VG Music Analysis (Come on down! Discuss Theory!!) [Archive]

Gario

05-26-2009, 10:46 PM

Hello everyone!

I have no clue how many of you analyze music (for fun, to learn something, for anything really - to be honest, I've analyzed music longer than I've written it :-x), but I'm gonna throw this up and see where it goes. For the sake of this thread, it's probably wise to only bring up VG music (it's OCR, after all), but if you want to bring up anything outside that genre, be my guest - I'd be more than happy to discuss it (and I'm sure others would, too)!

Now, if your not a music theorist or anything, that's fine - if you listen to music I'm sure you've heard interesting things in a song and it's caught your interest, yet you also noticed no one else heard the same thing. The point of this thread is to show other people some very interesting musical tricks and the like that you've heard in a song but others may not have. Don't worry about any technical language - just try to get the point across as best as you can. Perhaps there will be other people here that can clarify the technical tricks that occur and help you learn how to use the techniques better.

If you want to just comment on another person's analysis, please feel free - I encourage discussion on the discoveries of others. Please keep the flames down, however - really, I don't know what anyone could flame about here, but you never know.

I'll start the discussion by talking about my favorite VG music... well, basically of all time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6f/Silver_Surfer_NES_box.jpg/250px-Silver_Surfer_NES_box.jpg

That's right, Silver Surfer, baby!

In particular, I'm looking at the Title theme (http://www.box.net/shared/xr05nfd6do). Every track on this game kicks ass, but this one has a pretty exceptional level of ass-kickage. It is one of the most advanced piece of chiptunage out there, and I'm here to show you all why.

The degree of single-channel polyphonic lines is absolutely incredible. Basically, a single channel may only play a single note at a time, but the way the notes are played imply more than one line (or instrument) at a time. Using the power of Emulation (I own the game, don't worry), I'll separate the channels so the effects I'm talking about are easier to hear...

A single rectangle wave (http://www.box.net/shared/1b58cl6kqi)...

An example of that 'polyphonic line' occurs well at 0:09 - 0:23 (and again at 1:12 - 1:32). There is a note that is quickly played an octave above is an example of a polyphonic line in action. Remember, a single channel may never play more than one sound at a time, so in fact the sound cuts out when the higher note is being played. Now, this isn't the only VG soundtrack that does this, but the way the Follin brothers do it, however, is so seemless it deserves some special attention.

Listening to it closely, it sounds like they took the waveform and had it play the low sound first, filling the ear with the low sound before introducing the upper 'blip' then immediately returning to the lower sound. The effect that comes from that particular placement is that the ear retains the sound of the lower note while the higher note plays, thus giving the illusion that two sounds are playing (when that is physically impossible, given the hardware). Even more interesting is that the higher note is implied in your brain, so you fill out the octave throughout the span of the note in your mind.

Now throughout this song these polyphonic lines occur all the time. Take a look at the other rectangle wave (http://www.box.net/shared/zsaqrk5s8o) playing in this song (there are two given at any time in a NES game). 0:16 - 0:53 sounds like a series of chords (that's right, chords) playing through when it is only physically possible for a single note to be playing at any given time. It's easier to hear what they do, and the trick is pretty common in NES & C64 games, in general - arrpegiate chords as fast as the system can play the notes in order to make a single line play complex chord structures. However, the Follin brothers use this in conjunction with other not-so-easy-to-hear polyphonic tricks to create a rich, complex environment unmatched by any other game on the NES system (it even challenges most 16-bit systems soundscape, as well, IMHO).

The best is still to come, however... the Triangle wave (http://www.box.net/shared/b0ki966nli).

Seriously, what the hell?! 0:09 - 1:16 may repeat the same thing over and over again, but damn, is it a hell of a line to repeat! There's not one, not two but three (possibly even four) instruments being implied there. The pulsing bass, a strong, diving bass drum, and the weaker toms and snare... all on the channel that cannot even fluctuate the volume (let alone play more than one sound at a time). Simply amazing (especially when you add the noise channel (http://www.box.net/shared/sozs8qkdox) [which cover the hats and the 'snare' of the drums] to the triangle to create a full array of drums with the bass (http://www.box.net/shared/qceyox9k7u) - without ever using the PCM!). Now, this isn't unique (Megaman 3's intro triangle (http://www.box.net/shared/33mpahmbo2) does the exact same thing), but I've never heard a game that does nearly as seemlessly.

How did they do it?

The toms and the snare are designed similarly to the rectangle wave I discussed above - the sound cuts out for such a short time that the ear still percieves the bass sound as something that is playing when it is not. The diving bass drum, though, lasts longer than those short sounds - basically past the threshold of when we imply and connect the sounds mentally. I believe that they first hit the bass note sound, followed it by a sudden change to the bass drum sound which dives back into the bass sound again(cutting out for the snare and toms whenever they needed to). Because the sound dives into the original bass it ends up sounding like a part of the bass. However, because of the music before (0:00 - 0:09), the bass drum sound also sounds like a bass drum. Using the power of context and cutting sound out, they created three or four different sounds using a single sound at a time.

Put all of these channels together and you get an amazingly complex soundscape using only four channels (and one of them can only make different samples of white noise). The parts were certainly great, but the sum of the parts compliment each other so well that they really amount to more as a whole.

Basically, I've always been amazed by their complete mastery over the hardware that the Follin brothers had. I could go on for pages about other little tricks and doodads that they used in this song alone (that's besides the other eight great songs written for this game), but I want to leave room for others to bring something else up (and possibly bring up those doodads at another time). Don't worry about the size of my post - I don't expect anyone to spend over an hour writing an analysis of anything on here (although it certainly would be welcome!). In fact, any other analysis I make will more than likely be shorter than this, but I just love that soundtrack so damn much. If you notice something interesting that you don't believe anyone else has heard in a song, post it here!

prophetik

05-27-2009, 12:03 AM

hey, this is pretty cool. good stuff. i never knew that about the soundtrack for this game - i had heard it before, and i thought it was pretty good, but i didn't really notice the degree of complexity that was going on.

anosou

05-27-2009, 12:42 AM

TWILIGHT ZONE!

Just wrote a shorter not-very-in-depth thing on Worms 2 ( http://anosou.com/?p=96 )!

Also, I'm currently working on my first academic paper in musicology, an analysis of parts of the Jade Cocoon soundtrack. I chose not to analyze the whole thing but choose tracks that were representative for the soundtrack as a whole.. though this is in Swedish I might eventually translate the 10 pages to english for anyone who's interested.

Anyway, I approve of this thread and idea!

prophetik

05-27-2009, 12:49 AM

i'd be interested in your term paper. sounds interesting.

anosou

05-27-2009, 12:53 AM

i'd be interested in your term paper. sounds interesting.

Your interest in my interests is interesting.

I've gotten some requests from VGMdb to translate it too. It should be done (Swedish version) Thursday. Then we're having a day to go through all papers in group and give criticism, then I have a chance to correct any mistakes or such.

After that, translation might happen. We're talking early June. However it's 10 pages and I'm not a native speaker so I won't promise anything but if enough people shows some interest it's more probable :)

McVaffe

05-27-2009, 12:55 AM

Hello everyone!

...stuff...

How the hell did you ever figure out all this crap? This is insane. I'm glad I got into game music after the Super NES era... this crap is so ridiculous (but impressive).

Great read (especially for someone like me - who knows next to nothing about chiptunes) - and I loved how you included the sound files as examples. U get a smiley.

=)

there.

Gario

05-27-2009, 01:05 AM

I liked your take on Worms 2 soundtrack, AnSo... I need to go out and listen to it soon so I can figure out what 'squidgy' means, but when I do I'll learn something new (which is always awesome).

By the way, what is your musicology paper about? I'm always interested in new things when it comes to music - not to mention a swedish take on something (Americans always try to overcomplicate things with their 'experimentalism'...). Person #2 to show interest :wink:.

anosou

05-27-2009, 01:11 AM

How the hell did you ever figure out all this crap? This is insane. I'm glad I got into game music after the Super NES era... this crap is so ridiculous (but impressive).

Great read (especially for someone like me - who knows next to nothing about chiptunes) - and I loved how you included the sound files as examples. U get a smiley.

=)

there.

I feel you man, I got interested around PS1 :D

I liked your take on Worms 2 soundtrack, AnSo... I need to go out and listen to it soon so I can figure out what 'squidgy' means, but when I do I'll learn something new (which is always awesome).

By the way, what is your musicology paper about? I'm always interested in new things when it comes to music - not to mention a swedish take on something (Americans always try to overcomplicate things with their 'experimentalism'...). Person #2 to show interest :wink:.

Thanks, squidgy was a fun word to pick, right? Elastic also works. But you'll see what I mean if you listen :)

My paper is an analysis of the soundtrack for Jade Cocoon. I do some in-depth analysis (including sheet music transcriptions) of around 10 tracks I feel are representative for the soundtrack as a whole and then talk about how the music works in it's context. Finally presenting some conclusions about the work, typical and/or unique traits for the music and similar stuff.

I was thinking about comparing it to soundtracks from the same genre/era (PS1 JRPGs from the latter half of the 1990's) but that soon got out of hand when the analysis was 9 pages and the paper should be max 10 :D

Zephyr

05-27-2009, 01:12 AM

I'd heard this main theme many times, and I always considered it chiptune mastery, but I'd never realized what they were doing on such a tight channel limit! I love this soundtrack too.
Check out some of the other songs if you haven't yet everyone, this one has a sweet melody, and it sound's processed, but I'm not sure if that was even possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J0H5ah1G7A&feature=related

Moseph

05-27-2009, 04:39 AM

AnSo, I'd like to read your paper, too. I spent the last two semesters arguing with the musicologists in my classes, and now that summer break is here, I'm beginning to miss what I guess would more properly be termed our "scholarly exchange of ideas."

anosou

05-27-2009, 12:46 PM

anosou

05-29-2009, 10:35 PM

My paper is finally done. To celebrate, I do some casual analysis of processed vocals in Armored Core:

http://anosou.com/?p=103

WillRock

05-29-2009, 11:02 PM

Silver Surfer...
Worms 2...

I LOVE this thread :D

I'm not going to go into anyway near the detail of gario in breaking down the music... I have a life :tomatoface:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBM-m82Za_0

This soundtrack was noticeable to me for having a recorded bass tone somehow coded into the sound cartridge altho I don't know the details.

The result - one of the best soundtracks on the nes.

Gario

05-29-2009, 11:10 PM

Ah, it's nice to see some interest in the subject. I'm planning on putting something new here weekly - doing the Silver Surfer analysis was fun and I've got to brush up on my theory skills :). Don't worry, I have no life so I can afford to do stuff like this :P.

The mechanical vocals were pretty interesting there on the 'I can see them All' track. I don't know if it's true for every song with processed vocals, but I felt the lack of motion really contributed to the 'robot' sound (along with the processed vocals, of course). It's a pretty popular technique when you want to add dissonance to choral music in a gentle manner (leave one voice motionless while the rest of the music moves around it) - a personal favorite of mine, by the way.

By the way, that Silius soundtrack was pretty sweet... Maybe I'll go into detail about it next :) I take it the bass is what your talking about (and not the bass drums)? Interesting use of Timbre... I've got to figure out what they did.

Congratulations on your paper, AnSo! I hope it's well received (and it gets translated - I'm still interested in what you've got to say :-P).

anosou

05-29-2009, 11:21 PM

CHz

05-30-2009, 12:03 AM

Dan Bruno, an employee at Harmonix, does some nice VGM analysis at his blog Cruise Elroy (http://cruiseelroy.net/). There's the irregular meter series (http://cruiseelroy.net/2008/05/irregular-meter/) (fuck yeah Mario Kart 64 race results theme), the Ocarina of Time series (http://cruiseelroy.net/2008/04/ocarina-music-1/), and an article on Mother 3's awesome battle themes (http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/mother-3-battle-music/).

anosou

05-30-2009, 12:13 AM

Gario

05-30-2009, 03:01 AM

Woa! Nice VG Analysis series, there! Irregular meters are seriously the shit (if I write an original song, 50% of the time it's in an odd meter...). Just be careful if your writing for a woodwind quintet - they don't like playing conflicting implied meters simultaniously (I caused a pretty nasty panic at my own Senior composition recital doing that, lol).

It's funny that the guy implied that the sun song isn't heard anywhere else in Zelda - OoT; it's how the field map opens up the music when the morning breaks.

Wow, that's a pretty sweet setup that guy's got. I'll try to make my analyses a bit more accessible (for those that don't want to learn roman numeral analysis or figured bass techniques...), namely because I don't have a scoring program yet (and I refuse to use Finale notepad :tomatoface:).

Someday I'll be kicking ass with Sibelius, again... but I've got to get the finances for that.

anosou

05-30-2009, 03:17 AM

Cerrax

05-30-2009, 08:37 AM

I've actually done quite a bit of analyzing music to figure out how so much sound comes from a limited number of channels. I actually noticed most of the things Gario named in his first post. Chiptunes especially utilize some really impressive things because there is much more to writing a chiptune than just writing four channels and mixing them together. The true masters can imply more than one line into a single channel and convey interesting effects that cannot be done on their own (such as reverb, delay, filters, etc).

I've actually been listening to a few songs from the Jurassic Park Game Boy music and it has some interesting methods in it. For example, the first level music:

One of the pulse waves and the custom wave use the same method as the first rectangle wave Gario mentioned in the Silver Surfer tune. By using a very quick high pitched note right before the rest of the note at a lower octave, it creates a very percussive sound which allows the tune to have a much punchier livelier sound. It also gives the effect of two notes played at once and helps differentiate these two background parts from the smoother longer lead pulse wave.

The lead pulse wave itself also makes a very distinct sound. It does a dive into the main melody but it sounds like its playing two or three notes at the same time. and creates a strange effect that sounds like an extremely fast delay effect. This is actually the pulse wave playing two different notes as fast as the Game Boy can possibly play them. One pedal note and one note that gets chromatically lower every time it is played. The result is a really neat effect that uses only one channel.

Other than that, the Game Boy also has the ability to play noise at two different cycles, allowing two distinctly different sounds to come from the same channel. This allows the noise channel to serve as entire drumset, using the 8-step cycle for harsher sounds such as the bass drum, snare drum, and possibly toms, and the 16-step cycle for softer lighter sounds like hi-hat and cymbals. Combining the two different cycles with different frequencies opens an entire percussion section within one channel.

I'm actually a big fan of Game Boy music because of the fact that it can play two different types of noise. It's really unique among chiptunes.

danb

05-30-2009, 02:46 PM

It's funny that the guy implied that the sun song isn't heard anywhere else in Zelda - OoT; it's how the field map opens up the music when the morning breaks.

Yeah, that was a complete oversight on my part; I finally got around to correcting it in part 6. Oops!

I'm glad you guys are enjoying those posts. :-)

anosou

05-31-2009, 08:34 PM

Yeah, that was a complete oversight on my part; I finally got around to correcting it in part 6. Oops!

I'm glad you guys are enjoying those posts. :-)

Welcome to OCR, do keep making awesome analysis posts. Cool. Much love!

Gario

05-31-2009, 10:04 PM

The true masters can imply more than one line into a single channel and convey interesting effects that cannot be done on their own (such as reverb, delay, filters, etc).I know what you mean, there - really, that song I posted originally has a lot of that going on (in fact, it merges the technique of implying reverb with one channel and getting reverb with two channels - allowing them to trick the listener into believing the reverb is still there).

I'm reading the rest of the Zelda series that's there (I didn't know there was six pages, lol) and it seems quite inspired, pointing out the threads that keep the game together in clever ways. I noticed some of the roman analysis used that I didn't quite agree with... Personally I try not to analyze music using roman numerals for every verticle harmony created as sometimes it doesn't represent how the music flows.

Zelda's theme (harmonized on page 2), in particular, would make more sense if it was set in the key of C throughout (thus, allowing the beginning to start on a tonic) and staying on the tonic harmonically through measure 4 (mm 2 & 4 would actually be a set of neighbor tones rather than an actual change in harmony). The next two measures have non-functional passing chords, so a roman numeral analysis would tell us nothing of what happens there. In fact, the only change in the roman numerals would happen on measure 7 and 8 - mm7 would be an applied dominant to mm8's dominant chord in 6 4 position... meaning it isn't even a cadence, in the proper sense of the word.

Funny, even that last measure before the repeat could be interpreted as a very long-scale upper neighbor to the first measure. Damnit, I'd love to give you guys a picture to show you what I'm talking about, but I don't have a scoring program (and bitmap just looks ugly)... it's actually a very Schenkerian way to look at that song, which I'm not sure many people are familiar with...

Don't get me wrong, Bruno - I'm nitpicking a very interesting analysis. Overall it was very interesting (enough so for me to do a bit of analysis myself), and I thought the motivic analysis was very awesome. Thanks a bunch for making it - I really appreciate people doing VG analysis out there online!

EDIT: I just played it out, and I agree that it's in G... everyone's allowed a moment of stupidity :P. I'd still analyze it a bit different, though - I'm drawing something up on bitmap, at the moment - have no fear :)

EDIT (again): Alright, here's what I was trying to say...

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/AnalysisZelda.jpg?t=1243815315

The blue is the melody, the red is the bassline (the strings provide that - it isn't in the score) and the green is an interesting tidbit from the harp (and that extra note is a mistake - ignore it :P). I made the important notes hollow and the decorations black with a colored outline. Notice that most of the motion is neighboring decoration or prolongation of a passing motion. I don't hear any harmonic change until the 7th and 8th measure, and even then I consider a 6 3 dominant chord to be a lower neighbor of the tonic, so saying that's functional is even questionable. The bass notes are a series of upper and lower neighbors to G, the green notes actually imply a solid G chord in the beginning due to the preceding note (hence the hollow note in green in parantheses), but because the music starts at the second measure above it's hard to hear that...

The green notes are also interesting because of the chromatic passing motion that they create to the dominant chord later (which Dan pointed out nicely :P) - the arcing lines show the beginning to the end of the motion clearly.

The blue notes dance around the 3rd of the scale (lower neighbors decorate it), then leaps up to the second of the scale (due to octave equivilance, I put it next to the preceding note in paranthesis), where it is decorated by a chordal leap.

You see, I don't see any real chord changes throughout the motion - it's all just a big statement of the tonic, in the end.

I'll add that none of this detracts from Dan Bruno's main point in any way, so I'm really nitpicking the hell out of it :)

ambinate

06-05-2009, 04:16 AM

I think this is an awesome thread, and I'm really digging reading through it. I'd seen the Ocarina musical analysis for the first time earlier this year and had a great time reading that, too; it was really interesting. I hope what I'm about to post isn't seen as an attempted hijack, haha. I don't really have an analysis to offer, but I have a question (sort of) that I'd like to maybe get some feedback on from a musical theory standpoint.

One thing I've been wondering about recently is how composers evoke a certain quality in their music that's sort of ethereal and has a certain subtlety to it. It comes up a lot in ambient and other, similar music. One example of what I'm talking about in a video game soundtrack is something like the Galaxy Map music from Mass Effect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-19bl4_SDfI). Outside of the video game world, I think almost all of BT's album This Binary Universe does this, too (like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwErxckY-Xc).

Whenever I write, I always end up writing chord progressions and melodies that are much more distinctly set in a certain emotion and have much more pronounced tension/release and cadences. But in the type of stuff I've been listening to, the pieces don't have the same sense of forward momentum or the same, clearly labeled emotional quality - it's a lot more subtle. The pieces don't feel as compelled to move to a certain, conclusive tonic chord or anything like that as you would normally encounter in popular music, for example.

What I'm wondering, I guess, is what is going on in these types of situations from a musical standpoint? What types of chord progressions, inversions and chord changes are being used? Or is it something else entirely? I'd really like to better understand how to analyze or even write this kind of music. Thanks a lot - sorry for being so wordy, haha.

Moseph

06-05-2009, 06:17 AM

I know what you mean, there - really, that song I posted originally has a lot of that going on (in fact, it merges the technique of implying reverb with one channel and getting reverb with two channels - allowing them to trick the listener into believing the reverb is still there).

I'm reading the rest of the Zelda series that's there (I didn't know there was six pages, lol) and it seems quite inspired, pointing out the threads that keep the game together in clever ways. I noticed some of the roman analysis used that I didn't quite agree with... Personally I try not to analyze music using roman numerals for every verticle harmony created as sometimes it doesn't represent how the music flows.

Zelda's theme (harmonized on page 2), in particular, would make more sense if it was set in the key of C throughout (thus, allowing the beginning to start on a tonic) and staying on the tonic harmonically through measure 4 (mm 2 & 4 would actually be a set of neighbor tones rather than an actual change in harmony). The next two measures have non-functional passing chords, so a roman numeral analysis would tell us nothing of what happens there. In fact, the only change in the roman numerals would happen on measure 7 and 8 - mm7 would be an applied dominant to mm8's dominant chord in 6 4 position... meaning it isn't even a cadence, in the proper sense of the word.

Funny, even that last measure before the repeat could be interpreted as a very long-scale upper neighbor to the first measure. Damnit, I'd love to give you guys a picture to show you what I'm talking about, but I don't have a scoring program (and bitmap just looks ugly)... it's actually a very Schenkerian way to look at that song, which I'm not sure many people are familiar with...

Don't get me wrong, Bruno - I'm nitpicking a very interesting analysis. Overall it was very interesting (enough so for me to do a bit of analysis myself), and I thought the motivic analysis was very awesome. Thanks a bunch for making it - I really appreciate people doing VG analysis out there online!

EDIT: I just played it out, and I agree that it's in G... everyone's allowed a moment of stupidity :P. I'd still analyze it a bit different, though - I'm drawing something up on bitmap, at the moment - have no fear :)

EDIT (again): Alright, here's what I was trying to say...

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/AnalysisZelda.jpg?t=1243815315

The blue is the melody, the red is the bassline (the strings provide that - it isn't in the score) and the green is an interesting tidbit from the harp (and that extra note is a mistake - ignore it :P). I made the important notes hollow and the decorations black with a colored outline. Notice that most of the motion is neighboring decoration or prolongation of a passing motion. I don't hear any harmonic change until the 7th and 8th measure, and even then I consider a 6 3 dominant chord to be a lower neighbor of the tonic, so saying that's functional is even questionable. The bass notes are a series of upper and lower neighbors to G, the green notes actually imply a solid G chord in the beginning due to the preceding note (hence the hollow note in green in parantheses), but because the music starts at the second measure above it's hard to hear that...

The green notes are also interesting because of the chromatic passing motion that they create to the dominant chord later (which Dan pointed out nicely :P) - the arcing lines show the beginning to the end of the motion clearly.

The blue notes dance around the 3rd of the scale (lower neighbors decorate it), then leaps up to the second of the scale (due to octave equivilance, I put it next to the preceding note in paranthesis), where it is decorated by a chordal leap.

You see, I don't see any real chord changes throughout the motion - it's all just a big statement of the tonic, in the end.

I'll add that none of this detracts from Dan Bruno's main point in any way, so I'm really nitpicking the hell out of it :)

Gario, your string part's notated two octaves too low; it should be above middle C in alto range. The low harp notes form the bassline, and they're also doubled in the strings -- an octave above in the repeat of the initial eight measures and an octave below in mm. 11-18.

prophetik

06-05-2009, 04:05 PM

ahhhh, theory discussions. gotta love it.

danb

06-06-2009, 04:40 AM

Whoa, theory attack!

I wanted to comment on one thing:

You see, I don't see any real chord changes throughout the motion - it's all just a big statement of the tonic, in the end.

I think you have a more Schenkerian view towards analysis than I do, Gario. I'm personally interested in pulling out all those vertical chords, as opposed to collapsing harmony into functional chunks. I find it too reductive to gloss over harmonic subtlety in favor of a broader analysis -- those intermediate chords are where all the fun is for me! :) If I lose some of the big-picture harmonic schematic in the process, I'm okay with that; I much prefer to drill down to the details.

Hopefully that explains a bit more of where I'm coming from with these. Thanks again for the comments!

Gario

06-06-2009, 08:10 PM

Yup, you got me - I'm pretty much a Schenkerian bastard child. I understand your looking at things from a different perspective, so I can't say I'm attacking you... I'm just offering my differing views on the whole thing :-P. I understand your viewpoint, too - my ears just developed in a very Schenkerian sort of way, so I hear things differently. I'm merely expressing what I hear and why - after all, isn't that what theory is all about? I'm sure you'll understand my next statement, then, if you know of the Schenkerian views I hold...

Aurally speaking, Moseph, the strings are holding the functional bass note (I hear the music at in the tonic, not the subdominant, due to the harmonization in the 'higher' strings) - the harp is more decorative, in function. Perhaps the notes themselves are lower for the harp, but in terms of functionality I hear the strings really holding the harmonic basis. The differences in timbre allow this to happen, as the upper partials are more dominant in the harp than in the strings (meaning they sound 'higher' and 'lighter' than the note being played implies, so the bass effect is a bit weaker).

If the harp was the functional bass, in reality it would be playing a IV with a dissonant 7, 9 and 11... that don't resolve (The 7th could arguably resolve, but the 9th and 11th don't, or at least not properly). Not to mention the next vertical harmony wouldn't make sense, from a syntactical point of view (V7 -IV? No, that's not good syntax, not to mention the 7th doesn't resolve, anyhow for the dominant 7th chord...). Of course, you could look at that as a series of passing motions, but then you'd be falling back into the view that I'm presenting, so you'd end up coming to the same conclusion as me :-x.

I hear it as a very functional piece of tonality when I listen to it, myself - and it all works out quite nicely if you hear the string part as the functional bass, as I do when I listen to it.

The strings higher, in reality, but I wrote them lower in order to show the bass functionality I hear (in fact, I heard it so dominantly that I thought the music was in the key of C before because I thought what was written reflected the bass I heard). Sorry if the picture is confusing - bitmap isn't the best way to get these ideas across.

Oh, and Willrock, the Journey to Silius bassline is a DPCM track - meaning they really did record a bassline as a compressed digital sound and use it for the soundtrack... In my opinion, that's cheating the NES, but it does sound pretty cool, nonetheless 8).

As for the Mass Effect game, Adamantium Dude, it's actually using a technique called Parsimonious Voice Leading (or Neo-Reimannian theory). The very sublte effect it has is caused by the fact that one voice in the chord moves at a time in the most minimal fashion possible (eg by semitone up or down). In that theory there is no such thing as functional harmony - it truly moves from one note to the next without any ultimate direction, so it isn't really tonal music (even though it uses the same harmonic language - that's actually why conventional harmonic analysis doesn't work when analysing it). That song from Mass Effect, for example, moves from i - VI - i - VI... etc. because the difference between i and VI is a semitone (in Cm: G to Ab). Interestingly enough, using a combination of semitonal movement you can get to any chord in the tonal relm seemlessly without the use of tonality :). Try it out - you'll find the effect to be surprisingly soothing and non-directional (which is what your going for, right?).

anosou

06-08-2009, 10:30 PM

New VGM Spotlight, this time only a short one. It's a quick look at part of the vocal motif in a track from Ar Tonelico II which utilizes changes of irregular meter.

GO HERE AND COMMENT AND STUFF: http://anosou.com/?p=130

:3

Gario

06-08-2009, 10:43 PM

Alright! The second official analysis from me (woot)! I'm going to put something up every Monday, so keep an eye out - I'll be sure to make it interesting!

Alright, next up is the famed classic, Mega Man 3 (Sorry, folks - it beats the shit out of MM2, although that was still a good game, too).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Megaman3_box.jpg

Not to mention it has the best box art out of the whole Mega Man series :).

The intro theme (http://www.box.net/shared/58cscmafle) is going to be my focus, today. Yes, this is one of the most remixed themes on OC (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../song/173), but it's seriously one of the best songs from the entire Mega Man franchise (and that's saying something, there), so who could blame the remixing community? Now, let's get on with the meat of the subject - why is it so badass? Well, related to the Silver Surfer track I looked at earlier, it uses polyphonic lines in order to achieve a full soundscape. However, where the Silver Surfer tried to mask the polyphonic technique by making it faster than the human ear could perceive, Mega Man 3 instead uses more antiquidated techniques in order to imply multiple lines (these polyphonic techniques are actually very common in the Baroque era on), and also incorporated voice exchanges into the music.

Looking at this song channel for channel, the first interesting thing I see is in the first phrase of music. What does the melody sound like to you, a leap into a neighboring decoration, perhaps (and looking at all of the OC remixes of it, everyone interprets it in that fashion, except for IntroJazz :P)? For the longest time, I heard the melody that way too... until I dissected the channels for the purpose of making a remix of the theme (midi remix - not OC stuff :P). Take a look at rectangle 1 (http://www.box.net/shared/ieh9tby5rd) (and forgive my poor quality) - you'll notice that it's the channel that carries the melodic material, yet the beginning actually leaps down and climbs in a stepwise fashion up to continue the melody we all know and love.

If you made the same mistake as I did when first listening to this song then you've just experienced the first case of voice-exchange that occurs in this song. It's strange, but rectangle 2 (http://www.box.net/shared/hqq39isduq) actually plays half of the melody for a few beats before returning to it's accompanying role - the melodic voice channel 'exchanged' the role with another channel for a few beats. Of course, I think that may have been an unintentional mistake on the part of the composer, as that could have been accomplished without using voice exchange. Regardless, it provides a perfect example of the technique, and the music does this a few more times throughout this short piece, as you'll see.

Continuing the analysis of the first channel, after the introduction sequence (that uses some cool slowdown techniques without changing tempo :-o) the music really gets going at 0:30. Listen to the channel on it's own - it's actually rather plain, but it incorporates some powerful polyphonic lines. Instead of trying to mask the effect by playing the notes quickly, however, the implied lower line plays in time with the rest of the melody. It's obvious that the melody begins with the arpeggio, followed by a leap up, etc. with a lower note playing a bass note (although the triangle holds the actual bass, the implied line doubles the triangle).

Even more interesting, though, is how this intro fills the soundscape by having rectangle 2 play the exact same thing a beat later (http://www.box.net/shared/73g0foynhz), giving it a manual delay effect. This delay, though, has the unintentional (or at least I think it's unintentional) effect of filling out the implied bassline and implied melody. It's really fascination what happens to the music sonically - I drew a picture in order to help clarify it visually...

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/MM3MultipleLines.jpg?t=1244495167

You see, because of the delay there isn't a moment where the melody isn't playing (the same can be said of the bass for that part, as well - although there are some moments when it isn't playing). Thus, we never actually miss the melody at all. Of course, because we're using two voices now it seems like a moot point, but not only do we have two lines playing, both the lines have a delay effect (which takes two voices on it's own), so it's like having four voices working at the same time in order to fill the soundscape.

At 0:41 the melody continues to use polyphony in order to imply two lines, but rectangle 2 does not create the delay effect anymore, so that empty space is not filled. Because of this, though, the rectangle 1 sounds a bit broken. You can easily separate the two voices out of the single line, though - in fact, the theme earlier is a motive for this theme later, being followed by the same implied static note (made more interesting because it's not simply doubling the bass). Because of the leaps between the two lines the mind doesn't connect the two as a single line, so we hear it as two individual lines, even without the other instruments filling the gap. Pretty cool, eh?

A final note regarding the triangle (http://www.box.net/shared/ra3mo4rzqi) and the rectangle 2 channels - they often exchange the voices in order to make a complete phrase. Because the Triangle is often used as the drums, the other channels often complete an idea that was started by the triangle. Listen, for example, to 0:26 - 0:30 when the triangle is with rectangle 2 (http://www.box.net/shared/fa6zvthob8). Notice that the triangle drops out at the end of the phrase while rectangle 2 completes the idea. This is another example of a voice exchange.

Also, when the song gets going later from 0:30 on, the leaps to the implied lower voice can be considered another sort of exchange, because it often fills in for the triangle bass that played a drum fill on the last beat of every measure. Really, this song is quite complex in it's uses of voice exchange and polyphonic lines!

For those that understand 'voice exchanges' as a very particular idiom of counterpoint, it actually means when one voice completes the idea of another voice (like I was presenting here) as well as the classic technique used in basic counterpoint. I just felt like heading that off before it got out of hand :).

I've got to admit, AnSo - irregular meters are always the shit, especially when they constantly change around like in that song you presented :). I'll be looking forward to your continued series - especially since your using a scoring program to show the notation and such (I'm still using bitmap, lol). By the way, were you working on a publication or a project for college? I actually didn't think about that until a few days ago and was meaning to ask :).

anosou

06-08-2009, 10:55 PM

I'm done with my ~14 page analysis of Jade Cocoon but it's in Swedish. I might translate it but not now, got too much stuff going on.. Nice analysis btw, awesome stuff, keep 'em coming.

prophetik

06-09-2009, 04:01 AM

if you guys like irregular meters, you're going to piss your pants at some of the tracks in my XBLA game. didn't start doing them until much later in the creation of it, and they wanted four on the floor for most of it, but i've got some 7/4, 5/8, 11/4, and x/8 (mixed meter throwdown, basically :<) all over it. it's so much fun.

the 'war music' track is all over the map on time signatures. completely impossible to keep track of while you're playing.

PriZm

06-09-2009, 09:07 AM

sweet, can't wait to hear it.

Gario

06-09-2009, 02:56 PM

If you guys like irregular meters, you're going to piss your pants at some of the tracks in my XBLA game.

It's a shame that I'm not really involved with this generation of games - I would've loved to hear it (of course, if the soundtrack for it becomes available elsewhere I'll be looking :-P). What XBLA game is it?

I love using meters in the most screwed up fashion (or just 'conventional' mixed meter, if I'm lazy) - my music for the 'Holonic' project is all in mixed meters (the one that's up now is in 7/4, and the battle music is going to be meter-crazy :nicework:).

I should put up some of my college music - the metric stuff I did was crazy sometimes (and other times the meter just didn't exist...).

Moseph

06-09-2009, 03:27 PM

I usually meter things after I write them. It's becoming increasingly uncommon for me to have more than three or four consecutive measures of the same meter.

BardicKnowledge

06-09-2009, 03:43 PM

I've enjoyed reading this thread, and will take on an analysis of my own soon. At the moment, I'd like to put forward that Finale Notepad 2008 is free (http://flmsdown.net/software/41534-portable-finale-notepad-2008.html) for those of you that don't have it.

It (or Sibelius, but AFAIK there's no free version) will help people throw up some sheet music without getting out MSPaint. :p

Incidentally, I'm reserving the Startropics main battle theme for this topic :p

Gario

06-09-2009, 05:50 PM

I usually meter things after I write them.

Wise advice - that's often what I do (unless I want a song that creates metric tension by offsetting a downbeat - performers hate that :P).

anosou

06-09-2009, 11:27 PM

(desperately trying to steal Brad's spotlight)

The XBLA-game I'm working on also features mixed meter! 5/4, 7/4 and 4/4 in the same track! LOVE ME TOO!

Gario

06-10-2009, 03:58 PM

Aw, AnSo; don't steal poor Brad's spotlight - we already love you for your 14 page musicology paper (and we'll love you even more when it's translated, or when we learn Swedish :wink:).

Gario

06-15-2009, 11:19 PM

Hey OCR! Time to give you all another dose of music theory goodness! In honor of the new TMNT IV arcade 3d remake that is coming out I've decided to analyse that exact soundtrack (the SNES version, of course :P).

http://media.gamestats.com/gg/image/tmnt_tit_snesboxboxart_160w.jpg

Sweet game (in fact, the first I ever played on my own home console, and it was epic, let me tell you - best christmas ever). However, it's made even more sweet because of it's memorable soundtrack - made memorable due to it really sounding like the turtles through and through. How did they achieve this uniformity in sound? How did they make it sound like 'Turtles' even with only one listening of the music (like it did for me)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHuQsIJphu0

That's right, that took their musical ideas straight from the source, baby! What a source, might I add - this is a very interesting game in that it's one of the very few that had an outside source to derive their music from and actually took artistic advantage of it. Other games have music from movies and such in the soundtrack (Terminator, Star wars, etc.), but they more often than not actually arranged the original for the videogame port almost note for note (imagine doing a remix of the SNES starwars (doesn't matter which episode) for OCR... what do you think their response (insertion needed) would be?). TMNT IV, however, wouldn't have that problem (link to OCR remixes), yet it is heavily related to the original soundtrack... why? Because the video game has taken apart the original theme and taken multiple motives out of it and rearranged them in order to create new and interesting music out of it.

Take a look at the theme music (piano reduction done by me for the sake of this analysis)...

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/Turtles.jpg?t=1245103980

If one studies it closely, they'll realize there is not much going on in it, motivically. In fact, there are only five significantly different motives throughout the whole thing (three melodic ideas and two bass ideas)... and one of them is only significant in the TMNT IV game soundtrack (the one highlighted in blue in the score).

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/TMNTMelodicMotives.jpg?t=1245104006

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/TMNTBassMotives.jpg?t=1245104025

Hey, wait a minute, isn't there more to the song other than these five ideas? No, everything in the music is a variation of some sort or another of these very basic ideas - for example, the verse (mm 9 - 10 & 13 - 14) is the first melodic motive when it is inverted (flipped) and retrograded (backwards). The bass motion from mm17 - 20 is the second bass motive inverted and using a different rhythm. Reusing motives keeps a piece of music unified and connected.

By the way, the singers for each of the verses is a different turtle... Don sings the first part of the verse, Leo sings the second, Raph the third and final part of the verse (Mickey actually doubles Raph at the end). This has nothing to do with what I'm going to talk about, but I just heard that last night, and it was so cool and brilliant that I had to mention it somewhere :). Seriously, listen to it with that in mind - the different timbres of each voice part fits that explination perfectly.

Now, back to TMNT IV - TIT... maybe the acronym isn't so good, I'll should probably just write Turtles in Time... The music written for this game takes the motives I mentioned above and creates new, unique music based off of it. A few tracks make this more obvious than others, but the influence is always there.

The first track I'm looking at is the 'Roof (http://www.box.net/shared/klvxbl22i6)' track (I'm using the ingame naming method, for better or worse). Now, I hope this is an obvious relationship to the original theme song (intro, theme chorus, theme verse... yeah, nearly the same, in fact). However, I would like to point out that they are, in fact, not the same. There are variations that make this a song in it's own right (the style is very different from the original, for example - funk vs straight 80's rock), not to mention an intro that actually makes the chorus function as a sort of 'verse' - quite different from how the original treated that material (in the original theme it's more like an intro and outro to the song). In fact, I'd say it takes a considerable amount of liberty with the harmonic structure and texture - taking advantage of the openess of the original (notice that most of the harmonies are not complete in the original theme, even if the harmonies are implied) and incorporating some of their own riffs and lines to fill in some gaps. I feel that if OCR was around back then, this would be considered a perfect remix of the source tune (it has enough source, yet it varies enough to create interest, as well)... other than the sample quality.

In contrast to the last song, Sewerage (http://www.box.net/shared/cibclhccex) (yes, that's what it's called ingame - the beauty of Engrish) doesn't repeat the theme nearly as clearly... yet it's still easy to recognise that it's certainly a Turtles tune, right there. Quite a bit of complex motivic usage is going on here, but it is very clear that most of the ideas generated from the original theme. The intro theme (0:00 - 0:08 ), for example, is a variation of the bass motive 2 - except instead of using it as a bass, they use it as a melodic idea (who says that you have to use motives the same as they were originally used?). Even more interesting is that the second melodic motivic idea is integrated into the bass motive, adding the leap up into the descending line (like that motive does), only it leaps into the bass motive's notes. The texture of that part also has the first melodic motive playing, although it isn't mearly as salient.

After establishing itself as the theme of the song, it plays with a variation of that newly created theme (0:09 - 0:18 ). After that it plays the notes (in scale degrees) 1-3-1-4-3-1-b7-1 (the 3rd being major, not minor). What is significant about that? The first bass motive's first three notes are 1-3-4 (the third is flat in the original, I know - but the impact is still there), so this melody is dancing around the original harmonic motion very quickly. The relationship to the original is very salient, there, if you listen for it, and it leads back up to the theme that it introduced earlier.

Finally at the end of the song (0:37 - 0:47), it has a very prominant neighboring motion that rings like the first melodic motive of the original theme - that steps down. Notice that that theme in the original actually is an inverse of what is here - and in the original it tends to step up. Thus, this ending part is an inverse of that original motivic idea in the theme. Pretty heavy relationship, eh?

The level after that, Fortress (http://www.box.net/shared/26atymmcl5), derives from a similar vein - after the intro material (which is an inversion of the first melodic motive) it uses the second bass motive as the theme of the song (0:09 - 0:11). However, it does not integrate the melodic idea into that theme at all - instead just descending without any leaps to break it up. It does follow the idea (0:11 - 0:13) with a rhythmic variant of the first melodic idea, though (the group of neighbors). The solos that occur after the melody use the bass motive again (actually in a similar fashion as it's used in the original at mm 17 - 20, although it's missing one measure of it). After repeating that, it solos over a variation of that bass motion again (It isn't very clear, though - I'm shooting from the hip for 0:26 - 0:35).

From 0:35 - 0:52 the music harmonizes over the first bass motive (incomplete, but still that motive, note for note) with a melody that follows the rhythm of the first melodic motive (along with a small neighbor motion that keeps it melodically in line with it), followed by a melodic version of the bass motion that was just played (actually, it's similar to the noodling notes from Sewerage in that it plays around with the notes 1-3-4, but it's shape is much more similar to the shape in the original motive, here). Of course, at 0:50 it plays melodic motive 3, which basically sets any song as a Turtles song :).

By the way, why the hell hasn't anyone remixed this track yet!? It really rocks.

I can't go through every song on the track (well, I could, but I don't know if anyone would want to read it then, lol), but before I close this analysis I want to look at Star Base (http://www.box.net/shared/cvb5dmh2ru) (as it's always been my favorite track on the game). The melody is, almost note for note, the second melodic motive, and it's a powerful rendition of it, let me tell you. Instead of having the note leap quickly up (like in the original) Harumi Ueko and Kazuhiko Uehara extended the rhythm so each note has a sense of importance. After that great opening it leads into a variation of the original theme (the first melodic motive and first bass motive together). In fact, other than the opening it plays something very close to the original theme music - but that opening really changes the mood from TMNT to something heroic, and has always stuck in my heart as such.

Take a look at the soundtrack yourself - you'll find it oozes with TMNT goodness everywhere you turn. The techniques used to expand and reuse the motives are also things that many remixers here do in order to vary their own interpretations of the music when they remix and want to incorporate original material that doesn't sound too detached from the original sources. Listen to a few remixes on this site and try to derive where the variations came from - you'll learn that they often do very clever things to the source in order to make it their own music (and I commend every one of you for this). Until next week!

WillRock

06-15-2009, 11:32 PM

Novel

Altho an interesting one I must say, you go crazy indepth... lol

Keep up the analysis's :P

SoulinEther

06-16-2009, 02:38 AM

I especially think this TMNT discussion was very salient to this community.

Gario

06-16-2009, 10:50 PM

I especially think this TMNT discussion was very salient to this community.

Well, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it - and I hope it encourages people to write more music and analyze more VG music on their free time (it's always fun to read other people's interpretations of music - often they catch something you'd never think about).

Gario

06-22-2009, 04:59 PM

Hey eveyone! Like I said, I plan to do my own analysis every Monday of the week myself, but feel free to post something of your own - I enjoy seeing what other people think of music, as you will always have a different outlook from myself and I could learn some new stuff from you guys.

Another week, another analysis for me. What's the flavor of the week?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Jackal_game_flyer.png

Jackal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwNNz4q19vA&feature=related) - if you haven't played this game, go out and shoot yourself... then go play it, as it is one of the best top down shooters in history. The graphics were great, the story was perfect ('This battle will make your blood boil. Good luck!'... priceless), and the music really did get your blood boiling. What is it about the music that made you want to rip the Russians/Germans/North Koreans/whatever-enemy-we're-dealing-with a new asshole? That first level especially is an epic piece of work, there - Seriously, it just feels like battle music. Why is that?

I'd attribute the battle sound to one element - the incredibly teleocentric harmonies they use. For those that don't know, teleocentric means 'goal oriented' (vs 'Centric', where the harmonies don't move towards anything, they just move around a center, or 'Generative', where the harmonies are all continually developed from the previous chord). Oddly enough, it never actually reaches a goal; it always sounds like it's moving towards one, though. There is actually a 'Shepard Tone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_tone)' effect throughout the whole thing, as it never seems to relieve that tension the goal oriented music creates - it sounds like it's forever increasing in energy. The music is freaking insane. How did they do it?

Let's take a look at the tonal structure. Music that sounds teleocentric more often than not follows a tonal syntax, and this song isn't any different. The notes sound mixolydian, at first, but the harmonic structure feels like Major that borrows from the parallel minor mode. From the beginning to the looping point, it sound like...

(from 0:08 on...)
BM: V/v (no third) - I - V - vi - IV - V - vi - IV - V - bVII- I - II# - V - (IV) - V - (IV) - Passing...

Interesting harmonies, to say the least - if anyone is confused, I can make it into specific chords rather than Roman Numerals by request. Now, what is going on, there, and why does it feel like it's continually building up? The first two harmonies (three, if the intro is included) are textbook harmonies for a tonal song (I - V, or starting the song off with the dominant, to give it spice, V - I - V), and the move to vi isn't uncommon at all (it's called a 'deceptive cadence', because the dominant doesn't move to the tonic, but to a chord that has a single note difference from the tonic, the sub-mediant... okay, a deceptive cadence normally uses the 6/3 position of vi instead of the root, but more on that in a second). However, following that harmonic progression the music moves around vi as if it's the harmonic center of the music now. Thus, it makes more sense to analyze it like this...

(From 0:16 on...)
BM: V - vi - IV - V - vi - IV - V - bVII- I - II# - V - IV - V - IV - Passing...

g#m: VII - i - VI - VII - i - VI - VII - bII - III - VI# ...

For those that use Roman Numeral Analysis often, you may be wondering why I placed the pivot on the dominant rather than the sub-mediant (The 'pivot chord' is the exact chord that I begin to analyse the song in more than one key)? Here's the answer - common in modern 'tonal' music (but not in 'classical' music), the progression VII - i / bVII - I often replaces the traditional V# - i / V - I as the cadential pattern of the piece - and this song exemplifies this tendency throughout (in fact, I'd say roughly 90% of the music is driven by it). Thus, it makes more sense retrospectively to label the V a VII chord leading up to the implied tonic, especially since the pattern VI - VII - i follows.

That's great for a little while, but it hits a snag when it get to bII. Now, bII is actually a common chord used in the minor mode (the Phrygian or Neopolitan bII), but it doesn't resolve like that at all. Instead, it makes more sense to analyse it as functioning in yet another new 'key'...

(0:24 - 0:30)
BM: bVII - I - II# - V
g#m: bII - III - IV#
C#M: VI - VII - I

Now, what is significant about C#M? That is the applied dominant of the original key's dominant chord, which is, in fact, exactly where that chord goes - that's why I don't follow it any farther than that. It leads back into the original key again, but because of the time it spends on the dominant it almost establishes itself as the key center for a while. I don't label the chords after that point because they are very open (actually, they often are just octaves), meaning it's a scale degree passing motion rather than a harmonic one (hence, the label). It reduces to the scale degrees b3 - b5 - b6 - b7, which then leads back into the beginning of the song (or at least the programmed loop point, the tonic).

For those that are interested, it moves from the 'key centers' I - vi - V/V - V - I, which is a textbook progression you'd easily learn about in second semester music theory. It just moves to these areas in unconventional ways :). Notice, also, that the song never stays in one key for very long at all - it just moves from one place to another. There's a current debate about this, but many theorists (including myself) would call these 'Tonicizations' rather than true 'modulations' - the difference being how long the music stays in the area.

This may all be very well and interesting, but how does this create the Shepard Tone effect explained earlier? The beauty of this whole song is that the harmonic motion essentially follows the infamous Circle of Fifths - meaning it sounds like a whole bunch of cadences stacked next to each other, with no way to disambiguate it, in this case. This ambiguity in the structure is further confused by the fact that this song actually rarely uses a real cadence throughout - it generally sticks to resolving the music with the bVII - I progression, which is not nearly as conclusive as the classic cadential formula (V - I or V# - i).

The only two places in the music that contain the classic cadential formula is the very first chord to the second chord (which is the introduction to the loop point, which is never heard again throughout the song) and the applied dominant to the dominant chord in the middle of the song (0:28 - 0:31). Everything else uses the bVII - I pattern, which sounds inconclusive - even the motion back to the actual tonic. Combine this with the fact that the overall harmonic structure is highly ambiguous without a clear tonic and the result is music that sounds like it's always moving forward, yet never actually ending anywhere. This constant motion towards a goal without ever reaching it is the 'Shepard Tone' that I described earlier - it always feels like it's increasing in energy without ever letting up.

Perfect for battle - it makes my blood boil every time I hear it. Funny, I didn't want this to be as long as it was last week... Oh well.

Gario

06-30-2009, 10:09 PM

A new week, another analysis... I'm a day late, though, for anyone waiting (by the looks of it, not many people :P) - as I've had writing the damn music down on my mind this week rather than writing about it. Thus, my next song will be from that very mix I'm currently working on...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Jurassic_Park_%28SNES%29_Coverart.png

Yup, Jurrasic Park - in particular, the theme music for the mountains (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1EGNaPTACc&fmt=18). If you haven't played this game... well, I can't recommend it, personally - but it had some great music. Unfortunately, the music is also a pain to remix. If it has great music, how could it be difficult to remix?

One word - VARIATION.

The melodies in the music are variations of the same theme, so when you first listen to it you fall under the illusion that there is more material there than there is. In fact, there are only two themes that you could extract from it - the introduction material (which isn't that long) and the chorus (which first plays at 0:27). After that point there are a lot of open areas where the texture takes over, giving the music a rather 'ambient' feeling while waiting for the melodies to come back... when they do, though, it's merely either a slight variation of the intro or the chorus.

Even with two themes, it is often easy to extract smaller motives from them and make up your own material from it and move from there when remixing, but this song has another less obvious disadvantage - antecedent/consequent form. The chorus is set up in such a way that there isn't much material to draw from. By design, one half of the melody plays something called an 'antecedent' (0:27 - 0:31), which is half of a phrase that is designed to be followed up by something that sounds similar to it but completes the motion (the 'consequent', 0:31 - 0:36). Here, the first measure of the chorus repeats nearly the same in the second measure (as well as the third measure), until finally the final measure of the phrase changes it up (in order to give the phrase some closure).

Actually, it is because of these things that I use the textures from the background of this music in a more dominant manner in my own mix - there's a lot of texture and things to play off of in this music - great for techno and such :).

Interesting little details about the music - that help you directly as a remixer looking for good music to remix. When looking for music to remix, study it a little bit - listen to the melodies and such and ask yourself how often that material repeats in the song. From there, listen for the antecedent/consequence form in the melody - if it is a part of the music it'll be difficult to pull more than one or two motives to make a remix out of (which isn't good). Mind you, one can still make an excellent song with very limited resources (http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00537/), but it's always nice to know what your getting into when you start a remix.

Hey, this is rather short, for me - yet it's (hopefully) highly relevant to what people do here on OC; I hope it's still interesting :).

Gario

07-07-2009, 11:40 PM

Hah! I'm back, and I want to take a more personal approach to this very famous song from FFVII.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Ffviibox.jpg

The scene link is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvigYVbKfqk), but if you don't want to ruin this scene (if you never played FFVII and plan to) then I'd suggest not watching it, nor reading the rest of this post (of course, I think virtually everyone knows about this scene, so whatever...).

Yeah, this scene is probably the most touching scene in RPG history, but there are a few factors about the music, the timing and such that really create a unique atmosphere in this scene - in fact, whenever I hear the music and watch this scene it really feels like the climax of the entire FF franchise. Why would I say that?

Alright, lets take a look at just the first phrase (in fact, that is the only phrase I'm looking at) - the notes are (CDE) - G - C (the notes in the parantheses are played as a cluster). Woo, a C major chord with an added D, right? Nothing special... until you realize that this is the very chord used in the prelude of every[/URL] [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2NH1vjFzMc"]Final (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2NH1vjFzMc) Fantasy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsPRNAZ2ILU&feature=related) game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By1iaOAvXRM&feature=related) - the very first chord, in fact. Not only does the Aeris theme use the same notes, but it ascends in almost the exact same fashion, although it only reaches one octave. The fact that there is a chord cluster that is struck first further intensifies the effect.

The timing of the materia striking the ground and the striking of the first cluster in the music accents the music in an artless fashion, and the impact of the scene itself (both visually and emotionally) compliment everything perfectly.

My interpretation of the scene, then, is that the Death of Aeris is the culmination of every Final Fantasy up to that point, as it is the most intense subject matter (your love interest dies - no other FF had done that, to that point, nor ever does that again, to my knowledge), the visuals were epic (well, for the time, anyway), the music was a variation of a theme that was (and is still) used in every Final Fantasy, and most importantly - every piece forms a whole that far surpasses the parts in intensity. It is almost operatic in how well everything forms, in the end. Yes, this is all because of the first chord (and only the first chord) - but the effect is so strong that it only needs that small relation to the Prelude to connect with it.

I get goosebumps every time I watch that scene - every time. The way everything forms together really touches me in a way no other FF game can. Does anyone else feel that way about the music, there?

Gario

07-14-2009, 06:48 PM

Hmm... I don't have a game that's coming to mind for this week. Instead, I'm going to do something that's a little more general and applies to Video Games, overall. Have you all ever played Bionic Commando (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqZE4ERq4EY)? How about The Legend of Zelda (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajYFOBWOBKs&feature=related), or A Link to the Past (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kqzc4gcnw)? These two games have themes in them that sound very militaristic, but what does that even mean?

Way back in antiquity, Brass instruments were introduced. Their function was simple - you vibrate the air inside of a mouthpiece, and the opening amplifies that sound in a particular way. They had some problems inherent to their design, though - they could only hit notes that were on the harmonic series of partials (the 'fundimental', the octave, the fifth above, the fourth above that, etc), so they didn't have a full range of notes. Of course, at this time that was completely irrelevant, as the music that was performed didn't need that full range of notes - they just played music that only needed the notes they had.

Interestingly enough, due to their rather 'brass' nature (ha, bad pun) they were used heavily to rally military troops on the battlefield. Of course, because of the limitations of the instrument (they didn't come up with a decent way around this problem until the predecesser of the Trombone was developed in the 1500's), the fanfare that would be used was the leap from the octave to the fifth above it (or just a leap of a fifth upward).

Why do I tell you this? Because that perfect fifth upward leap is now a symbol of a militaristic fanfare, because it has been used as such for millenia. Therefore, if any song (game music or otherwise) uses the leap of a perfect fifth upward, it will evoke militaristic emotions within the listener. Let's take a look at the songs above and see how they use the perfect fifth leap.

Bionic Commando starts the music off with some snare rolls (on the nes it isn't that impressive sounding :P), followed by the theme music we all know and love. That theme music starts off with a leap of a fifth - mirroring the fanfare for militia of the millenia. The music that follows that further enforces that fifth motion by accenting the fifth scale degree throughout the beginning of the theme. I would go further, but sadly I don't have my headphones with me today (that is also true of the Zelda music I will elaborate).

The main theme of all Zelda music also incorporates a lot of fifth motion (and the inverse of that, a leap of a fourth downward). The music starts with that leap down to a fourth, then back up to the main note - which is followed by a run up to the fifth and stops there, accenting the fifth in the process. From there it continues up to the octave and dances around using runs to the lower fourth and such throughout the music.

In the Dark World music of A Link to the Past, it starts quite similarly to Bionic Commando's theme music - except there is a neat little bass pattern over the snare rolls. When the melody strikes, however, one can easily see that it starts the music with that leap up of a fifth - establishing it's place as a military piece. I'd like to elaborate on this song more, but again - I don't have sound right now so I cannot :(.

If you want to add a little bit of a military flair to your own music or remixes try using that upward fifth leap - you'd be surprised at how effective it is in evoking a military mindset to your music overall. Of course it's not the only thing you can do, but as I've shown it can be a very powerful tool if used properly. Also, keep an eye out for it - more often than not when it is used it is done so to represent a military mood, whether the composer did it conciously or not. Happy analysing!

Moseph

07-14-2009, 10:35 PM

I just realized while looking at this thread (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24374) that Green Hill Zone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFHvxuuOymo) reminds me of Zelda's Lullaby (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRVU4RCtUc). It has the same sort of deal where IV tends to displace the tonic by existing as the focal chord at the start of the verse and undermining what would otherwise be V-I cadences. (I'm thinking that maybe this is something of a stock technique for looping music that drives things forward by avoiding any clear resolution.)

EDIT: Not to dredge up old discussions, Gario, but thinking about this reminded me that the original Link to the Past version of the lullaby doesn't feature that line that you took to be the functional bass until the repetition of the first section. There's also an interesting fanfare that introduces the piece that isn't present in the Ocarina of Time version.

Gario

07-14-2009, 11:07 PM

It has the same sort of deal where IV tends to displace the tonic by existing as the focal chord at the start of the verse and undermining what would otherwise be V-I cadences. (I'm thinking that maybe this is something of a stock technique for looping music that drives things forward by avoiding any clear resolution.)

Interesting observation. I wonder why that happens - is it because of the contrapuntal relationship between IV and I or is it a harmonic relationship (IV - I sounds like I - V, if the IV is played first)? I guess that depends on the context of the music.

Not to dredge up old discussions, Gario, but thinking about this reminded me that the original Link to the Past version of the lullaby doesn't feature that line that you took to be the functional bass until the repetition of the first section.

Interesting... I've gotta go check out the music from LTTP, now - you've got me curious :nicework:.

Moseph

07-14-2009, 11:23 PM

Interesting observation. I wonder why that happens - is it because of the contrapuntal relationship between IV and I or is it a harmonic relationship (IV - I sounds like I - V, if the IV is played first)? I guess that depends on the context of the music.
Off the top of my head, I'd guess that IV is used that way both because of the potential tonic-dominant relationship with I and because if you treat it as a tonal center, it puts you in the Lydian mode without altering the scale, and of the white key modes, Lydian is the closest to major and therefore the most likely tonic substitute. And Lydian's also just generally a nice place to be. A jazz professor I TA'd for last year pointed out that Lydian's used all the time in film music to evoke a sense of scale or expectancy, and since then, I've noticed it all over the place.

SoulinEther

07-15-2009, 01:12 AM

You've got me thinking about perfect fifths and fourths in a whole different way. Cool.

Brian

07-15-2009, 03:36 AM

Yay a music theory thread! I have a question to ask you guys.

Down below are the chords for the popular main theme song of Legend of Zelda. I had an argument with this guy, but I'll ask you guys just to be sure. I said it was Bb major (above) and the other guy said it was Bb minor (below). The Bb minor with 5 flats reduces the number of accidentals making it "easier to read". From my point of view I said it was Bb major because it begins in Bb major and later resolves to Bb major again.

Bb: I, v, bVI(3-6), bIII, bII, i, II, V (above)
Bbm: Too lazy to work it out, just look at the pic (below)

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/5928/part1w.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/i/part1w.jpg/)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/2829/part2h.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/i/part2h.jpg/)

So which is it? I find this chord progression fascinating because you can easily alter the first measure into a minor chord (lowering the third) and you got yourself a main theme in minor without having to alter the rest of the song.

prophetik

07-15-2009, 04:01 AM

same thing as your other thread, brian. roman numerals make this kind of stuff too complex to really see what's happening. it's just pop shit, not real contrapuntal stuff. as a result, you can't really 'analyze' it.

for what it's worth (i'm working from my memory here), the last two chords aren't in the same key as the rest - they're secondary chords. that's not a II (which doesn't exist), but a V/V.

you do know that this is a lot easier to read if you put it down a half step and put it in the key signature of C (even though it's in A), right? like, way easier. you've got the sharps at the end for the secondary chords in E (V/V, V) and that's about it.

Moseph

07-15-2009, 10:47 AM

Yay a music theory thread! I have a question to ask you guys.

Down below are the chords for the popular main theme song of Legend of Zelda. I had an argument with this guy, but I'll ask you guys just to be sure. I said it was Bb major (above) and the other guy said it was Bb minor (below). The Bb minor with 5 flats reduces the number of accidentals making it "easier to read". From my point of view I said it was Bb major because it begins in Bb major and later resolves to Bb major again.

Bb: I, v, bVI(3-6), bIII, bII, i, II, V (above)
Bbm: Too lazy to work it out, just look at the pic (below)

So which is it? I find this chord progression fascinating because you can easily alter the first measure into a minor chord (lowering the third) and you got yourself a main theme in minor without having to alter the rest of the song.

I would take the weasel's way out and just say it's in B-flat. It's actually pretty common to have things that have elements of both major and minor. Just notate it how you prefer to read it, and call it what you want to call it; key signature doesn't even necessarily have to reflect the actual key -- it just usually makes it easiest to read when it does.

Gario

07-15-2009, 03:14 PM

I see where your friend is arguing from, but I would agree with you - because it started and ended in BbM, I'd say it's functioning in BbM - it isn't at all uncommon even in classical music (well, romantic music, anyhow) to borrow from the parallel minor - it gives some nice spice to the music.

It would be easier to write it in Bbm, but it still functions in BbM. Hey, is that a Neapolitan chord in there? Awesome. :tomatoface:

anosou

07-15-2009, 04:57 PM

Mixing major/minor is basically how I do music :D Never hurts to shoot in some chords built on modal scales too. Variation is key for ultimate funnies :3

Gario

07-16-2009, 06:54 PM

Cripes, I was going to post something I wrote a while ago that shows the functionality vs ease of reading, but I lost my files for it... I'll need to scan it in order to show it :(... and where is that translation, AnSo? :P

Also, +1000 posts (Megaman is the best)! Woot, now I'ma in the 4 digits - it'll take me ten times longer to get to 5 digits :nicework:.

Strike911

07-16-2009, 07:22 PM

I don't have anything to add as I don't really have the musical knowledge or ability to dissect themes like that, but I just want to say one thing:

I <3 this thread. Insight into the inner working of some of these themes really is eye opening and I honestly feel like I'm learning something.

Nice work.

Gario

07-21-2009, 06:56 PM

Oi, OC people! We're going to take a look at one of the most popular video game songs in existence (or at least, one of the best known songs, anyway)...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0e/Super_Mario_Bros_box.jpg/250px-Super_Mario_Bros_box.jpg

Ha! If there's any song in the world that is recognizable, it is the Mario Theme! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jQRGLoiiek&feature=related) Really, more people know about that in America than our own national anthem (seriously). Why is it so recognizable, though? Why do people remember it so well? Of course, it's been around for ages, but even when it first came out everyone knew the theme. Why is it so easy to remember, and why do we consider it so damn catchy (admit it, you like the song - you just do)?

As anyone will know, repetition does wonders when it comes to trying to remember something - and this song takes full advantage of that fact by using a classic phrase structure called 'Antecedent/Consequence' form throughout the music (as well as using conventional repetitions). Essentially, a musical phrase will play, ending with a 'tension' - this is the 'antecedent' of the phrase. This will be followed by a phrase that is virtually the exact same, except the end of it will resolve the 'tension' - this is the 'consequent'. This engrains the idea of the phrase in the listener's head due to the repetition involved, but it won't sound boring because the context of the two phrases are completely different - one sounds like it's 'asking a question' while the other sounds like it is 'answering the question'.

Listen to the sections at 0:14 - 0:23, 0:33 - 0:42, and 0:52 - 1:01 - these are all examples of 'antecedent/consequent' phrases. Notice that it is, in essence, repeating the material over and over again, but because of the very slight variations in the music it keeps the material fresh. Repetition keeps something in your head, while variation keeps it interesting - Koji Kondo was a genious merging the two so seemlessly, thus making it both catchy and memorable.

Not as long as my normal posts, I admit, but perhaps that's a good thing.

Nase

07-21-2009, 07:27 PM

Btw, ever recognised how the noise channel is swinging while the rest isn't? Shnabubula pointed that out to me.

anosou

07-21-2009, 07:32 PM

Btw, ever recognised how the noise channel is swinging while the rest isn't? Shnabubula pointed that out to me.

That's fucking sex. I've thought about that a long time. Koji Kondo talked about how he wanted to make some REALLY crazy music to go with the really crazy visuals (at that time). I think he actually succeeded.

Also, nice work Gario

Gario

07-21-2009, 07:58 PM

That's fucking sex.

Woa, your right about that. I noticed that the noise had swing, but I didn't even think about the rest of the music being straight. That's a trip and a half.

JH Sounds

07-21-2009, 08:51 PM

The fun thing about Mario remixes is that they invariably try to cloak or trim down the antecedent/consequence bits and the repetition.

Gario

07-21-2009, 10:05 PM

I don't know, most remixes of the M (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfrKqFp0Zg)a (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igWL4aNAR3s)r (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1O2jcfOylU)i (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFcGcErI_Tk)o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcTPRjiCs6s) T (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHabtGz33v8)h (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZpD0btOZx8)e (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbGjBQILU08&feature=related)m (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sw76wHUmk4)e (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3UTHj16ukM) seem to follow the structure quite accurately :<.

Most remixes on OC don't though, of course - we try to mask the effect. For shame.

Nase

07-21-2009, 10:52 PM

Gario

08-04-2009, 11:21 PM

Yeah, it's a bit late (I took a week off of this thread), but I was busy actually writing music. I have priorities, you know :nicework:.

Hello, OCR! Once again I'm using a rather general topic rather than a specific game, but it's something that I'm sure many of you can use, so bear with me! It's a common thing with older JRPGs, having peaceful towns that need help or supply you with a place to rest and such. What's so interesting about the town music from older JRPGs? I found that they follow a relatively rigid formula, which one could capitalize on if they need to have good ol' town music in an RPG.

FFV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWxevMs0iE&feature=related)
FFV(2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZgApBKQSE4&feature=related)
FFVI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iLukHyH6RI)
Mario RPG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWXhD4-_GDY&feature=related)

It's interesting - I've noticed that many town songs seem to introduce a mellow theme, then follow it up with an elaboration or variation of that calm theme before moving into the 'B' section (the songs above are an example, but there are quite a few more that do this, as well). I won't go so far as to say every JRPG song does this, but I find that a great majority of them seem to do so.

I can't say for sure why this is done (other than because it works ;-)), but if I were to take a guess I'd say it's because the calm, peaceful introduction of the thematic material gives the illusion that the next part is peaceful, as well (which may not be so peaceful in the reiteration, in reality, like the Mario RPG rendition). Also, it is an effective way to extend a track without too much effort. If anyone else has any idea why this works so well, let me know - I'm really curious, and I don't have a definite answer.

Thus, in theory, it would be possible to emulate this effect by doing the same thing yourself when composing a town theme for an old style JRPG. I did just that (http://www.box.net/shared/4nhuh3ntic) a few years ago - write a JRPG-style town theme (well, styled to represent a big city, actually) using the technique I explained above and expanding on it. I feel it captures the mood of a city perfectly, partly because it emulated the classic formula so well.

For how rigid it is, you'll probably notice that there is a lot of room for variety, even with such a strict structure. The classic, rustic town is easy to find, but you'll notice that there is room for a royal city theme or even a big modern-city theme to follow this structure with ease. It's quite amazing, but not surprising - composers have written many amazing works using rigid structures and such.

Try it out - you'd be surprised how well this works (and don't forget to share your examples if you do try it :-P).

Dj Mokram

08-05-2009, 05:51 PM

Hey, that's a pretty neat idea! I'll give it a try and tell you how it worked.
Nice analysis, a bit shorter than usual. I see you're targeting a more casual audience now. :wink:

Gario

08-06-2009, 09:48 PM

Casual? Meh, it just doesn't get into all the technical terminology. It doesn't have to all the time, though - sometimes the most interesting things in music can be explained in simple ways.

Hey, if you write a song with this, DjMokram, share it! :wink:

Sam Ascher-Weiss

08-06-2009, 11:11 PM

What about the super mario kart town theme?

http://ahimbadam.arnoldascher.com/SMKAtown.mp3

Gario

08-07-2009, 03:03 AM

I hate you and your chip-tune abilities... I guess that's the natural reaction of jealousy, though. Sweet song, Sam - I actually thought you were showing music for some secret town in Mario Kart for a split second, lol.

Cool, eh?

Gario

08-11-2009, 08:37 PM

Another week, another analysis. Going back to some of the earlier posts, I'm returning to the good ol' limitations of the NES and some of the amazing tricks that were performed with it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Legend_of_zelda_cover_%28with_cartridge%29_gold.pn g

Alright, I personally don't like looking at 'classics', as they get more than enough attention on their own, but damn - this had one hot soundtrack. In particular, I'm looking at this track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5sxOnymKjQ&feature=related). Awesome as the beginning of this theme is (I mean, really - it just makes me want to sit down and play it again for the umpteenth time), I'm actually focusing on the ballad that occurs from 0:11 on. I find it interesting that I can hear this as a string orchestra with woodwind embellishments, followed by a brass section reinforcing the theme... Of course, different people hear it different ways, but I doubt anyone back in 1986 actually heard this song as square waves and triangle waves. If the music was good it tended to evoke the sounds of real instruments without being real, but how does the music do that?

Alright, let's break this down to it's parts - this song uses four sound channels (two for rectangle/saw waves, one for a triangle and one for noise), so there is a limit to what it can accomplish (look at the first post for details on the sound channels - the Silver Surfer analysis is all about channel limits). However, listen to the ostinato that begins at 0:11 in the rectangle - you'll notice that it coincides with the triangle wave moving in a similar motion. Also notice that the second rectangle channel hits a third above the triangle (while the other one is hitting a fifth above), but does not continue the ostinato pattern - instead, it's used to emphasise the first beat of each measure (for two measures).

What is significant about that? An ostinato is a very familiar technique used in classical music, so using it in the context of a video game will evoke a classical atmosphere. Using the third to accent the measures instead of the fifth or root actually will leave a 'sonic residue' (I made that term up :P) in the listener's mind, so your brain now completes the chord all the way through the ostinato, even if it isn't actually being played anymore. The technique implies an orchestra (for me, or at least something traditional, for most people), and the strikes of the third completes the chord with the listener.

What makes that strike significant, though? It sets us up for when the theme comes in at 0:16 - notice that the strike isn't there anymore, yet our mind still completes the chord. Later in the music this becomes important for emulating an orchestral sound - you'll see :nicework:.

The melodic theme is interesting, on it's own, as it implies that it is a traditional instrument playing it. The fact that there are neat leaps and scalar runs in the music implies that it music be an instrument and not a voice, and the background ostinato (which is still there, by the way) implies that it should be a traditional instrument (and not electronic), so my mind interprets the melody to be an instrument rather than bleeps (even though it literally is just bleeps).

At 0:19, you'll notice that the second rectangle wave (that normally plays the ostinato with the triangle) drops out to echo the melody. This is also a traditional technique used in classic music called 'Antiphony' - where two separate instruments interact by one playing a line, then getting a response with another instrument. I understand that this is primarily a choral technique, but it is used in the instrumental world, as well, so this further emphasises the fact that this is indeed an instrumental piece, here.

The ostinato is still being implimented throughout, though (and you still hear it even though it's not literally playing except in the triangle), so now there are two techniques being used in the music that is classically instrumental in nature. This evokes a very instrumental feel in music that is made up of bleeps.

It continues in this fashion until it gets to 0:27, where the two rectangles now play a duet. The really cool thing about this part is that while the duet is happening, the ostinato and the antiphony is still happening in the music, either implied or literally. The duet is a highly contrapuntal little deal, which, again, evokes a very traditional feel to the music. This is compounded by the fact that all the other techniques are still being used, so this only furthers the orchestral sound that it has emitted so far.

It's very interesting what the brain will do with music - if it recognises certain patterns from other music it will naturally associate it with that music. It's an interesting process, and I'll note that this doesn't happen with 'classical music', necessarily, even for this particular track - it's simply what I'm familiar with, personally. If you are familiar with a genre of music and an older game tries to emulate the sound by using techniques from the genre, your mind begins to listen to the music as if it was that genre rather than a compilation of bleeps.

It's a very intriguing subject, how the brain interprets music :-P.

Gario

08-26-2009, 02:45 AM

Hey everyone, it's been another skipped week... Alas, life happens (in this case, FBRC happened, and it took quite a bit of time to do, too).

Alright, for this week we're going to look at a very famous piece of Gregorian Chant, the Dies Irae (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0). It's interesting (and ironic) that whenever a composer wants to represent death, often they'll quote this little tune in their music. It's a pretty old tradition (I know it's very blatantly quoted in the final movement of Berlioz's 'Symphony Fantastique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrezpUWIY98)' at 3:24 - the whole thing is supposed to be a representation of a satanic black mass), and it never seems to get old.

Ah, not familiar with it? I can assure you that you are - you just don't know it yet. It's been in all sorts of music (like the example above), but is often used in modern music, as well. For example, listen to the background music of Star Wars: A New Hope when Uncle Owen dies - you can hear hte theme play breifly in the background in some of the deeper instruments. It's slipped in there pretty subtly, but it's still there (sorry, I can't find a video of it on Youtube...).

Obviously, as it's the theme of this thread, it has made it's appearances in video games, as well, and in rather subtle (and some not-so-subtle) ways, too. Look at the game 'Gauntlet Legends' for the N64, for example - the entire set of Skorne's Battlefield levels is designed off of variations of that very theme. Every level in that section has music that is based on the Dies Irae in one form or another. The trenches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeP-exBJqpE), in particular, simply quotes it note-for-note in the bass, and it's awesome.

Other well known games have introduced this theme into their own soundtrack, as well - listen to FFIX's Caslte Ipsen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXGSH2AO4JE&feature=PlayList&p=157920C0F06304A5&index=113) theme (even Nobuo Uematsu couldn't resist doing it at least once :tomatoface:). The choir plays the Dies Irae underneath the broken title theme played by the flute, showing us that there is something dark about that castle, indeed.

How many places have you heard this theme played in a video game? I'm positive that there are many places that I haven't heard (or have heard, but wasn't aware of the theme at the time of hearing it), and I'm curious when it'll pop up next. To composers and theorists it's a musical game that is constantly being played, much like a musical running gag that only certain people get. Now you get the gag, so go enjoy listening for it in your favorite music :-P.

Dhsu

08-26-2009, 09:02 AM

This one's (http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01493/) my favorite. :)

Have you thought about collaborating with Kenley on Into The Score (http://www.intothescore.com)? He does a similar thing with his podcast, and maybe you two could work together to produce a regular segment.

Gario

08-27-2009, 05:11 AM

Heh heh heh... nice - it's awesome when you can actually recognize things like this (it goes to show you even remixers here play the Dies Irae game :nicework:).

Interesting podcast... I'll be listening to it soon (I didn't know about it). I actually might be interested in collaborating with him, but the guy doesn't seem to have contact information on his page, so I can't get in touch :|. If I did something with him I would still post here, though - I need to keep my music theory fresh in my mind or else I'll lose it, and this seems to be a very fun way to do it :)!!.

Dhsu

08-27-2009, 07:58 PM

I believe you can contact Kenley at kenley(at)intothescore(dot)com.

Gario

09-10-2009, 04:39 AM

Another 2 week hiatus... Damn, I seem to be making a habit of that. I'm doing something different today, studying a technique that a specific composer likes to employ. Nobuo Uematsu (from the famed Final Fantasy series - if you didn't know that I'd be very surprised, considering the forum your on :tomatoface:) is who'll share the spotlight, today :).

Let's listen to some music for a moment. Check out this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDlPZdP7E0), this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h8ZeYyRkIU&feature=PlayList&p=67187DAD7FE5B187&index=7) and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgS0fSFGqmI) for a second and listen to them. Listen to the common meter that Nobuo uses throughout each of these songs (12/8, in every case). Does it sound like that common meter? Not really, since the conventional use of that meter dictates that normally it should subdivide into three eighth-note, but Nobuo instead subdivides the meter into two divisions of three followed by three divisions of two.

Subdividing common meters in unconventional fashions isn't anything new, to most people (as it's pretty common to do things such as this in popular music and other video game music), but many people don't understand the power of subdividing music differently. Nobuo Uematsu uses the subdividing technique masterfully, creating suspense and interest throughout the music, but how does he do it?

First, let's look at the FFIX example - listen to how he constantly changes how the meters are subdivided. Changing meters is inconvenient, but is very handy if you want to create tension in music, since the listener will not know where the music wil go next. Subdividing the music in different ways constantly will achieve the same effect as changing meters would, except your not changing meters (which is convinient when composing, believe me). Unconventional changes in the meters, when done right, can create a sense of urgency in music in a more effecient manner than changing other things up (such as changing meters, for example).

FFVIII takes advantage of another aspect of unconventional subdivision - it's constantly placing two subdivisions against each other at once. Listen to the background and the melodies - they are never together using the same subdivisions. Some parts use straight quarters to subdivide, while parts use the motivic beat from the beginning of the piece, while still others use straight dotted quarters, etc., and often does all of this at the same time, creating a complicated texture that is still very listenable.

Another technique used by Nobuo Uematsu is salient in FFVII - the changes in the actual meter being masked by the effects of different subdividing. Listen to the example at 0:06 - 0:22. Notice that there is an extra beat slipped in at one part. Listening to it without really analysing it, you'll miss that interesting extention of the meter. Because Nobuo is constantly changing how each measure sounds in this song, it's hard to identify when the meter is actually changing, so it becomes possible to take advantage of this by mixing in irregular meter patterns periodically without having any adverse effect on the audience.

I will note that the FFIX track also mixes in irregular meters, but it's a bit more difficult to catch.

Nobuo Uematsu loves his uncommon subdivision of common meters, and he uses them to their fullest in his classic video game music. We're all the better for it :).

Global-Trance

09-11-2009, 11:37 PM

Excellent analysis. I've gone through a large number of .nsf from NES games and dissected tracks into separate channels and I'm constantly going "What the hell?" in amazement of how complex they've made the songs with a very small number of channels that can only play one thing at a time. Really fascinating.

Gario

09-12-2009, 06:58 AM

I'm glad you liked the Silver Surfer analysis - did you look at the others (as well as things other people have said, which can be quite interesting)?

I hope you enjoy the thread, and feel free to bring up something of your own, if you'd like :).

Gario

10-01-2009, 08:34 AM

Yes, I haven't updated with anything in 3+ weeks (sorry for those who've waited!), but I have a monster analysis to present to you all. Special thanks goes to Moseph for pointing out the peculiarities of this song earlier in this thread - since it authentically baffled me, at the time, I promised to do a more complete analysis of the song someday. Today is that day, ladies and gentlemen; may I present the first full analysis I've ever given in this thread (everything else up to this point has gone into detail over a single point in a song). Bear with me, as there's a lot to look at in here, and be aware that there is some pretty hardcore music theory in here.

Today's song comes from Zelda: A Link to the Past, and it's specifically Zelda's theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRVU4RCtUc&feature=PlayList&p=7F5BF5A0519141FC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25).

This will be broken into five sections - form, motivic, melodic, harmonic, and general analysis. Each area has many points of interest, and they all add up to make a very interesting whole that may change how you listen to the music. Let's dive into some music theory in ACTION!

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/ZeldasTheme.jpg?t=1254381927

Form Analysis

The form of the music is the common structure AB, in it's essence. Given some more detail, it is actually an intro (not included in the score for the sake of simplicity), followed by A for eight measures, then a variation of A (commonly referred to as an " A prime " or " A' " section) for another eight measures, followed by the final B section for the last eight measures before repeating. Pretty basic stuff, at first glance, but it's important to understand the direction of the music - Kenji Kondo has done some very interesting things within this structure.

The A and A' section form an antecedent/consequent phrase, as I've discussed it in the Mario analysis. However, this deviates from the normal antecedent/consequent phrase - the consequent does not end with a resolution, as it should. Instead, the entire B section prolongs the supposed resolution of the music, finally completing the resolution in the last two measures of that section before repeating. Strangely, at the same time it also creates a tension at the same time. How can something create both tension and a resolution at the same time? I will explain this in more detail in the melodic and harmonic analysis.

Motivic Analysis

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/Motives.jpg?t=1254382073

There are a few choice motives that threads the entire song into a unified whole. The first motive shown is the descending step motive - it is the primary basic motive of the piece, and everything in it is based on that single motive. The next motive is the leap of a third up, followed by the leap of a fourth down. You'll notice that I color the first and last note of that motive differently, as that accents the fact that this is a variation of the first motive (it inserts a leap in the middle of it). The reason that I include it as a separate motive is because the music often plays off of the leap in significant ways - thus, it's prudent to include it as it's own separate motive.

The third motive isn't any different from the first motive - in fact, one could rightly say that it's simply the first motive repeated twice in order to create a descending progression. It is used so often in the music in this very fashion that I included it as a separate motive. It has some significance to the harmonic development of the piece.

Melodic Analysis

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/Melody.jpg?t=1254382133

In order to present each motive in a clean fashion, the motivic and harmonic analysis do not present rhythms - instead, barrings and hollow notes will represent something important in the music. Be aware of that when looking at the analysis.

Almost anybody who listens to this piece could tell you that it's a tonal piece of work. However, I can assure you that asking them what key it's in would baffle people (like it did for me and the others involved in the discussion of this song earlier in this thread). That is because it, in fact, often uses properties from two keys simultaneously. Melodically it makes sense to analyze it in one tonal area, while harmonically it makes sense to analyze it in another tonal area. This is called 'Bitonality', and it was common in neo-classical music (developed around 1920 - 1940). In this case, the two keys are 'C' and 'F', which are related by perfect fourth/perfect fifth, so they do not sound too harsh. However, the further along the circle of fifths you make your bitonality, the more extreme the sound will be (for example, 'C' and 'F#', because they are seven perfect fifths apart, would sound very harsh, while 'C' and 'D', two perfect fifths apart, would sound mild, in comparison). Because of the bitonality, I will analyze the music in both keys and explain why I favor one analysis over another.

The intro has an interesting combination of motives as well as an interesting combination of tonalities. The general shape of both the melody and the bass is a retrograde of the leaping motive (meaning it's the same as the motive, except it's backwards), and the shaping of the melodic line repeats the descending stepwise motive. Another very interesting point is the very interesting voice exchange that takes place with the melody and the middle voice (represented by the arrows) - the melody moves from the C to the F while the middle voice moves from the F to a Bb. The melody used the voice exchange to complete the retrograde motive explained earlier (leading into it using an inverted leaping motive, by the way). The middle voice, however, takes advantage of the descending motion it has created with the melody now and completes the third motive I discussed above - the longer descending motive. The intro of the piece combines all of the motives together in a very interesting fashion that paves the way for the rest of the piece.

Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for the intro (or listen to it yourself) - it seems that I'm lazy and didn't include it anywhere. The picture above begins in the beginning of the A section.

Looking at the A section, we'll see two very obvious motives immediately - the stepwise motive (which I mark with a slur) and the motive with the leap in it (which I mark with the bar above the notes). Kenji Kondo made these motives very salient in this part of the piece - many classical era composers introduce bare motives in the beginning of a piece that they're going to elaborate on later so the listener can follow the music easier, and it looks like Kondo is doing the same here. Continuing past the repeat of that part (a repeat except for the lower neighbor in the second measure), the phrase moves into a complicated network of motives that I've outlined. Notice that I do not mark the leap as such in the analysis - I've instead opted to use the octave equivalent to emphasize that nothing has changed motivically. Due to the change in the shape, however, Kondo has managed to include two of the same motive overlapping itself while at the same time effectively creating the antecedent.

The A' has very little that is different from the previous section, with one very large exception - the consequent melodically answers the antecedent. However, instead of simply resolving it creates even more tension (as I mentioned before). If one analyses this in F melodically it makes no musical sense, but if it's analyzed in C it makes perfect sense - the A section noodles around from tonic to dominant areas, then settles on the second scale degree (which is the fifth of the dominant chord). The A' section makes the same motions, except instead of landing on the second scale degree it lands on the fifth scale degree - leaving us once again with the dominant area. This doesn't resolve the tension - the listener needs to have a tonic in order to have a resolution. Motivically speaking it is also left unresolved, so this adds to the tension already built into the music.

The B section melodically makes more sense if analyzed in F, especially in relation to the harmonies below. I'll go in more detail with that in the harmonic analysis, but let's look at it from the 'C' scale, for a second. Essentially, while using the descending motive heavily the melody hangs around the fifth scale degree, finally leaping up to the tonic note that we were expecting at the end of the A section at the end of the B section (thus, the resolution has been found). Also, the motive that was incomplete in the A section is completed at the end of the B section. However, due to the harmonic context of the song, it doesn't sound like a resolution at all - in fact, it has another tension that leads us back to the loop point. How can that be - the melody resolves the consequent, yet creates another tension? Let's take a look at the harmonic analysis.

Harmonic Analysis

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv86/Gario999/Harmony.jpg?t=1254382264

Interestingly, the harmonies do not coincide with the melody in the beginning - they make much more sense when analyzed in the key of 'F' - a pretty basic motion throughout the 'A' section, noodling around the tonic and dominant areas. It ends with a dominant of the dominant in both the A and the A' section (marked as a major supertonic, for the sake of a clean roman numeral), meaning it needs to lead into a dominant somewhere in the song.

The B section of the piece (beginning with the IV9 in the key of F) capitalizes on the descending motive in the bass, but it's really an extension of the tonic harmony (notice it's prevalence throughout the section) that leads back into the dominant of the dominant, towards the end. Unlike the A sections, this harmony resolves into the dominant (which, in turn, resolves into the tonic once again when the music loops). Dominants create tension, which is a conflict to the resolution that occurs in the melody at the end of the song, interestingly enough.

Other than the interesting chord clusters created by the juxtaposition of the melody against the harmonies, there isn't much else happening there.

General Analysis

Overall, there are quite a few tensions and resolves that are being toyed with throughout this song, but there is a particular tension that sticks far above the rest of them - the bitonality between F and C. Because of the bitonality, there are simultaneous tensions and resolves that occur throughout the music (something that really can't be done and sound well in regular tonal music). Kondo masterfully weaves these tensions and resolves throughout the music seamlessly while never allowing the music to resolve completely. This gives the music a real ethereal quality.

The motives that are used heavily throughout the textures, melody and harmonies keeps the music unified despite the conflicting ideas, though, and the use of larger motives keep the sections together. The structure, while simple, creates some very interesting tensions that are both accented and subverted by the music within it (thanks to the bitonality of the music). In short, Kondo uses bitonality in such a way that he can make wonderfully simple sounding music that simultaneously pulls the careful listener in multiple, conflicting directions.

*whew* Well, although I have a few ideas for the next few weeks, I'm very open to some suggestions for music to analyze. It's difficult to come up with something different for each analysis, so I could use all the help I could get. Throw some ideas out - I'd be more than happy to take a stab at whatever you guys can come up with (and I'd be even happier to hear any analysis you all may have).

Have a great one, everyone!

Moseph

10-10-2009, 04:02 AM

Bumpity bump. Apologies for taking so long to respond. I've had a hectic week, and I've only just now gotten the time to give this the attention it deserves.

Form Analysis:
Not a lot to say here beyond what you've said. AA'B, although I do think the fact that the music is designed to loop is an extremely significant formal point. It generally doesn't come up in analysis, because most pieces eventually end, but when you're dealing with something like this, the question isn't "When and how does it end?", it's "When and how does it continue?" I think the subject of non-resolving cadences in a looping context would make an extremely interesting study. As I mentioned a while back, Green Hill Zone does this, too, and I'll bet you could find other music that does it.

(Tangentially, I'm going to the Society of Music Theory conference at the end of this month, and I'm really excited that there are a lot of papers on popular music being presented. It's great that people are starting to take these sorts of things seriously instead of saying, "Oh, it's just pop music".)

Motivic Analysis:

I know you're not taking rhythm into account with the motives, but it may be worth pointing out that the way the descending motive is used in the B section creates eighth-notes in the melody on the downbeats of many of the measures, which never happens in the A section. Combined with the continuous eighth-notes in the accompaniment and the harmonic deviation, it helps drive things forward.

Melodic/harmonic analysis:

You've got a lot of interesting stuff here. The only thing I really object to is the notion of bitonality. I'll try to explain my approach here.

A SECTION
I don't think the A section makes much harmonic sense if it's analyzed in F. Excluding mm. 1-3, mm. 4-8 look in C like a pretty clear vii - I - diminished(passing) - ii7 - V7, which is standard harmonic motion and completely reflects what the melody does. Placing it on a secondary harmonic level (having it end on V/V in F) implies a departure from the original harmonic region (mm. 1-3) that I'm not hearing. At issue here, of course, is the question of whether the starting sonority is better analyzed as a IVM7 or a IM7, the former causing us to remain in the key in the second half of the A section and the latter implying some kind of harmonic departure in the second half. A bitonal reading like you use has to concede that even if the melody and harmony disagree in mm. 1-3, they come into agreement in mm.4-8, where we have normal harmonic and melodic motion leading to a dominant. In fact, it is only the FM7 chords that seem to disagree with the melody.

Rather than calling these FM7 harmonies bitonal, I would look at them as legitimate subdominant chords within the melody's key. I think a key factor in establishing them as non-tonic is their juxtaposition with diminished chords that are foreign to the key of F. The diminished chords imply resolution to C major, resolution which in fact occurs in m. 5. The behavior of these FM7 chords, then, is exactly what we would expect from subdominants -- progression to dominant, then tonic.

Your point about harmonic disagreement between the melody and harmony at the opening of the A section still stands, but I think calling it bitonality exaggerates its effect. If it were truly bitonal, the melody and harmony would each tend to progress toward different tonal centers, whereas I hear them both moving toward a C major center, although they may both be in different positions in their progress towards that goal at any given time.

I will address the implications of beginning a phrase on the subdominant after I talk about the B section.

B SECTION
I'd agree that this makes more harmonic sense in F than in C, although the harmonic motion isn't strongly directed -- for the first four measures, it simply steps down from the subdominant with root position harmonies (your reading of the second B section chord as I65 doesn't account for the prominent G, which sounds like a 7th to me rather than a 9th in the chord because the chord is arpeggiated in the accompaniment the same way as the other seventh chords in the B section -- I'm inclined to call it iii7 and view the melodic F as an accented neighbor tone to E). Even though it's weak harmonic motion, there's a nice parallel to the IV - I harmonic motion in the A section.

I rather like your analysis of the B section melody in C and the resulting large-scale relations to the melodic trajectory of the A section, but I don't see bitonality in it. The B section melody doggedly avoids the B/B-flat distinction that would push it toward one key or the other; while it can be analyzed in C, it's easier to hear it in F, since F is suggested by the immediate harmonies, and C is only plausible with an appeal to the far-flung melodic construction.

So how about going from the B section back to the A section? I think it's significant that the non-repeating intro establishes CM7 (i.e. tonic in the key) as a point of stability for the A section before the main body of music begins. Coming from CM7 reinforces my inclination to hear the FM7 that begins the A section as a subdominant harmony rather than a tonic harmony. On the repeats, coming from the B section, this FM7 is approached with a Gm - C (essentially ii - V of F), which works as a modulation back to C major through the brief tonicization of C's subdominant. Although this subdominant of C is acceptable as a harmonic goal, the melodic dissonance and subsequent vii in C establish that C, in fact, is the proper key and not F. The fact that this modulation occurs across a cadence like this is somewhat odd, and it is this contrast between cadence and modulation to which I would attribute the simultaneous tension and release that you mention.

So within the context of the entire piece, there is never a clear-cut cadence that results in a stable harmony. My assumption is that this is because the music loops and reaching a stable position would be heard as an ending of sorts. Regardless of the reason for it, the effect of beginning a phrase mid- harmonic progression (as in the A section), whether coming from the tonic chord of the intro or from the modulation out of the B section, is one of instability and forward motion.

Gario

10-11-2009, 04:44 AM

Well, this is one of the most sophisticated responses on the subject I've received in years, so I feel obligated to reply, now (thanks for the response :-P).

I think the subject of non-resolving cadences in a looping context would make an extremely interesting study. As I mentioned a while back, Green Hill Zone does this, too, and I'll bet you could find other music that does it.

Yeah, a lot of video game music does this, especially, and I forgot to mention how this music connects from B to A again. Read my Jackal analysis, though - it in fact focuses on a variant of that exact phenomena.

(Tangentially, I'm going to the Society of Music Theory conference at the end of this month, and I'm really excited that there are a lot of papers on popular music being presented. It's great that people are starting to take these sorts of things seriously instead of saying, "Oh, it's just pop music".)

I envy you - I really want to go to that (I have for five years, now), but I don't have the finances to do so :(. I sent a topic the present once, but I don't think they give analyses of modern pieces the same attention as new development in music theory, though.

I should try again with some more recent developments that I've come up with.

I know you're not taking rhythm into account with the motives, but it may be worth pointing out that the way the descending motive is used in the B section creates eighth-notes in the melody on the downbeats of many of the measures, which never happens in the A section. Combined with the continuous eighth-notes in the accompaniment and the harmonic deviation, it helps drive things forward.

I kept things simple with the motives rhythmically because... well, to be frank, I did the analysis in a few hours, so I got lazy with that aspect. Nice find with the rhythmic motive, though :).

As for my notion of bitonality (which I still hear as such), look at the analyses together and realize that (according to the analysis) the melody and the harmonies imply two different tonal centers - F and C.

Excluding mm. 1-3, mm. 4-8 look in C like a pretty clear vii - I - diminished(passing) - ii7 - V7, which is standard harmonic motion and completely reflects what the melody does. Placing it on a secondary harmonic level (having it end on V/V in F) implies a departure from the original harmonic region (mm. 1-3) that I'm not hearing. At issue here, of course, is the question of whether the starting sonority is better analyzed as a IVM7 or a IM7, the former causing us to remain in the key in the second half of the A section and the latter implying some kind of harmonic departure in the second half. A bitonal reading like you use has to concede that even if the melody and harmony disagree in mm. 1-3, they come into agreement in mm.4-8, where we have normal harmonic and melodic motion leading to a dominant. In fact, it is only the FM7 chords that seem to disagree with the melody.

I did something a bit risky in the harmonic analysis and included the melody into the harmony and generally left out the figured bass, and now realize that it was a big mistake to do so. Very quickly I'm going to take out the melody and show the harmonic motion in F...

(A/A') I53 - IV64 - I53 - IV64 (in the key of F this is a very simple set of neighbor tones - I'm even tempted to say it's misleading to label the IV chords as chords, here) V63 - passing motion (which really has no harmonic purpose) - (V64 - V53)/V. It ends on a V/V, but it isn't as if the dominant wasn't heard, and it's safe to say that the applied dominant functions as such (it never goes to C, like it should). Harmonically, I'd say that the music doesn't leave F major - the second half of the A and A' sections is just an embellished double neighbor motion in the bass (F (from the measure before) - E - G - F (the start of the next section). Of course, as you know I'm a Schenkerian freak, so of course I don't hear actual harmonic motion there :P. This is why I consider the harmonies in F there (C isn't nearly as convincing for me, even though I interpreted the music in C, at first).

The progression that you present is, in fact, a common progression in C, but there's something important missing with that progression - what comes first and last. If we were in the key of C, we would need to start in C and end in C (or at least follow the progression with a C chord) if it was to be considered tonal, at all - the progression you presented starts in vii (which is diminished and can never be considered the beginning of a tonal progression) and ends in an unresolved dominant (which, because it remains unresolved, actually tears the music away from C - like you said, the music doesn't sound like it resolves into a new key, but in C it doesn't sound like it resolves into the old key, which is a bit more unsettling). Personally, I hear it as a series of contrapuntal lines rather than a harmonic progression, which seems to flow with the music better, anyway.

As for the B naturals that appear, they are countered by the B flats that occur in the intro of the music (which I did not include in the analysis), as well as the B flats that occur in the B section. I don't believe the naturals are functional - they can also serve to provide flavor to the music (although I understand why you hear the music in C - your explination is in fact often the case in music, but I argue that it's not, in this case).

Finally, I'd actually say that because the B section ends on a dominant of F it would make more sense that the F in the A section is, in fact, a tonic - the resolution is very strong, and solidifies the key as F, not C, for me.

I agree that the bitonality is a bit weak in this song because the keys are so heavily related (F and C are related by a fifth, which is pretty damn strong). Then again, I hear the piece functioning in two keys in a very strong fashion (well, strong for my ears) so I hear it as bitonal, despite the relatively weak bitonality.

Hey, thanks again for looking at the analysis with a strong analysis of your own - I understand and respect where you're coming from (the points you made are quite valid and correct). I just felt I needed to elaborate my harmonic position a bit because of what you pointed out (since my analysis doesn't quite make it clear, as it was presented). It's funny that in theory two people can be opposing and correct, at the same time - we just hear the music differently, and hopefully you can hear what I hear while I listen to the music as you hear it. That's what music theory is all about :-P.

Music theory, FTW.

Moseph

06-09-2010, 09:24 PM

Bump. Branching from this thread. (http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29344)

Strange thing about the overtone series is that the only thing that generates it is the vibrations from a straight line (like a string). Most other objects make unique harmonics and overtones (a triangle, for example, divides into tritones, for it's series). So in reality one can't really rely on the overtone series as the real 'reason' harmonies sound 'good'.

Gario, could you explain what you mean about triangles having a tritone-based overtone series? Do you mean that the prevalence of tritones above the fifth partial in a triangle wave is emphasized by the complete lack of even partials, or am I misunderstanding you?

My background knowledge of inharmonicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inharmonicity) is not great, but don't we hear things as distinctly pitched only to the degree that they are not inharmonic, which is to say, only to the degree that their harmonics conform to the overtone series?

Gario

06-10-2010, 04:04 PM

Hmm... can't say for sure about inharmonicity (or enharmonicity?) - I don't know about that tidbit (something new I gotta look up and learn about, I guess). The fact about the triangle was me parroting what I've heard from a couple of teachers + in a few lectures, but the basics of it was that the triangle (and, for that matter, basically any other vibrating shape that isn't a straight line, such as a spoon and a snare) resonate in such a way that they do not create nor tune to the classic overtone series, but other unique series instead. The triangle's partials are not the octave, fifth, fourth, third, etc., but something like tritone, third, etc. (I don't remember what the series was, exactly - those names are made up - but it was something tonal that you could hear, if you listened for it).

There's a song I heard performed where someone beats on a triangle for 15 minutes. Amazing sound to it - when you listen to it long enough, your brain separates the partials into all of it's parts, ignoring the root sound, then the first partial, then the second, etc., so if you have a triangle + the time (and know how to use it) give it a couple of whacks for some time and listen to what notes are produced. It's quite interesting what you get.

Now I'm eagerly awaiting the Mario Schenkerian analysis from you :<. Don't disappoint in reducing Mario to the Three Blind Mice :tomatoface:.

Moseph

06-10-2010, 07:44 PM

It's interesting, though, that even though we perceive the triangle to have a pitch, it's treated as an unpitched percussion instrument in the orchestra in that you don't select a specific triangle that will complement the key of the music. (The Wiki entry for triangle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_%28instrument%29) goes as far as to describe it as having an "indeterminate or not settled or decided pitch," which I think is an exaggeration, but it illustrates the point.) That's kind of what I was getting at with the inharmonicity thing -- pitch isn't a binary. It's quite valid to say that one sound is more strongly pitched than another, and the determining factor for this distinction is the degree to which the sounds are congruent with the overtone series.

I haven't thought at length about the implications of pitch not being binary. I imagine that if the issue of standard vs. non-standard overtone series had come up, Schenker would have argued that the standard overtone series is the true basis for harmony because it produces the most pure pitches.

The Mario analysis will be forthcoming, but first I want to post a crash course in Schenkerian theory in the hope that anyone who's interested but isn't familiar with the theory might still be able to kind of follow what I talk about in the analysis.

Moseph

06-10-2010, 10:17 PM

In preparation for a Schenker-style analysis that I hope to post here in the near future ... CRASH COURSE IN SCHENKERIAN THEORY! This post explains Schenker's general theory in a ridiculously small nutshell for those of you who aren't familiar with it. (Schenker is pretty difficult to understand at times, but at this level anything that doesn't make sense is probably my fault and not Schenker's.)

The lowest (and therefore strongest) partials of the overtone series of a given pitch create a major triad with that pitch as the root. Because the major triad is inherent in any given pitch, the major triad is the basis for all harmony (the minor triad is seen as a variant). Any pitch in isolation will tend to be interpreted as the tonic of some key because that pitch exists in itself as the root of a major triad. If a pitch exists in context with other pitches, its tonic tendencies will be more or less mitigated by the conflicting tonic tendencies of the other pitches. Ultimately, every pitch/harmony in a piece is thought of in its relationship to the true tonic pitch/harmony of the piece.

Music plays out over time, so there must be some way to relate things that come after with things that came before if a piece of music is to be coherent. With respect to this, Schenker was concerned with linear (melodic) expression of the tonic triad in addition to vertical (harmonic) expression. Building off of traditional counterpoint procedures, Schenker identified ways in which melodies could project harmonies (e.g. if the melody moves by step through the space of a third, it implies a triad that involves that third). Since the tonic harmony is the underlying basis for a piece of music (at least in western classical music), the overall melodic motion of the piece can be interpreted as a large-scale projection of this tonic harmony. This essentially means that the melody begins on a pitch in the tonic triad and comes to rest at the end of the piece on the tonic pitch itself. This melodic motion, called the Urlinie, is accompanied by some sort of tonic-dominant-tonic (I V I) movement in the bass, called the bass arpeggiation. This motion in the melody and bass, which taken together is known as the fundamental structure or Ursatz, is a linear expression of the piece's basic harmony. It provides a starting point for discussing large-scale harmonic/melodic coherence in the piece. There is a very limited number of ways to move through the tonic triad, so there is a very limited number of possible ways to construct an Ursatz.
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/254/urlinieexample.png

Example of an Ursatz. The Urlinie can descend from the eighth, fifth, or third scale degree.

It bears emphasis that the point of Ursatz reduction is not to make assertions about how the piece was composed (because it certainly wasn't composed by literally expanding from the Ursatz); the point is to explicitly show long-range connections in the music. The longest-range connection in any piece is the relationship between the opening and closing tonic triads; hence, the most abstract level (the Ursatz) of a Schenker graph deals primarily with this relationship while subsequent levels show increasingly short-range connections.

Full Schenker-style graph (http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/990/graphmozartk593formatte.png)