Yeah, I definitely had to look that one up afterwards. The drums are pretty killin'! The laying of different voices over the C.E.S.H. (or James Bond progression) is super cool, too.
@@wheatleythebrick2276 the famicom version is the original tho (i know what you mean, that you like the NES version better, which is nice, but the famicom version came first)
@@AlynRapi look up the video that combines the famicom and NES soundtrack as one complete sound. It's pretty killer to hear the subtleties of the NES version with the in your face melody of the famicom one.
Absolutely true! I always loved her music. In my opinion, Lament of Innocence is my personal favorite. Plays the emotions the hardest for me, even in Leon's Theme. It's so hard in emotion and power.
Hey Michirin9801, any good channel you can recommend to learn musical theory? I've thinking about it recently but I don't have much free time to actually take classes, so that would help me a lot. Thanks!
I just typed "Music theory for beginners" on the search bar and clicked on a ton of videos and watched them all, but the ones that stuck with me were the ones from Michael New, he tends to sum it all up in a way that you can easily understand! Once you've got a grasp of the basics I think you can learn a lot from 12tone and Ongaku Concept, or at least I have... By all means though you should totally watch more channels!
You know you’ve done your job well when someone who doesn’t understand music theory at all is entertained and enjoys the lesson (even if I am lost during the whole thing lol)
I swear, combining classical and modern musical elements makes me weak in the knees. I have Castlevania games to thank for that. The classic motifs revealed in Wood Cutting Partita and Silence of the Daylight put my jaw on the floor -- I had never realized or known till this video! Glorious analysis.
Damn! What a good video! I love the music from all Castlevania games, but my favorite for sure is the Symphony of the night game. The best soundtrack ever!
Really nice analysis. I feel like you really deftly zoned in on a lot of tropes, and connected them elegantly in a way that even non-musicians will appreciate.
Thank you so much for this analyse and explanation! I love Castlevania's ost and wonder why it's so awesome. I am also a fan of classical music and rock bands, it is so interesting how composers combined those elements to create such a beautiful piece!
Wow how fantastic! Just today I was looking at SOTN's Marble Gallery as inspiration for making synthetic loops and was thinking "I really wish there was some youtube video that picked apart the music theory aspect, so I can understand how this works thematically" and voila! You managed to make my dreams come true! Thank you 8-bit Music Theory!
I usually don't have a problem following your videos since I've take a few years of college level music theory and ear training, but this video was tough. The way the composers of Castlevania combine new and old is so intricate and subtle that you have to be extremely alert to catch it. Thanks a ton for making this and I look forward, as I always have, to whatever you put out next.
CastleVania's music is the best and the music no matter what is great. (Even in Harmony of Dissonance as it is actually tensional to evoke fear in the players which I think work) Plus the music always evoke a different feeling within every game no matter what thus enhancing the experience.
6:01 Oh so it's the "25 or 6 to 4" progress-- _"As well as in Chicago's '25 or 6 to 4.'"_ Oh well there it is! I guess that also means "Brain Stew" fits this progression t-- _"And more recently in 'Green Day's Brain Stew.'"_ *GET OUT OF MY HEAD*
Brilliant. Castlevania has always perfectly blended modern styles with classical language. The music in those games have always had such a grim and gothic edge to them.
I'm taking the time to watch all of your videos from the beginning, and I have to say, this is the one I liked the most so far. Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom!
Amazingly interesting and educational video once again! I love learning about music theory with those. May I point out a transcription mistake at the end of the bar starting at 11:00... The last four notes of the harpsichord line should be A F# A C
You, sir, have earned yourself another subscriber. Highly nutritious content. Whenever I'm working on a game soundtrack, I catch myself watching your videos for a bit of guidance or inspiration. Thank you.
What a great video, really hit the spot. Been on a Baroque binge lately and always loved that "sound" in Castlevania but never could tell myself how/why. Great stuff.
Great analysis. Interesting points about modern vs classical harmony. I had noticed a few of these tropes before (implied pedal point) but always lacked the terminology to describe it.
I absolutely adore your videos and the moment I saw this video I immediately started watching it. Castlevania has to be one of my most favorite series music wise
Your analysis of music like this goes *way* beyond my musical education, but I still love hearing investigation into the technique used in older game music. Just found your channel, but I will definitely be coming back to try and learn more about what makes these songs, performed with such simple equipment, actually work
The Andalusian Cadence! I finally know the name of something I've been doing for so long! Also, thanks for explaining many things about these series. Take care!!!
Ended up here just trying to find versions of bloody tears and so forth, found out I was in the deep end, and still enjoyed every bit of it. Well played
Ooooooh man! Yes! A music theory video about Castlevania from 8-bit Music Theory!! Oh, What a marvelous video :D Seriously, I found that the Castlevania Soundtrack is a topic that is rarely aborded on RUclips regarding theory, and you presented the informations in a way that only a video in this format might be able to do. I really have to congrat you, good work! I feel that all the videos in this channel are "top tier", and the frequency is really good too. Apart from that, it seems that I've talked enough XD Well, thanks for the vid, it really made up my day :-)
Hearing this music for the last 30 odd years through game play and never knowing the technical side if it makes me feel a bit abashed that I never invested more into the work behind it all. You have a grateful sub :)
Been on a Castlevania music kick, learned Vampire Killer and noticed the classical elements mixed with rock, relearned Bloody Tears (what a kickass song), and finishing it out with learning Lost Painting which is very jazzy. Thanks for the video pointing out all the blending and diversity in this awesome series.
I am just pausing your videos and learning classic nes shit i've never bothered to learn, and i feel like a bad ass. These melodies on bass sound crisppp
Never have I been so utterly lost yet so entertained at the same time. I didn't understand a single music term he threw out but his passion for the subject is so fun to listen to.
Man, Curse of Darkness gets a lot of shit but the soundtrack is one of my personal favorites of all time. It might even be what inspired me to pursue music to begin with!
I'm a bit disappointed you didnt talk more about Super Castlevania 4's music since that soundtrack feels eclectic yet grounded but otherwise super cool stuff. Also RIP Castlevania series.
7:16 I'd probably call that an +6 chord as opposed to a bVI7, given the baroque era style of the piece, plus that would have been good Segway into talking about +6 chords as they're such a quintessential technique of baroque harmony. Plus it's a good example of the blending of old and new, with such classical harmony with a funky bass line.
A +6 chord is a collection of pitches that uses the pitch directly above and below a target chord (almost always the V), that has an interval of an augmented 6th above it's root. In C, we want to go to G, so we use the notes Ab and F#, which has a very strong pull to G, but since all chords need at least 3 notes we add a major 3rd above the root (for Ab that would be C, so it's Ab C F#). There are 3 main variants (though others exist), the Italian adds nothing else, so in 4 part harmony the 3rd is doubled; the French adds the augmented 4th above the root (Ab C D F#), and the German adds the perfect 5th (for Ab C Eb F#). The main idea here is voice leading, each note has a clear destination to the V. An easy way to think about it, is that they're enharmonically just dominant 7th chords (or variants of) that sets up the V7. Kind of like a tritone sub for the V/V; so instead of D7 - G7 - i, we can go Ab7 - G7 - i. +6 chords were extremely popular in baroque music, especially in minor keys (along with other fancy chords like the Neapolitan chord). This particular example would be a Ger+6, as it has the notes Bb, D, F, and G# (written as Ab in the video). The Bb sinks to A, the G# rises to A, the D sinks to C# and the F can sink to E or rise to G.
Damn this is really damn nice I gotta say, it makes total sense this series fuses classical music with modern stylistic approaches but it's so nice to have it explained in such a reasonable fashion. Props to ya 8Bit!
This was so good I watched it and immediately replayed it! I'm a classically trained cellist and violinist and have always loved Castlevania games for their music. 😊
I think Michiru Yamane is particularly good at doing this as although you didn't cover them here a lot of the later Igavania Castlevania invoke this balance perfectly. Two particularly great examples come from Order Of Ecclesias "Sorrow's Distortion" and "Lament of the Master". Go take a listen you'll hear what I mean.
Fantastic video. Most of the theory goes over my head (as usual, but I'm learning!) but focusing on specific concepts in specific sections of the music still helps me appreciate details I may have never noticed otherwise. And gosh darnit this is some fantastic music!
Modern ------------- Groove & Syncopation Power Chords bVI - bVII - i 2:26 Chromatically Rising 5ths in Tonic 3:51 i - bVII - vi - bVI - V (mod Andalusian Cadence) 5:12 Classical --------------- Restricted Harmony (II-)V7 - I vii dim7 - i (also on non-tonic chords) 7:54 Inversions 9:47 Ghost Pedal Points 11:15 Fusion ----------- 12:24 Castlevania has some really good music I didn't realize
This reminds me to try to listen to what’s going on behind the melody, and helped me appreciate the music I already loved even more than I did before! Cheers!
![Good and Evil in the Persona 5 Soundtrack [Patron Request]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aWxni7NiQ6M/mqdefault.jpg)
That Abandoned Castle theme is hands-down the coolest thing I've ever heard.
Right?! Man chromatic rising fifths create some cool harmonic motion, or at least illusion thereof
+blalo'u He actually just made a video about that!
(Which you may have been referencing, but if you weren't, check it out.)
Yeah, I definitely had to look that one up afterwards. The drums are pretty killin'! The laying of different voices over the C.E.S.H. (or James Bond progression) is super cool, too.
Curse of Darkness has the second best Castlevania OST IMO
I love curse of darkness
Mad props for using the superior Famicom version of the Castlevania 3 music.
Damn straight. I have Akumajou Densetsu and it is by far a superior game and not just because it uses the VRC6 sound chip.
original sounds better IMO, the melody is clearer
@@wheatleythebrick2276 the famicom version is the original tho (i know what you mean, that you like the NES version better, which is nice, but the famicom version came first)
look up castlevania vs wu tang
@@AlynRapi look up the video that combines the famicom and NES soundtrack as one complete sound. It's pretty killer to hear the subtleties of the NES version with the in your face melody of the famicom one.
Yamane Michiru is frankly one of the best soundtrack artists around, in my opinion of course.
Absolutely true! I always loved her music. In my opinion, Lament of Innocence is my personal favorite. Plays the emotions the hardest for me, even in Leon's Theme. It's so hard in emotion and power.
Man, Bach must've been a huge Castlevania fan.
5:32 Your mind went to "Hit the road Jack" while mine went immediately to the John Cena theme... i need to stay out of the internet for a while.
Angra Mainyu if it helps you, it wasn't just your mind who immediately expected a cena meme as the follow up
Damn, music theory is rocket science.
ethos79 Nah, it's more like brain surgery.
@@justvibin1087 Brain stew
It’s so cool I love it
Yet making music is not rocket science
But scientists are seen as so much smarter than composers!
I must say, this was a “bloody” good video
Dick Johnson But enough of that. Have at you!
Such a bloody good video that I'm in tears!
surely I am under a terrible curse, for your comment appears two days old to me
What are these comments? A miserable little pile of secrets!
this video was uploaded today, how did you post a comment two days ago?
I'm finally beginning to understand what he says!
Took a lot of work, but I have yet a long way to go...
Michirin9801 Me too lol, although taking theory classes helped.
I started watching music theory videos on RUclips that are more geared towards beginners because of this channel, and that sure has come in handy!
Hey Michirin9801, any good channel you can recommend to learn musical theory? I've thinking about it recently but I don't have much free time to actually take classes, so that would help me a lot. Thanks!
I just typed "Music theory for beginners" on the search bar and clicked on a ton of videos and watched them all, but the ones that stuck with me were the ones from Michael New, he tends to sum it all up in a way that you can easily understand! Once you've got a grasp of the basics I think you can learn a lot from 12tone and Ongaku Concept, or at least I have... By all means though you should totally watch more channels!
Michirin9801 that's really helpful, thanks a lot!!
Michiru Yamane is something else, she has wrote some of the best musical pieces not only for the castlevania franchise, but in videogame history
Now all I can imagine is James Bond defeating Dracula by shooting him with silver bullets or something.
but not before sleeping with his hot vampire bride, Bloodypenny.
Dracula: Who the hell are you?
Male Figure: Belmont. Ritcher Belmont.
I want to say at least one member of the Morris clan (the Belmonts' American offshoots, most notably Quincy) used a gun...
Nah he'd beg to be turned and it would not be martinis but bloody Maries all da.......night
Watch The Man with the Golden Gun. Christopher Lee is the villain there.
From the bottom of my heart i want to thank you for analyzing all this music for the world. This channel is incredible.
Wood Carving Partita is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. I fell in love with it since the first time I heard it.
You know you’ve done your job well when someone who doesn’t understand music theory at all is entertained and enjoys the lesson (even if I am lost during the whole thing lol)
What a horrible night to watch a 8- bit music theory video.. JK great work as always
A+ dude. In my humble opinion, not long-winded enough - I would have listened to a several-hour dissertation on this. Nicely done! You nailed it.
“Check out the abandoned castle theme”
Me: GIVE ME THAT GLORIOUS BASS!!!!
I don't understand a word you're saying, but damn if these videos aren't entertaining all the same. Keep up the good work mate!
I swear, combining classical and modern musical elements makes me weak in the knees. I have Castlevania games to thank for that. The classic motifs revealed in Wood Cutting Partita and Silence of the Daylight put my jaw on the floor -- I had never realized or known till this video! Glorious analysis.
I've been looking for a video like this on CastleVania specifically for a while now. thank you for this video!
Damn! What a good video! I love the music from all Castlevania games, but my favorite for sure is the Symphony of the night game. The best soundtrack ever!
What a horrible night to have a curse... of kickass music!
Some thoughts for 8-bit from a fan:
- Long videos are good! Never apologize for giving us more content, please and thank you!
Really nice analysis. I feel like you really deftly zoned in on a lot of tropes, and connected them elegantly in a way that even non-musicians will appreciate.
Thank you so much for this analyse and explanation! I love Castlevania's ost and wonder why it's so awesome. I am also a fan of classical music and rock bands, it is so interesting how composers combined those elements to create such a beautiful piece!
Wow how fantastic! Just today I was looking at SOTN's Marble Gallery as inspiration for making synthetic loops and was thinking "I really wish there was some youtube video that picked apart the music theory aspect, so I can understand how this works thematically" and voila! You managed to make my dreams come true! Thank you 8-bit Music Theory!
As a lover of classical music and Castlevania, this is my favorite video you've made so far!
I usually don't have a problem following your videos since I've take a few years of college level music theory and ear training, but this video was tough. The way the composers of Castlevania combine new and old is so intricate and subtle that you have to be extremely alert to catch it. Thanks a ton for making this and I look forward, as I always have, to whatever you put out next.
This is my favorite youtube channel of all time, I mean look at my sib list I'm subscribed to a lot of people, and this is by far my favorite channel.
CastleVania's music is the best and the music no matter what is great. (Even in Harmony of Dissonance as it is actually tensional to evoke fear in the players which I think work)
Plus the music always evoke a different feeling within every game no matter what thus enhancing the experience.
Not long winded at all! My favorite video yet, you knocked it out of the park with this one! Such a thought provoking subject
this is one of the few youtube videos that i've come back to watch again & again. thank you for doing this work. it's fascinating.
6:01 Oh so it's the "25 or 6 to 4" progress--
_"As well as in Chicago's '25 or 6 to 4.'"_
Oh well there it is! I guess that also means "Brain Stew" fits this progression t--
_"And more recently in 'Green Day's Brain Stew.'"_
*GET OUT OF MY HEAD*
Brilliant. Castlevania has always perfectly blended modern styles with classical language. The music in those games have always had such a grim and gothic edge to them.
This is absolutely the fastest I ever clicked on a thumbnail. The work you do is incredibly valuable. Keep it up!
Thank you for these exceptional in-depth analyses of music pieces! This is always a delight and full of learnings.
Abandoned Castle sound eerily close to victory fanfare in Final Fantasy 7. Awesome video, by the way.
I can't watch this yet but I just want you to know how ridiculously excited I get when YT tells me you posted a new video.
I'm taking the time to watch all of your videos from the beginning, and I have to say, this is the one I liked the most so far. Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom!
This is easily one of my all time favorite RUclips videos.
Amazingly interesting and educational video once again! I love learning about music theory with those.
May I point out a transcription mistake at the end of the bar starting at 11:00... The last four notes of the harpsichord line should be A F# A C
Good catch. It definitely sounds that way to me, too.
I can't believe I missed that
upcoming castlevania LP robin?
You, sir, have earned yourself another subscriber. Highly nutritious content. Whenever I'm working on a game soundtrack, I catch myself watching your videos for a bit of guidance or inspiration. Thank you.
What a great video, really hit the spot. Been on a Baroque binge lately and always loved that "sound" in Castlevania but never could tell myself how/why. Great stuff.
god, the blending of modern and traditional musical techniques is, like, my whole entire jam. its just so good and im so glad you covered it!
Great analysis. Interesting points about modern vs classical harmony. I had noticed a few of these tropes before (implied pedal point) but always lacked the terminology to describe it.
I absolutely adore your videos and the moment I saw this video I immediately started watching it. Castlevania has to be one of my most favorite series music wise
Your analysis of music like this goes *way* beyond my musical education, but I still love hearing investigation into the technique used in older game music. Just found your channel, but I will definitely be coming back to try and learn more about what makes these songs, performed with such simple equipment, actually work
SotN has got to be one of my favorite OSTs, thank you for this.
wtf this channel is so amazing
This channel never ceases to put out good stuff! Thanks!
This is my favorite video from you. I keep coming back to it every few weeks
This is one your most in depth and fantastic videos yet! More like this please!
Easily one of your best videos yet. I watched it twice because it was so amazing!! Keep up the amazing work
Man, there is so much of this in the Gungage OST that it's basically an honourary Castlevania soundtrack. Definitely recommend giving it a listen!
The Andalusian Cadence! I finally know the name of something I've been doing for so long! Also, thanks for explaining many things about these series. Take care!!!
been getting into the music theory of video games lately, glad that when I make a search nowadays there's awesome content waiting!
Ended up here just trying to find versions of bloody tears and so forth, found out I was in the deep end, and still enjoyed every bit of it.
Well played
This is one of my favorite channels ever
Ooooooh man! Yes! A music theory video about Castlevania from 8-bit Music Theory!! Oh, What a marvelous video :D
Seriously, I found that the Castlevania Soundtrack is a topic that is rarely aborded on RUclips regarding theory, and you presented the informations in a way that only a video in this format might be able to do. I really have to congrat you, good work! I feel that all the videos in this channel are "top tier", and the frequency is really good too.
Apart from that, it seems that I've talked enough XD
Well, thanks for the vid, it really made up my day :-)
Hearing this music for the last 30 odd years through game play and never knowing the technical side if it makes me feel a bit abashed that I never invested more into the work behind it all. You have a grateful sub :)
Your long videos are so satisfying!
I love how amped up you were in this video. Great stuff!
I have been waiting for an indepth look at Castlevania's music for a very long time.
THANK YOU
Brilliant. I'm learning music for the first time in my 30s and your videos help so much
Been on a Castlevania music kick, learned Vampire Killer and noticed the classical elements mixed with rock, relearned Bloody Tears (what a kickass song), and finishing it out with learning Lost Painting which is very jazzy. Thanks for the video pointing out all the blending and diversity in this awesome series.
One of my favorite series and favorite soundtracks. Awesome! Thank you for doing this video. Made my day.
I am just pausing your videos and learning classic nes shit i've never bothered to learn, and i feel like a bad ass. These melodies on bass sound crisppp
Never have I been so utterly lost yet so entertained at the same time. I didn't understand a single music term he threw out but his passion for the subject is so fun to listen to.
I just spent two hours learning how to play some of what was in the video. super fun. thank you for that!
i nearly choked when you called out all the vampire movies and dissed Twilight! Such great content!
Man, Curse of Darkness gets a lot of shit but the soundtrack is one of my personal favorites of all time. It might even be what inspired me to pursue music to begin with!
It's an underrated game to be honest. Not as good as Lament of Innocence but still stands on its own as a good game.
Curse of Darkness doesn't need the hate. I got to play the game and it's a lot of fun.
@GorditoCrunch343 Yes!! My favorite game! The 20th anniversary is today!!😁😁
I just found my new binge watch channel! This is so detailed
I'm a bit disappointed you didnt talk more about Super Castlevania 4's music since that soundtrack feels eclectic yet grounded but otherwise super cool stuff. Also RIP Castlevania series.
I always leave these videos feeling like I learned something new. Thanks!
Jesus. Dork. Amazing video. I hope you’re a music teacher.
Wow, that amount of research you must've done for that video is insane! Thanks for all your hard work dude
Nice change-of-pace video. Love it.
I'm starting to understand your videos more and more and I'm loving it. Thank you!
CastleVania 悪魔城ドラキュラ
The morning sun has vanquished the horrible night
what a horrible night to have a verse
Very interesting stuff I didn't even know a channel like this existed. Really makes me want to go back to playing the piano and bettering myself.
I really love the way you break this stuff down. Mad props, man.
7:16 I'd probably call that an +6 chord as opposed to a bVI7, given the baroque era style of the piece, plus that would have been good Segway into talking about +6 chords as they're such a quintessential technique of baroque harmony. Plus it's a good example of the blending of old and new, with such classical harmony with a funky bass line.
Agree, amazing video tho
A +6 chord is a collection of pitches that uses the pitch directly above and below a target chord (almost always the V), that has an interval of an augmented 6th above it's root. In C, we want to go to G, so we use the notes Ab and F#, which has a very strong pull to G, but since all chords need at least 3 notes we add a major 3rd above the root (for Ab that would be C, so it's Ab C F#). There are 3 main variants (though others exist), the Italian adds nothing else, so in 4 part harmony the 3rd is doubled; the French adds the augmented 4th above the root (Ab C D F#), and the German adds the perfect 5th (for Ab C Eb F#). The main idea here is voice leading, each note has a clear destination to the V.
An easy way to think about it, is that they're enharmonically just dominant 7th chords (or variants of) that sets up the V7. Kind of like a tritone sub for the V/V; so instead of D7 - G7 - i, we can go Ab7 - G7 - i. +6 chords were extremely popular in baroque music, especially in minor keys (along with other fancy chords like the Neapolitan chord). This particular example would be a Ger+6, as it has the notes Bb, D, F, and G# (written as Ab in the video). The Bb sinks to A, the G# rises to A, the D sinks to C# and the F can sink to E or rise to G.
Damn this is really damn nice I gotta say, it makes total sense this series fuses classical music with modern stylistic approaches but it's so nice to have it explained in such a reasonable fashion. Props to ya 8Bit!
This was so good I watched it and immediately replayed it! I'm a classically trained cellist and violinist and have always loved Castlevania games for their music. 😊
I love the hint of more energy in this video, keep it up!
MY LOVE FOR THIS CHANNEL HAS BEEN SOLIDIFIED
That Jame’s Bond part made me want a ‘GoldenEye’ video from you!
Best channel ever
This was *wonderful,* IMHO. Vampire killer, and the daylight walking themes from II and III are masterpieces!
Excellent video, and I really appreciate the clear and accurate theory explanations 😅
Your videos make all my day better
I think Michiru Yamane is particularly good at doing this as although you didn't cover them here a lot of the later Igavania Castlevania invoke this balance perfectly. Two particularly great examples come from Order Of Ecclesias "Sorrow's Distortion" and "Lament of the Master". Go take a listen you'll hear what I mean.
Michiru Yamane is one of my favourite composers of all time! I can never get tired of hearing her works!
Order of Eccelsia is my favorite castlevania game and these songs are great
She didn't compose "Sorrow's Distortion", though; it's one of the tracks written by the game's other composer - Yasuhiro Ichihashi.
Fantastic video. Most of the theory goes over my head (as usual, but I'm learning!) but focusing on specific concepts in specific sections of the music still helps me appreciate details I may have never noticed otherwise. And gosh darnit this is some fantastic music!
Now I understand why I also love Bach xD nice video
Modern
-------------
Groove & Syncopation
Power Chords
bVI - bVII - i 2:26
Chromatically Rising 5ths in Tonic 3:51
i - bVII - vi - bVI - V (mod Andalusian Cadence) 5:12
Classical
---------------
Restricted Harmony
(II-)V7 - I
vii dim7 - i (also on non-tonic chords) 7:54
Inversions 9:47
Ghost Pedal Points 11:15
Fusion
-----------
12:24
Castlevania has some really good music I didn't realize
Fantastic video. Thank you for this magnifical analizes.
Thank you very much. Really love both your content and Castlevania.
I love this channel! It's so unique how you theorize the amazing scores of video games!
Fantastical analysis and thoughtful presentation. Thanks.
This reminds me to try to listen to what’s going on behind the melody, and helped me appreciate the music I already loved even more than I did before! Cheers!
This video is brilliant; thank you for creating it!