Katamari Damacy "Cosmic Knowledge" 4:40
By Ridiculously Garrett
Arranging the music of one song...
"Katamari☆Stars"
Primary Game: Katamari Damacy (Namco , 2004, PS2), music by Akitaka Tohyama, Asuka Sakai, Hideki Tobeta, Yoshihito Yano, Yuri Misumi, Yuu MiyakePosted 2025-10-18, evaluated by the judges panel
A galactic welcome back to the front page for Garrett, who's clearly been expanding his repertoire since he debuted here back in 2018. Ridiculously Garrett returns with a hip hop-inspired take on one of Katamari Damacy's most serene themes, "Katamari☆Stars"! According to Garrett, this one's full of boom bap, razzmatazz, and positive vibes:
"This song plays in the Constellation menu of Katamari Damacy. It's a dubiously simple tune. However, when you break down each melodic idea and motif, there really is quite a lot of material to use.
This arrangement is designed in the boom bap style. Others may call it simply 90s hip hop or jazz rap. I'm a very large fan of specifically East Coast hip hop from the 90s and its many artists, like A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Big L, Lord Finesse (from D.I.T.C.), etc. This style sees heavy use of jazz record samples. The following arrangement contains no samples from actual jazz records. It is arranged more with a "live" jazz quartet setting in mind.
Instead, the arrangement contains a mixture of MIDI-controlled virtual instruments via Bitwig Studio's sound library and drum, vocal, and saxophone samples from Erik Jackson's Fat Pack: https://hiphopdrumsamples.com/products/erik-jackson-fat-pack.
I've decided to title this track "Cosmic Knowledge" as a common phrase in 90s hip hop is "dropping knowledge". Basically meaning "imparting truth or wisdom".
This track does not follow the original arrangement section-for-section. Instead, I opted for an ABACDA format. There is vinyl noise in the background - this is intentional and not a defect in audio quality or rendering. I start off with a bassline which you do not hear in the original composition. I decide to then separate the original introduction into 3 separate melodies at 0:22. You hear the guitar arpeggio in the A section, and I've designed it to be a record scratch part in line with the style. Accompanying it is a single saxophone note - this type of saxophone sampling is heard all throughout 90s hip hop. This plays for 8 bars and then goes into the B section, where we hear the two other melodies. Return to A section at 1:30. Then, in the C section at 1:55, we the get the main melody twice. Bassline changes in line with harmony. The D section at 2:40 carries us into the climax accompanied by a vocal sample which I have applied rhythmic auto-pan and record scratch. We return to the A section at 3:48 where we finally the combined melodies of the A and B section. One final refrain with saxophone and piano taken to a final lone vibraphone chord at 4:34.
Arrangement follows a philosophy of "keep it moving". I strove to change the melodies/instrumentation about every 8 bars. This pulls from class arranging techniques of 1950s "Hollywood music" from the likes of Paul Weston. Drums remain consistent throughout with various fills, though not copy-and-pasted. Each section recorded individually. Same goes for piano backing. Bassline is copy-and-pasted, however, I feel this is important to keep the style grounded as there usually isn't much variation in this regard.
Lastly, piece is pitched down to -0.22 cents. Because vibes. Please enjoy. :)"
Besides the overall jazzy aesthetic kicked off by the sampled upright bass, the vibes at 1:07 are indeed tasty tasty [sic], so that's an easy highlight callout. For judge prophetik music, Garrett's seeking out of style points was a success:
"beat sounds nice and i like the other backing elements that come in as well at 0:20. the scratches are solid - i like what's done to the vocal snip before the B section for example. the keys that come in during the B section are also just the right vibe. [...]
this is a fun ride! really interesting example of the style you're going for. [...] overall this is a solid take on a pretty theme. nice work."
Fellow panelist paradiddlesjosh co-signed Garrett's dip into boom bap, stating "I really dig the scratch work. It definitely helps secure the 90s East Coast hip-hop vibe." With the crackling, scratching, beats, bass, sax, vibes, cymbals, and more, there was ear candy aplenty in this rap-ready instrumental and a genuine instrumentation synergy borne out in Garrett's "keep it moving" approach. Ridiculously Garrett's interpretation definitely puts an unexpected genre transformation on "Katamari☆Stars" while also feeling like a very comfortable fit in this sampling-heavy style. There's nothing ridiculous on how cool Garrett's interpretation turned out, and we're excited at the cosmic knowledge of even more great arrangements he's got in the hopper for y'all, so stay tuned! :-)
Discussion
Sources Arranged (1 Song)
- Primary Game:
-
Katamari Damacy (Namco
, 2004,
PS2)
Music by Akitaka Tohyama,Asuka Sakai,Hideki Tobeta,Yoshihito Yano,Yuri Misumi,Yuu Miyake
- Songs:
- "Katamari☆Stars"
Tags (1)
- Genre:
- Mood:
- Instrumentation:
- Additional:
- Time > 4/4 Time Signature
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