I've been digging into the music of the FromSoft games and WOW. What's your favorite? What else should I cover?? Also, if you're looking to start learning, pick up the Intro to Piano course for 50% off!! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano
God Devouring Serpent for sure - youre going to have a lot of fun (and probably a damaged brain) doing this one - i promise :) Although in terms of favourites, this scores only second after the Dark Souls 3 Main Theme and maybe Pontiff Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3 as well
"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."
if you're digging into fromsoft music man, i dont think any of us would complain if you made a whole series covering their games. you got a lot to get through and its basically all bangers
I dunno. Bloodborne, I think, tends to stand out as the only one of the bunch since Demon's Souls that's not primarily defined by interchangeable "epic" slop, or muddy production. Once you've analyzed a certain track from Dark Souls 3, there's not a whole lot to say about the others, except how they might rearrange the introduction of certain parts of the ensembles.
In Bloodborne alone I'd recommend the following bossthemes: - "Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade" for a much more fight-y feeling, especially the transition from phase 1 to 2. - "Laurence, the first Vicar" an incredibly tragic soundtrack with a hauntingly sad violin solo about 5 minutes in that gets drowned in a choir as the song progresses, mirroring Laurence's pain of which you are freeing him. An interesting listen for storytelling and nostalgia is "Soul of Cinder" from Dark Souls III. Canonically you fight a reincarnation of other players of the first Dark Souls, and when that doesn't work (i.e. Phase 2) the bosses moveset and the theme change to resemble that of Gwyn, the first Lord, who was the final boss of Dark Souls I. This is doubly nice because Gwyn's theme alone shows the same sadness, hopelessness and dread so common in fromsoft. Talking about the video: I also want to point out how funny it is to me, that the guy I found doing piano memes harmonizing cardi b videos 5 years ago now analyzes a soundtrack from my favourite game series, giving me chills in the process. You enjoying listening and talking about music really shows.
Definitely one of my favorite boss themes. Everything you said justified how heart-wrenching this piece is to me. From what you said about the constant pedal tone on D, lingering while other instruments change, I interpret that underlying chord as Gehrman's unimaginable weariness. That simple i chord paints an incredibly ancient, miserable existence. Like someone who saw too much, lived too long, dragging their old, rotting husk of a body through each agonizing second of living. Yet, they are cursed to never rest. This track doesn't energize you like other traditional boss fights; it drains the player. As you repeatedly die from him as you have died hundreds of times throughout the game, this track haunts you even more because you've also become weary. Your eyes are tired, your brain is fried, your palms are all clammy, and you just want to end this fight. It's a battle of two worn out souls, which I think the call-and-response theme could symbolize that conversation. The choir in the last part, and also the climax of the boss battle, makes me imagine Gehrman finally pouring out his torrential anguish that he's kept bottled up since he was first trapped in the dream.
Bloodborne is a masterpiece. My favorite boss theme of all time (for how the theme itself tells the character's tragic story) is from the DLC - Ludwig the Accursed / Ludwig the Holy Blade. The haunting, lumbering first section mirroring his walk, the dramatic choral transition, and the epic waltz as he finds a remnant of his humanity.
These should be the latin lyrics of the final part: "Venator Ah mi sumo vela mala Anima do res mihi somne restas Luna insidiosa Mira tenebrarum Di vises mi miserere aeterna" It can be roughly interpreted as: "My Hunter Let the evil be hidden (from you) My life devoted to sustaining the Dream The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights") Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy"
I commented months ago requesting this and I got so excited when I saw this video pop up on my feed. This is my favorite piece of music from any video game, I hope more people can learn of its beauty from your amazing video.
I’ve never played any of these more darker games (I’m just not that type of person) but I do appreciate how well they captured the feeling of this fight. Epic!! And it’s gorgeous too!
That interesting question. How would soulslike game look with brighter settings and maybe no violence ? For example what if you parry or block or dodge long enough for boss to lose his will to fight so you can progress further. It would be like undertale with 3d graphics. Add to it some interesting story and you have great game.
Oh my god, you have to check out Slave Knight Gael’s theme from Dark Souls 3. It has four phases lol. And they somehow manage to elevate it every time. And it really combines the “epic boss theme” with the tragedy you talked about in blood borne. That and its counterpart “For The Dark Soul,” which wasn’t even in the game, I truly believe are two of the greatest pieces of music ever written for media.
Another video game track I love that does a lot similar to this is 'The End Of The Battle' from Shadow Of The Colossus. Most of the actual boss themes are your usual epic fare, nothing new, but the moment you kill each Colossus it goes not to a triumphant swelling victory song to congratulate you, but to a slow and sombre track that almost seems to lament each creature you've killed. Which, ultimately, makes sense. When you take a step back and separate yourself from the basic game structure of "My current objective is to go here and kill this guy", you really have no reason to go after the Colossi other than "Dormin told you to". They're not rampaging, the land isn't even particularly inhabited by anyone who could feel threatened by their presence. They're just innocent peaceful creatures who only ever turn violent in self-defence, and once the adrenaline rush of fighting them wears off that realisation is all you're left with.
I think it's fantastic that you keep harping on about modes, other examples to the one presented in the video etc. Learning the scale degrees where half steps occur and drilling that stuff on the keyboard is one thing, but you gotta have someone deeply familiar with modes to give you real-world examples that really convince you of the emotional potential of each mode - y'know something to LISTEN to and experience. Rick Beato does that using original compositions, which is cool and pretty good (if a little indulgent imho), but it's these mainstream cultural examples that pack that extra punch and relevance for me. This is gold, thank you.
The First Hunter was one of melodies I first learned on violin. Not the very first, but the one that I put the most time into, coming back to it again and again for the weight that it carried.
Oh, dude, not Fromsoft, but you've gotta check out the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack. It has a similarly tragic After the Battle theme, but SotC has such an untouchable soundtrack for the boss fights. I'm thinking of songs like The Opened Way specifically.
I had to comment because the music reminded me of Barber's "Adagio" as well, and I had that thought perhaps about a minute before you mentioned it in this video. It feels very validating to me that I made the same observation as you, and I consider you to be quite an exceptional musician with a massive musical vocabulary of the great works of Western music. I feel quite honored to have shared such an observation with you. 😁
I became a RUclips partner this year off my lofi hip hop music, creating things is daunting. But your genuine enthusiasm and excitement for new music and max chromas stats got me feeling inspired.
Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3 because the time signature, if you will, of the boss herself is a different time signature than the music, which adds an extra challenge to the fight. But yeah, the music for that encounter is spectacular
Great pick! And i'm glad you delved into a bit of the reasons behind this fight and the lore. It sounds like you've either played the game before or have a lot of respect for it already?
I think Dragonslayer Armour from Dark Souls 3 is such an underrated boss theme. Especially because the second phase of the song cuts in before you hear the great part of the first phase.
Something really clicked for me when you mentioned how the two half-step resolutions the Aeolian mode has without moving into the harmonic minor are both descending: 3-2 and 6-5.I never really understood how modern composers create strong directional motion in just natural minor, but that little bit of info makes so much sense.
To me, what really makes Bloodborne's music stand out, is that every OST perfectly depict what the boss or bossfight is going to look like, without even seeing it. It's like all the notes are telling you the lore of the boss. Great analysis as well, sir💯
No way im so hyped you’re covering thisLEGENDARY PIECE In terms of more fromsoftware music, I’m so excited you want to cover more, darkbeast is my favorite and most intriguing from bloodborne, and it has the weirdest theory I’d love a breakdown on
Gehrman the first hunter is one of my favorite songs in any game. The way that the music helps tell the story is immaculate. FromSoftware's music as a whole is very good at this, but this song mixed with the atmosphere and the story of the game. Created one of the greatest final boss themes of all time. So much emotion oozing out of every part of this.
Thank you for this. I've been a FromSoftware fan for ages and ages and a musician for even longer, and while I absolutely adore their soundtracks, Bloodborne's is definitely the one I've heard least because of the general inconvenience of accessibility. You've given me a real appreciation of this track and I hope to see you do more FS music in the future. They really do have one of the greatest video game soundtrack collections of all time. One of the most interesting ones to me, where being a musician actually gave me an edge, is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3. Many, many people cite having trouble with this boss and figuring out her attack patterns, but I picked it up quite quickly because of her theme. It's very common for FS bosses to have themes that tie into their combat, and the Dancer's theme is atypical in that it is written 5/4. Odd meter throws a lot of people off, especially non musicians, but once I figured that out it became easy for me to learn her patterns. She takes 5 or 10 steps between attacks, and her double-sworded flourishes keep in time with the "dance" she's performing as you fight her. Making these connections between music and gameplay is something only a musician could do, and it's one of the many reasons FromSoft is one of my all-time favorite development studios.
My favorite boss theme in general from bloodborne is Ludwig's theme (which you should DEFINITELY check out), but nothing beats the narrative piece this song serves as. When I beat Gherman for the first time it was a hollow victory, it was a battle and struggle, but the emotions this piece puts in you even subconsciously can't be ignored, even in the heart of battle.
I absolutely love when the choir comes in after that single string note. Going from such a high, single sound and then immediately to the deep, full sound of an entire choir is just amazing. You should definitely look at bloodborne’s Ludwig the holy blade.
Another thing that's really cool is that the choir in Bloodborne is semi-diagetic. In Yahar'Gul, there's a choir piece that sort of evokes Olivier Messiaen, called "Hail the Nightmare". Depending on where you are, it sounds like it's being sung off in the distance, by the in-game faction known as The Choir. Often when this choir is used, it's fairly crunchy and dissonant. So in the climax of Gehrman's theme, by contrast, it really sounds like an invocation of the sublime, this demented choir finally getting its act together to usher in their god.
Bloodborne is definitely one of my favourite games of all time, an absolute masterpiece. Please do Gwyn, Lord Of Cinder. It's also a beautifully tragic OST and one of the few video game soundtracks that I listen to without being actively playing a game
I especially love the use of the tritonus. I couldnt put my finger on what makes me so addicted to the theme and it was that ez. That jump and knowing that this jump from E to b (is it called diminished fifth, im really not sure) makes it feel horrible and tragic... like they just dont want us to have even a single glimpse of hope. Not giving us anything to release this built up tension in D minor which is honestly a hell of sadness. It represents the fight so well, the agony, the hurt, adding another layer of intensity and character insight.
Please do more Fromsoftware music, you are the first person I've watched that actually breaks down the lore behind the music. Thank you, cause It's such a big part of what makes the music great.
There’s an official interview online called “The Story Behind Bloodbornes Haunting Soundtrack,” where the sound designers for the game said that the main keywords they pulled from for the game were “horror” and “mortal struggle.” I think this theme encapsulates the latter perfectly
I adore the soundtrack of this game, 'Ghermans theme' and 'The hunter' imparticular because of how they PERFECTLY capture the emotion of what they're depicting. One expresses the pure tragedy of ghermans situation and yours of the fact that nobody wins, and the other expresses how despite being in a world full of monsters, the hunters are the most horrifyingly overwhelming and powerfully sinister things in it
The entire album is worth doing a deep dive into, every track, including the Old Hunters, I'd happily watch a 2-3 hour video of you analysing all of it!
I just want to say I am musically ignorant of themes in music. Your video made me feel smart as you explained them to me and gave me greater appreciation for the song. I didn't know how layered it was. Watching you geek out to the music made my heart soar. My favorite part is when you lay out the call and response. I'm always too busy getting my but kicked to hear the music, now I love this game even more. Thank you for this video.
@10:07 I always interpret the conversation between the two phrases almost like voices. The call asking it's question, something to the effect of: "Please, let me free you" Gehrman speaking; Then, us as the Hunter responding with "No, I will free you".
Thank you for referencing "Adagio for Strings" here. I've long felt that "The First Hunter" was an intentional homage, as they do create many of the same feelings.
This is such an unexpected surprise. This whole OST is such a masterpiece, fitting perfectly with the game. Crafting the perfect ambience to the perfect gane. |o_
You never miss with my all time favourite piano tunes… DS era pokémon, Zelda, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Minecraft… I launch out of my seat whenever I see another one and seeing you appreciate them to the fullest extent just tickles my brain 😁 I’d love to learn more about TLOU or Outer Wilds because those two pull on my heartstrings like nothing else and they do so in completely different ways
The lyrics are so poignant, too, and it's one of the few games where I outright cry over the endings. Was he a good man? No, but he wasn't the villain of the story, and I find well-written characters like Gehrman more compelling than simply 'bad man evil'. As I once read in a comment a long time ago: 'It's the saddest 'no, you''. And just because I love the Latin lyrics so much (we actually translated a lot of these in my college class for giggles because song lyrics are poetry in a way), a translation from another person as I cannot find my own: Hunter. Ah, I have hunted. I did it all to cleanse my soul from evil. An insidious hunt. The wonderful darkness This way I knew eternal mercy. My Hunter Let the evil be hidden (from you) My life devoted to sustaining the Dream The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy Hunter Take my sickly vein My soul hurts, free me, rightly The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy Hunter, who holds in awe the abyss But you are never supposed to be a scapegoat I would swing this scythe once again, to offer an end to your nightmare But please, give me an end to my role
Actually I would add that in Kingdom Hearts II, the final boss theme Darkness of the Unknown starts off with drums and a big energy, but towards the end, the song drops the drums and leaves you with only the floating anticipation of the violin and the piano. It is almost like the violin and piano duo is reflecting the emotions and the dynamics between Sora and Riki during the fight with Xemnas, that signifies a mending of their friendship and their fight for each other.
You NEED to do the soundtrack for the Ludwig boss fight-both phases. There is simply no better boss music I’ve ever heard, it is so powerful and emotional and horrifying and amazing. Combined with the changeover in fighting style of the boss, it is truly the pinnacle of the game’s artistic creation.
You really gotta do Ludwig's theme, the chord progression that they use to modulate into his second phase and the resolution at the end of that phase back into the loop is amazing. Also, love that you went for a kingdom hearts boss theme and immediately picked the best one in the series. Takes a while to get going, but damn does Darkness of the Unknown have some beautiful phrases amongst some really intense organ playing
I would HIGHLY recommend listening to "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" (Dark Souls) and "Soul of Cinder" (Dark Souls 3) in that order. It's a musical and nostalgical rollercoaster!
A lot of people that don’t understand blood-borne could learn a lot from this video of yours. If this doesn’t help them, understand the game, nothing will.
"The Night... and the Dream... were long." This is one of the my favorite moments in gaming ever, from maybe my favorite game EVER, and one of the best pieces in an amazing score. Would love to see you break down "Ludwig, the Accursed/The Holy Blade," "Father Gascoigne, The Hunter" (awesome brass call and response!), or "Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos." As always, thank you for your insight.
I know you covered Genshin Impact's music a year ago, but the boss theme "Polumnia Omnia" is probably one of the best boss fight tracks I've heard. Not only does it sound great, it has a lot of thematic elements that play into that particular boss's character. Combining motifs from his homeland as well as his current faction. With a choir singing Latin and a lead singer singing Japanese. It all just blends so well into a very unique and epic track alongside an epic fight.
What makes this fight even more tragic is that who ever dies and wakes up in real world again will forget everything that happened in the dream. Meaning that the hero who sacrificed themselves to be the one get stuck in the nightmare did this whole fight… knowing that they will never be remembered. And the ones who you might considered a friend will wake up never even knowing that you existed in this world.
It is not about "boss fights", but the tragedy of the story described through music is very strong in "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" by Jessica Curry. Not much of a game, rather than an interactive story. But the plot and it's connection to music stays with me to this day.
As a massive music and fromsoftware fan, i salute you! This is an amazing video and i appreciate your overall enthusiasm in analyzing this masterpiece. Take care! ✌🏼
Bloodborne IS my favorite & most memorable gaming experience of all times (since I started gaming in 80s arcades). By far, the most interesting/unique & immersive world building. Your video is a great breakdown of how its *music* is also intentionally & wonderfully crafted. The soulsborne games (from Demon Souls, to Dark Souls, to Elden Ring) make the *best* ambience music for my downtime & chilling. I also love that the game also uses SILENCE (eg, only footsteps, creaking floors, opening/closing doors etc) during much of the game to make the amazing music even more special. 🔥💛😎
I love Bloodborne. Everything about it is so quality, top tier awesome. I love seeing you break down video game OSTs and couldn't believe my eyes seeing you talk about this one!! Definitely one of my favorite tracks in the game and all time. (also, in case you haven't already heard it, "Ludwig, The Accursed & Ludwig, The Holy Blade" are completely stellar tracks.)
It wasn’t in the Gehrman theme, but one thing I catch recurring from souls music is the corrupted/internal conflict characters, if their theme reaches any re-glorification moments the next sound always beats it to the ground, like Lady Maria and Fortissax
I've been digging into the music of the FromSoft games and WOW. What's your favorite? What else should I cover?? Also, if you're looking to start learning, pick up the Intro to Piano course for 50% off!! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano
Please listen to some of Elden rings music
Gwyn theme ( or Soul of Cinder - its kind of hereditary theme)
Elden Ring's Godrick, the Grafted OST, is absolutely impressive. I Highly recommend it.
please listen to "Celestial Emissary" from the Bloodborne sound track
God Devouring Serpent for sure - youre going to have a lot of fun (and probably a damaged brain) doing this one - i promise :) Although in terms of favourites, this scores only second after the Dark Souls 3 Main Theme and maybe Pontiff Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3 as well
"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."
Oh, the goosebumps again...
“Tonight, Ghermann joins the hunt”’
Finally a use for those coins
Crap ive finished the game 11 times and reading this got me chills..
@@argirissgr4448 Not as many times, but same....
“He kills you to save you from a fate worse than death” Damn, that hit harder than I expected
In all but one ending, that is...
if you're digging into fromsoft music man, i dont think any of us would complain if you made a whole series covering their games. you got a lot to get through and its basically all bangers
Oh he gon learn today!
Mans is preaching facts
At the very least, all the final bosses (or vendrick in DS2’s case), are masterpieces.
I dunno. Bloodborne, I think, tends to stand out as the only one of the bunch since Demon's Souls that's not primarily defined by interchangeable "epic" slop, or muddy production. Once you've analyzed a certain track from Dark Souls 3, there's not a whole lot to say about the others, except how they might rearrange the introduction of certain parts of the ensembles.
So agreed
Well now your have to do Gwyn, Lord of Cinder aka "Plin Plin Plon"
Given that he's a pro, he should probably listen to Gwyn's and Soul of Cinder's back to back...
Yes. Yes yes yes. Please see this.
I see Bloodborne I comment like and subscribe.
So excited for this one! Bloodborne is high art.
What if you see Bloodbourne again in the same channel? Will you subscribe again with another account?
'Tis a hunters duty, after all. |o_
I see Bloodborne I think of a remaster and lose hope instantly.
@@hiddy_ but it was prominent on the Sony State of Play poster, that's confirmation RIGHT? .....right?
Ah yes. This gem.
how come you're here unnoticed
God
Okay what your just in the comments and nobody is noticing?? Hi Marco hope your well!
@@lancerhades971 haha hi! I’m great!
that's funny i was just watching one of your videos before this one and then here you are too
In Bloodborne alone I'd recommend the following bossthemes:
- "Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade" for a much more fight-y feeling, especially the transition from phase 1 to 2.
- "Laurence, the first Vicar" an incredibly tragic soundtrack with a hauntingly sad violin solo about 5 minutes in that gets drowned in a choir as the song progresses, mirroring Laurence's pain of which you are freeing him.
An interesting listen for storytelling and nostalgia is "Soul of Cinder" from Dark Souls III. Canonically you fight a reincarnation of other players of the first Dark Souls, and when that doesn't work (i.e. Phase 2) the bosses moveset and the theme change to resemble that of Gwyn, the first Lord, who was the final boss of Dark Souls I. This is doubly nice because Gwyn's theme alone shows the same sadness, hopelessness and dread so common in fromsoft.
Talking about the video: I also want to point out how funny it is to me, that the guy I found doing piano memes harmonizing cardi b videos 5 years ago now analyzes a soundtrack from my favourite game series, giving me chills in the process. You enjoying listening and talking about music really shows.
Plinplinplon
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do Ludwig The Accursed and Holy Blade next.
I just saw this comment and now I'm sad he doesn't react to that in this video.
This 100%
YESSSSS
Yes it’s one of my favorite themes of all time
8bit Music Theory has a great video on that one. (he also has a general video about Dark Souls music)
FromSoftware knows the power of prioritizing your art teams.
One of the few publishers whose titles could be kept in a museum.
Gwyn, Lord of cinder is the Soundtrack of the final Bossfight of DARK Souls 1.
Its quite iconic and has a similar Tone to this. You gotta check it out
Immediately followed by Soul of Cinder's theme from DS3. Revolutionary shit
The infamous Pling pling plong
Yes
@@MoonWalkerTexsRanger plim plim plim plim plong
Reminds me the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, the fight against The Boss.
"No victory, no defeat."
"Snake Eater" is the best James Bond song and it's not even close.
@@IamJacksSTDwhat a thrill
Has he done a Snake Eater analysis?
@@IamJacksSTDwhat a thriiilll
even the white flower "arena" echoes MGS 3
Definitely one of my favorite boss themes. Everything you said justified how heart-wrenching this piece is to me. From what you said about the constant pedal tone on D, lingering while other instruments change, I interpret that underlying chord as Gehrman's unimaginable weariness. That simple i chord paints an incredibly ancient, miserable existence. Like someone who saw too much, lived too long, dragging their old, rotting husk of a body through each agonizing second of living. Yet, they are cursed to never rest.
This track doesn't energize you like other traditional boss fights; it drains the player. As you repeatedly die from him as you have died hundreds of times throughout the game, this track haunts you even more because you've also become weary. Your eyes are tired, your brain is fried, your palms are all clammy, and you just want to end this fight. It's a battle of two worn out souls, which I think the call-and-response theme could symbolize that conversation. The choir in the last part, and also the climax of the boss battle, makes me imagine Gehrman finally pouring out his torrential anguish that he's kept bottled up since he was first trapped in the dream.
A beautiful comment, you completely explained my love for this theme and captured its essence and background wonderfully.
the pedaling is has the same effect as gwynn’s constant arpegio on A
Bloodborne is high art. The magnum opus of art in video games.
I had never noticed the similarities with Adagio for Strings… but now I can’t un-hear it, and I LOVE IT!!
Bloodborne is a masterpiece. My favorite boss theme of all time (for how the theme itself tells the character's tragic story) is from the DLC - Ludwig the Accursed / Ludwig the Holy Blade. The haunting, lumbering first section mirroring his walk, the dramatic choral transition, and the epic waltz as he finds a remnant of his humanity.
11:49 crying in Great Greywolf Sif
These should be the latin lyrics of the final part:
"Venator
Ah mi sumo vela mala
Anima do res mihi somne restas
Luna insidiosa
Mira tenebrarum
Di vises mi miserere aeterna"
It can be roughly interpreted as:
"My Hunter
Let the evil be hidden (from you)
My life devoted to sustaining the Dream
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights")
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy"
Thank you for the insight
@@Resistance012 I see what you did there
I commented months ago requesting this and I got so excited when I saw this video pop up on my feed. This is my favorite piece of music from any video game, I hope more people can learn of its beauty from your amazing video.
I’ve never played any of these more darker games (I’m just not that type of person) but I do appreciate how well they captured the feeling of this fight. Epic!! And it’s gorgeous too!
I also don't play the games but much of vgm is great listening as well as jazz covers eg. The Consouls' 400 or so tunes
Me too! I don't like violence that much, y'know?
But to listen the music is fine, and it is actually pretty good!
That interesting question. How would soulslike game look with brighter settings and maybe no violence ? For example what if you parry or block or dodge long enough for boss to lose his will to fight so you can progress further. It would be like undertale with 3d graphics. Add to it some interesting story and you have great game.
Bloodbourbe mentioned!!!
Oh my god, you have to check out Slave Knight Gael’s theme from Dark Souls 3. It has four phases lol. And they somehow manage to elevate it every time. And it really combines the “epic boss theme” with the tragedy you talked about in blood borne. That and its counterpart “For The Dark Soul,” which wasn’t even in the game, I truly believe are two of the greatest pieces of music ever written for media.
Another video game track I love that does a lot similar to this is 'The End Of The Battle' from Shadow Of The Colossus.
Most of the actual boss themes are your usual epic fare, nothing new, but the moment you kill each Colossus it goes not to a triumphant swelling victory song to congratulate you, but to a slow and sombre track that almost seems to lament each creature you've killed. Which, ultimately, makes sense.
When you take a step back and separate yourself from the basic game structure of "My current objective is to go here and kill this guy", you really have no reason to go after the Colossi other than "Dormin told you to". They're not rampaging, the land isn't even particularly inhabited by anyone who could feel threatened by their presence. They're just innocent peaceful creatures who only ever turn violent in self-defence, and once the adrenaline rush of fighting them wears off that realisation is all you're left with.
Sorry to be crass, but it's basically post-nut clarity in orchestral form.
I think it's fantastic that you keep harping on about modes, other examples to the one presented in the video etc. Learning the scale degrees where half steps occur and drilling that stuff on the keyboard is one thing, but you gotta have someone deeply familiar with modes to give you real-world examples that really convince you of the emotional potential of each mode - y'know something to LISTEN to and experience. Rick Beato does that using original compositions, which is cool and pretty good (if a little indulgent imho), but it's these mainstream cultural examples that pack that extra punch and relevance for me. This is gold, thank you.
Cello is the boss of instruments so I’m not surprised it works for a boss battle. 😉 Thank you so much for the break down!!
The First Hunter was one of melodies I first learned on violin. Not the very first, but the one that I put the most time into, coming back to it again and again for the weight that it carried.
This was absolutely the best music analysis of Bloodborne I've seen! I'm so glad you brought up the lore!
Oh, dude, not Fromsoft, but you've gotta check out the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack.
It has a similarly tragic After the Battle theme, but SotC has such an untouchable soundtrack for the boss fights.
I'm thinking of songs like The Opened Way specifically.
Absolutely!!!!!! SotC is such a dark horse of a soundtrack, definetely worth the analysis
soc inspired almost every epic soundtrack, amazing music
Good call!
i just started playing it and I already am obsessed with the soundtrack
👍 The Consouls did a great cover of A Path Opened
I had to comment because the music reminded me of Barber's "Adagio" as well, and I had that thought perhaps about a minute before you mentioned it in this video. It feels very validating to me that I made the same observation as you, and I consider you to be quite an exceptional musician with a massive musical vocabulary of the great works of Western music. I feel quite honored to have shared such an observation with you. 😁
Great music taste
I was fighting this exact boss an hour ago and you posted this now. Mind-blowing coincidence.
I became a RUclips partner this year off my lofi hip hop music, creating things is daunting. But your genuine enthusiasm and excitement for new music and max chromas stats got me feeling inspired.
Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3 because the time signature, if you will, of the boss herself is a different time signature than the music, which adds an extra challenge to the fight. But yeah, the music for that encounter is spectacular
Oh, I saw that video too - IIRC it’s all nonsense, but the theme is amazing and I’d love to see an actual musician analyze it!
Both the boss and music are in 3/4.
_THE SADDEST OF ALL KEYS_
Great pick! And i'm glad you delved into a bit of the reasons behind this fight and the lore. It sounds like you've either played the game before or have a lot of respect for it already?
I’d LOVE to see you react to “Ludwig the holy blade”!
Love love love this. Thank you so much for making a video about this song/boss battle, it's incredible.
I think Dragonslayer Armour from Dark Souls 3 is such an underrated boss theme. Especially because the second phase of the song cuts in before you hear the great part of the first phase.
Something really clicked for me when you mentioned how the two half-step resolutions the Aeolian mode has without moving into the harmonic minor are both descending: 3-2 and 6-5.I never really understood how modern composers create strong directional motion in just natural minor, but that little bit of info makes so much sense.
A true masterpiece that hasn’t received enough recognition. Thank you 🙏🏻
To me, what really makes Bloodborne's music stand out, is that every OST perfectly depict what the boss or bossfight is going to look like, without even seeing it. It's like all the notes are telling you the lore of the boss. Great analysis as well, sir💯
No way im so hyped you’re covering thisLEGENDARY PIECE
In terms of more fromsoftware music, I’m so excited you want to cover more, darkbeast is my favorite and most intriguing from bloodborne, and it has the weirdest theory I’d love a breakdown on
Gehrman the first hunter is one of my favorite songs in any game. The way that the music helps tell the story is immaculate. FromSoftware's music as a whole is very good at this, but this song mixed with the atmosphere and the story of the game. Created one of the greatest final boss themes of all time. So much emotion oozing out of every part of this.
I love that your channel makes us see beautiful intricacies in what we often see as the mundane
Thank you for this. I've been a FromSoftware fan for ages and ages and a musician for even longer, and while I absolutely adore their soundtracks, Bloodborne's is definitely the one I've heard least because of the general inconvenience of accessibility. You've given me a real appreciation of this track and I hope to see you do more FS music in the future. They really do have one of the greatest video game soundtrack collections of all time.
One of the most interesting ones to me, where being a musician actually gave me an edge, is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3. Many, many people cite having trouble with this boss and figuring out her attack patterns, but I picked it up quite quickly because of her theme. It's very common for FS bosses to have themes that tie into their combat, and the Dancer's theme is atypical in that it is written 5/4. Odd meter throws a lot of people off, especially non musicians, but once I figured that out it became easy for me to learn her patterns. She takes 5 or 10 steps between attacks, and her double-sworded flourishes keep in time with the "dance" she's performing as you fight her. Making these connections between music and gameplay is something only a musician could do, and it's one of the many reasons FromSoft is one of my all-time favorite development studios.
🗿🤝
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder from dark souls 1 is definitely worth your time. Absolutely stunning. Love your content keep it up!
"Neither character wants to lose, but winning means an eternal sacrifice."
What a beautifully poetic and accurate way of putting it.
More Bloodborne! Ludwig The Accursed/Ludwig The Holy Blade next! 👌
My favorite boss theme in general from bloodborne is Ludwig's theme (which you should DEFINITELY check out), but nothing beats the narrative piece this song serves as. When I beat Gherman for the first time it was a hollow victory, it was a battle and struggle, but the emotions this piece puts in you even subconsciously can't be ignored, even in the heart of battle.
Dark souls 1 gwyn theme intk dark souls 3 soul of cinder
My favorite for sure especially the way 3 hits at the end of the saga
Your enthusiasm is infectious 😀 I loved the video.
I absolutely love when the choir comes in after that single string note. Going from such a high, single sound and then immediately to the deep, full sound of an entire choir is just amazing. You should definitely look at bloodborne’s Ludwig the holy blade.
Another thing that's really cool is that the choir in Bloodborne is semi-diagetic. In Yahar'Gul, there's a choir piece that sort of evokes Olivier Messiaen, called "Hail the Nightmare". Depending on where you are, it sounds like it's being sung off in the distance, by the in-game faction known as The Choir. Often when this choir is used, it's fairly crunchy and dissonant. So in the climax of Gehrman's theme, by contrast, it really sounds like an invocation of the sublime, this demented choir finally getting its act together to usher in their god.
Bloodborne is definitely one of my favourite games of all time, an absolute masterpiece. Please do Gwyn, Lord Of Cinder. It's also a beautifully tragic OST and one of the few video game soundtracks that I listen to without being actively playing a game
He should do Ludwig the accursed/holy blade ost, it would be Amazing
I especially love the use of the tritonus. I couldnt put my finger on what makes me so addicted to the theme and it was that ez.
That jump and knowing that this jump from E to b (is it called diminished fifth, im really not sure) makes it feel horrible and tragic... like they just dont want us to have even a single glimpse of hope. Not giving us anything to release this built up tension in D minor which is honestly a hell of sadness. It represents the fight so well, the agony, the hurt, adding another layer of intensity and character insight.
Please do more Fromsoftware music, you are the first person I've watched that actually breaks down the lore behind the music. Thank you, cause It's such a big part of what makes the music great.
There’s an official interview online called “The Story Behind Bloodbornes Haunting Soundtrack,” where the sound designers for the game said that the main keywords they pulled from for the game were “horror” and “mortal struggle.” I think this theme encapsulates the latter perfectly
finally bloodborne!!!!
I adore the soundtrack of this game, 'Ghermans theme' and 'The hunter' imparticular because of how they PERFECTLY capture the emotion of what they're depicting. One expresses the pure tragedy of ghermans situation and yours of the fact that nobody wins, and the other expresses how despite being in a world full of monsters, the hunters are the most horrifyingly overwhelming and powerfully sinister things in it
LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG LUDWIG
This has been one of my favorite songs ever for a while. I’m so glad that you got into it and showed why it’s so amazing and tragic.
I legit tear up every time I listen to this track. It is hands down my favourite piece of videogame music ever made.
The entire album is worth doing a deep dive into, every track, including the Old Hunters, I'd happily watch a 2-3 hour video of you analysing all of it!
I just want to say I am musically ignorant of themes in music. Your video made me feel smart as you explained them to me and gave me greater appreciation for the song. I didn't know how layered it was. Watching you geek out to the music made my heart soar. My favorite part is when you lay out the call and response. I'm always too busy getting my but kicked to hear the music, now I love this game even more.
Thank you for this video.
@10:07 I always interpret the conversation between the two phrases almost like voices. The call asking it's question, something to the effect of: "Please, let me free you" Gehrman speaking; Then, us as the Hunter responding with "No, I will free you".
I had a feeling you were going to mention Barber's Adagio for Strings. The most haunting piece I've ever heard.
man what a great breakdown of this track accompanied by some absolutely beautiful playing, loved every second of this
Thank you for referencing "Adagio for Strings" here. I've long felt that "The First Hunter" was an intentional homage, as they do create many of the same feelings.
Ludwig is a must. The boss fight with the music cranked up is a cinematic masterpiece.
I enjoyed watching you have eargasms to this beautiful piece. Would love to hear/see more FromSoftware music!
This is such an unexpected surprise. This whole OST is such a masterpiece, fitting perfectly with the game. Crafting the perfect ambience to the perfect gane. |o_
Great video, it helped me understand what iv liked about the music. Would love to see your take on Ludwig next!
I've been waiting for you to analyze this piece for a while.
You never miss with my all time favourite piano tunes… DS era pokémon, Zelda, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Minecraft… I launch out of my seat whenever I see another one and seeing you appreciate them to the fullest extent just tickles my brain 😁 I’d love to learn more about TLOU or Outer Wilds because those two pull on my heartstrings like nothing else and they do so in completely different ways
The lyrics are so poignant, too, and it's one of the few games where I outright cry over the endings. Was he a good man? No, but he wasn't the villain of the story, and I find well-written characters like Gehrman more compelling than simply 'bad man evil'. As I once read in a comment a long time ago: 'It's the saddest 'no, you''. And just because I love the Latin lyrics so much (we actually translated a lot of these in my college class for giggles because song lyrics are poetry in a way), a translation from another person as I cannot find my own:
Hunter.
Ah, I have hunted.
I did it all to cleanse my soul from evil.
An insidious hunt.
The wonderful darkness
This way I knew eternal mercy.
My Hunter
Let the evil be hidden (from you)
My life devoted to sustaining the Dream
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy
Hunter
Take my sickly vein
My soul hurts, free me, rightly
The insidious Moon
The wonderful darkness
Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy
Hunter, who holds in awe the abyss
But you are never supposed to be a scapegoat
I would swing this scythe once again, to offer an end to your nightmare
But please, give me an end to my role
This track makes me cry every time. Unbelievably beautiful
Actually I would add that in Kingdom Hearts II, the final boss theme Darkness of the Unknown starts off with drums and a big energy, but towards the end, the song drops the drums and leaves you with only the floating anticipation of the violin and the piano. It is almost like the violin and piano duo is reflecting the emotions and the dynamics between Sora and Riki during the fight with Xemnas, that signifies a mending of their friendship and their fight for each other.
This was incredible. I played along occasionally with a buddy on his playthrough and omg I forgot how deeply moving that boss fight was
You NEED to do the soundtrack for the Ludwig boss fight-both phases. There is simply no better boss music I’ve ever heard, it is so powerful and emotional and horrifying and amazing. Combined with the changeover in fighting style of the boss, it is truly the pinnacle of the game’s artistic creation.
You really gotta do Ludwig's theme, the chord progression that they use to modulate into his second phase and the resolution at the end of that phase back into the loop is amazing.
Also, love that you went for a kingdom hearts boss theme and immediately picked the best one in the series. Takes a while to get going, but damn does Darkness of the Unknown have some beautiful phrases amongst some really intense organ playing
I would HIGHLY recommend listening to "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" (Dark Souls) and "Soul of Cinder" (Dark Souls 3) in that order. It's a musical and nostalgical rollercoaster!
A lot of people that don’t understand blood-borne could learn a lot from this video of yours. If this doesn’t help them, understand the game, nothing will.
"The Night... and the Dream... were long."
This is one of the my favorite moments in gaming ever, from maybe my favorite game EVER, and one of the best pieces in an amazing score. Would love to see you break down "Ludwig, the Accursed/The Holy Blade," "Father Gascoigne, The Hunter" (awesome brass call and response!), or "Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos." As always, thank you for your insight.
I know you covered Genshin Impact's music a year ago, but the boss theme "Polumnia Omnia" is probably one of the best boss fight tracks I've heard. Not only does it sound great, it has a lot of thematic elements that play into that particular boss's character. Combining motifs from his homeland as well as his current faction. With a choir singing Latin and a lead singer singing Japanese. It all just blends so well into a very unique and epic track alongside an epic fight.
This track is 3 tons worth of pain, loss, and isolation yet its full of heart. This is no beast you fight just a man who has lost everything.
So glad you decided to cover this score from Bloodborne. By my favorite fromsoftware scores
Adagio for strings is actually the most beautiful thing I’ve ever listened to such a good comparison but I love the call out
Huge and longtime fan of Fromsoft. This was so well done. The final boss music of the Elden Ring DLC has some amazing movement in it.
YES MORE FROMSOFT MUSIC PLEASE
I'm really enjoying this appreciation of vgm even though I don't play the games. And I love it when Charles throws together a bunch of jazzy chords!
What makes this fight even more tragic is that who ever dies and wakes up in real world again will forget everything that happened in the dream. Meaning that the hero who sacrificed themselves to be the one get stuck in the nightmare did this whole fight… knowing that they will never be remembered. And the ones who you might considered a friend will wake up never even knowing that you existed in this world.
One of my favourite boss fight experiences ever.
It is not about "boss fights", but the tragedy of the story described through music is very strong in "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" by Jessica Curry. Not much of a game, rather than an interactive story. But the plot and it's connection to music stays with me to this day.
As a massive music and fromsoftware fan, i salute you!
This is an amazing video and i appreciate your overall enthusiasm in analyzing this masterpiece.
Take care! ✌🏼
Bloodborne IS my favorite & most memorable gaming experience of all times (since I started gaming in 80s arcades). By far, the most interesting/unique & immersive world building. Your video is a great breakdown of how its *music* is also intentionally & wonderfully crafted. The soulsborne games (from Demon Souls, to Dark Souls, to Elden Ring) make the *best* ambience music for my downtime & chilling. I also love that the game also uses SILENCE (eg, only footsteps, creaking floors, opening/closing doors etc) during much of the game to make the amazing music even more special. 🔥💛😎
Charles finally realizing the genius of Fromsoft osts
I love Bloodborne. Everything about it is so quality, top tier awesome. I love seeing you break down video game OSTs and couldn't believe my eyes seeing you talk about this one!! Definitely one of my favorite tracks in the game and all time. (also, in case you haven't already heard it, "Ludwig, The Accursed & Ludwig, The Holy Blade" are completely stellar tracks.)
It wasn’t in the Gehrman theme, but one thing I catch recurring from souls music is the corrupted/internal conflict characters, if their theme reaches any re-glorification moments the next sound always beats it to the ground, like Lady Maria and Fortissax
"Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt"
*goosebumps*
Oh please please please do this for the Blood Starved Beast fight! Heck any of the Bloodborne boss themes are amazing