limitations. Always loved this track. Hypnotic viewing!
Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. Seeing the limitations of the nature of magic doesn't dispel it, it just enhances the awe at what you can squeeze into its constraints.
@@evandrogge6399 each of the 5 rows represents each of the 5 (used, out of 8) channels of the SNES' sample-based sound chip and shows the waveform (frequency vs. amplitude) of each *channel* (in terms of polyphony / how many samples play at a time, not "channel" in the mono/stereo sense).
That's really common. But in GBA, Megaman Battle Network overused that method but other than that game, th-cam.com/video/h1JHvqK6lPM/w-d-xo.html I'm also aware other SNES games did that too. th-cam.com/video/wuVRsT5Wek8/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/MeurNEjFpEM/w-d-xo.html That's because Distorted guitar often results to a square wave and it's already studied.
@@donaldthompson4044 i mean of course not a guitar sample still made of square waves. So it's an obvious choice to use a square wave as a guitar because i'll distorted guitar can turn into a square wave after all
"I don’t know how I have not done this one yet. It’s one of the first tunes people bring up whenever the topic of odd time signatures in video game music comes up. However what most people DON’T bring up is...beyond that it starts off in 7/8, it has one of the longest periods of rhythmic ambiguity in any VGM that I know of... About half of the people who hear this will hear beat 1 of the section from :49 - 1:56 to be one 16th note off from where the other half of people hear it to be. The way drumbeat there is written, and the way that section is transitioned into, it leaves it equally openly to two interpretations: 1) Beat 1 of the 4/4 section starts immediately after the 7/8 section. The kick drum is on beat 1. The snares are on the ‘e’ of 2 and ‘e’ of 4. (Visualization: K, _, _, _, K, S, _, _, K, _, K, _, K, S, _, _,) This forces the beat to turn around at 1:56 (meaning you’d have to put either a 17/16 or 1/16 bar right before there), where the beat changes to definitely having the snares on 2 and 4. 2) Beat 1 of the 4/4 section starts with a single 16th note beat gap between it and the 7/8 section. The kick drum starts 1 note before beat 1. The snares are on 2 and 4. (Visualization: _, _, _, K, S, _, _, K, _, K, _, K, S, _, _, K,). This evades the concept of having the beat turn around at 1:56, but means that instead you’d have to have either the first bar of the “4/4 section” be a bar of 17/16, or put a single 1/16 bar before it. Both of these two interpretations are equally valid and it seems pretty evenly split in my experience which of the two a person will naturally hear (they may even alternate between the two without realizing it!). I’m not sure how intentional it was to make it possible to hear in two entirely different ways, and I’m also not sure which way was “intended” if only one way was intended. Was probably just meant to make a really GROOFVEY FUNKY funke GOOd groove .. . (it succeeds it is really cool) Also kind of funny that the most rhythmically difficult to explain part is “the 4/4 section” The 7/8 section from 0:00 - 0:49 / 2:11 - 2:26 (and when it loops) is all just very clear 4+4+3+3! Hopefully I described this in an easy enough to understand way! Hard to visualize this with text only and not being able to show audio/visual combo examples. Also I think it’s amazing and also even kind of hilarious that on what’s regularly cited as one of the most technically impressive soundtracks on the system only uses 5 of the 8 channels the SNES can do at once. IT DOES push that self-imposed restriction pretty far though! That’s for sure. Amazing soundtrack. (ALSO MAKING SURE TO CREDIT GEOFF FOLLIN FROM NOW ON BECAUSE he might be even more rhythmically experimental than Tim Follin from what I’ve been observing on stuff credited to solely him. Doesn’t get the spotlight he deserves to share with Tim.)"
What's funny about this is that the beat thing happens to me all the time, then my ears fix themselves and I hear the section normally. I still love the song though.
I remember saying an TH-cam comment that in an interview, Stephen Ruddy (the sound engine provider and audio programmer), Geoff would do the majority of the OSTs, but it was usually Tim who did the best bits.
"Was probably just meant to make a really GROOFVEY FUNKY funke GOOd groove .. . (it succeeds it is really cool)" It's super cool. The 0:49 caught me way off guard on first listen, so I went to the comments, and sure enough, I found the 411. Great comment man. It's funny to think about sometimes. We do all this music analysis after a song is written, but are we conscious of it in practice? Do the best musicians consider these complicated theory-based structures as they compose, or do they do it by feeling? Then, in the case of a brilliant song, could it be that the composer's feeling was just so great and intuitively awesome, that so many theoretical patterns and techniques can be derived from it? His feeling is aligned with the theory, that's maybe what I'm trying to get at. Cool to think about either way
So this is what happened to me while listening to 0²'s theme for the first time. I heard an entirely different version of it because of the percussion/time signature (I don't know a lot about music, my bad).
@@alexkubrat3868 I don't mean channels yo. I meant that Yuzo literally bought in new samples during a level, kicking out samples he didn't need, over and over "bypassing" the 64k limit
Anyone else notice how to used the drumline & an integer overflow envelope on one of the synth channels to accentuate the bassline *so* well that it almost becomes an entirely different bassline?
Keep this in mind while listening The SNES only had 64KB of RAM, programmers had to fit every sample, sound effect, and every instruction needed to run the music into that tiny space.
64 KB of Audio RAM, 64 KB of Video RAM and 128 KB of Main System RAM. Actually it is the 4th gen system with the largest amount of total RAM, exceding even the Neo Geo (which makes up for that by having massive ROM cartridges). Indeed storing all the song samples + sound effects for the whole game level into these 64 KB of Audio RAM is quite the achievement.
Thank you for not disabling interpolation in this recording. The easiest to find, most-listened to uploads of Plok's soundtrack on TH-cam have interpolation removed, and as a result they sound much too crispy.
Interesting. Listen to 2:30, then jump back to 0:00. The tempo has noticeably slowed by that point in the song. Anyone know if the loop in the actual game is forever slower after the first iteration?
Was Folin using only 5 channels of the SNES sound chip? how in the hell does this sound so good? It sounds almost CD quality, more like you would expecto from a Ps1 or N64 game. Astonishing.
My favorite OST of the game above Akrillic, FleaPit, and Creepy Crag. Takes you off guard with the beat drop at 0:50. Absolutely love those pitch sliding keyboard synths which also really stands out the most, but this track it really shines and sounds absolutely fucking badass, and Tim and Geoff went all out on this track and really worked that sound chip like a son of a bitch lol. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, truly something that would NOT be heard on a 16 Bit video game and or console, maybe something more like on a PS1 or something that is 32 bit, and something also that would be more from the mid to late 1990s, not 1993! The element of that pitch sliding synth is truly atleast 3-4 years ahead of its time. Tim and Geoff are truly mad man!
I will always be baffled over the decision to limit Tim to 5 voices for the music in this game. Sound effects do not need three whole voices. The whole soundtrack could have been much richer. It's almost like they mistakenly told him that the SNES had only 6 voices or something.
Using that little amount of channel was somewhat common among European game/demo musicians. If you want to hear some more extreme examples, Amiga has only 4 channels, but it's less limited on sample size compared to SFC's 64 KB RAM, and demoscene composers in the 90s managed to squeeze a lot in those 4 channels (sometimes even 3).
@@MakotoIchinose Preaching to the choir. I made mods back in the day. The Plok situation really does feel like some kind of oversight. Tim didn't arbitrarily limit himself on other platforms, such as his work on the Mega Drive. Hell, Equinox is even worse. Four voices!? It's baffling. I doubt there's a point in the entire game when all 8 voices are being utilized, no matter how fast you spam the fire button.
@@MrKennyWilliams I know, I am talking about the filtered square waves he sampled for this, which I refrred to as 'electric guitar samples', since I cant exactly compare it to MMX if I call it 'square wave'
A warm SNES song..... The game was considered a failure, while the soundtrack is super awesome!..... Btw, the bass is lovely.... A gift for megamanrocks2003 (a.k.a #MistSomething).
Colby Trimble Oh yeah. I heard that songs with a faster tempo are typically 7/8 while slower ones are 7/4. I'm guessing 7/8 but the only way to know for sure is to ask Tim Follin himself!
Frankly, it doesn't really matter. The groove (which naturally defines the time signature in tempo fixed music) is obviously divided in bars of 7/8. That alone convinces me Tim Follin wrote it in 7/8 and _not_ 7/4: Programmatically, sections are significantly easier to multiply in bars. In addition, that symmetrically makes each harmonic phrase four bars long (as opposed to two). This is the convention of contemporary music.
the different between the division of eighths or quarters doesn't really matter 'cause it's not notated nor is it being performed. The difference between two time signatures with the same metre exists only to make notated music more clearly notated so that it can be more intuitively read by a performer.
I was wondering where I’ve heard this before and it was from both videogamedunkey’s most recent video but even earlier than that it was an0nym0us’s video: th-cam.com/video/3B_EUvi9qE4/w-d-xo.html Great video! Such a treat to have been born in a timeline and universe where this exists!
@@JellySword8you assumed wrong, that upload is actually inaccurate since it removes the gaussian filter from the snes soundchip for some reason (meanwhile this one keeps it)
IT'S JUST A CUTESY PLATFORMING GAME TIM
Haha music go 0:46
Game Composer showing up to the wrong gig
It's interesting how this, as a tune for beach/cove levels, doesn't use the typical tropical Caribbean instruments, but does a well job of keeping the carefree, cool, and breezy vibes of the breezy beach.
Never thought I'd find you here
sine wave
On the contrary, I don't think the magic is ruined, I'm astounded by what they achieved with such technical limitations. Always loved this track. Hypnotic viewing!
Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. Seeing the limitations of the nature of magic doesn't dispel it, it just enhances the awe at what you can squeeze into its constraints.
Tim Follin is a wizard, and the S-SMP his wand.
i dont even understand whats going on in the vid lmao
My thoughts exactly!
@@evandrogge6399 each of the 5 rows represents each of the 5 (used, out of 8) channels of the SNES' sample-based sound chip and shows the waveform (frequency vs. amplitude) of each *channel* (in terms of polyphony / how many samples play at a time, not "channel" in the mono/stereo sense).
the transition from 4/4 back to 7/8 is just incredible
Woah, didn't know the 'guitar' sample was actually a square wave this entire time. Classic Tim Follin is at it again.
That's really common. But in GBA, Megaman Battle Network overused that method but other than that game,
th-cam.com/video/h1JHvqK6lPM/w-d-xo.html
I'm also aware other SNES games did that too. th-cam.com/video/wuVRsT5Wek8/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/MeurNEjFpEM/w-d-xo.html
That's because Distorted guitar often results to a square wave and it's already studied.
That is an guitar sample, if you loop the part that sustains, it will sound like a square wave.
@@donaldthompson4044 i mean of course not a guitar sample still made of square waves. So it's an obvious choice to use a square wave as a guitar because i'll distorted guitar can turn into a square wave after all
@@donaldthompson4044 It's a looped overdrive guitar....
@@user-ql2re2es9y That what I said.
1:55 can we just appreciate how PERFECT the drum and bass go together here?
yes
TIM FOLLIN PROGRAMMED THIS IN A CAVE... WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!
Developer: "Tim, it's about some guy throwing his limbs at fleas and junk. Calm down."
Tim: 1:50
Unfortunately, Tim's guitar didn't have ears and henceforth continued regardless
IT'S JUST A BEACH TIM ⛱️🏖️
The fact that it's only five channels (the SNES has eight sound channels) makes it even more impressive.
"I don’t know how I have not done this one yet. It’s one of the first tunes people bring up whenever the topic of odd time signatures in video game music comes up. However what most people DON’T bring up is...beyond that it starts off in 7/8, it has one of the longest periods of rhythmic ambiguity in any VGM that I know of...
About half of the people who hear this will hear beat 1 of the section from :49 - 1:56 to be one 16th note off from where the other half of people hear it to be.
The way drumbeat there is written, and the way that section is transitioned into, it leaves it equally openly to two interpretations:
1) Beat 1 of the 4/4 section starts immediately after the 7/8 section. The kick drum is on beat 1. The snares are on the ‘e’ of 2 and ‘e’ of 4. (Visualization: K, _, _, _, K, S, _, _, K, _, K, _, K, S, _, _,) This forces the beat to turn around at 1:56 (meaning you’d have to put either a 17/16 or 1/16 bar right before there), where the beat changes to definitely having the snares on 2 and 4.
2) Beat 1 of the 4/4 section starts with a single 16th note beat gap between it and the 7/8 section. The kick drum starts 1 note before beat 1. The snares are on 2 and 4. (Visualization: _, _, _, K, S, _, _, K, _, K, _, K, S, _, _, K,). This evades the concept of having the beat turn around at 1:56, but means that instead you’d have to have either the first bar of the “4/4 section” be a bar of 17/16, or put a single 1/16 bar before it.
Both of these two interpretations are equally valid and it seems pretty evenly split in my experience which of the two a person will naturally hear (they may even alternate between the two without realizing it!). I’m not sure how intentional it was to make it possible to hear in two entirely different ways, and I’m also not sure which way was “intended” if only one way was intended. Was probably just meant to make a really GROOFVEY FUNKY funke GOOd groove .. . (it succeeds it is really cool)
Also kind of funny that the most rhythmically difficult to explain part is “the 4/4 section” The 7/8 section from 0:00 - 0:49 / 2:11 - 2:26 (and when it loops) is all just very clear 4+4+3+3!
Hopefully I described this in an easy enough to understand way! Hard to visualize this with text only and not being able to show audio/visual combo examples.
Also I think it’s amazing and also even kind of hilarious that on what’s regularly cited as one of the most technically impressive soundtracks on the system only uses 5 of the 8 channels the SNES can do at once. IT DOES push that self-imposed restriction pretty far though! That’s for sure. Amazing soundtrack.
(ALSO MAKING SURE TO CREDIT GEOFF FOLLIN FROM NOW ON BECAUSE he might be even more rhythmically experimental than Tim Follin from what I’ve been observing on stuff credited to solely him. Doesn’t get the spotlight he deserves to share with Tim.)"
What's funny about this is that the beat thing happens to me all the time, then my ears fix themselves and I hear the section normally.
I still love the song though.
I remember saying an TH-cam comment that in an interview, Stephen Ruddy (the sound engine provider and audio programmer), Geoff would do the majority of the OSTs, but it was usually Tim who did the best bits.
"Was probably just meant to make a really GROOFVEY FUNKY funke GOOd groove .. . (it succeeds it is really cool)"
It's super cool. The 0:49 caught me way off guard on first listen, so I went to the comments, and sure enough, I found the 411. Great comment man.
It's funny to think about sometimes. We do all this music analysis after a song is written, but are we conscious of it in practice? Do the best musicians consider these complicated theory-based structures as they compose, or do they do it by feeling? Then, in the case of a brilliant song, could it be that the composer's feeling was just so great and intuitively awesome, that so many theoretical patterns and techniques can be derived from it?
His feeling is aligned with the theory, that's maybe what I'm trying to get at. Cool to think about either way
I start interpreting as 1) but i have to switch to 2) as soon as the theremin (?) kicks in around 0:57. This is so cool
So this is what happened to me while listening to 0²'s theme for the first time. I heard an entirely different version of it because of the percussion/time signature (I don't know a lot about music, my bad).
I don't think Tim is ok. He used 6 channels for a song that sounds like a high quality cd song
Not even!
5.
I'm literally baffled.
@SquareWave However, you can "bypass" it, as Yuzo Koshiro did for Actraiser iirc. He figured how to swap samples in and out on the fly
@@Sh-hg8kf Sega in their arcade games swaped channels like crazy. In daytona usa music, you even can't recognize what channel is what instrument.
@@alexkubrat3868 I don't mean channels yo. I meant that Yuzo literally bought in new samples during a level, kicking out samples he didn't need, over and over "bypassing" the 64k limit
this is probably one of the greatest songs ever written for a video game, without exaggeration
It took me repeated listenings to actually be able to hear the downbeat at the section starting at 0:50, my ears were so confused lmao
Anyone else notice how to used the drumline & an integer overflow envelope on one of the synth channels to accentuate the bassline *so* well that it almost becomes an entirely different bassline?
Eargasmic, *TIM FOLLIN LEGEND!*
from psg beeper to the cd audio style.
I’ve had a remix of this on my phone for years. I had not a single idea that it was from plok.
Keep this in mind while listening
The SNES only had 64KB of RAM, programmers had to fit every sample, sound effect, and every instruction needed to run the music into that tiny space.
64 KB of Audio RAM, 64 KB of Video RAM and 128 KB of Main System RAM. Actually it is the 4th gen system with the largest amount of total RAM, exceding even the Neo Geo (which makes up for that by having massive ROM cartridges). Indeed storing all the song samples + sound effects for the whole game level into these 64 KB of Audio RAM is quite the achievement.
False. The snes has way more Ram
The instruments are short samples wavetables though
Amazing to hear and watch. This is crazy!
I still cannot even fathom how this is even possible....what a legend.
Thank you for not disabling interpolation in this recording. The easiest to find, most-listened to uploads of Plok's soundtrack on TH-cam have interpolation removed, and as a result they sound much too crispy.
the boss theme sounds a lot better without interpolation imo
Those lines do be dancing
This is really incredible to see the problem solving they went through to get this rich sound through. So cool!
Interesting. Listen to 2:30, then jump back to 0:00. The tempo has noticeably slowed by that point in the song. Anyone know if the loop in the actual game is forever slower after the first iteration?
Oh wow, good catch 🫢
Jesus Christ Tim!
You give a man 5 sound channels and he makes this with them.
This man I tell you..
If it was on the NES, DPCM would be left unused.
one, two, three-ee-and one, that'll be 7/8 in my estimation
And then Tim is just like: F*ck it, I'll change the signature.
Doesn't this go 7/4 to 4/4?
@@guimontag 7/8 to 4/4 is more accurate, but yeah
wouldn't it go: one, two, three, fou- and one?
Was Folin using only 5 channels of the SNES sound chip? how in the hell does this sound so good? It sounds almost CD quality, more like you would expecto from a Ps1 or N64 game. Astonishing.
I've never played this game, but this is a banger.
My favorite OST of the game above Akrillic, FleaPit, and Creepy Crag. Takes you off guard with the beat drop at 0:50. Absolutely love those pitch sliding keyboard synths which also really stands out the most, but this track it really shines and sounds absolutely fucking badass, and Tim and Geoff went all out on this track and really worked that sound chip like a son of a bitch lol.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, truly something that would NOT be heard on a 16 Bit video game and or console, maybe something more like on a PS1 or something that is 32 bit, and something also that would be more from the mid to late 1990s, not 1993! The element of that pitch sliding synth is truly atleast 3-4 years ahead of its time. Tim and Geoff are truly mad man!
Beautiful
galaxybraintube
this is plok. plok gud.
Indeed it is
words of wisdom
Who is Plok?. a red pepper, chili or a red sausage?.
@@user-ql2re2es9y plok is plok
@@cursed_cats5710 hooded sausage avatar....
I love that part at 0:13 where it goes DEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
1:14 - Sounds like a sample from "Do I Do" from Stevie Wonder
I will always be baffled over the decision to limit Tim to 5 voices for the music in this game. Sound effects do not need three whole voices. The whole soundtrack could have been much richer. It's almost like they mistakenly told him that the SNES had only 6 voices or something.
Using that little amount of channel was somewhat common among European game/demo musicians. If you want to hear some more extreme examples, Amiga has only 4 channels, but it's less limited on sample size compared to SFC's 64 KB RAM, and demoscene composers in the 90s managed to squeeze a lot in those 4 channels (sometimes even 3).
@@MakotoIchinose Preaching to the choir. I made mods back in the day. The Plok situation really does feel like some kind of oversight. Tim didn't arbitrarily limit himself on other platforms, such as his work on the Mega Drive. Hell, Equinox is even worse. Four voices!? It's baffling. I doubt there's a point in the entire game when all 8 voices are being utilized, no matter how fast you spam the fire button.
the title screen used all the eight voice channels
@@Asterra2on the MD he didn’t use the sampler channel or the PSG
Maybe it was for space saving reasons
Or maybe he did it just because he could
The trumpet sound is sick
yo those symbols literally sound real the fuck
yeah cause it's sample based
This is some Funky Beach music! XD
Love to see people dance to it... Lol heck I'd be dancing with them!
The electric guitar samples in this put the shitty mega man x instruments to absolute shame.
Its not a Sample.... that's what makes it even better!
@@MrKennyWilliams I know, I am talking about the filtered square waves he sampled for this, which I refrred to as 'electric guitar samples', since I cant exactly compare it to MMX if I call it 'square wave'
@@MrKennyWilliams it actually is a sample, it just sounds like a square wave, believe me I looked at the extracted samples
@@Plasmariel We can all literally see with our eyes in this very video that it's not a square wave.
@@drifter402 It is not generated, might be similar to one but it is still sampled that's what I meant
Sweet jesus why am I just now finding out about this game's OST? Shit fuckin slaps
this is so cool
There's a sine wave and a few harmonic square wave.
Goddamn this shit is funky as hell.
we asked to go to the beach and follin gave us the goddamn s u c c into the stratosphere
The OG "How It's Made" theme
A warm SNES song..... The game was considered a failure, while the soundtrack is super awesome!.....
Btw, the bass is lovely....
A gift for megamanrocks2003 (a.k.a #MistSomething).
The game was ok, nothing great but not bad
@@doom5895 so so?
proof that technical limitations can't tame true talent. i know its been said before, but let's all keep reminding that.
Other 3 channel sound: *Am I a joke to you*
In Equinox there are 4 unused channels.
@@MauveDash not unused, used for different stuff.
I'm just joking XD
Sound effects: *gives the other 3 sound channels a hug uwu*
@@MauveDash Pretty sure the opening, game over and ending music use all 8 ch's.
0:50 is the best part!
What sorcery did the Folins do in order to make their samples actually sound CD quality? There's none of the typical SNES "muffle" to be found here
Summoning Salt!
Wh
When shit goes down in the metagame.
5 channels is crazy
Raw
Is this in 7/8 or 7/4? I've heard differing opinions. Personally I think it's 7/8
Z0LSTICE I think it’s 7/8, but people could definitely hear 7/4!
Colby Trimble Oh yeah. I heard that songs with a faster tempo are typically 7/8 while slower ones are 7/4. I'm guessing 7/8 but the only way to know for sure is to ask Tim Follin himself!
Z0LSTICE wouldn't be surprised if it switched between the two
Frankly, it doesn't really matter. The groove (which naturally defines the time signature in tempo fixed music) is obviously divided in bars of 7/8. That alone convinces me Tim Follin wrote it in 7/8 and _not_ 7/4: Programmatically, sections are significantly easier to multiply in bars. In addition, that symmetrically makes each harmonic phrase four bars long (as opposed to two). This is the convention of contemporary music.
the different between the division of eighths or quarters doesn't really matter 'cause it's not notated nor is it being performed. The difference between two time signatures with the same metre exists only to make notated music more clearly notated so that it can be more intuitively read by a performer.
2:12 YO CHILL!!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥
tim could probably port a nds track to snes and still have it play on 5 channels
very an0nymooose vibe
This song actually blows my mind. Dude made a masterpiece for a mediocre SNES game
Plok IS NOT mediocre.
HOLY.
Yes music
do you have the midi for this?
How did you make this video?
I was wondering where I’ve heard this before and it was from both videogamedunkey’s most recent video but even earlier than that it was an0nym0us’s video:
th-cam.com/video/3B_EUvi9qE4/w-d-xo.html
Great video! Such a treat to have been born in a timeline and universe where this exists!
Matt brought me here
wasn't this summoning salt' music also?
(yes)
The beginning reminds me of the music in the core in Undertale for some reason
this doesnt show stereo and surround effects
what fucking time signature is this in?????
Hey, this isn't my flag
what
@@tcscomment Plok! reference
I’ve been diddled!
Too bad i can't find a oscilloscope view that's accurate to the original. The opening base always sounds way better than it's supposed to
i think there are a lot of low quality rips of Beach on youtube, this upload sounds the most similar to the flac game rip to me
@@CaptainWafflos I haven't emulated the game but I assumed this upload was the most similar: th-cam.com/video/Gz0fAz9n_Os/w-d-xo.html
@@JellySword8you assumed wrong, that upload is actually inaccurate since it removes the gaussian filter from the snes soundchip for some reason (meanwhile this one keeps it)
Tim Follin's talent was wasted on games that were mediocre to bad.