These samples are 8 bit, not 16 bit. The SNES really marked the transition from using basic oscillator based additive synthesis to FM synthesis using samples, at least in consoles. The chip in the SNES is the most capable of its contemporaries. It seems limited now, but for it's time that thing would have been a dream to work with as a game composer.
what's funny to me is how the snes carts had extremely limited memory in general, and depending on the game the OST alone could be a huge % of the total memory used. Earthbound is particularly fun because in that game the OST is MASSIVE, like 80-90% of the total memory of the game. To save space they made the ENTIRE game take place on a single giant map lol so if you can get out of bounds you can literally walk anywhere in the game from anywhere.
Gonna drop some pedantic corrections here, they don't really matter that much, but I figured I'd let everybody know. The SNES didn't use MIDI at all, it had its own dedicated sound chip called the SPC-700. A more accurate and generic term would be synth. Also, I've worked on one of the projects hacking/modding EarthBound, and it's not true that the soundtrack takes up 70 to 80% of the space of the game. The samples used quite a lot of space, more than many other SNES games, but at the end of the day it was still synthesizer music which is very space efficient. As I recall, the following all took up significant chunks of the ROM space: the map itself (which was compressed), the samples, the compressed battle sprites for the enemies, the rest of the graphics (stored in the regular SNES gfx format), and the text of the game, which was compressed itself in a proprietary format and had game logic peppered through it. Also... this is not the version of the track that I know. Sounds like a few of the samples are different or maybe some different effects were added on top? The synth bass in particular sounds off. Flute too. Is this the "restored" version?
@@phoenixlich Maybe you are getting SNES games confused with another system, although I wouldn't know which... Soundtracks rarely took up much space because synthesizer music is very space efficient. I used to work on ROM hacking tools. Anyways, SNES games didn't use that much space for music. Graphics took up a lot more in general. Also, EarthBound was able to fit on a 3MB cart (24 megabit). There were games that had to be put on four megabytes, and even one or two on six I believe. Anyways, see my other comment for context
@@matthewlawton9241 the song as Composer mentions has "bubbles". I also seems to hear almost siren voices and music instrument echoing in the distant. The tune is also so natural but unfamiliar like notes from a forgotten world in the sea where time stopped and you can feel mystery and harmony. As it portray the water worlds in DCC I think many children from the past still connect 'water' with these melodies to this day.
i would be getting in trouble for playing too much my summer after 2nd grade, but this level (and others) would teleport me to another world, it was more interesting than the farm outside loll memoriessss wow
Stickerbrush Symphony seems to be in the same category as Dire Dire Docks from Mario 64. You will find it popping up on any videogame related video as background music, because it's just so deeply beloved. Thirded.
Did you know that Stickerbush Symphony was created to be music for a water level. But the water levels in 2 were always either in ships or in ice caverns so it didn’t fit. So he made it for the bramble levels.
There are so many David Wise gems. Stickerbush Symphony was the one I remembered most clearly when I first looked back, but hot head bop, gangplank galleon, jib jig, fear factory, Bayou Boogie, flight of the zinger, forest interlude, and so many more are unforgettable. Even some of the tracks on dkctf like windmill hills are as good as his most famous classics.
One of the things I've always liked about Aquatic Ambiance is how D. Wise used a submarine sonar ping as part of the percussion, further adding to the underwater feeling.
SMW Central has a "Music" section of people using SNES chips to make their own ports...there's an entire hacking community making insane stuff on the SNES...
All the OSTs for all of the Donkey Kong Country games are simply masterpieces. It's hard pressed to not find absolutely phenomenal music in any of the games. Bramble Blast is one a ton of people will suggest and you cannot go wrong!
The process behind getting the sounds for the Donkey Kong Country soundtracks was ridiculously involved. The trilogy sounds almost nothing like the rest of the SNES library, and I suggest anyone interested go read about how the composer managed it. Short version - stupid amounts of work, and the layering of many many samples into one so it could fit into the soundfont for the cartridge. I seem to recall there being over 60 tracks on some songs of this OST, and the SNES only had the capability for 8 sound channels. David Wise knew his shit, and he had a vision. That he managed to pull it off was a monumental feat for the time.
You're absolutely correct in knowing that many of these talented composers would bypass the limits of the sound card by weaving melodies in-between these intervals in order to make music that sounded more full. If you want to see the limits of the Super Nintendo soundcard put to the test, highly recommend "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI by Nobuo Uematsu. It's absolutely wild how he was able to compose that within the boundaries of the Super Nintendo soundcard, you'd love it.
Tim Follin was a great example of pushing limits. Any soundtrack he composed for was frankly too good for the mediocre games he was paired with, which is probably why you don't see him around anymore. Still, what we can find of his is seriously impressive.
Uematsu wrote a masterpiece in three acts in the form of a Super Nintendo boss theme. I love seeing composers' reactions to it. When I say that VGM is legitimate art, Dancing Mad is one example that comes to mind.
David Wise was largely inspired by the Korg Wavestation and designed the sample-switching patterns in DKC based on the way the Wavestation patterns worked. You can hear this in other tracks like "Life in the Mines."
David Wise pulled *magic* out of that sound chip. Jungle Hijinx/DK Island Swing, Jib Jig, Simian Segue, Funky's Fugue, Hot-Head Bop... There's too many to list. Might need a long-form one for this series.
A bit late I know, but out of respect to the composers, Funky's Fugue was actually Robin Beanland's sole contribution for DKC1 and Simian Segue was one of several by Eveline Fischer. Otherwise, I agree, the guy was a wizard.
The Super Nintendo was special at the time, from what I gather, because its sound processor was sample based. But it couldn't play high bitrate samples very well, so a lot of instrumentation came from real instruments, but the quality was cut and it gave the games on the system a distinct sound.
It was similar tech to the Amiga which was used for entry level music production at the time. To make it clearer, PCs at the time used sound cards with MIDI sound samples built in, so how music sounded depended on the instrument bank in the card. The Amiga loaded samples from disc. Normally lower quality 8-bit samples, but they could be anything and played back just as the creator intended.
that's why it's so fun listening to these new re-done versions where they've gotten the original high quality samples and all that, and put it back together so you can hear what it might have sounded like for the composer.
@@mattd8725 The Gravis Ultrasound for DOS machines did exactly that too. Generally used for its General MIDI capabilities, games could also load any number of specific custom patches to obtain a sound that the card wouldn't be able to reproduce only with its default patches nor the PPL161. One Must Fall 2097 is a good example of that. The best sound for music you can get in the game is on the GUS. Not Soundblaster 16, not Mt-32, not SC-55 and not SC-88.
Love the fact that someone who has never played the DKC game can so perfectly imagine the level from which this song is played. David Wise is a true genius and nailed this track, among many others.
A lot of water levels in games have very similar soundscapes sonically. Somehow, really matches that underwater vibe. Just like certain chords feel happy or sad, certain ones feel like the sea, outer space, open fields etc.
Those names get thrown out a lot from DKC2, and for good reason, but I've always found lockjaw's saga to be severely underrated. I never hear anyone mention that one.
@@osets2117 Oh definitely. You could plop any one of at least a dozen tracks into almost any other game and they would become the track the game is known for. The only reason some of them don't get mentioned is because they're all in the same game. Though the lesser known ones are definitely on par with the notorious ones so they definitely need to get more shout outs. Edit: Actually looking at the track list, there may be another factor. People seem to gravitate towards the calming tracks over the more anxiety inducing ones (lockjaw, flight of the zinger, crocodile cacaphony, etc).
David Wise is LEGENDARY! Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbush Symphony, and Forest Interlude are songs I come back to over and over and over again. It's so amazing what some composers were able to push out of the SNES' capabilities. I didn't even play the majority of the DKC games, but those tracks will stick with me forever
This version is really light on the bass that is present in this song - there is a very throbbing resonant bass that is missing in this version of the recording
My mom was a music teacher, while i was growing up, we would play donkey kong country daily during summer break and would let the music on aquatic ambience play. I had to have been 5 or 6 at the time, nothing better than a decent crt tv and laying on the floor play snes with a parent.
Donkey Kong Country was my very first videogame ever, and this particular track always opens the floodgates of my memories, it just has something special to it. The vibe, the cadence, the echoes... and when the main melody hits, it hits hard. Love David Wise.
I love, love, love Aquatic Ambiance. I have to say it's up there with Forest Interlude as far as the Donkey Kong Country franchise is concerned. I recommend giving that one a listen as well.
One of my absolute favorite soundtracks ever! David Wise is such a genius and it's hard to believe that these sounds came out of an snes :D Thanks for reacting to this!
I love seeing all these professional composers and teachers taking music from video games seriously. The music has genuine artistic value and should treated as such. These composers have so much passion and care for their music.
The critical mass of sheer talent allowed to shine at Rareware in the mid 90s is unmatched & I doubt will ever be, Both musically cohesive output per game and the games themselves.
The sounds imitate the calls of whales, the sounds of submarines and, with the sounds bouncing between right and left, the disorientation regular people feel when submerging as the waves push you around. This piece is beautifully inspired by the aquatic ambiance that was requested to the composer.
A while ago I had a hunch that if a composer who had no connection to video games or Donkey Kong Country was shown this track, they would still be able to appreciate how well written and arranged it is. Without wanting to sound too presumptuous, thanks for confirming that hunch
There is an absolute madman here on RUclips who has painstakingly gone and recreated all of these songs with the original synths so we can finally hear them without compression. It is heavenly.
I think the version we hear in this video is one such recreation. It doesn't sound as compressed as the original, which somehow makes it sound kinda weird and nearly off-tune at times, especially during the "harmonica"-style melody (e.g. at 3:58)
(Nerd mode : ON) LIttle bit on technical background in regards to the sounds : The sound chip of the console (SNES) on which the game was released is basically a lo-fi rompler, it only uses sample-based sounds. From what I heard and read, for this particular game / series, they programmed it kind of like a basic wave table synth, with single cycle samples, to compensate the limitations of the chip and get those unusual sounds for the support. On the other hand, speaking of DX7 and FM sounds, the primary competing console at the time (Genesis/Megadrive) used an actual FM chip (4 operators, similar to cheaper Yamaha DX synths) along with a PSG chip using more basic waveforms, with one track that could be used for *very* lo-fi samples (used for percussions or sound effects, most of the time). This results in both machines having radically different sonic palettes, with very different personalities, each with their strong and weak points, and it's really interesting to hear how they manages similar sountracks, or even similar ambiances. To contrast this 'Donkey Kong Country' moody aquatic track from the SNES, you can check the very ambient 'Ice Zone' from 'Ecco the Dolphin' (ruclips.net/video/wlslP0Y3X6s/видео.html) or the more agressive yet melancholic 'Whirlwind' from 'Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master' (ruclips.net/video/rO-rRfiYs88/видео.html) from the Megadrive. (Nerd mode : OFF) And on that note, enjoy the surf session :)
yes, but SNES SPC-700 was a little bit sophisticated than that - it basically was a rompler who could also real-time decompress ADPCM audio & also with an added effect DSP to perform real-time ADSR curves, FFT-filtering & simple panning & delay effects - or an 8-channels 16-bit stereo hardware module tracker on-a-chip.
The sounds they used were part of the systems limitations. Donkey Kong Country was released on Super Nintendo which had cartridges that held at the very most 6 MB but usually 4 or under. The Super Nintendo has an onboard S-SMP audio chip that the composer worked with Nintendo to create the music.
What i love about this video is how you can perfectly mimic the sounds from the song. You're impression of the harp gave me the same sense of nostalgia the OG song does.
Put succinctly, the _Country_ series trades Donkey Kong's traditional ladders-'n'-barrels gameplay for side-scrolling & platforming through lush environments, and also trades Mario's quest to rescue Pauline from DK's clutches for... the struggle against a proper arch-nemesis, the Kremling leader, the anthropomorphic crocodile King K. Rool. It's definitely worth a try. Oh, also, the DK in _Country_ is the grandson of the DK from the games to which you're more accustomed. He does show up however, as old man "Cranky" Kong - dispensing nuggets of wisdom & whacks from his cane in equal measure to the "whippersnappers" you control in-game!
David Wise is a genuinely brilliant composer. There are more incredible tracks he's created than I could name, but Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony, and Lockjaws Locker are mindblowing considering they're played from a cartridge. Seashore War is a newer track of his without these limitations and it gives me chills. Just an astonishing piece of music.
Really fun factoid about this song. You mention that David Wise used reverbs/delays to help with the tail-off type sounds, but in actuality, he had to repeat sounds at various volumes in stereo to simulate reverb. Really cool history in most 90's home console game tech!
it’s crazy how half the work is making this amazing composition then half was working with the old sound chip to make everything work and sound authentic
Came across this channel randomly while searching vgm, seeing so many people recognize this as a work of art from their childhood and watching someone exp it for the first time gave me great joy. Thank you for this vid
Something to look into maybe, coming off of your Final Fantasy review, another composer who had his start in the same company (SquareSoft/SquareEnix) as Nobou Uematsu is my personal favorite gaming composer Yasunori Mitsuda. My choice of game would also be my personal favorite and the first game that he ever composed 90% percent of is a game called Chrono Trigger. He worked himself sick on the soundtrack and the aforementioned Nobou Uematsu helped on completing it. It's a true testament to classic 90's game music. For tracks, I highly recommend my favorite song "Undersea Palace" as well as the end credit theme "Too Far Away Times". Also, some other highly loved tunes are the "Opening Theme" or "Theme of Chrono Trigger" and "Corridors of Time".
LOVE Undersea Palace. My personal favorite is Secret of the Forest. It's one of the few songs that aren't given enough time to develop in your ears as the player can run through Guardia Forest in seconds. Always stop and chill there for a few minutes every time I play
Fun fact: David Wise originally planned his programming to be inspired by the instrumentation of the Korg Wavestation. I still would like one of those synths to learn and play with, thanks to this game's soundtrack! Thanks for reacting to this. It's a gem!
Wavestations are currently pretty cheap on the used market - will go up I think.. you can also get the official Korg plugin version. (I was inspired by the Wavestation for some features in my own plugin Hyperion)
I've now binged all of your gaming music videos, I'm a sound producer from Sweden so when I found you and started to listen to how you describe different compositions and from the game music you choose in the suggestions... i was hooked. Something truly perculiar is that no one has told you about how they designed the music for "Final fantasy 7 remake". You spoke of interactivity and being able to immerse yourself even deeper in a game through it's music sooo... They made it so that depending on what you are doing and how you react during the game... It changes how the music plays, by the swing of your sword, by the tumble you make, how much destruction the environment takes, what you choose to do and when an entity is rendered lifeless. Personally I found out during playing and then looked it up and spent far to many hours listening to each individual person in an orcestra grace me with their tunes upon action. My recommendation both to play and listen to "Final fantasy 7 remake - Midgar mako city" ruclips.net/video/M4El6rckfS0/видео.html
This is very indicative of David's Wise general style on Donkey Kong Country, the way he wove melodies into the atmosphere of the type of the level it belongs to, and built on it. He truly pushed the limits of what the SNES sound chip could do. Also, "Stickerbush Symphony" is another of his most popular DKC works if you've never heard it.
Since you enjoyed this sort of classic sound chip arrangement, as well as your first Final Fantasy/Nobuo Uematsu track with To Zanarkand, there's nothing I could recommend more highly than what I'd argue to be the most impressive song ever composed for a 16 bit sound chip, Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6. It was composed as a 4 movement symphony for the final boss of the game, with each movement corresponding to a phase of the battle. The composer, Nobuo Uematsu, was entirely self-taught in music and never received any formal training, and is now one of the most famous and respected composers in the gaming industry, primarily due to his work on Final Fantasy.
I recommended this in the To Zanarkand video :) Would also be cool to see him react to different versions. Original vs Black Mages version for example.
The entire FF6 soundtrack is amazing. Ending Theme is my personal favorite, Dancing Mad more than deserves all the hype it gets, and of course you can't forget the first (only?) opera ever composed for a video game.
I've always been big on music. When this game came out I was a kid and loved it. When I first did the water level and this song played I got chills just something about it. So relaxing so freaking awesome the melody carries so nice. It got to the point that I would play the water levels just for the music lol.
Since I found this channel I started listening to some game music in a different way. Really picking up stuff I never noticed before. Like the little background beat at 7:26 that sounds like a submarine sonar.
I read it took David Wise two weeks to compile this song and its various layers together because of the hardware limitations of the super nintendo. Absolutely melting in nostalgia. Classic
This song was my lullaby for years. One of the prettiest pieces of video game music to ever grace my ears. You should react to Simon Belmont's theme from Castlevania IV!
David Weiss was found for the Donkey Kong games when the developers were in a music store David was working at while they were looking for instruments. They were impressed by his knowledge about the music hardware and asked if he'd be interested in working for them.. Just awesome honestly
There is a cover of this by an artist I only know as Gentle Love, that is absolutely breathtaking and should be heard by anyone who loves this song. It gives me chills every time I hear it and is just beautifully composed and performed with real instruments. The entire DKC soundtrack is just flawless IMO.
Keep in mind, these digital samples are 8 bit ADPCM samples with a custom encoding. The SNES basically marked the transition from simple chips where you had a couple channels with set oscillator types (square, triangle, etc) to larger numbers of channels with FM synthesis. At the time, the SNES was the most capable sound system in a home console, and would be a dream to work with compared to something like it's predecessor.
I remember my grandfather passed away in '95 and whenever I would play DKC this song hit hard. It's a beautiful song, but it will always be melancholy to me.
David Wise is a master of ambient music, and the sheer amount of extensive work to compose and implement a song like this with the SNES's limiting hardware is incredibly impressive.
The synth talk was super neat, having a bit more context on around the time this was made, but as well, the sound chips in the SNES games back then were revolutionary for games, back before that, there were like, 4 audio channels or something for the original NES, meanwhile the SNES could use (very compressed) samples even, on top of everything else. Mega Man 1 through 6 on NES has oodles of great songs that are worth checking out to get an idea of what the NES can do, I'd especially recommend Wily Castle theme from Mega Man 2, which is an all time gaming classic song. And out of ceazy stuff done on these, Tim Follin is a crazy composer who used these sound chips and such to effect greater than anyone else. I absolutely loved the reaction and talk about stuff and look forward to more! Definitely gonna keep my eye out for more by ya. :D
I recommend giving Jammin' Sam Miller 's restorations a listen, the compression the carts were under is brutal and some of the soundtrack, they're nearly different songs, so squished to fit.
The 8 bit big band did an arrangement of this track that's absolutely MIND-BLOWINGLY gorgeous. Even if you don't stream it for this channel PLEASE check it out sometime! You won't be disappointed with what they did with it!
I got brought here by Chris Christodoulou for the Risk of Rain 2 you did, and I am adoring your content!! It’s super wholesome and I always love to see someone from a different background/generation appreciate video game music! New perspective gives new appreciation
I'm still here! A couple of recommendations. From Chrono Cross, "Time's Scar" by Yatsunori Mitsuda. From Final Fantasy IX, "Vamo'alla Flamenco" or for some island flair, "Ukulele de Chocobo".
You absolutely MUST check out the soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. David Wise returned for that soundtrack and it's phenomenal. Great to hear his music with modern midi technology too. Very jazzy and ambient. Another great Nintendo soundtrack is the one for Super Mario Galaxy which was performed by a live orchestra and is widely considered to be one of the best video game soundtracks of that era.
Aquatic Ambience is my fave song / composition of all time. There are a lot of excellent interpretations of it over the years, but my fave is Beneath The Surface by Vigilante from OverClocked ReMix’s Kong In Kongcert album.
Also: Submerged In Ambience by The Distortionist on OCremix-an ambi-djent metal interpretation! And Aquatic Ambience by Funk Fiction-if The Weeknd had covered it, sort of. And the Symphonic Legends Donkey Kong Country Suite (mis-named)-a neoclassical orchestral approach. And several others!
Great choice, the song is very soothing but yearning and melancholy at the same time. Just wanted to say that this channel is a really great addition to the reaction scene. Love it!
I haven’t seen the openings and endings for Mushoku Tensei recommended yet. I think people avoid the show a bit due to the controversy surrounding it, but it would be an understatement to just say that all of the openings and endings are worth listening to. For just about every show out there, when their opening credits/theme play, they include visuals that really break immersion and sometimes the song itself doesn’t do anything to help either, like if the song has heavy guitar or bass that just doesn't fit the style of the show. With Mushoku Tensei, it’s the exact opposite. The openings function more as a part of the soundtrack than actual openings. They always play over different visuals that show the world and how its inhabitants get through their day, never breaking immersion. It’s something really unique. All of the openings (composed and sung by Yuiko Ohara) correspond to a specific region that the protagonist and his companions find themselves in. I won’t go into any specifics about them, but all of them are different from each other and complement the episodes they appear in perfectly. They can all be found on Yuiko Ohara’s RUclips channel in a playlist. The openings in order as in the playlist: Tabibito no Uta (Traveler’s song), Mezame no Uta (Awakening song), Keishou no Uta (Inheritance song), Inori no Uta (Prayer song), Tooku no Komori no Uta (Distant lullaby song), and Tabibito no Uta ~Kikyou~ (Traveler’s song ~Homecoming~), and the two endings, Only, and Kaze to Iku Michi (The road that goes with the wind). Since the openings play over scenes that usually have dialogue, I strongly recommend listening to the playlist otherwise it could get messy. Since I found this channel, I have noticed that you have a great understanding and love for music which strangely, a lot of people that do similar content don't, so I really appreciate it and I would love to see what you honestly think of these songs as well. They really don’t get much attention or appreciation, but they rank as some of my favorite songs ever.
You are absolutely correct about the intervals in the chords being open because of the limitations of the sound chip. The sound chip in the Super Nintendo only supports 8 audio channels and if I remember correctly either only 5 or 3 of those channels can emit a sound at the same time.
I and many others grew up on these video game soundtracks and a 'lot of the love revolves around nostalgia, I'm loving your take on listening as a newcomer and a composer.
I've done my own deconstruction by recording all 8 channels of music off the level so i can study the masterpiece even more. What ever sounds was on one particular channel was split so i could listen to every sound that was used. That's taken it up 16 to channels and i guess David had to bounce it down to 8 due to the soundchip having that and memory.
This song is even better when you consider the limitations of 16bit MIDI this composer was limited to.
These samples are 8 bit, not 16 bit. The SNES really marked the transition from using basic oscillator based additive synthesis to FM synthesis using samples, at least in consoles. The chip in the SNES is the most capable of its contemporaries. It seems limited now, but for it's time that thing would have been a dream to work with as a game composer.
Even then David wise admitted composing this song pretty much pushed the limits of what he knew the SNES's sound chip was capable of.
what's funny to me is how the snes carts had extremely limited memory in general, and depending on the game the OST alone could be a huge % of the total memory used. Earthbound is particularly fun because in that game the OST is MASSIVE, like 80-90% of the total memory of the game. To save space they made the ENTIRE game take place on a single giant map lol so if you can get out of bounds you can literally walk anywhere in the game from anywhere.
Gonna drop some pedantic corrections here, they don't really matter that much, but I figured I'd let everybody know. The SNES didn't use MIDI at all, it had its own dedicated sound chip called the SPC-700. A more accurate and generic term would be synth.
Also, I've worked on one of the projects hacking/modding EarthBound, and it's not true that the soundtrack takes up 70 to 80% of the space of the game. The samples used quite a lot of space, more than many other SNES games, but at the end of the day it was still synthesizer music which is very space efficient. As I recall, the following all took up significant chunks of the ROM space: the map itself (which was compressed), the samples, the compressed battle sprites for the enemies, the rest of the graphics (stored in the regular SNES gfx format), and the text of the game, which was compressed itself in a proprietary format and had game logic peppered through it.
Also... this is not the version of the track that I know. Sounds like a few of the samples are different or maybe some different effects were added on top? The synth bass in particular sounds off. Flute too. Is this the "restored" version?
@@phoenixlich Maybe you are getting SNES games confused with another system, although I wouldn't know which... Soundtracks rarely took up much space because synthesizer music is very space efficient. I used to work on ROM hacking tools. Anyways, SNES games didn't use that much space for music. Graphics took up a lot more in general. Also, EarthBound was able to fit on a 3MB cart (24 megabit). There were games that had to be put on four megabytes, and even one or two on six I believe. Anyways, see my other comment for context
Love when a composer's face twists into a grimace or they start shaking their head. That means they really like what they're hearing (usually lol).
Song still gives me chills, 30 years later, from boy to man
nostalgia deluxe for sure
Here in Brazil, I feel the same. I remember like it was yesterday, the first time I heard this song.
Jojo reference
Same I listen to it everyday
Yes!! 💯%
Imagine getting to hear this for the first time again.
All of the tracks in that game were something else. Weis was a master composer in an era where some games still had "bleep bloop" songs.
@@matthewlawton9241 the song as Composer mentions has "bubbles". I also seems to hear almost siren voices and music instrument echoing in the distant. The tune is also so natural but unfamiliar like notes from a forgotten world in the sea where time stopped and you can feel mystery and harmony. As it portray the water worlds in DCC I think many children from the past still connect 'water' with these melodies to this day.
i would be getting in trouble for playing too much my summer after 2nd grade, but this level (and others) would teleport me to another world, it was more interesting than the farm outside loll memoriessss wow
Stickerbush Symphony is an amazing sequel/evolution to this song. Wholly recommended.
Seconded
Stickerbrush Symphony seems to be in the same category as Dire Dire Docks from Mario 64. You will find it popping up on any videogame related video as background music, because it's just so deeply beloved. Thirded.
Did you know that Stickerbush Symphony was created to be music for a water level. But the water levels in 2 were always either in ships or in ice caverns so it didn’t fit. So he made it for the bramble levels.
Absolutely
There are so many David Wise gems. Stickerbush Symphony was the one I remembered most clearly when I first looked back, but hot head bop, gangplank galleon, jib jig, fear factory, Bayou Boogie, flight of the zinger, forest interlude, and so many more are unforgettable. Even some of the tracks on dkctf like windmill hills are as good as his most famous classics.
One of the things I've always liked about Aquatic Ambiance is how D. Wise used a submarine sonar ping as part of the percussion, further adding to the underwater feeling.
I'm sure he was inspired by Klaus Doldinger's score to the submarine movie/mini series Das Boot from 1985. It is a cool effect.
@@Monticello19 Also reminds me of the percussion in Grant Kirkhope's Goldeneye N64 soundtrack
It always surprises me that the SNES's sound chip was capable of producing music like this
They were doing the best job of it: Megadrive and the PC engine had sound chips, the SNES had an entire audio subsystem - the Nintendo S-SMP.
Thanks SONY lol
@@HKT-4300: more like "thanks Ken Kutaragi", Sony didn't really want to get into video games at the time
@@HKT-4300 i always laugh when ppl say SONY did this and that. its workers and creative ppl who SONY didnt believe in back in the day
SMW Central has a "Music" section of people using SNES chips to make their own ports...there's an entire hacking community making insane stuff on the SNES...
All the OSTs for all of the Donkey Kong Country games are simply masterpieces. It's hard pressed to not find absolutely phenomenal music in any of the games. Bramble Blast is one a ton of people will suggest and you cannot go wrong!
Or rather, they will suggest Stickerbush Symphony which is the actual name of the song. ^^
@@travisteatime Bramble Blast refers to the Brawl remix which some consider to be superior for the new phrases and elements it adds!
@@nintendude794 this
This^
A comparison of the original to the Brawl remix would be warranted and wonderful!
The process behind getting the sounds for the Donkey Kong Country soundtracks was ridiculously involved. The trilogy sounds almost nothing like the rest of the SNES library, and I suggest anyone interested go read about how the composer managed it. Short version - stupid amounts of work, and the layering of many many samples into one so it could fit into the soundfont for the cartridge.
I seem to recall there being over 60 tracks on some songs of this OST, and the SNES only had the capability for 8 sound channels. David Wise knew his shit, and he had a vision. That he managed to pull it off was a monumental feat for the time.
You're absolutely correct in knowing that many of these talented composers would bypass the limits of the sound card by weaving melodies in-between these intervals in order to make music that sounded more full. If you want to see the limits of the Super Nintendo soundcard put to the test, highly recommend "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI by Nobuo Uematsu. It's absolutely wild how he was able to compose that within the boundaries of the Super Nintendo soundcard, you'd love it.
"Alright, 5000 yen says I can write a Bach through the lens of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on the SNES soundcard."
- Uematsu, probably
Dancing mad is one of the best FF pieces
Tim Follin was a great example of pushing limits. Any soundtrack he composed for was frankly too good for the mediocre games he was paired with, which is probably why you don't see him around anymore. Still, what we can find of his is seriously impressive.
Uematsu wrote a masterpiece in three acts in the form of a Super Nintendo boss theme. I love seeing composers' reactions to it. When I say that VGM is legitimate art, Dancing Mad is one example that comes to mind.
David Wise was largely inspired by the Korg Wavestation and designed the sample-switching patterns in DKC based on the way the Wavestation patterns worked. You can hear this in other tracks like "Life in the Mines."
You mean the "Kong" wavestation
Still one of the greatest pieces of music from any video game ever
David Wise pulled *magic* out of that sound chip.
Jungle Hijinx/DK Island Swing, Jib Jig, Simian Segue, Funky's Fugue, Hot-Head Bop... There's too many to list. Might need a long-form one for this series.
A bit late I know, but out of respect to the composers, Funky's Fugue was actually Robin Beanland's sole contribution for DKC1 and Simian Segue was one of several by Eveline Fischer. Otherwise, I agree, the guy was a wizard.
Don't forget the UNFORGETTABLE, Lockjaw's Saga!
Gang-Plank Galleon
The Super Nintendo was special at the time, from what I gather, because its sound processor was sample based. But it couldn't play high bitrate samples very well, so a lot of instrumentation came from real instruments, but the quality was cut and it gave the games on the system a distinct sound.
This, he needs to read this.
It was similar tech to the Amiga which was used for entry level music production at the time. To make it clearer, PCs at the time used sound cards with MIDI sound samples built in, so how music sounded depended on the instrument bank in the card. The Amiga loaded samples from disc. Normally lower quality 8-bit samples, but they could be anything and played back just as the creator intended.
that's why it's so fun listening to these new re-done versions where they've gotten the original high quality samples and all that, and put it back together so you can hear what it might have sounded like for the composer.
If I'm correct some are even sampled from something like a dx7. Which he mentioned it reminded him of. But due to the compression it sounds different.
@@mattd8725 The Gravis Ultrasound for DOS machines did exactly that too. Generally used for its General MIDI capabilities, games could also load any number of specific custom patches to obtain a sound that the card wouldn't be able to reproduce only with its default patches nor the PPL161. One Must Fall 2097 is a good example of that. The best sound for music you can get in the game is on the GUS. Not Soundblaster 16, not Mt-32, not SC-55 and not SC-88.
Love the fact that someone who has never played the DKC game can so perfectly imagine the level from which this song is played. David Wise is a true genius and nailed this track, among many others.
A lot of water levels in games have very similar soundscapes sonically. Somehow, really matches that underwater vibe. Just like certain chords feel happy or sad, certain ones feel like the sea, outer space, open fields etc.
Very cool hearing appreciation for the synth sounds. I feel like the heavily digital sounds turn a lot of people off of classic video game music.
Aquatic Ambience, Forest Interlude and Stickerbrush Symphony are my favorites.
I love all of those, they sound so beautiful. Bayou Boogie is also on my top list, great vibes.
Those names get thrown out a lot from DKC2, and for good reason, but I've always found lockjaw's saga to be severely underrated. I never hear anyone mention that one.
@@tehemail.7062honestly the entire DKC2 OST is top tier
@@osets2117 Oh definitely. You could plop any one of at least a dozen tracks into almost any other game and they would become the track the game is known for.
The only reason some of them don't get mentioned is because they're all in the same game. Though the lesser known ones are definitely on par with the notorious ones so they definitely need to get more shout outs.
Edit: Actually looking at the track list, there may be another factor. People seem to gravitate towards the calming tracks over the more anxiety inducing ones (lockjaw, flight of the zinger, crocodile cacaphony, etc).
Mining Melancholy is also a great one
David Wise is LEGENDARY! Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbush Symphony, and Forest Interlude are songs I come back to over and over and over again. It's so amazing what some composers were able to push out of the SNES' capabilities. I didn't even play the majority of the DKC games, but those tracks will stick with me forever
This version is really light on the bass that is present in this song - there is a very throbbing resonant bass that is missing in this version of the recording
The truly amazing thing is that at this time most games sounded like R2-D2 singing. This game permanently changed sound quality for games.
Discovering this track in real time in high school was a very memorable experience. Still gives me goosebumps 30 yrs later..
Stickerbrush Symphony is another really good track from the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, I recommend listening to that one as well!
*Stickerbush
Oh nicely done dude. Aquatic Ambience is the Eleanor Rigby of videogame music.
My mom was a music teacher, while i was growing up, we would play donkey kong country daily during summer break and would let the music on aquatic ambience play. I had to have been 5 or 6 at the time, nothing better than a decent crt tv and laying on the floor play snes with a parent.
Donkey Kong Country was my very first videogame ever, and this particular track always opens the floodgates of my memories, it just has something special to it. The vibe, the cadence, the echoes... and when the main melody hits, it hits hard.
Love David Wise.
Mine too!
Forest Interlude is also phenomenal. It’s so soothing and calming
I love, love, love Aquatic Ambiance. I have to say it's up there with Forest Interlude as far as the Donkey Kong Country franchise is concerned. I recommend giving that one a listen as well.
One of my absolute favorite soundtracks ever! David Wise is such a genius and it's hard to believe that these sounds came out of an snes :D Thanks for reacting to this!
I love seeing all these professional composers and teachers taking music from video games seriously. The music has genuine artistic value and should treated as such. These composers have so much passion and care for their music.
The critical mass of sheer talent allowed to shine at Rareware in the mid 90s is unmatched & I doubt will ever be, Both musically cohesive output per game and the games themselves.
I don't know you guys, but this theme put me in an emotional state... I wanna comeback to those good old days where life was easy and happy ..cheers
The sounds imitate the calls of whales, the sounds of submarines and, with the sounds bouncing between right and left, the disorientation regular people feel when submerging as the waves push you around. This piece is beautifully inspired by the aquatic ambiance that was requested to the composer.
A while ago I had a hunch that if a composer who had no connection to video games or Donkey Kong Country was shown this track, they would still be able to appreciate how well written and arranged it is. Without wanting to sound too presumptuous, thanks for confirming that hunch
There is an absolute madman here on RUclips who has painstakingly gone and recreated all of these songs with the original synths so we can finally hear them without compression. It is heavenly.
Is that Jammin' Sam Miller?
Thanks for posting the channel. 🤡
@@allwillberevealed777 No Problem, on his Bandcamp he's released the Donkey Kong Country trilogy both Digital and some Vinyl.
I think the version we hear in this video is one such recreation. It doesn't sound as compressed as the original, which somehow makes it sound kinda weird and nearly off-tune at times, especially during the "harmonica"-style melody (e.g. at 3:58)
@@allwillberevealed777 instead of whingeing you could have just asked 🤡
(Nerd mode : ON)
LIttle bit on technical background in regards to the sounds :
The sound chip of the console (SNES) on which the game was released is basically a lo-fi rompler, it only uses sample-based sounds. From what I heard and read, for this particular game / series, they programmed it kind of like a basic wave table synth, with single cycle samples, to compensate the limitations of the chip and get those unusual sounds for the support.
On the other hand, speaking of DX7 and FM sounds, the primary competing console at the time (Genesis/Megadrive) used an actual FM chip (4 operators, similar to cheaper Yamaha DX synths) along with a PSG chip using more basic waveforms, with one track that could be used for *very* lo-fi samples (used for percussions or sound effects, most of the time).
This results in both machines having radically different sonic palettes, with very different personalities, each with their strong and weak points, and it's really interesting to hear how they manages similar sountracks, or even similar ambiances.
To contrast this 'Donkey Kong Country' moody aquatic track from the SNES, you can check the very ambient 'Ice Zone' from 'Ecco the Dolphin' (ruclips.net/video/wlslP0Y3X6s/видео.html) or the more agressive yet melancholic 'Whirlwind' from 'Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master' (ruclips.net/video/rO-rRfiYs88/видео.html) from the Megadrive.
(Nerd mode : OFF)
And on that note, enjoy the surf session :)
And if you want something more direct, listen to both versions of Aladdin's soundtrack.
yes, but SNES SPC-700 was a little bit sophisticated than that - it basically was a rompler who could also real-time decompress ADPCM audio & also with an added effect DSP to perform real-time ADSR curves, FFT-filtering & simple panning & delay effects - or an 8-channels 16-bit stereo hardware module tracker on-a-chip.
The 90's was all about the deepest part of the soul
Holy SHIT, every note of that song hits like a freight train of nostalgia - damn.
The sounds they used were part of the systems limitations. Donkey Kong Country was released on Super Nintendo which had cartridges that held at the very most 6 MB but usually 4 or under. The Super Nintendo has an onboard S-SMP audio chip that the composer worked with Nintendo to create the music.
I feel like Porky's Theme from Earthbound is another system push game for the sounds it was able to produce.
What i love about this video is how you can perfectly mimic the sounds from the song. You're impression of the harp gave me the same sense of nostalgia the OG song does.
Put succinctly, the _Country_ series trades Donkey Kong's traditional ladders-'n'-barrels gameplay for side-scrolling & platforming through lush environments, and also trades Mario's quest to rescue Pauline from DK's clutches for... the struggle against a proper arch-nemesis, the Kremling leader, the anthropomorphic crocodile King K. Rool.
It's definitely worth a try. Oh, also, the DK in _Country_ is the grandson of the DK from the games to which you're more accustomed. He does show up however, as old man "Cranky" Kong - dispensing nuggets of wisdom & whacks from his cane in equal measure to the "whippersnappers" you control in-game!
Oh my childhood, hearing that again almost made we tear up. DKC series brought my so much joy. Damn games just don’t feel like that anymore.
David Wise is a genuinely brilliant composer. There are more incredible tracks he's created than I could name, but Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony, and Lockjaws Locker are mindblowing considering they're played from a cartridge.
Seashore War is a newer track of his without these limitations and it gives me chills. Just an astonishing piece of music.
Really fun factoid about this song. You mention that David Wise used reverbs/delays to help with the tail-off type sounds, but in actuality, he had to repeat sounds at various volumes in stereo to simulate reverb. Really cool history in most 90's home console game tech!
it’s crazy how half the work is making this amazing composition then half was working with the old sound chip to make everything work and sound authentic
This track actually makes me cry. It summons a sense of nostalgia and Zeitweh that's overwhelming
I was wondering when a Donkey Kong soundtrack would come up. Thank you always for these breakdowns I definitely find them very fun.
this is, to me, one of the greatest video game tracks of all time
Came across this channel randomly while searching vgm, seeing so many people recognize this as a work of art from their childhood and watching someone exp it for the first time gave me great joy. Thank you for this vid
Love how you put the track inside to the game to get an even deeper context.
SO GLAD YOU DID THIS. It always stuck with me from childhood. Over 25 years ago
Something to look into maybe, coming off of your Final Fantasy review, another composer who had his start in the same company (SquareSoft/SquareEnix) as Nobou Uematsu is my personal favorite gaming composer Yasunori Mitsuda. My choice of game would also be my personal favorite and the first game that he ever composed 90% percent of is a game called Chrono Trigger. He worked himself sick on the soundtrack and the aforementioned Nobou Uematsu helped on completing it. It's a true testament to classic 90's game music. For tracks, I highly recommend my favorite song "Undersea Palace" as well as the end credit theme "Too Far Away Times". Also, some other highly loved tunes are the "Opening Theme" or "Theme of Chrono Trigger" and "Corridors of Time".
LOVE Undersea Palace. My personal favorite is Secret of the Forest. It's one of the few songs that aren't given enough time to develop in your ears as the player can run through Guardia Forest in seconds. Always stop and chill there for a few minutes every time I play
I second this idea!
Fun fact: David Wise originally planned his programming to be inspired by the instrumentation of the Korg Wavestation. I still would like one of those synths to learn and play with, thanks to this game's soundtrack! Thanks for reacting to this. It's a gem!
Wavestations are currently pretty cheap on the used market - will go up I think.. you can also get the official Korg plugin version. (I was inspired by the Wavestation for some features in my own plugin Hyperion)
I've now binged all of your gaming music videos, I'm a sound producer from Sweden so when I found you and started to listen to how you describe different compositions and from the game music you choose in the suggestions... i was hooked.
Something truly perculiar is that no one has told you about how they designed the music for "Final fantasy 7 remake".
You spoke of interactivity and being able to immerse yourself even deeper in a game through it's music sooo...
They made it so that depending on what you are doing and how you react during the game... It changes how the music plays, by the swing of your sword, by the tumble you make, how much destruction the environment takes, what you choose to do and when an entity is rendered lifeless.
Personally I found out during playing and then looked it up and spent far to many hours listening to each individual person in an orcestra grace me with their tunes upon action.
My recommendation both to play and listen to
"Final fantasy 7 remake - Midgar mako city"
ruclips.net/video/M4El6rckfS0/видео.html
“I played it in the 1900s” made me both chuckle and cry at the same time lol
This is very indicative of David's Wise general style on Donkey Kong Country, the way he wove melodies into the atmosphere of the type of the level it belongs to, and built on it. He truly pushed the limits of what the SNES sound chip could do. Also, "Stickerbush Symphony" is another of his most popular DKC works if you've never heard it.
David Wise is a legend every Donkey Kong Country 2 Ost is a banger
Since you enjoyed this sort of classic sound chip arrangement, as well as your first Final Fantasy/Nobuo Uematsu track with To Zanarkand, there's nothing I could recommend more highly than what I'd argue to be the most impressive song ever composed for a 16 bit sound chip, Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6. It was composed as a 4 movement symphony for the final boss of the game, with each movement corresponding to a phase of the battle. The composer, Nobuo Uematsu, was entirely self-taught in music and never received any formal training, and is now one of the most famous and respected composers in the gaming industry, primarily due to his work on Final Fantasy.
I second this, a Dancing Mad reaction would be fun to see.
@@pupilonthesea2347 I third this. Dancing Mad is outstanding.
I recommended this in the To Zanarkand video :)
Would also be cool to see him react to different versions. Original vs Black Mages version for example.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Dancing Mad. It is an absolute journey of a song.
The entire FF6 soundtrack is amazing. Ending Theme is my personal favorite, Dancing Mad more than deserves all the hype it gets, and of course you can't forget the first (only?) opera ever composed for a video game.
David Wise is a genius, you should listen to SO MUCH MORE DK Country Music. They are all bangers. Literally all of them.
I've always been big on music. When this game came out I was a kid and loved it. When I first did the water level and this song played I got chills just something about it. So relaxing so freaking awesome the melody carries so nice. It got to the point that I would play the water levels just for the music lol.
Digging your vibes brother, nice reaction on a classic SNES track - I will be watching more 😎
for the love of God someone needs to get him to listen to the DK rap
These games and their music are the pinnacle of my childhood. So awesome to see you doing this.
Oh man, didn’t expect to see this! I absolutely love this song. Listen to it pretty regularly tbh. I shining moment from my childhood.
Since I found this channel I started listening to some game music in a different way. Really picking up stuff I never noticed before. Like the little background beat at 7:26 that sounds like a submarine sonar.
I read it took David Wise two weeks to compile this song and its various layers together because of the hardware limitations of the super nintendo. Absolutely melting in nostalgia. Classic
This song makes me sad, i can still see myself in my attic room as a young lad playing this.
This song was my lullaby for years. One of the prettiest pieces of video game music to ever grace my ears. You should react to Simon Belmont's theme from Castlevania IV!
Stickerbrush Symphony is another really phenomenal track from Donkey Kong Country 2:Diddy's Kong Quest
I'd recommend listening to that one too.
David Weiss was found for the Donkey Kong games when the developers were in a music store David was working at while they were looking for instruments. They were impressed by his knowledge about the music hardware and asked if he'd be interested in working for them.. Just awesome honestly
I've been waiting for this!!! Watching on my lunch break.
There is a cover of this by an artist I only know as Gentle Love, that is absolutely breathtaking and should be heard by anyone who loves this song. It gives me chills every time I hear it and is just beautifully composed and performed with real instruments. The entire DKC soundtrack is just flawless IMO.
Yes Gentle Love is so good , this song, Dire Dire Docks and that Metal Gear Solid song ! ❤
Almost 30 years later and I still wake up with it in my head.
Keep in mind, these digital samples are 8 bit ADPCM samples with a custom encoding. The SNES basically marked the transition from simple chips where you had a couple channels with set oscillator types (square, triangle, etc) to larger numbers of channels with FM synthesis.
At the time, the SNES was the most capable sound system in a home console, and would be a dream to work with compared to something like it's predecessor.
Stickerbrush Symphony
My band does a cover of this and it never ever leaves the setlist. By far one of our favorite tracks to do.
I remember my grandfather passed away in '95 and whenever I would play DKC this song hit hard. It's a beautiful song, but it will always be melancholy to me.
What a wonderful weekend surprise. I'm loving all these video game OST reacts!
stickerbrush symphony is also wonderful
David Wise is a master of ambient music, and the sheer amount of extensive work to compose and implement a song like this with the SNES's limiting hardware is incredibly impressive.
The synth talk was super neat, having a bit more context on around the time this was made, but as well, the sound chips in the SNES games back then were revolutionary for games, back before that, there were like, 4 audio channels or something for the original NES, meanwhile the SNES could use (very compressed) samples even, on top of everything else.
Mega Man 1 through 6 on NES has oodles of great songs that are worth checking out to get an idea of what the NES can do, I'd especially recommend Wily Castle theme from Mega Man 2, which is an all time gaming classic song.
And out of ceazy stuff done on these, Tim Follin is a crazy composer who used these sound chips and such to effect greater than anyone else.
I absolutely loved the reaction and talk about stuff and look forward to more! Definitely gonna keep my eye out for more by ya. :D
The Donkey Kong Country series ost has some of my favorite tracks from any game.
I recommend giving Jammin' Sam Miller 's restorations a listen, the compression the carts were under is brutal and some of the soundtrack, they're nearly different songs, so squished to fit.
he's literally listening to the resto here
AHHH love this track, it's almost as old as I am, and it never gets old or fails to give goosebumps
The 8 bit big band did an arrangement of this track that's absolutely MIND-BLOWINGLY gorgeous. Even if you don't stream it for this channel PLEASE check it out sometime! You won't be disappointed with what they did with it!
I got brought here by Chris Christodoulou for the Risk of Rain 2 you did, and I am adoring your content!! It’s super wholesome and I always love to see someone from a different background/generation appreciate video game music! New perspective gives new appreciation
I'm still here! A couple of recommendations. From Chrono Cross, "Time's Scar" by Yatsunori Mitsuda. From Final Fantasy IX, "Vamo'alla Flamenco" or for some island flair, "Ukulele de Chocobo".
I think Geebz would like "Ukelele de Chocobo." The chocobo theme with the Brubeck influence "Cinco de Chocobo" is a good one too!
so happy you did this, this track is definitely a classic in the VGM world
David Wise said "Forest Interlude" was the hardest track he made for the Donkey Kong franchise
You absolutely MUST check out the soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. David Wise returned for that soundtrack and it's phenomenal. Great to hear his music with modern midi technology too. Very jazzy and ambient.
Another great Nintendo soundtrack is the one for Super Mario Galaxy which was performed by a live orchestra and is widely considered to be one of the best video game soundtracks of that era.
5:00 or the KORG Wavestation to be precise ;)
Aquatic Ambience is my fave song / composition of all time. There are a lot of excellent interpretations of it over the years, but my fave is Beneath The Surface by Vigilante from OverClocked ReMix’s Kong In Kongcert album.
There’s also the OCremix piano solo version I made called Depth Of The Deep if anyone is interested.
Also: Submerged In Ambience by The Distortionist on OCremix-an ambi-djent metal interpretation! And Aquatic Ambience by Funk Fiction-if The Weeknd had covered it, sort of. And the Symphonic Legends Donkey Kong Country Suite (mis-named)-a neoclassical orchestral approach. And several others!
I think Wise sampled the Korg M1 and Wavestation for DKC1 and 2, some of the patches resampled are pretty iconic for those synths specifically
Water level music and ambience always hit so hard in terms of sound and instruments.
Great choice, the song is very soothing but yearning and melancholy at the same time.
Just wanted to say that this channel is a really great addition to the reaction scene. Love it!
Ahh dude thanks for reviewing this track it's one of the best ever written for a game. This whole games ost was unreal.
Love your input of this musical piece.
I haven’t seen the openings and endings for Mushoku Tensei recommended yet. I think people avoid the show a bit due to the controversy surrounding it, but it would be an understatement to just say that all of the openings and endings are worth listening to. For just about every show out there, when their opening credits/theme play, they include visuals that really break immersion and sometimes the song itself doesn’t do anything to help either, like if the song has heavy guitar or bass that just doesn't fit the style of the show. With Mushoku Tensei, it’s the exact opposite. The openings function more as a part of the soundtrack than actual openings. They always play over different visuals that show the world and how its inhabitants get through their day, never breaking immersion. It’s something really unique. All of the openings (composed and sung by Yuiko Ohara) correspond to a specific region that the protagonist and his companions find themselves in. I won’t go into any specifics about them, but all of them are different from each other and complement the episodes they appear in perfectly. They can all be found on Yuiko Ohara’s RUclips channel in a playlist. The openings in order as in the playlist: Tabibito no Uta (Traveler’s song), Mezame no Uta (Awakening song), Keishou no Uta (Inheritance song), Inori no Uta (Prayer song), Tooku no Komori no Uta (Distant lullaby song), and Tabibito no Uta ~Kikyou~ (Traveler’s song ~Homecoming~), and the two endings, Only, and Kaze to Iku Michi (The road that goes with the wind). Since the openings play over scenes that usually have dialogue, I strongly recommend listening to the playlist otherwise it could get messy. Since I found this channel, I have noticed that you have a great understanding and love for music which strangely, a lot of people that do similar content don't, so I really appreciate it and I would love to see what you honestly think of these songs as well. They really don’t get much attention or appreciation, but they rank as some of my favorite songs ever.
You are absolutely correct about the intervals in the chords being open because of the limitations of the sound chip. The sound chip in the Super Nintendo only supports 8 audio channels and if I remember correctly either only 5 or 3 of those channels can emit a sound at the same time.
I and many others grew up on these video game soundtracks and a 'lot of the love revolves around nostalgia, I'm loving your take on listening as a newcomer and a composer.
I've done my own deconstruction by recording all 8 channels of music off the level so i can study the masterpiece even more. What ever sounds was on one particular channel was split so i could listen to every sound that was used. That's taken it up 16 to channels and i guess David had to bounce it down to 8 due to the soundchip having that and memory.