People who studied classical music

[phart010 | 1,779]

Mario Galaxy and Mario Galaxy 2 have a full orchestrated soundtrack. It sounds amazing in my opinion.

I used to play violin in a classical orchestra of string instruments, and occasionally we would perform with winds and percussions. Honestly never felt too thrilled with the sound of classical compositions.

I was wondering how someone who studied classical compositions like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, etc. would grade the compositions of Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Maybe there’s something lacking in terms of music theory, who knows, but all I know is that Mario Galaxy gives me the feels much more than classical compositions 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by phart010

[fcgamer | 4,972]

I've no idea about the question at hand, though I'm now quite curious about it too

Hopefully I won't derail the thread too much with this, especially on the first reply, but when I was a teenager I bought a piano sheet music book for Final Fantasy VI. I told my piano teacher I wanted to start working through it and she agreed.

Although she felt that the music sounded quite nice, on a music theory level, she was not impressed at all, and sometimes if I'd ask her to demo a piece, the disregard for theory would screw up her playing.

[TDIRunner | 2,871]

Following.  I'm also pretty curious.  

[Daniel_Doyce | 491]

I don't see why you'd try to compare it to classical music. These are just generic tunes that have a 80-90's action adventure movie filler music vibe.

Classical music allows for complexity, subtlety, and depth of harmony, counterpoint, and instrumentation. Longer works have variety and extended development of themes that are nonexistent in the clips above.

Compare, say, Tchaikovsky's Symphonie Pathetique (his musical suicide note), Beethoven's late piano sonatas (30-32), Mozart's Clarinet concerto, and Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and listen how themes arise and are developed in different ways over time inside of an overall musical structure. Rimsky-Korsakov was a master of instrumentation, so I'd throw something like Cappricio Espagnol in there too as a good way to learn from a genius. Bach and Cesar Franck are great for counterpoint lessons.

[Hammerfestus | 4,097]

1 hour ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Classical music allows for complexity, subtlety, and depth of harmony, counterpoint, and instrumentation. Longer works have variety and extended development of themes that are nonexistent in the clips above.

Makes me think of the Ring cycle.  If I’m not mistaken I believe Götterdämmerung is like 5 hours by itself.

We‘re really talking about apples and oranges even if Japanese game composer hired a cellist to play it.  Sure some game music is interesting, creative or iconic even but it is not the same league.  What game composer can hold a candle to the monsters of the classical era or the romantic era?
 

 

[Daniel_Doyce | 491]

21 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

Makes me think of the Ring cycle.  If I’m not mistaken I believe Götterdämmerung is like 5 hours by itself.

We‘re really talking about apples and oranges even if Japanese game composer hired a cellist to play it.  Sure some game music is interesting, creative or iconic even but it is not the same league.  What game composer can hold a candle to the monsters of the classical era or the romantic era?
 

 

Well, I was thinking more of a 15-20 minute 3-movement Mozart piano sonata as a "longer work" rather than the 18 hour or so Ring cycle, just for context for people who don't know classical that well and are scared off by the sheer heft of Wagner.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Daniel_Doyce

[Hammerfestus | 4,097]

14 minutes ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Well, I was thinking more of a 15-20 minute 3-movement Mozart piano sonata as a "longer work" rather than the 18 hour or so Ring cycle, just for context for people who don't know classical that well and are scared off by the sheer heft of Wagner.

If the length of Wagner‘s works don’t scare you off, the Nazis will.

[nrslam | 485]

Your brain will associate music with whatever you were doing when you heard it.  if you really enjoyed the Galaxy games, listening to the music will bring back pleasant thoughts about your time with the game so you're really reacting to more than just the soundtrack. 

[Strange | 1,727]

Classically trained musician here, woodwinds, etc.

Yeah, I hope this doesn’t come off as snobbish but you really can’t compare the two. The SMG soundtrack may be orchestrated but the two styles are galaxies (sorry) apart. And like nrslam said, our brains tend to associate music with whatever we were feeling at the time that we heard it. That’s why music is so intertwined with memories that we have. SMG is extremely fun, but if you showed that music (or most any game music) to an old curmudgeon-y classical musician, they would likely not be impressed because they don’t have the same emotional attachment to the media (I know this from experience ).

And because I’m a nerd, take a listen to Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets. This orchestral suite by Holst (my favorite composer btw) has inspired the soundtrack of damn near every space-related media, including Star Wars. It undoubtedly inspired SMG’s soundtrack and you can certainly hear that if you decide to listen to the entire suite sometime.

(I think the chorale section of Jupiter, starting at 2:55 in the linked video, is the greatest piece of music humanity has ever come up with, but that’s just my opinion. You should listen to the entire video though.)

 

[Strange | 1,727]

I would also add that soundtracks like SMG’s are more comparable to movie soundtracks, which are no less beloved and isn’t a knock on SMG at all.

[Brickman | 4,190]

I think @The Strangest has summed it up perfectly.

SMG is essentially pop music played with an orchestra. Similar to say Metallica S&M. So really it’s apples and oranges in terms of musical composition.

Having said that, it is my favourite Mario soundtrack and one of my top game soundtracks.

[Andy_Bogomil | 858]

They definitely use the orchestral instruments to give it that 'grandiose' quality, especially for the intro. It fits well with the planetary/galaxy theme as well.

[guillavoie | 1,225]

15 hours ago, The Strangest said:

Classically trained musician here, woodwinds, etc.

Yeah, I hope this doesn’t come off as snobbish but you really can’t compare the two. The SMG soundtrack may be orchestrated but the two styles are galaxies (sorry) apart. And like nrslam said, our brains tend to associate music with whatever we were feeling at the time that we heard it. That’s why music is so intertwined with memories that we have. SMG is extremely fun, but if you showed that music (or most any game music) to an old curmudgeon-y classical musician, they would likely not be impressed because they don’t have the same emotional attachment to the media (I know this from experience ).

And because I’m a nerd, take a listen to Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets. This orchestral suite by Holst (my favorite composer btw) has inspired the soundtrack of damn near every space-related media, including Star Wars. It undoubtedly inspired SMG’s soundtrack and you can certainly hear that if you decide to listen to the entire suite sometime.

(I think the chorale section of Jupiter, starting at 2:55 in the linked video, is the greatest piece of music humanity has ever come up with, but that’s just my opinion. You should listen to the entire video though.)

 

Holst's The Planets suite is one of my favorite classical music work as well! One of the thing that fascinated me when I first heard it is the amount of references I got from other media. For example, Jupiter seems to me like the main influence of many of the Shining Force II musical themes. Also, I used to play Tyrants (Genesis) when i was young, so it was quite funny to hear Mars Bringer of War for the first time, realizing the main music of the game is pretty much a simplistic mock up of it (it starts at 0:27) :

 

 

[Daniel_Doyce | 491]

I didn't expect so much love for Holst here. I think I've listened to the St Paul's Suite and maybe something from the Perfect Fool, but unfairly labeled him as a one-hit wonder.

I do remember my clarinet-playing girlfriend in college performed some of his band suites, but I thought they were a slog to listen to even in supportive boyfriend mode. @The Strangest any other recommendation of his works? I've definitely listened to much more Delius and some Grainger, who are both of a similar vein.

 

[Strange | 1,727]

4 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

I didn't expect so much love for Holst here. I think I've listened to the St Paul's Suite and maybe something from the Perfect Fool, but unfairly labeled him as a one-hit wonder.

I do remember my clarinet-playing girlfriend in college performed some of his band suites, but I thought they were a slog to listen to even in supportive boyfriend mode. @The Strangest any other recommendation of his works? I've definitely listened to much more Delius and some Grainger, who are both of a similar vein.

 

I love his 1st Suite in Eb and his 2nd Suite in F. The 2nd Suite is my favorite of the two but it seems most people enjoy the 1st Suite the most.

Although I played both in college, Holst’s 2nd Suite in F brings me back to my best year in college and the good feelings really flow back to me (just like how SMG’s soundtrack does the same for OP). 

I’m a scientist but I was almost a musician.

[phart010 | 1,779]

On 8/19/2020 at 10:32 AM, The Strangest said:

Classically trained musician here, woodwinds, etc.

Yeah, I hope this doesn’t come off as snobbish but you really can’t compare the two. The SMG soundtrack may be orchestrated but the two styles are galaxies (sorry) apart.

Definitely not coming off as snobbish. Im openly inviting all criticisms to the discussion. Sometimes the harshest folks are the most genuine and enlightening. Bring it on!