I've been digging into the music of the FromSoft games and WOW. What's your favorite? What else should I cover?? Also, if you're looking to start learning, pick up the Intro to Piano course for 50% off!! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano
God Devouring Serpent for sure - youre going to have a lot of fun (and probably a damaged brain) doing this one - i promise :) Although in terms of favourites, this scores only second after the Dark Souls 3 Main Theme and maybe Pontiff Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3 as well
"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."
if you're digging into fromsoft music man, i dont think any of us would complain if you made a whole series covering their games. you got a lot to get through and its basically all bangers
I dunno. Bloodborne, I think, tends to stand out as the only one of the bunch since Demon's Souls that's not primarily defined by interchangeable "epic" slop, or muddy production. Once you've analyzed a certain track from Dark Souls 3, there's not a whole lot to say about the others, except how they might rearrange the introduction of certain parts of the ensembles.
In Bloodborne alone I'd recommend the following bossthemes: - "Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade" for a much more fight-y feeling, especially the transition from phase 1 to 2. - "Laurence, the first Vicar" an incredibly tragic soundtrack with a hauntingly sad violin solo about 5 minutes in that gets drowned in a choir as the song progresses, mirroring Laurence's pain of which you are freeing him. An interesting listen for storytelling and nostalgia is "Soul of Cinder" from Dark Souls III. Canonically you fight a reincarnation of other players of the first Dark Souls, and when that doesn't work (i.e. Phase 2) the bosses moveset and the theme change to resemble that of Gwyn, the first Lord, who was the final boss of Dark Souls I. This is doubly nice because Gwyn's theme alone shows the same sadness, hopelessness and dread so common in fromsoft. Talking about the video: I also want to point out how funny it is to me, that the guy I found doing piano memes harmonizing cardi b videos 5 years ago now analyzes a soundtrack from my favourite game series, giving me chills in the process. You enjoying listening and talking about music really shows.
That might be my favorite song ever. The old hunters soundtrack is definitely my favorite album ever and Ludwig’s second phase theme is my favorite off of it.
8-bit music theory has an excellent breakdown of that one but id love to see chris break it down as well. Id watch any number of videos breaking down soulsborne music
I gotta say, the double-layer view of your hands on the keyboard with the notes you're actually playing highlighted above it is probably the best visual of "what I'm playing and how" that I've ever seen on TH-cam. Good shit man.
Bloodborne's soundtrack alone deserves endless praise, but in my view the game itself is truly a serious contender for Greatest Game Ever Made for all that it has accomplished.
Definitely one of my favorite boss themes. Everything you said justified how heart-wrenching this piece is to me. From what you said about the constant pedal tone on D, lingering while other instruments change, I interpret that underlying chord as Gehrman's unimaginable weariness. That simple i chord paints an incredibly ancient, miserable existence. Like someone who saw too much, lived too long, dragging their old, rotting husk of a body through each agonizing second of living. Yet, they are cursed to never rest. This track doesn't energize you like other traditional boss fights; it drains the player. As you repeatedly die from him as you have died hundreds of times throughout the game, this track haunts you even more because you've also become weary. Your eyes are tired, your brain is fried, your palms are all clammy, and you just want to end this fight. It's a battle of two worn out souls, which I think the call-and-response theme could symbolize that conversation. The choir in the last part, and also the climax of the boss battle, makes me imagine Gehrman finally pouring out his torrential anguish that he's kept bottled up since he was first trapped in the dream.
Bloodborne is a masterpiece. My favorite boss theme of all time (for how the theme itself tells the character's tragic story) is from the DLC - Ludwig the Accursed / Ludwig the Holy Blade. The haunting, lumbering first section mirroring his walk, the dramatic choral transition, and the epic waltz as he finds a remnant of his humanity.
What I love is that it still sounds like a fight. It’s melancholy and dark and foreboding, but if I close my eyes I can see reluctant yet unhesitating clashes of steel, blasts of gunfire that ring out, and hear the silent battle cries of two warriors cursed with forbidden knowledge
I commented months ago requesting this and I got so excited when I saw this video pop up on my feed. This is my favorite piece of music from any video game, I hope more people can learn of its beauty from your amazing video.
These should be the latin lyrics of the final part: "Venator Ah mi sumo vela mala Anima do res mihi somne restas Luna insidiosa Mira tenebrarum Di vises mi miserere aeterna" It can be roughly interpreted as: "My Hunter Let the evil be hidden (from you) My life devoted to sustaining the Dream The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights") Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy"
I will always appreciate more music TH-camrs covering one of my favourite VGM tracks. Bloodborne is truly special and helped me out of a dark place both personally and musically. ❤❤
Absolutely loving all the calls for Charles to do an analysis of the Ludwig the Accursed/holy blade music. Let's hope he sees rhe comments and then does a video on it!
I think it's fantastic that you keep harping on about modes, other examples to the one presented in the video etc. Learning the scale degrees where half steps occur and drilling that stuff on the keyboard is one thing, but you gotta have someone deeply familiar with modes to give you real-world examples that really convince you of the emotional potential of each mode - y'know something to LISTEN to and experience. Rick Beato does that using original compositions, which is cool and pretty good (if a little indulgent imho), but it's these mainstream cultural examples that pack that extra punch and relevance for me. This is gold, thank you.
Oh my god, you have to check out Slave Knight Gael’s theme from Dark Souls 3. It has four phases lol. And they somehow manage to elevate it every time. And it really combines the “epic boss theme” with the tragedy you talked about in blood borne. That and its counterpart “For The Dark Soul,” which wasn’t even in the game, I truly believe are two of the greatest pieces of music ever written for media.
The First Hunter was one of melodies I first learned on violin. Not the very first, but the one that I put the most time into, coming back to it again and again for the weight that it carried.
I had to comment because the music reminded me of Barber's "Adagio" as well, and I had that thought perhaps about a minute before you mentioned it in this video. It feels very validating to me that I made the same observation as you, and I consider you to be quite an exceptional musician with a massive musical vocabulary of the great works of Western music. I feel quite honored to have shared such an observation with you. 😁
I’ve never played any of these more darker games (I’m just not that type of person) but I do appreciate how well they captured the feeling of this fight. Epic!! And it’s gorgeous too!
That interesting question. How would soulslike game look with brighter settings and maybe no violence ? For example what if you parry or block or dodge long enough for boss to lose his will to fight so you can progress further. It would be like undertale with 3d graphics. Add to it some interesting story and you have great game.
Oh, dude, not Fromsoft, but you've gotta check out the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack. It has a similarly tragic After the Battle theme, but SotC has such an untouchable soundtrack for the boss fights. I'm thinking of songs like The Opened Way specifically.
Thank you for this. I've been a FromSoftware fan for ages and ages and a musician for even longer, and while I absolutely adore their soundtracks, Bloodborne's is definitely the one I've heard least because of the general inconvenience of accessibility. You've given me a real appreciation of this track and I hope to see you do more FS music in the future. They really do have one of the greatest video game soundtrack collections of all time. One of the most interesting ones to me, where being a musician actually gave me an edge, is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3. Many, many people cite having trouble with this boss and figuring out her attack patterns, but I picked it up quite quickly because of her theme. It's very common for FS bosses to have themes that tie into their combat, and the Dancer's theme is atypical in that it is written 5/4. Odd meter throws a lot of people off, especially non musicians, but once I figured that out it became easy for me to learn her patterns. She takes 5 or 10 steps between attacks, and her double-sworded flourishes keep in time with the "dance" she's performing as you fight her. Making these connections between music and gameplay is something only a musician could do, and it's one of the many reasons FromSoft is one of my all-time favorite development studios.
I became a TH-cam partner this year off my lofi hip hop music, creating things is daunting. But your genuine enthusiasm and excitement for new music and max chromas stats got me feeling inspired.
Another video game track I love that does a lot similar to this is 'The End Of The Battle' from Shadow Of The Colossus. Most of the actual boss themes are your usual epic fare, nothing new, but the moment you kill each Colossus it goes not to a triumphant swelling victory song to congratulate you, but to a slow and sombre track that almost seems to lament each creature you've killed. Which, ultimately, makes sense. When you take a step back and separate yourself from the basic game structure of "My current objective is to go here and kill this guy", you really have no reason to go after the Colossi other than "Dormin told you to". They're not rampaging, the land isn't even particularly inhabited by anyone who could feel threatened by their presence. They're just innocent peaceful creatures who only ever turn violent in self-defence, and once the adrenaline rush of fighting them wears off that realisation is all you're left with.
Awesome man. Another FS favourite of mine is Dancer of the Boreal Valley, from the dancer bossfight in DS3. Japanese orchestral music in games is just otherworldly.
Something really clicked for me when you mentioned how the two half-step resolutions the Aeolian mode has without moving into the harmonic minor are both descending: 3-2 and 6-5.I never really understood how modern composers create strong directional motion in just natural minor, but that little bit of info makes so much sense.
No way im so hyped you’re covering thisLEGENDARY PIECE In terms of more fromsoftware music, I’m so excited you want to cover more, darkbeast is my favorite and most intriguing from bloodborne, and it has the weirdest theory I’d love a breakdown on
Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3 because the time signature, if you will, of the boss herself is a different time signature than the music, which adds an extra challenge to the fight. But yeah, the music for that encounter is spectacular
This is quite possibly my favourite piece of video game music. The cello melody especially just cuts into my soul. It just so perfectly encapsulates the reluctance of the characters having to fight eachother like this. It's like a sombre, tragic dance. Thanks so much for covering it. You do such a good job of not just providing musical context, but narrative context as well.
I think Dragonslayer Armour from Dark Souls 3 is such an underrated boss theme. Especially because the second phase of the song cuts in before you hear the great part of the first phase.
Love to see someone with a new way of sharing how wonderful Bloodborne is. Your enthusiasm is so infectious. I really NEED a video of you listening to the score from The Reflecting Skin!
I absolutely love when the choir comes in after that single string note. Going from such a high, single sound and then immediately to the deep, full sound of an entire choir is just amazing. You should definitely look at bloodborne’s Ludwig the holy blade.
@10:07 I always interpret the conversation between the two phrases almost like voices. The call asking it's question, something to the effect of: "Please, let me free you" Gehrman speaking; Then, us as the Hunter responding with "No, I will free you".
Please do more Fromsoftware music, you are the first person I've watched that actually breaks down the lore behind the music. Thank you, cause It's such a big part of what makes the music great.
You should take a look at The Other Promise or Vector to the Heavens from Kingdom Hearts. Nearly identical stories (forced to defeat an old friend) with devastating scores that powerfully utilize leitmotifs to pull on your emotions.
Absolutely listen to "Vector to the Heavens" and "Musique pour la tristesse de Xion" as well as "The Price of Freedom" and the acoustic version with vocals "I want to see you smile"
If you haven't heard the choral adaptation of Adagio for Strings (Agnus Dei in that form), listen immediately. My favorite recording is Robert Shaw conducting the Robert Shaw Festival Singers with Areitha Lockhart. Absolutely hauntingly beautiful
The lyrics are so poignant, too, and it's one of the few games where I outright cry over the endings. Was he a good man? No, but he wasn't the villain of the story, and I find well-written characters like Gehrman more compelling than simply 'bad man evil'. As I once read in a comment a long time ago: 'It's the saddest 'no, you''. And just because I love the Latin lyrics so much (we actually translated a lot of these in my college class for giggles because song lyrics are poetry in a way), a translation from another person as I cannot find my own: Hunter. Ah, I have hunted. I did it all to cleanse my soul from evil. An insidious hunt. The wonderful darkness This way I knew eternal mercy. My Hunter Let the evil be hidden (from you) My life devoted to sustaining the Dream The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy Hunter Take my sickly vein My soul hurts, free me, rightly The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy Hunter, who holds in awe the abyss But you are never supposed to be a scapegoat I would swing this scythe once again, to offer an end to your nightmare But please, give me an end to my role
You never miss with my all time favourite piano tunes… DS era pokémon, Zelda, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Minecraft… I launch out of my seat whenever I see another one and seeing you appreciate them to the fullest extent just tickles my brain 😁 I’d love to learn more about TLOU or Outer Wilds because those two pull on my heartstrings like nothing else and they do so in completely different ways
Another thing that's really cool is that the choir in Bloodborne is semi-diagetic. In Yahar'Gul, there's a choir piece that sort of evokes Olivier Messiaen, called "Hail the Nightmare". Depending on where you are, it sounds like it's being sung off in the distance, by the in-game faction known as The Choir. Often when this choir is used, it's fairly crunchy and dissonant. So in the climax of Gehrman's theme, by contrast, it really sounds like an invocation of the sublime, this demented choir finally getting its act together to usher in their god.
As a massive music and fromsoftware fan, i salute you! This is an amazing video and i appreciate your overall enthusiasm in analyzing this masterpiece. Take care! ✌🏼
The composer Is Yuka kitamura,have composed for miyazaki and from software since demon souls, unfortunally she left from software in 2022,and as a musician and a souls vet myself i cant help but cry and thank for having her
You really gotta do Ludwig's theme, the chord progression that they use to modulate into his second phase and the resolution at the end of that phase back into the loop is amazing. Also, love that you went for a kingdom hearts boss theme and immediately picked the best one in the series. Takes a while to get going, but damn does Darkness of the Unknown have some beautiful phrases amongst some really intense organ playing
Gehrman the first hunter is one of my favorite songs in any game. The way that the music helps tell the story is immaculate. FromSoftware's music as a whole is very good at this, but this song mixed with the atmosphere and the story of the game. Created one of the greatest final boss themes of all time. So much emotion oozing out of every part of this.
"The Night... and the Dream... were long." This is one of the my favorite moments in gaming ever, from maybe my favorite game EVER, and one of the best pieces in an amazing score. Would love to see you break down "Ludwig, the Accursed/The Holy Blade," "Father Gascoigne, The Hunter" (awesome brass call and response!), or "Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos." As always, thank you for your insight.
Great pick! And i'm glad you delved into a bit of the reasons behind this fight and the lore. It sounds like you've either played the game before or have a lot of respect for it already?
I love Bloodborne. Everything about it is so quality, top tier awesome. I love seeing you break down video game OSTs and couldn't believe my eyes seeing you talk about this one!! Definitely one of my favorite tracks in the game and all time. (also, in case you haven't already heard it, "Ludwig, The Accursed & Ludwig, The Holy Blade" are completely stellar tracks.)
Before the part discussed at 10:08 I heard that and it to me was like the song was beginning to build up hope however after that moment it is like the song robs you of the hope it was building, it almost makes it "feel worse" not in any musical way that it was bad or unpleasant but it is like the song stole your resignation from you, "I would be okay with fighting a hopeless battle to sacrifice myself without hesitation. However, after I steeled my resolve and walked up the gallows of fate, it gave me hope. However, that hope was taken too as if it existed solely to destroy my determination to destroy my spirit to infuse my mind with doubt and regret." It honestly is just a beautiful moment.
To me, what really makes Bloodborne's music stand out, is that every OST perfectly depict what the boss or bossfight is going to look like, without even seeing it. It's like all the notes are telling you the lore of the boss. Great analysis as well, sir💯
Hey man, loved this video! And yes, Bloodborne is my most played game of all time, therefore easily one of my top 3 games (I'd say it's probably No. 1 right now). I would only like to point out that I would love for you to mention the composers of each song you review at the beginning. Not sure if I missed it but I did not heard you mention that this song is composed by Tsukasa Saitoh. I know sometimes is hard to validate music composers, arrangers and lyricists but whenever possible it would be great to recognize their talents. Keep up the good work!
Bloodborne came out while I was still studying music at university and this was the track that fully sold me on the idea that games can and should be considered works of art worthy of being analyzed right along with all of the greats we study in classes. It evokes the same haunting feeling of Mozart's Requiem or Barber's Adagio for Strings and a masterclass of telling a story though sound. Few tracks work so perfectly with the overall themes of the game and characters, so much so I regularly stretch this fight out as long as I can, just to fully take in this masterpiece.
I just want to say I am musically ignorant of themes in music. Your video made me feel smart as you explained them to me and gave me greater appreciation for the song. I didn't know how layered it was. Watching you geek out to the music made my heart soar. My favorite part is when you lay out the call and response. I'm always too busy getting my but kicked to hear the music, now I love this game even more. Thank you for this video.
You always give me inspiration to make music, I have always loved video game music and it's ability to capture a mood or setting. One day I hope to produce tracks like these. I'm self taught, but your analyses and the passion you show always help in my writing, and I just wanted to thank you for that.
My favorite boss theme in general from bloodborne is Ludwig's theme (which you should DEFINITELY check out), but nothing beats the narrative piece this song serves as. When I beat Gherman for the first time it was a hollow victory, it was a battle and struggle, but the emotions this piece puts in you even subconsciously can't be ignored, even in the heart of battle.
Love this. Would also love to see you discuss the Ludwig the holy blade theme. When it changes in phase 2 to that 3/4 waltz feel - really makes you feel like you're dodging (dancing) for your life.
I especially love the use of the tritonus. I couldnt put my finger on what makes me so addicted to the theme and it was that ez. That jump and knowing that this jump from E to b (is it called diminished fifth, im really not sure) makes it feel horrible and tragic... like they just dont want us to have even a single glimpse of hope. Not giving us anything to release this built up tension in D minor which is honestly a hell of sadness. It represents the fight so well, the agony, the hurt, adding another layer of intensity and character insight.
Another game that is really good with these classical harmonies is Layers of Fear. The opening theme alone makes me just want to well up with tears from it's beauty, but it's also full of notes of erieness.
I've been digging into the music of the FromSoft games and WOW. What's your favorite? What else should I cover?? Also, if you're looking to start learning, pick up the Intro to Piano course for 50% off!! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano
Please listen to some of Elden rings music
Gwyn theme ( or Soul of Cinder - its kind of hereditary theme)
Elden Ring's Godrick, the Grafted OST, is absolutely impressive. I Highly recommend it.
please listen to "Celestial Emissary" from the Bloodborne sound track
God Devouring Serpent for sure - youre going to have a lot of fun (and probably a damaged brain) doing this one - i promise :) Although in terms of favourites, this scores only second after the Dark Souls 3 Main Theme and maybe Pontiff Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3 as well
"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."
Oh, the goosebumps again...
“Tonight, Ghermann joins the hunt”’
Finally a use for those coins
Crap ive finished the game 11 times and reading this got me chills..
@@argirissgr4448 Not as many times, but same....
“He kills you to save you from a fate worse than death” Damn, that hit harder than I expected
In all but one ending, that is...
And with all that he’s done, it makes sense that he feels he should be the one to suffer that fate
Coup de grâce
Ah yes. This gem.
how come you're here unnoticed
God
Okay what your just in the comments and nobody is noticing?? Hi Marco hope your well!
@@lancerhades971 haha hi! I’m great!
that's funny i was just watching one of your videos before this one and then here you are too
"It's in D minor, which I always find is the saddest of all keys." - Nigel Tufnel, Spinal Tap
it's a Mach piece
I call this "Lick my love blunderbuss"
D minor
not good out of context
@@Shura31412fingering A minor is much worse
@@AffixedEvil chill guys
if you're digging into fromsoft music man, i dont think any of us would complain if you made a whole series covering their games. you got a lot to get through and its basically all bangers
Mans is preaching facts
At the very least, all the final bosses (or vendrick in DS2’s case), are masterpieces.
I dunno. Bloodborne, I think, tends to stand out as the only one of the bunch since Demon's Souls that's not primarily defined by interchangeable "epic" slop, or muddy production. Once you've analyzed a certain track from Dark Souls 3, there's not a whole lot to say about the others, except how they might rearrange the introduction of certain parts of the ensembles.
So agreed
AGREED he should do halo music as well it's next level in its beauty.
I see Bloodborne I comment like and subscribe.
So excited for this one! Bloodborne is high art.
What if you see Bloodbourne again in the same channel? Will you subscribe again with another account?
'Tis a hunters duty, after all. |o_
I see Bloodborne I think of a remaster and lose hope instantly.
@@hiddy_ but it was prominent on the Sony State of Play poster, that's confirmation RIGHT? .....right?
In Bloodborne alone I'd recommend the following bossthemes:
- "Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade" for a much more fight-y feeling, especially the transition from phase 1 to 2.
- "Laurence, the first Vicar" an incredibly tragic soundtrack with a hauntingly sad violin solo about 5 minutes in that gets drowned in a choir as the song progresses, mirroring Laurence's pain of which you are freeing him.
An interesting listen for storytelling and nostalgia is "Soul of Cinder" from Dark Souls III. Canonically you fight a reincarnation of other players of the first Dark Souls, and when that doesn't work (i.e. Phase 2) the bosses moveset and the theme change to resemble that of Gwyn, the first Lord, who was the final boss of Dark Souls I. This is doubly nice because Gwyn's theme alone shows the same sadness, hopelessness and dread so common in fromsoft.
Talking about the video: I also want to point out how funny it is to me, that the guy I found doing piano memes harmonizing cardi b videos 5 years ago now analyzes a soundtrack from my favourite game series, giving me chills in the process. You enjoying listening and talking about music really shows.
Plinplinplon
You should do Ludwig's theme from Bloodborne, i'd love an analysis on that.
That might be my favorite song ever. The old hunters soundtrack is definitely my favorite album ever and Ludwig’s second phase theme is my favorite off of it.
8-bit music theory has an excellent breakdown of that one but id love to see chris break it down as well. Id watch any number of videos breaking down soulsborne music
ABSOLUTELY
Importantly, *both* parts.
You damn right
Well now your have to do Gwyn, Lord of Cinder aka "Plin Plin Plon"
Given that he's a pro, he should probably listen to Gwyn's and Soul of Cinder's back to back...
Yes. Yes yes yes. Please see this.
while we are at it. also dark souls 3 soul of cinder phase 2 for the psychological debuff
I gotta say, the double-layer view of your hands on the keyboard with the notes you're actually playing highlighted above it is probably the best visual of "what I'm playing and how" that I've ever seen on TH-cam. Good shit man.
Bloodborne is my favorite game of all time. How refreshing to see some love thrown its way.
It’s top 5 for me easily….possibly taking number 1 if I ranked my top 5.
It's not even my favourite Fromsoft game, and I still love it to bits
Especially when Sony doesn’t give it any
9 years later and people are still making videos about Bloodborne. Timeless masterpiece
It would get more if they'd give it a GODDAMN PC PORT >:(
FromSoftware knows the power of prioritizing your art teams.
One of the few publishers whose titles could be kept in a museum.
And it should. As a treasure that shows that even games can be considered as art.
@@justarandomguy7580 yes but remember you have to be a nolife to finish their games. And that is not okay.
Bloodborne's soundtrack alone deserves endless praise, but in my view the game itself is truly a serious contender for Greatest Game Ever Made for all that it has accomplished.
My favourite hands down. Nothing else comes close, and no game has stayed with me for this long. I only wish I could play it for the first time again.
If it wasn’t PS only it probably would have gone done as game of the decade
NieR: Automata is still my personal peak of video games but damn if Bloodborne isn’t an amazing and fun game.
Facts
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do Ludwig The Accursed and Holy Blade next.
I just saw this comment and now I'm sad he doesn't react to that in this video.
This 100%
YESSSSS
Yes it’s one of my favorite themes of all time
8bit Music Theory has a great video on that one. (he also has a general video about Dark Souls music)
Definitely one of my favorite boss themes. Everything you said justified how heart-wrenching this piece is to me. From what you said about the constant pedal tone on D, lingering while other instruments change, I interpret that underlying chord as Gehrman's unimaginable weariness. That simple i chord paints an incredibly ancient, miserable existence. Like someone who saw too much, lived too long, dragging their old, rotting husk of a body through each agonizing second of living. Yet, they are cursed to never rest.
This track doesn't energize you like other traditional boss fights; it drains the player. As you repeatedly die from him as you have died hundreds of times throughout the game, this track haunts you even more because you've also become weary. Your eyes are tired, your brain is fried, your palms are all clammy, and you just want to end this fight. It's a battle of two worn out souls, which I think the call-and-response theme could symbolize that conversation. The choir in the last part, and also the climax of the boss battle, makes me imagine Gehrman finally pouring out his torrential anguish that he's kept bottled up since he was first trapped in the dream.
A beautiful comment, you completely explained my love for this theme and captured its essence and background wonderfully.
the pedaling is has the same effect as gwynn’s constant arpegio on A
Gwyn, Lord of cinder is the Soundtrack of the final Bossfight of DARK Souls 1.
Its quite iconic and has a similar Tone to this. You gotta check it out
Immediately followed by Soul of Cinder's theme from DS3. Revolutionary shit
The infamous Pling pling plong
Yes
Please, PLEASE do more fromsoft music breakdowns. Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Sekiro... *chefs kiss*
Bloodborne is a masterpiece. My favorite boss theme of all time (for how the theme itself tells the character's tragic story) is from the DLC - Ludwig the Accursed / Ludwig the Holy Blade. The haunting, lumbering first section mirroring his walk, the dramatic choral transition, and the epic waltz as he finds a remnant of his humanity.
What I love is that it still sounds like a fight. It’s melancholy and dark and foreboding, but if I close my eyes I can see reluctant yet unhesitating clashes of steel, blasts of gunfire that ring out, and hear the silent battle cries of two warriors cursed with forbidden knowledge
I commented months ago requesting this and I got so excited when I saw this video pop up on my feed. This is my favorite piece of music from any video game, I hope more people can learn of its beauty from your amazing video.
I had never noticed the similarities with Adagio for Strings… but now I can’t un-hear it, and I LOVE IT!!
These should be the latin lyrics of the final part:
"Venator
Ah mi sumo vela mala
Anima do res mihi somne restas
Luna insidiosa
Mira tenebrarum
Di vises mi miserere aeterna"
It can be roughly interpreted as:
"My Hunter
Let the evil be hidden (from you)
My life devoted to sustaining the Dream
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights")
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy"
Thank you for the insight
@@Resistance012 I see what you did there
I will always appreciate more music TH-camrs covering one of my favourite VGM tracks. Bloodborne is truly special and helped me out of a dark place both personally and musically. ❤❤
Absolutely loving all the calls for Charles to do an analysis of the Ludwig the Accursed/holy blade music. Let's hope he sees rhe comments and then does a video on it!
Bloodborne is high art. The magnum opus of art in video games.
Reminds me the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, the fight against The Boss.
"No victory, no defeat."
"Snake Eater" is the best James Bond song and it's not even close.
@@IamJacksSTDwhat a thrill
Has he done a Snake Eater analysis?
even the white flower "arena" echoes MGS 3
I think it's fantastic that you keep harping on about modes, other examples to the one presented in the video etc. Learning the scale degrees where half steps occur and drilling that stuff on the keyboard is one thing, but you gotta have someone deeply familiar with modes to give you real-world examples that really convince you of the emotional potential of each mode - y'know something to LISTEN to and experience. Rick Beato does that using original compositions, which is cool and pretty good (if a little indulgent imho), but it's these mainstream cultural examples that pack that extra punch and relevance for me. This is gold, thank you.
You’re the reason I started playing piano (and post 1 video on youtube at the moment). Thank you!!
You are playing really good
Oh my god, you have to check out Slave Knight Gael’s theme from Dark Souls 3. It has four phases lol. And they somehow manage to elevate it every time. And it really combines the “epic boss theme” with the tragedy you talked about in blood borne. That and its counterpart “For The Dark Soul,” which wasn’t even in the game, I truly believe are two of the greatest pieces of music ever written for media.
The First Hunter was one of melodies I first learned on violin. Not the very first, but the one that I put the most time into, coming back to it again and again for the weight that it carried.
I had to comment because the music reminded me of Barber's "Adagio" as well, and I had that thought perhaps about a minute before you mentioned it in this video. It feels very validating to me that I made the same observation as you, and I consider you to be quite an exceptional musician with a massive musical vocabulary of the great works of Western music. I feel quite honored to have shared such an observation with you. 😁
Great music taste
This was absolutely the best music analysis of Bloodborne I've seen! I'm so glad you brought up the lore!
I’ve never played any of these more darker games (I’m just not that type of person) but I do appreciate how well they captured the feeling of this fight. Epic!! And it’s gorgeous too!
I also don't play the games but much of vgm is great listening as well as jazz covers eg. The Consouls' 400 or so tunes
Me too! I don't like violence that much, y'know?
But to listen the music is fine, and it is actually pretty good!
That interesting question. How would soulslike game look with brighter settings and maybe no violence ? For example what if you parry or block or dodge long enough for boss to lose his will to fight so you can progress further. It would be like undertale with 3d graphics. Add to it some interesting story and you have great game.
God I love your enthusiasm for music and the subtleties in every piece you look into. Thank you for covering Gehrman's theme, its such a masterpiece
Ludwig's theme is iconic, and I would say even better. It's godlike.
Love love love this. Thank you so much for making a video about this song/boss battle, it's incredible.
Cello is the boss of instruments so I’m not surprised it works for a boss battle. 😉 Thank you so much for the break down!!
Beautiful. Thanks for covering more content like this. There are so so many slept on masterpieces in modern video game music
Oh, dude, not Fromsoft, but you've gotta check out the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack.
It has a similarly tragic After the Battle theme, but SotC has such an untouchable soundtrack for the boss fights.
I'm thinking of songs like The Opened Way specifically.
Absolutely!!!!!! SotC is such a dark horse of a soundtrack, definetely worth the analysis
soc inspired almost every epic soundtrack, amazing music
Good call!
i just started playing it and I already am obsessed with the soundtrack
👍 The Consouls did a great cover of A Path Opened
Thank you for this. I've been a FromSoftware fan for ages and ages and a musician for even longer, and while I absolutely adore their soundtracks, Bloodborne's is definitely the one I've heard least because of the general inconvenience of accessibility. You've given me a real appreciation of this track and I hope to see you do more FS music in the future. They really do have one of the greatest video game soundtrack collections of all time.
One of the most interesting ones to me, where being a musician actually gave me an edge, is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3. Many, many people cite having trouble with this boss and figuring out her attack patterns, but I picked it up quite quickly because of her theme. It's very common for FS bosses to have themes that tie into their combat, and the Dancer's theme is atypical in that it is written 5/4. Odd meter throws a lot of people off, especially non musicians, but once I figured that out it became easy for me to learn her patterns. She takes 5 or 10 steps between attacks, and her double-sworded flourishes keep in time with the "dance" she's performing as you fight her. Making these connections between music and gameplay is something only a musician could do, and it's one of the many reasons FromSoft is one of my all-time favorite development studios.
🗿🤝
11:49 crying in Great Greywolf Sif
Your enthusiasm is infectious 😀 I loved the video.
I was fighting this exact boss an hour ago and you posted this now. Mind-blowing coincidence.
I became a TH-cam partner this year off my lofi hip hop music, creating things is daunting. But your genuine enthusiasm and excitement for new music and max chromas stats got me feeling inspired.
Another video game track I love that does a lot similar to this is 'The End Of The Battle' from Shadow Of The Colossus.
Most of the actual boss themes are your usual epic fare, nothing new, but the moment you kill each Colossus it goes not to a triumphant swelling victory song to congratulate you, but to a slow and sombre track that almost seems to lament each creature you've killed. Which, ultimately, makes sense.
When you take a step back and separate yourself from the basic game structure of "My current objective is to go here and kill this guy", you really have no reason to go after the Colossi other than "Dormin told you to". They're not rampaging, the land isn't even particularly inhabited by anyone who could feel threatened by their presence. They're just innocent peaceful creatures who only ever turn violent in self-defence, and once the adrenaline rush of fighting them wears off that realisation is all you're left with.
Sorry to be crass, but it's basically post-nut clarity in orchestral form.
Awesome man. Another FS favourite of mine is Dancer of the Boreal Valley, from the dancer bossfight in DS3. Japanese orchestral music in games is just otherworldly.
Bloodbourbe mentioned!!!
So glad you decided to cover this score from Bloodborne. By my favorite fromsoftware scores
This theme makes me cry every single time...
I didn't believe Gherman ... And I got stuck in the dream.... Forever.
Something really clicked for me when you mentioned how the two half-step resolutions the Aeolian mode has without moving into the harmonic minor are both descending: 3-2 and 6-5.I never really understood how modern composers create strong directional motion in just natural minor, but that little bit of info makes so much sense.
Gwyn's theme from Dark Souls 1 and it's reiteration in the final boss theme of Dark Souls 3 is goosebump territory
No way im so hyped you’re covering thisLEGENDARY PIECE
In terms of more fromsoftware music, I’m so excited you want to cover more, darkbeast is my favorite and most intriguing from bloodborne, and it has the weirdest theory I’d love a breakdown on
A true masterpiece that hasn’t received enough recognition. Thank you 🙏🏻
I love that your channel makes us see beautiful intricacies in what we often see as the mundane
Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3 because the time signature, if you will, of the boss herself is a different time signature than the music, which adds an extra challenge to the fight. But yeah, the music for that encounter is spectacular
Oh, I saw that video too - IIRC it’s all nonsense, but the theme is amazing and I’d love to see an actual musician analyze it!
Both the boss and music are in 3/4.
This is quite possibly my favourite piece of video game music. The cello melody especially just cuts into my soul. It just so perfectly encapsulates the reluctance of the characters having to fight eachother like this. It's like a sombre, tragic dance.
Thanks so much for covering it. You do such a good job of not just providing musical context, but narrative context as well.
I think Dragonslayer Armour from Dark Souls 3 is such an underrated boss theme. Especially because the second phase of the song cuts in before you hear the great part of the first phase.
Love to see someone with a new way of sharing how wonderful Bloodborne is. Your enthusiasm is so infectious.
I really NEED a video of you listening to the score from The Reflecting Skin!
I’d LOVE to see you react to “Ludwig the holy blade”!
This has been one of my favorite songs ever for a while. I’m so glad that you got into it and showed why it’s so amazing and tragic.
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder from dark souls 1 is definitely worth your time. Absolutely stunning. Love your content keep it up!
I absolutely love when the choir comes in after that single string note. Going from such a high, single sound and then immediately to the deep, full sound of an entire choir is just amazing. You should definitely look at bloodborne’s Ludwig the holy blade.
_THE SADDEST OF ALL KEYS_
man what a great breakdown of this track accompanied by some absolutely beautiful playing, loved every second of this
More Bloodborne! Ludwig The Accursed/Ludwig The Holy Blade next! 👌
@10:07 I always interpret the conversation between the two phrases almost like voices. The call asking it's question, something to the effect of: "Please, let me free you" Gehrman speaking; Then, us as the Hunter responding with "No, I will free you".
He should do Ludwig the accursed/holy blade ost, it would be Amazing
Please do more Fromsoftware music, you are the first person I've watched that actually breaks down the lore behind the music. Thank you, cause It's such a big part of what makes the music great.
You should take a look at The Other Promise or Vector to the Heavens from Kingdom Hearts. Nearly identical stories (forced to defeat an old friend) with devastating scores that powerfully utilize leitmotifs to pull on your emotions.
2nd this
Absolutely listen to "Vector to the Heavens" and "Musique pour la tristesse de Xion" as well as "The Price of Freedom" and the acoustic version with vocals "I want to see you smile"
If you haven't heard the choral adaptation of Adagio for Strings (Agnus Dei in that form), listen immediately. My favorite recording is Robert Shaw conducting the Robert Shaw Festival Singers with Areitha Lockhart. Absolutely hauntingly beautiful
Bloodborne playthrough when?
The lyrics are so poignant, too, and it's one of the few games where I outright cry over the endings. Was he a good man? No, but he wasn't the villain of the story, and I find well-written characters like Gehrman more compelling than simply 'bad man evil'. As I once read in a comment a long time ago: 'It's the saddest 'no, you''. And just because I love the Latin lyrics so much (we actually translated a lot of these in my college class for giggles because song lyrics are poetry in a way), a translation from another person as I cannot find my own:
Hunter.
Ah, I have hunted.
I did it all to cleanse my soul from evil.
An insidious hunt.
The wonderful darkness
This way I knew eternal mercy.
My Hunter
Let the evil be hidden (from you)
My life devoted to sustaining the Dream
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy
Hunter
Take my sickly vein
My soul hurts, free me, rightly
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy
Hunter, who holds in awe the abyss
But you are never supposed to be a scapegoat
I would swing this scythe once again, to offer an end to your nightmare
But please, give me an end to my role
Dark souls 1 gwyn theme intk dark souls 3 soul of cinder
My favorite for sure especially the way 3 hits at the end of the saga
You never miss with my all time favourite piano tunes… DS era pokémon, Zelda, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Minecraft… I launch out of my seat whenever I see another one and seeing you appreciate them to the fullest extent just tickles my brain 😁 I’d love to learn more about TLOU or Outer Wilds because those two pull on my heartstrings like nothing else and they do so in completely different ways
Another thing that's really cool is that the choir in Bloodborne is semi-diagetic. In Yahar'Gul, there's a choir piece that sort of evokes Olivier Messiaen, called "Hail the Nightmare". Depending on where you are, it sounds like it's being sung off in the distance, by the in-game faction known as The Choir. Often when this choir is used, it's fairly crunchy and dissonant. So in the climax of Gehrman's theme, by contrast, it really sounds like an invocation of the sublime, this demented choir finally getting its act together to usher in their god.
this one is my favorite fromsoftware song. amazing video, amazing class
finally bloodborne!!!!
As a massive music and fromsoftware fan, i salute you!
This is an amazing video and i appreciate your overall enthusiasm in analyzing this masterpiece.
Take care! ✌🏼
The composer Is Yuka kitamura,have composed for miyazaki and from software since demon souls, unfortunally she left from software in 2022,and as a musician and a souls vet myself i cant help but cry and thank for having her
I dont think she composed this piece?
From what i can tell, this track was composed by Tsukasa Saitou
You really gotta do Ludwig's theme, the chord progression that they use to modulate into his second phase and the resolution at the end of that phase back into the loop is amazing.
Also, love that you went for a kingdom hearts boss theme and immediately picked the best one in the series. Takes a while to get going, but damn does Darkness of the Unknown have some beautiful phrases amongst some really intense organ playing
Gehrman the first hunter is one of my favorite songs in any game. The way that the music helps tell the story is immaculate. FromSoftware's music as a whole is very good at this, but this song mixed with the atmosphere and the story of the game. Created one of the greatest final boss themes of all time. So much emotion oozing out of every part of this.
"The Night... and the Dream... were long."
This is one of the my favorite moments in gaming ever, from maybe my favorite game EVER, and one of the best pieces in an amazing score. Would love to see you break down "Ludwig, the Accursed/The Holy Blade," "Father Gascoigne, The Hunter" (awesome brass call and response!), or "Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos." As always, thank you for your insight.
LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG
I enjoyed watching you have eargasms to this beautiful piece. Would love to hear/see more FromSoftware music!
Great pick! And i'm glad you delved into a bit of the reasons behind this fight and the lore. It sounds like you've either played the game before or have a lot of respect for it already?
My TOP piece from Bloodborne! ❤ Enjoyed your video a lot mate. Thank you for this.
I love Bloodborne. Everything about it is so quality, top tier awesome. I love seeing you break down video game OSTs and couldn't believe my eyes seeing you talk about this one!! Definitely one of my favorite tracks in the game and all time. (also, in case you haven't already heard it, "Ludwig, The Accursed & Ludwig, The Holy Blade" are completely stellar tracks.)
My fav experience in a videogame in my hole life, by far. Amazing video dude, thx for this
Before the part discussed at 10:08 I heard that and it to me was like the song was beginning to build up hope however after that moment it is like the song robs you of the hope it was building, it almost makes it "feel worse" not in any musical way that it was bad or unpleasant but it is like the song stole your resignation from you, "I would be okay with fighting a hopeless battle to sacrifice myself without hesitation. However, after I steeled my resolve and walked up the gallows of fate, it gave me hope. However, that hope was taken too as if it existed solely to destroy my determination to destroy my spirit to infuse my mind with doubt and regret." It honestly is just a beautiful moment.
To me, what really makes Bloodborne's music stand out, is that every OST perfectly depict what the boss or bossfight is going to look like, without even seeing it. It's like all the notes are telling you the lore of the boss. Great analysis as well, sir💯
Hey man, loved this video! And yes, Bloodborne is my most played game of all time, therefore easily one of my top 3 games (I'd say it's probably No. 1 right now).
I would only like to point out that I would love for you to mention the composers of each song you review at the beginning. Not sure if I missed it but I did not heard you mention that this song is composed by Tsukasa Saitoh.
I know sometimes is hard to validate music composers, arrangers and lyricists but whenever possible it would be great to recognize their talents. Keep up the good work!
Bloodborne came out while I was still studying music at university and this was the track that fully sold me on the idea that games can and should be considered works of art worthy of being analyzed right along with all of the greats we study in classes. It evokes the same haunting feeling of Mozart's Requiem or Barber's Adagio for Strings and a masterclass of telling a story though sound. Few tracks work so perfectly with the overall themes of the game and characters, so much so I regularly stretch this fight out as long as I can, just to fully take in this masterpiece.
I just want to say I am musically ignorant of themes in music. Your video made me feel smart as you explained them to me and gave me greater appreciation for the song. I didn't know how layered it was. Watching you geek out to the music made my heart soar. My favorite part is when you lay out the call and response. I'm always too busy getting my but kicked to hear the music, now I love this game even more.
Thank you for this video.
You always give me inspiration to make music, I have always loved video game music and it's ability to capture a mood or setting. One day I hope to produce tracks like these. I'm self taught, but your analyses and the passion you show always help in my writing, and I just wanted to thank you for that.
My favorite boss theme in general from bloodborne is Ludwig's theme (which you should DEFINITELY check out), but nothing beats the narrative piece this song serves as. When I beat Gherman for the first time it was a hollow victory, it was a battle and struggle, but the emotions this piece puts in you even subconsciously can't be ignored, even in the heart of battle.
Love this. Would also love to see you discuss the Ludwig the holy blade theme. When it changes in phase 2 to that 3/4 waltz feel - really makes you feel like you're dodging (dancing) for your life.
I especially love the use of the tritonus. I couldnt put my finger on what makes me so addicted to the theme and it was that ez.
That jump and knowing that this jump from E to b (is it called diminished fifth, im really not sure) makes it feel horrible and tragic... like they just dont want us to have even a single glimpse of hope. Not giving us anything to release this built up tension in D minor which is honestly a hell of sadness. It represents the fight so well, the agony, the hurt, adding another layer of intensity and character insight.
I'm really enjoying this appreciation of vgm even though I don't play the games. And I love it when Charles throws together a bunch of jazzy chords!
Another game that is really good with these classical harmonies is Layers of Fear. The opening theme alone makes me just want to well up with tears from it's beauty, but it's also full of notes of erieness.