I saw this back when it was released and meant to post on it then, but got distracted and failed to do so. Just had to tell you how cool this was and what an incredible job you did breaking this all down. These are my tunes and it really brings me back to its creation days watching your video. Thanks, man.
I'm so interested in your analysis of the plagal cadences in this soundtrack! I knew about extended dominant progressions, but extended plagal progressions are currently blowing my mind. Reminds me a lot of that negative harmony stuff Collier was talking about, but without the exact "negative" chords being used.
my family loved this game and I played it a lot with my brother before he died of leukemia. I can't believe I'm hearing about it again on the anniversary of his death. Brings back so many memories.
Dan Hess the composer sent me to this video. He’s just released a remake of birdman. You should be happy he’s seen this and appreciated. Check out his new take, it’s really good.
Dan Hess just sent me the link to your video. Awesome breakdown. I was laughing out loud at the Funk video clips at the beginning. Dan and I are going to have to work up a live version of this stuff to play on the road. LOL Great analysis. Keep up the good work.
I hope that, if Nintendo ever makes a new Pilotwings game, that Dan can do the soundtrack for it so it keeps its chill vibe. I was sad that they hired a new composer for the 3DS Pilotwings game.
This video is exactly what I have been looking for. I sensed that you would have one, when I found your channel. Thanks to the guy who requested it too.
Ive always been annoyed when little kids in the comments say something cheesy like "Why don't you have a million subs?" But now I think I have a different opinion, because seriously, where are you million subs? Your videos are so great...
I really like these videos. I was in band in middle school and a little in highschool but other than playing it I never really understood music theory. These videos have been a great introduction to it in a way that's more accessible to me. Even though half the time I don't know what the hell you're talking about I'm picking up alot by revisiting videos. Its a must for full comprehension.
I loved your Dolphin Shoals video and I had been listening to a lot of old video game soundtracks and this one popped up on my recommended. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for this! Excellent video and a lot of fun remembering the music from that game. Funny how much of it stayed with me after all this time.
This video seems a lot funnier than usual, just knowing that you are having fun with creating videos really makes a difference and makes things SO MUCH more entertaining, thank you for making your videos they are truly awesome to watch and educational
Thanks so much! This has been one of my absolute favorite video game soundtracks since my dad first rented us the system in summer '96 😄 I still jam out to Rocket Belt, File Select, and Mission Select sometimes. And Gyrocopter and Hang Glider taught me a lot about chords and melody in my musically formative years. Double-plagal (thanks for that term!) is my all-time favorite cadence partly from those. (The Who helped with that too). Anyway thanks again. Super obscure and underrated game soundtrack.
I knew next to nothing about music theory when I first encountered this channel, and I still know very little, but it feels like every one of these videos I watch, I pick up one thing or another, even if most of it goes over my head.
I love these videos and especially the analysis. This one was especially enjoyable for me as a bass player--it puts in perspective some of the things I tend to do naturally, in fact, making it clearer to me exactly what's going on with my genre-bending. These videos also get me thinking in terms of ways I can broaden the sonic palette of my own compositions. Time to go fire up Sibelius...
So now I know why I absolutely loved the music in this game when I played it as a kid. I've been all over funk lately in my journey into learning the guitar.
Ah, Pilotwings 64. I really enjoyed messing around with that game. I never really considered the music. It fit perfectly, but I had no idea about any part of what it was based on. Didn't even notice it was funk, blues and so on. But now that you mention it, yeah... XD
Love your stuff, man! I think it would be really interesting to hear you analyze a few well known songs that you don't think work that well - and how you would improve them too!
Pilotwings on the SNES and Pilotwings 64 were the best games I ever played on those two consoles. I really wish there was a new, 2020 Pilotwings available on Switch and or desktop PC. :)
This was a great video 👍👍👍 However, I'm sad that the composer of the original Pilotwings game, Soyo Oka, wasn't mentioned. I looked up Dan Hess and read the interview with him where he talks about the "guidance" he was given ("floaty fluffy") and his inspirations but didn't mention that he was ultimately imitating the sound of the original game, right down to instrument choices. The reason there's a "funk" element to the music (the basslines, chord progressions, etc) is because Soyo Oka composed the original game's soundtrack in something like a "city pop" style (a genre of music that was popular in Japan in the 80s). That, combined with the particular instruments that were used, gave that game a very unique "funky easy-listening" sound that's instantly recognizable to anybody who's played it. I would say the soundtrack to Pilotwings 64 isn't really "funk", it's..."Pilotwings music". 👀 Dan Hess obviously did a great job of imitating and expanding on what Soyo Oka did because it fits perfectly with the original game. Sadly, it seems like the pioneering female video game composers are usually forgotten or ignored 😔
N64 had very melodic soundtracks. Hopefully in the future we'll see analysis of "Wave Race 64 - How the same theme is arranged as Bossa Nova" or "Bomberman 64 - How Akifumi Tada uses complex chord progression" :)
Great video! I enjoyed the funk analysis, but I couldnt stop hearing the "select mission" theme at 2:28 as something different that what you described. After listening to the soundtrack in a different video, I heard it as a dominant 7 "jam" from the start, and then in bar 13 move four steps up to the tonic (not the IV7 chord as you described), and back to the dominant 7 in bar 15 (witch you described as the "one7" chord. Am I the only one who hears it that way? It just confused me when I read your sheets.
Man, if Dan Hess saw this video he would be super happy to hear your praise for this. I hope he does, he is on TH-cam that I know. Did not expect this but now I remember how much I just chilled to Pilotwings music real easily, so nice vid!
Huh, I'd not ever thought about doubling up on plagal cadences in the same way you might double up on secondary dominants. Consider that filed away in my "cool things to consider when trying to make my compositions not sound just like the last thing I wrote" folder.
8-bit Music Theory Can you find anything interesting in the Soundtrack of the SNES game "Terranigma"? It felt very emotional playing that game (joyful, sad, creepy, mighty etc.) and many seemed to feel the same.
I´m a freshman in high school this year so I´m supposed to be in music theory 1 but on the pretest, I got an 87/100 and got moved to music theory 2! (my older cousin is in there and i know more than him i feel so cool) I figured since this is a music theory channel someone here would think it´s kinda cool also I don´t really have anyone else to tell so i´ll leave a comment here
What about the dire/tense atmosphere present in a lot of the original F-Zero soundtrack? Keep up the great work, man. These have been really entertaining
One of those tracks - I believe it's Port Town - actually includes a section with quite a busy bass line that wouldn't sound out of place in Pilotwings 64, at a different tempo
Suggestion for a future video: Music from the levels of Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage Another suggestion: Classic cart racing game music (Any Mario Kart, for example).
Can I suggest you do an analysis of Bomberman Hero's OST?, You know, those Drum and Bass, Broken Beat, Liquid Funk tracks! Since we're starting with this direction (Pilotwings 64).
I love your channel but the biggest thing I have a hard time with is audiating the chords and intervals you talk about. Instead of saying 'a bVII-IV-I progression' and then continuing to talk, why not just have a little piano thingy play it a couple of times so we can really get the sound of a bVII-IV-I in our heads before you show the in-game examples, which may contain elements we're not familiar with?
For some reason, when you mentioned "tasty bass lines," HuniePop's soundtrack came to mind. Not...that I...you know...know anything about HuniePop or anything
@2:00 ...doesn't the E on top make that a G13? I'm sitting here wracking my brain, wondering what I'm missing, think I'm going crazy, trying to figure out how the hell that can possibly be a G11 when there's clearly an E in it.
Great video, as always. Do you have plans to do anything for Castlevania? I'd be especially interested to hear your analysis of Vampire Hunter and Bloody Tears. I know there's some stuff going on with the diminished chords and melodic scales.
![Rhythmic Dissonance in the Knuckles' Chaotix Soundtrack [Patron Request]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TKodQQD9AmE/mqdefault.jpg)
I saw this back when it was released and meant to post on it then, but got distracted and failed to do so. Just had to tell you how cool this was and what an incredible job you did breaking this all down. These are my tunes and it really brings me back to its creation days watching your video. Thanks, man.
Ayyyy just found out the legend himself is a fellow Michigander cuz you have 313 in your handle lol
Hell, yeah! Holy Cross hospital born, baby. 313 for life
The only funk element this soundtrack is missing is a chorus of singers asking where the funk is or talking about what to do with the funk!
:'D
take it to the fridge
put it on the top shelf
we want the funk
we gotta have the funk
*AUUWH*
Tear the roof off the sucker.
I'm so interested in your analysis of the plagal cadences in this soundtrack! I knew about extended dominant progressions, but extended plagal progressions are currently blowing my mind. Reminds me a lot of that negative harmony stuff Collier was talking about, but without the exact "negative" chords being used.
Totally! I love the way Collier thinks about resolution in music, it's totally different from how I've heard anyone else talk about it
Me too thanks. It was nifty to hear more examples of circle of fourths progressions in this video. this negative harmony stuff is pretty neat
Dude, your music is legendary. Glad to see you in the comments here.
my family loved this game and I played it a lot with my brother before he died of leukemia. I can't believe I'm hearing about it again on the anniversary of his death. Brings back so many memories.
God, that excalated quickly. Sorry for your loss, anyway
"Make it sound floaty/fluffy."
Music theory is basically a set of tools for taking nonsense like this and turning it into actual music.
Dan Hess the composer sent me to this video. He’s just released a remake of birdman. You should be happy he’s seen this and appreciated. Check out his new take, it’s really good.
I don’t understand any freaking thing you say, but you still manage to make your videos extremely interesting! Congratulations!
This was great, glad to be a patron
Huh, didn't expect to find you here
I'm so glad that someone suggested this. I really like the Pilotwings 64 soundtrack! It's so cool to see these songs analyzed.
Dan Hess just sent me the link to your video. Awesome breakdown. I was laughing out loud at the Funk video clips at the beginning. Dan and I are going to have to work up a live version of this stuff to play on the road. LOL
Great analysis. Keep up the good work.
If you guys do play this live, where can I learn about your shows? I want to be there!
Chris Blume lol
I'll mention your comments to him on Saturday. You just never know when a Pilot Wings song will appear!
I'd go to that show.
I hope that, if Nintendo ever makes a new Pilotwings game, that Dan can do the soundtrack for it so it keeps its chill vibe. I was sad that they hired a new composer for the 3DS Pilotwings game.
"If you Want Me to Stay" is one of the greatest funk songs ever written, and shout out to this vid for including it.
This is the best musical education channel on TH-cam, video game-related or otherwise.
I genuinely make notes
please just never stop doing videos about funk and soul
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ONE!
insaneintherainmusic bootsyyyyy
2:05 that's Mission Select.
When you're choosing your character, the previous "select" music is still playing
This video is exactly what I have been looking for. I sensed that you would have one, when I found your channel. Thanks to the guy who requested it too.
That choose character theme reminds me a lot of Mercy Mercy Mercy. Sick analysis.
Ive always been annoyed when little kids in the comments say something cheesy like "Why don't you have a million subs?" But now I think I have a different opinion, because seriously, where are you million subs? Your videos are so great...
I really appreciate your use of footage from James Brown's TAMI performance. It sure was something.
I really like these videos. I was in band in middle school and a little in highschool but other than playing it I never really understood music theory. These videos have been a great introduction to it in a way that's more accessible to me. Even though half the time I don't know what the hell you're talking about I'm picking up alot by revisiting videos. Its a must for full comprehension.
I loved your Dolphin Shoals video and I had been listening to a lot of old video game soundtracks and this one popped up on my recommended. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for this! Excellent video and a lot of fun remembering the music from that game. Funny how much of it stayed with me after all this time.
This video seems a lot funnier than usual, just knowing that you are having fun with creating videos really makes a difference and makes things SO MUCH more entertaining, thank you for making your videos they are truly awesome to watch and educational
I had never heard of this game, but love your analysis, keep bringing them to my life please!
6:52 a great example is the Super Mario Odyssey song "Jump Up, Super Star". It is the main motif in the verse.
This was probably the best explanation of funk anyone could do. Seriously cool.
Great video man. Always enjoy your enthusiasm and attention to detail in your videos!
I have no clue about this musical analysis but thank you anyway. One of my favourite games ever.
Man, you are the best. I LITERALLY Wait every week just to see one more of your videos. You are amazing! Cheers from Argentina.
The clip of the piano at the start was the Animal Spirits tutorial by Jack Stratton. I love you man
Thanks so much! This has been one of my absolute favorite video game soundtracks since my dad first rented us the system in summer '96 😄
I still jam out to Rocket Belt, File Select, and Mission Select sometimes.
And Gyrocopter and Hang Glider taught me a lot about chords and melody in my musically formative years.
Double-plagal (thanks for that term!) is my all-time favorite cadence partly from those. (The Who helped with that too). Anyway thanks again. Super obscure and underrated game soundtrack.
I knew next to nothing about music theory when I first encountered this channel, and I still know very little, but it feels like every one of these videos I watch, I pick up one thing or another, even if most of it goes over my head.
Your channel is why I'm pursuing a B.A. in my local college. You brought down the funk on this one!
4:38 Let's not forget the time that Wagner did a Sextuple-Plagal cadence in Parsifal
I love these videos and especially the analysis. This one was especially enjoyable for me as a bass player--it puts in perspective some of the things I tend to do naturally, in fact, making it clearer to me exactly what's going on with my genre-bending.
These videos also get me thinking in terms of ways I can broaden the sonic palette of my own compositions. Time to go fire up Sibelius...
So now I know why I absolutely loved the music in this game when I played it as a kid.
I've been all over funk lately in my journey into learning the guitar.
Homie. The game footage is cracking me up. Wrecking into everything.
This video makes me happy, and I literally have no connection to this game or soundtrack. Good job 8-bit, I love these videos
hey dude just wanna say I love what youre doing this is one of my favorite channels :D .
If you want to see some funk, you should check out Toejam and Earl's soundtrack!
So I guess I'm buying Pilotwings 64.
VGMusic Explorers get an emulator
It's kiiinda glitchy on PJ64 1.6, including (sometimes) the music unfortunately. Still well worth the $0 cost though
YOU USED VULFPECK IN THE VIDEO! my favorite band, thank you
Ah, Pilotwings 64. I really enjoyed messing around with that game. I never really considered the music. It fit perfectly, but I had no idea about any part of what it was based on.
Didn't even notice it was funk, blues and so on. But now that you mention it, yeah... XD
I'm all about dem tasty bass lines thank you sir!
Now I know why you really love this game Larry.
Jamerson also used that 1-6-5-6 major pentatonic idea in a lot of his bass lines.
You mentioned vulfpeck ... Now Im watching all your videos!
Thank you! May the groove be with you!
Another rad one dude, keep em coming. We'd love to see some Castlevania!
More well-researched, clearly explained, fun excellence... Keep it up!
Love your stuff, man! I think it would be really interesting to hear you analyze a few well known songs that you don't think work that well - and how you would improve them too!
That would probably be really fun to do, I'll have to find some garbage game music to analyze haha
/watch?v=sC0cvwnG0Ik
...just kidding.
Oh god my sides!
Pilotwings on the SNES and Pilotwings 64 were the best games I ever played on those two consoles. I really wish there was a new, 2020 Pilotwings available on Switch and or desktop PC. :)
hey look an upload yay
About time amiright
This was a great video 👍👍👍 However, I'm sad that the composer of the original Pilotwings game, Soyo Oka, wasn't mentioned. I looked up Dan Hess and read the interview with him where he talks about the "guidance" he was given ("floaty fluffy") and his inspirations but didn't mention that he was ultimately imitating the sound of the original game, right down to instrument choices. The reason there's a "funk" element to the music (the basslines, chord progressions, etc) is because Soyo Oka composed the original game's soundtrack in something like a "city pop" style (a genre of music that was popular in Japan in the 80s). That, combined with the particular instruments that were used, gave that game a very unique "funky easy-listening" sound that's instantly recognizable to anybody who's played it. I would say the soundtrack to Pilotwings 64 isn't really "funk", it's..."Pilotwings music". 👀 Dan Hess obviously did a great job of imitating and expanding on what Soyo Oka did because it fits perfectly with the original game. Sadly, it seems like the pioneering female video game composers are usually forgotten or ignored 😔
20 seconds in I know I'm going to love this video, because that's Jack Stratton giving a tutorial of one of his Vulfpeck songs!
Can't wait for AP Music theory this year so I can understand more than what I'm understanding now!
N64 had very melodic soundtracks. Hopefully in the future we'll see analysis of "Wave Race 64 - How the same theme is arranged as Bossa Nova" or "Bomberman 64 - How Akifumi Tada uses complex chord progression" :)
Great video! I enjoyed the funk analysis, but I couldnt stop hearing the "select mission" theme at 2:28 as something different that what you described. After listening to the soundtrack in a different video, I heard it as a dominant 7 "jam" from the start, and then in bar 13 move four steps up to the tonic (not the IV7 chord as you described), and back to the dominant 7 in bar 15 (witch you described as the "one7" chord. Am I the only one who hears it that way? It just confused me when I read your sheets.
Shouldn't this video be posted 8 times to make it 64-bit music theory?
Ha.
Lol
based
That's the other reason it should be posted 8 times
Unfortunately, such a display of playful humor would flag down the channel for recycled content. The freaking prudes...
Man, if Dan Hess saw this video he would be super happy to hear your praise for this. I hope he does, he is on TH-cam that I know. Did not expect this but now I remember how much I just chilled to Pilotwings music real easily, so nice vid!
I may not be a patron, but another interesting game with funk music is Toejam & Earl, if you ever want to check that out.
Always loved the pilotwings 64 soundtrack.
Huh, I'd not ever thought about doubling up on plagal cadences in the same way you might double up on secondary dominants. Consider that filed away in my "cool things to consider when trying to make my compositions not sound just like the last thing I wrote" folder.
You should do Shadow of the Colossus sometime, that'd be cool! Some of my favorite orchestral music in a game from a fantastic composer.
Do some analysis on the Umineko Visual Novel soundtrack! It contains all kinds of tracks, from some pretty gruesome to pretty happy pacing
Do what makes sneaky music sound sneaky. Like music from stealth missions in COD, TC's Ghost recon, TC's splinter cell, and other stealth.
I saw that vulfpeck clip at the beginning
8-bit Music Theory Can you find anything interesting in the Soundtrack of the SNES game "Terranigma"?
It felt very emotional playing that game (joyful, sad, creepy, mighty etc.) and many seemed to feel the same.
Awesome stuff!
It would have been nice to have this before I wrote my arrangement for the insaneintherain jazz challenge 2
i wish i knew enough about music to understand these videos
I wanna make an arrangement of the Rocketbelt one a lot.
I'll get back to you.
Any progress on this? 🙂
Great video! Thanks :D
I´m a freshman in high school this year so I´m supposed to be in music theory 1 but on the pretest, I got an 87/100 and got moved to music theory 2! (my older cousin is in there and i know more than him i feel so cool) I figured since this is a music theory channel someone here would think it´s kinda cool also I don´t really have anyone else to tell so i´ll leave a comment here
What about the dire/tense atmosphere present in a lot of the original F-Zero soundtrack?
Keep up the great work, man. These have been really entertaining
yes!!!!
One of those tracks - I believe it's Port Town - actually includes a section with quite a busy bass line that wouldn't sound out of place in Pilotwings 64, at a different tempo
Suggestion for a future video: Music from the levels of Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Another suggestion: Classic cart racing game music (Any Mario Kart, for example).
*Tasty bass lines* ;D
9:37 The Chicken in G anyone?
Can I suggest you do an analysis of Bomberman Hero's OST?, You know, those Drum and Bass, Broken Beat, Liquid Funk tracks! Since we're starting with this direction (Pilotwings 64).
Awesome new video
Killer channel keep it up
at 0:39 you say your Patreon supporter is nothing if not verbose. That would mean that he IS verbose, but he clearly is not.
Ayyy shouts out Chris Blume
oops- 7:03 sounds like a Db major pentatonic, not G. (Sound, not writing. It's written in G, but played in Db.)
This is the sort of music used all over _17776: An American Football Story_ and it gives me existential dread
4:33: sounds like Funk Soul Brother
I love your channel but the biggest thing I have a hard time with is audiating the chords and intervals you talk about. Instead of saying 'a bVII-IV-I progression' and then continuing to talk, why not just have a little piano thingy play it a couple of times so we can really get the sound of a bVII-IV-I in our heads before you show the in-game examples, which may contain elements we're not familiar with?
Good point! I'm gonna start doing this
You used the word 'audiate'
YES!
I cannot read music to save my life, so the more highlighting and hand holding I can get, the better!
"...then V your way back to I." Epic level only-music-theory-nerds-appreciate-it lingo :P
Vielen Dank. Großartiges Video.
*and you know that's the funk*
For some reason, when you mentioned "tasty bass lines," HuniePop's soundtrack came to mind. Not...that I...you know...know anything about HuniePop or anything
Hey, I think you should do a music theory episode on Shadow of the Colossus. The sound track in that game is insane.
That felt a lot like Rocket robot on wheels
lol I love James Brown's scuff marks on the knees of his pants
@2:00 ...doesn't the E on top make that a G13? I'm sitting here wracking my brain, wondering what I'm missing, think I'm going crazy, trying to figure out how the hell that can possibly be a G11 when there's clearly an E in it.
Do King of Fighters. Those games have super underrated soundtracks, especially the arranged variants.
Great video, as always. Do you have plans to do anything for Castlevania? I'd be especially interested to hear your analysis of Vampire Hunter and Bloody Tears. I know there's some stuff going on with the diminished chords and melodic scales.
I really like the footage of major failure you used in this video.
Nice video, i'm a huge fan, i think there's a Transcription mistake in measure 18, 2:38 (3-4 16th sound not right)
I would love to see you disect the music from Metal Gear Solid 3, or any other Metal Gear.