What Makes Metroid Music Sound Like Metroid Music?
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2019
- Nintendo is the best in the biz when it comes to great video game music, producing decades-long-musical-legacy after decades-long-musical-legacy. One such legacy that has somehow avoided analysis on this channel up until this point is the Metroid series, which has a consistent and unique musical identity that goes toe-to-toe with the Marios and the Zeldas of the video game world. At the same time the approach music in Metroid games is very different from all other big Nintendo properties, prioritizing ambience and a dark, creepy tone over the kinds of memorable melodies that you'd find among its peers. So what makes Metroid music sound like Metroid music? Let's find out.
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Hirokazu Tanaka Interview: www.gamasutra.com/view/featur...
#Metroid#videogamemusic #musictheory - Hry
I’ve never realized how almost all of Metroid’s music is rhythmically governed by ‘breathing’ and now I can’t un-hear it. Brilliant.
You'll start noticing it in other places now too.
Oh wow. I can hear that now.
metroid primes credits theme has a heartbeat rhythm -- so cool
I had to unliike this just to be able to like it again
@@daytimecloudsurfer Prime's music is a masterpiece. There's aboslutely nothing else like it, at least that I've heard.
"Git gud gamer scrubs." - Hirokazu Tanaka, in Japanese probably.
@[redacted] [redacted
黙って上手くなれ！文句言う暇あるなら、練習しろ！
@@Metallion98 i don't read Toshiba
@@hanchockelias5123 What about Mitsubishi?
@@Metallion98 I can handle it better, but still need practice with the sushi sushi pokemon
I learned how to bomb jump by following the rythm of magmoor caverns music in metroid prime.
Wait what?
That's sick
I learned how to wavedash using the Dreamland 64 theme's rhythm
Wow! I never would have thought to do that back in Super Metroid, considering that that's where the theme originates
Ay lmao
Someone once told me that Metroid Prime music was generic. That was funny.
Same
Only other m suffers from that
@@june4135 And yet, it still manages to sound nothing like other soundtracks. So yeah. Not generic.
He aint the sharpest tool in the shed
@@OrangeChair SooooooommmeBODY once once told him the world was gonna roll him!
Honestly you could make a whole series just talking about Metroid Music. It is so unique.
I would love that so much.
There's a reason Metroid has always been my favourite series for music.
Hell yeah. Phendrana Drifts is an absolute favorite
Please do a series!
SO I WIIIIIIIIIILL!!!!!!!
A fun fact about the Metroid Prime series' music is that most of the instruments are off-the-shelf synth patch presets, with the percussion coming from a weird hip-hop sample CD. It took a lot of skill to weave that into a signature sound, and they pulled it off wonderfully.
Wow, I always thought that they were just heavily inspired by the Oxygene albums by Michel Jarre
@@ivanaviNiebla I mean, that's probably still true, they just didn't make their own patches to emulate that sound since the patches did that already. The percussion is especially cool because it is literally a beat CD that you would buy out of a magazine in like 1999-2000. Uncivilized Grooves, I think it's called.
@@FreezerKing couldn't find the sample but i did manage to find this song from the 1998 that has a piano melody similar to brinstar: czcams.com/video/8Rfr1CIc7dY/video.html
Is there a video or something about this? I would love to watch it.
@@Defenestrator42 hey that's my video! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Zelda Music :- Heroic and Just
Metroid Music :- Heroic but with a price to pay
Absolutely incredible. Off the top of my head I knew that one of the hallmarks of Metroid music was the droning bass pedal, but it was definitely used more innovating ways than I was expecting
Are you a time traveler?
My favorite Nintendo franchise, bar none. The sense of atmosphere, the "show don't tell" stories, the feeling of loneliness with a slight hint of dread mixed in with the feeling that you're _just_ well equipped enough to deal with the horrors of these alien worlds. Metroid is a phenomenal series.
Perfectly said! :)
Spot on
Exactly, couldn't agree more
Have to agree could not of said it better.
Metroid feels the most artistically complex. I'm still looking forward to Prime 4.
Donkey Kong Country: It's all about minimalist ambiance.
Metroid: Hold my beer.
Except that Metroid has been doing it longer. :P
Metroid 1: It's all about minimalist ambiance
Metroid 2: Hold my beer.
Donkey kong still on the top
Let David Wise outta this, alright? He deserves his spot. No other composer got me through a level that hard... AND NOT HATE PARROTS AFTERWARDS FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY.
I don't know of any other song that sounds anything like Kraid's lair theme. It's so unusual yet so good.
One of the best in the series, and in gaming as a whole.
It’s good to know that my favorite game out of the Metroid series was composed by a guy known as “hip”.
The later tracks in the series are not so good, they were composed buy a guy known as "thigh".
I love your channel so much.
You can tell when you're listening to Metroid music when you listen to a song that takes 7 years to be continued
Ah, wait
I see you commenting everywhere from here to tater tot. What the heck man? Your everywhere.
It started with Simpleflips...
@@jimmyjohnjoejr.9020 yup. I see him on Simple's stuff too. Like I said he's everywhere
@@joshford256 If you see him everywhere it means that YOU are everywhere.
Try listening to Tool then...
it's like a progressive band created a conceptual album about "samus aran journey through zebes".
The mellotron sounds, the heroic themes, the atmosphere....
What a beautiful masterpiece 'super metroid' is....
You might say it sounds like Genesis
@@zombieraddish Maybe moreso King Crimson. Though I love me some Genesis.
Try listening to this czcams.com/video/SzT1Wbpr91w/video.html
It sounds exactly as a Metroid game but it's a 70's italian progressive rock band
@@Russocass You can't tell me that isn't a boss theme.
Many Emersonian voicings in most of nitendos soundtracks, and almost every bossbattle soundtrack have taken some influce, directly or indirectly from the ostinato driven Tarkus by Emerson lake and Palmer.
It's Lower Caverns in Samus Returms, Not lower brinstar.
I can understand the confusion, but metroid lore commands me.
AudomarIsBest The music is Lower Brinstar but the area isn’t
Also, is it really Eb minor? I always thought it was D# Phrygian - given the use of the b2 and no natural 2 in the entire theme...
Unless Nindendo decided to mash SR-388 and Planet Zebes together...which I wouldn't entirely put out of the question...
The Samus Archives CD label the track as _Lower Brinstar._
It doest make sense, but I don't make the titles.
@@randomguy-tg7ok Since it's a transcription it can be put in either Eb minor or D# minor. They're enharmonic keys so either one works.
The ambience and si-fi is crazy.
Metroid Prime probably had the most "Metroid" music .. and it got folks 😳
and the most pokemon music
I wish you would've spoke about the title theme's second half. That bit of music just screams space exploration. I really love that piece of music.
Watching the title screen of Zero Mission as the second half hits and the demo gameplay begins playing in the background. Glorious.
That part reminds me of Star Wars for some reason
"Cornerstone" I'm sure Nintendo would disagree with Metroid being called that for the last decade
Although, being half of an entire video game genre is nothing to scoff at
We definitely need more metroid games though
@@Lucaccino17 Yeah fans love Metroid, but Nintendo seems to rather it go die in a hole, they always seem so annoyed when its asked for, and don't put much care into the people they allow to make em
@@Lucaccino17 Metroid isn't half of it's genre. Metroid is it's genre, and then some people twisted parts of it into other things, metroid still isn't a metroidvania because it kept being metroid, there is no castlevania in metroid, but there is metroid in igavanias.
It's about sales. Metroid is a title that must be hard to market when your image is about colorful bright games. Then they don't sell well and finally Nintendo leave the series in a corner. Idk how were the sales of metroid two remake but other M sales were low for what they invested in the game.
@@Vintagestep I'm aware sales are the driving force, its why pokemon is allowed to be decades behind the times.
However Other M and Samus Returns ( I dislike them both for very similar reasons) are the crux of my issue with Nintendo. There's no feeling of respect or love for Metroid, unlike Zelda or Mario its fine to loan it out to any third rate developer. It's fine to give it to action developers with a penchant for sexualization despite not matching Metroids image, its fine to give it to Castlvania rejects and its fine to let Sakamoto continuously drive it away from its core with action and stupid story choices.
Even though Prime games aren't the top of my personal Metroid tier, at least they understand what Metroid is about, sure they aren't as masterful as Super, they had 3D space to deal with. Even the fact that Retro wasn't on Prime 4 at first is part of the issue, apparently it was fine to even let the Prime series get mishandled by some piss poor dev team, at least unlike Other M and SR they realized their mistake early (If MOM and SR got released imagine how bad Prime 4 was)
Your change to Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field theme sounds like it could have been from Majora's Mask in terms of how what it seemed to be saying emotionally. Which as far as illustrations of the difference that change makes - giving it a darker bite - is an effective one.
Kraid's Lair also has an organic feel thanks to the alternating octave notes, like a heartbeat. It's like the area is alive.
It does too, that's sick!
The "Item Room" music really burned into my memory. I love how mysterious, dark, and spacey it sounds. Those bleeps and bloops and the pulsating bass synth under it all. Perfection.
That example where you gave Ocarina's Hyrule Field the "darker" cord kind of gave me a Majora's Mask vibe. The feeling that there's something ever so slightly off.
I'm far from a music expert (hell, I know jack about music theory), but these kinds of examples really put in perspective all the stuff you discuss in these videos.
When Retro studios, out of Austin, Texas, was putting their team together to work Metroid Prime, I was initially considered for the composer position. I submitted a proposal, but unfortunately, it did not end up working out. My whole life would have changed, had I done that game!
You gotta admit the guys they got for the job did a splendid work tho
Do you still have some demos from that? I'm really curious on what Metroid Prime could have sounded like.
@@ultimategames_nl1891 thanks for writing. I don’t believe we even got to that point where I was making demos specific for them, so I’m sorry that I don’t have anything in particular to share with you. I was probably working on ideas, but it was so long ago...
@@JerryAGreene ah that's sad to hear. Was it anything like the final soundtrack, or did you make something in a completely different style?
You probably would had commented on this video
I didn't get to play any Metroid games until Prime 1 (despite being old enough to have grown up on the original Metroid), but the music is one of the reasons it has become one of my favorite game series. It's great to just listen to (heck, I go to sleep listening to Phendrana Drifts), but it never feels out of place no matter where you go in their respective games.
Thank you so much for covering this incredible series!
4 words my friend : underwater frigate reactor core
@@iopklmification Yeah, that one is another favorite (though, to be fair, I don't think there's a single track in MP that I don't love). ^_^
Tallon Overworld 2, Hall of the Elders, Ice Chapel and Artifact Temple should be included as well as among the favorites. Sooo damn good.
@@samy29987 Definitely! It's actually really hard to make a top 10 for MP because it's so good.
@@shinigamimiroku3723 And Prime 2 and 3 have so amazing tracks as well. Even the Prime Trilogy's title theme is epic. lol. Indeed very hard to rank them all.
I don't know a single thing about music theory but I'm a sucker for Metroid content
Jesus Christ. This is it, the divine feeling of coming to CZcams expecting to find video you've always wanted and having it on your feed.
The music in the beginning ship in Metroid Prime did so well in scaring me from ever playing through that section. It still makes me anxious to this day.
It's very similar to the gold statue room music from Super. A bit more sinister though I'd say.
The example with OoT's Hyrule Field was very illustrative! Great vid as always
I don't understand anything, but I love it!
Er... me too.
:]
Same
Because you all choose not to.
@@JeremySheer
In my case.... i'm poor and the things i can do is limited.
God Bless Brazil!!!! :D [ Internal Scream ]
@@theimperfectgod7140 Dumb, if you can google, you can learn.
I don’t understand music at all but I love Metroid and the obvious knowledge and love you have for music is undeniable and inspiring
I see Metroid, I click 🤷🏻♂️
Same
Joe Brown honestly, same
Liked the video before pressing play.
God, Metroid is the goddamn best.
God that comparison between Brinstar and Hyrule field was brilliant. Loved this man!
13:10 Nice to see that transcription from 2 years ago finally saw the light of day.
As common as it is, praise for metroid is never unwelcome in my book
Got goose bumps from so many of these tracks. Metroid really is an amazing series (all time favorite for me). This video was terrific. :)
I got heavy nostalgia waves
Some of my all-time favorite soundtracking. Well done, friend.
9:49 You didn't save the animals. You monster.
Save the frames!
let's beat cancer's ass!
MP4 developers: DON'T YOU DARE MESS IT UP!!!
They have the guy who did the prime series composing, so you have nothing to worry about. If you mean the game, again, same people (mostly, they at least have the same director).
@@LiamNajor I'm speaking of the game as a whole...their art director just died (condolences to the family), which means it will be very hard to fill his shoes in such a massive undertaking. I just hope they don't pick somebody who is 'edgy' and decides to give it a whole new look that doesn't even fit anything else in the series. Happens a lot in entertainment.
@@trebmaster Knowing that Nintendo already rebooted prime 4 once, they are probably being extra careful with who they hire.
Morph Ball Their Art director. Look it up on Google.
Morph Ball Andy O’ Neil...guess he’s just a developer, not art director. Sorry.
Really high quality analysis, dude! Great work. Loved the little touches like showing how the Hyrule Field OOT theme would feel with the tweaked chord progression. That’s the kind of stuff that likely took a lot of work but pushes the production value through the roof. Thanks!
I love video game music. But after watching technical analyses like these and then trying to explain them make me feel like a caveman trying to describe fire for the first time.
"Urrrgggggh. Metroid music good!"
"It's just good!" is all you really need to understand. But I love how in depth the video goes about all the technical stuff in the music composition
@@Lennyohh I loved the music as a child not knowing what music theory was (being awestruck is all that really matters). As an adult, it's still amazing to me when seeing the music theory/composition behind it. Gives me greater appreciation for the beauty behind music.
Thank you, this series has some of the best music period. I'd love to see this continued in analyzing both the boss music from the series and the Light Aether vs Dark Aether variants from Metroid Prime 2 (which I think is 5 or 6 pairs of tracks)
Was hoping this video would have that Brinstar Depths theme. It is my favorite! Thank you for taking about it!
This was amazing!
Please more Metroid!
Maybe a little bit more of the Metroid Prime series?
Thanks!
I've had trouble studying music theory, but your videos give me motivation so that I can actually talk about it, understand it, and incorporate it into my own work. Seing how even "simple, gamey" music makes use of it makes me appreciate it all the more.
I really want to practice making something Metroid-esque.
My most cherished Metroid memory was the first time I landed on Tallon IV, with the Tallon Overworld track playing in the background! Just by hearing it alone made me feel I was about to embark on an adventure of epic proportions!
And I love that the track starts with a bit of mystery, and then when your return to the areas after a decent bit of progress there's a more upbeat track that coincides with how you're now feeling about the game and world. So slick.
Now we just need some analyses of Tallon Overworld 2, as well as Light Torvus Bog. Those have some of the best 'rainy day' ambience I've encountered in video game music ever, to the point where I actually whistle those tunes on rainy days.
Overall, the two best game OSTs ever happened to be both Super Nintendo and both featured on this channel: Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger.
I'd argue Final Fantasy VI instead of Chrono Trigger, but that would still fit the formula.
Every new SNES game I play makes me feel this is the console that changed everything in console gaming.
My favorite series music ever, thank you so much for this video!!! Inspiring and nostalgic
Man, your videos and explanations just keep getting better and better. Thanks a lot for sharing this knowledge with us.
I was waiting for you to make a video about Metroid! Thank you so much! One of my favorite series and the music is a huge reason why!
Fun Fact: If you translate the characters that make up Hirokazu Tanaka's name into English literally, they read
"You cannot appreciate this music"
I kinda doubt it but really, REALLY want it to be true.
@@Gajus13 Okay, okay, it's actually more like "ample peace inside the rice field".
...But I was close.
"The DARK atmosphere" juxtaposed with Prime 2 footage was inspired!
This channel is so good! Thanks for all the content. There is nothing better than a dive into the soundtrack of some of my favorite games.
Thanks so much for making this video, it just reinforces my love for the Metroid games even more.
Metroid is my favorite thing ever and every aspect of it makes me happy.
So imagine the rush my spirit got when I saw this get posted.
This was fantastic, thank you.
Metroid is my favorite game, largely because of the music, so thank you very much for this video. I've been waiting a long time for it!
Ive been waiting for this vid for soo long! Thank you!
The original NES theme also immediately follows its nightmarish and mysterious minor 6ths with this beautiful melody. It's a reminder that while the unknown is often horrific, dark and foreboding, it's also often majestic and full of wonder, which really is the nature of Metroid. You may be anxious about exploring this dangerous planet of Zebes, but there's also this new sense of wonder and discovery that no game has managed to pull off before.
13:52 I can't be the only one who expected it to turn into the PS1 opening fanfare, where the G resolves to C
In my opinion, the game that pulled off the atmosphere the best was Metroid 2. Too bad you don't mention it here, but I can see how it's a bit harder to analyze. The different sound channels run loops of different lengths with mostly atonal music, making it seem almost random. With four cleverly timed shorter loops, some of the tracks don't reach the same starting point again in over 20 minutes. It's haunting and oppressive and works perfectly with the game. Also, the end theme is the best of any Metroid game and places very high for best ending theme ever. Such heroic. Much majestic.
Just found your channel when this video was recommended to me. Metroid's one of my favourite series and the music from super metroid and metroid prime are some of my favourite game sound tracks. The lower maridia track you never went over always gave me this feeling of dread and made the area horrifying for me as a kid. I've spent a few hours now watching a bunch of your other videos. These are great, I love the way you go into detail about the theory behind different video game tunes and it's made me look at all these tracks in a whole new way. Thanks for putting the effort in to make these. I'm looking forward to your next ones.
Great video! love how deep you went. So good!
Very nice. Metroid is one of my favorite classics.
Easily my favourite franchise from Nintendo!
My favourite female character.
My favourite villain in video games.
I just LOVE Metroid, and always will...
It’s been my favorite series since i was born. Metroid prime was my first ever video game and i fell in love instantly! Metroid will always be brilliant in terms of it’s music, exploration, atmosphere, etc
This was so well done! Also loved the progression of Metroid's music.
Finally one on Metroid :D
Metroid's music is effective because it's dark and scary AF. Especially to a 8-year old me who first played it on NES in the early 90s.
Dude. This is the video I didn't know I needed, but now I can't live without. Keep up the great work!
I love that Lower Brinstar is basically just the changes from the A section of "Deluge" by Wayne Shorter. Always love seeing a new video from you man!
YESSSSS FINALLY I WAS WAITING FOR THIS GAME!!!!!
Fantastic video!! And LOVE your content, I am a big fan of all of your analyses. Question though? Why the Bbm chord on the Norfair theme? I always envisioned the Bb as more of a passing tone for that chord (and that the true harmonic structure could be thought of a shifting chromatic key center between C and Db, and later Eb - Fb/E., I think of the piece more as an ambient non-tonal "mode" shifting that we more often see in minimalism (you reference it really great in your Chrono Trigger/DKC videos on ambient music), when we see those half step modulations show up. Would it be best instead of a chord to chord "Western" harmonic analysis to instead think of the key centers implied on any ambient 'tonally-ambiguous' passages? What is your take on this personally? - 8-bit Music Theory
For me, every last chord before the next two-chord progression is a dominant minor chord (Vm) of the next one (Bbm, Vm of Eb; Dbm/C#m, Vm of F#, and so on).
Alternatively, if we only emphasize the first of every two chords (C, Eb, Gb/F#, and Bbb/A), it emphasizes a C diminished seventh chord.
Thank you so much for all the work you put into these.
14:01 reminds me a lot of the Dreamcast boot melody.
Fantastic video. I subscribed to your channel based solely on this. Excellent content.
Well, now I have to listen to Super and Prime's soundtracks again.
Subscribed because of your Hollow Knight vids. Staying for Metroid
I love your vids. Its amazing how much theory is in just one piece let alone an entire games worth of music
I want to thank you for making this video, it has a great insight of the music of my favorite videogame series.
I like this title theme. Especially the parts that turn less creepy and more beautiful
Vomitron does the best covers of NES games, and their 2 parts of Metroid are absolutely stunning
never heard of them, I'll have to check them out
@@edwarddore7617 I'm pretty sure it's impossible not to like them 😁
Great video - lots of detail of both the music itself and the synth techniques used. That level of detail is used to great effect to support your overall narrative.
Pop in my recommendations
This is really nice video you made and hearing all the soundtracks is giving me so much nostalgia
Could you make a video comparing the use of chromatic notes in Mario and Metroid music?
Mario music uses chromatic bits to transition into more consonant chords, metroid music lingers on chromaticism to deliver an uneasy feeling.
1.5k likes to 1 dislike
That is by far the highest ratio I've ever seen
Highest previously was 700 i think.
Man. What a great video. Keep up the great work.
One of my favourite 8-bit music theory videos ever, I've been waiting a long time and it was so worth it, absolutely enlightening. I was aware that there was a good amount of chromaticism in Metroid music (e.g. the Mother Brain theme from Super Metroid) but I didnt even realize how omnipresent it was before watching this video. The use of the III-flat sus2 chord was also really cool too! Metroid is my favourite franchise ever, kudos and well done
Funny you mentioned that nothing from the Metroid intro could be taken away without damaging the piece while mentioning the Western version of Metroid, which is different from the Japanese Famicom Disk System version which had an extra FM channel that had to be taken away from the NES version. Admitedly, the NES versions did pretty well with one channel less, but I think it really suffers at the end of the song: czcams.com/video/yfj67J527Lk/video.html
Tmw you press like before watching!!! Thank you 8-Bit!!!
fantastic video! i wanted this analysis so bad! :) i expected a little mention of other memorable atmospheric pieces of music from the prime series such as torvus bog and phendrana drifts, but i guess that wasn't the focus of the video and had to be cut out
My favourite Nintendo series assessed by my favourite music channel. Well done, thanks! (Please do more!)
Samus could defeat Cthulhu, change my mind.
that B looking kinda sus
Awesome video! I just discovered this channel out of nowhere and, while I've never studied music theory sistematically, so I can't really understand and appreciate everything you point out, I still know enough to absolutely love these videos! Metroid is one of my two favourite series of all time and seeing the detail they've put in the soundtracks makes me appreciate it even more. My other favourite series is Ace Combat, which also has some awesome music: I hope one day you'll analyze those games as well.
The vids you've done specifically on ambient-type pieces (especially the Donkey Kong Country episode) are really interesting and helpful!
When the chord is sus o_o
Haha. Always thought that particular Metroid Prime theme sounded exactly like one in Pokemon Stadium.
On another note...
Man. I don't know if it can ever be done.
But playing No Man's Sky lately, I feel desperate to understand WHY THIS GOD DANG MUSIC WORKS?
I heard that one melody, I felt sad. Which usually only happens when there is a really well executed buildup. But... It is procedurally generated...
I had similar feelings with the upbeat tracks during action sequences however usually the sad themes stick with me. Because I feel it is a harder emotion to convey to a normal human being, through music after all... It is in our nature to try and not be sad for evolution to happen. Or something. If you are religious, god don't want no tears.
Suspensions are my complete bread and butter of song writing, and NO they don't need to be resolved! 3 stacked 5ths resulting in a major 9th with the 5th in the middle is the most serene way ever to end something! These examples gave me the chills because they are the perfect progressions, thanks for highlighting them!
I'm so happy you did Metroid! Thank you for your hard work!!
I'm gonna be the real bro and say that Metroid music is Metroid music because it happened to be made for and featured in a game called Metroid
That's one hot take
That's a far stretch. Do you have scientific evidence?