Super Mario Bros Theme - On One Hand

Kotaku have reported on a remarkable young man (youtube user RigorMortis999) who plays the entire Mario 'Overworld' theme on piano, using just his right hand!! Considering I can't even play the first bar using both hands on ANY instrument, I have to give the guy the respect he so rightly deserves........


Click!


Youtube videos of people playing the Overworld theme are nothing new, with many people performing and arranging the theme for a myriad of different instruments. However, some certainly stand out more than others: take Zack Kim, who plays the theme on not one but two electric guitars at the same time; and Greg Patillo, who BEAT-BOXES a hip-hop rhythm whilst playing the theme on flute!

However, I think the winner has to be this group of talented people. I won't say what it is, you'll just have to watch and see!


If you still haven't had your fill of Mario, then check this video out. It's a parody of another video where someone got really angry at the fan made 'Frustration' level of Super Mario Bros. Made me laugh so much!

Hope you like it!

Jamie

When Clapton saw Hendrix.............

..........he allegedly nearly gave up playing guitar. The following video makes me feel exactly the same way.....................

Click!

Brilliant.

The guy in the video is no other than Reyn Ouwehand, the composer for the game that got me into video game music (and indeed music in all its forms) in the first place - Flimbo's Quest!!!! Legend!

Michael Jackson's Involvement with Sonic 3 Confirmed

Not exactly breathtaking news considering the rumours and theories that have been doing the rounds on the internet for YEARS, but according to "Black and White" - the official French Michael Jackson magazine, his involvement in the composition of various Sonic 3 themes wasn't credited due to Jackson feeling that his works were ill represented by the gaming technology of the time.

By this I'm assuming Jackson wasn't a fan of chiptune then. But what did he expect from the Megadrives humble architecture? The poor old Z80 sound controller and its measly 8Kb of dedicated RAM could only handle so much (that being said, the Mega Drive's two internal sound chips were capable of some brilliant percussion, see the soundtracks to Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage 2 and Mega Turrican for good examples)!

Jackson wasn't the only one who had ideas above his station though. Nolan Bushnell wanted the sounds of roaring crowds to be included in 'Pong'. As Stephen Kent points out in his book 'The Ultimate History of Video Games', the now infamous ‘blip’ sound effect, whose sole function was to indicate successful contact between ball and paddle was actually created by mistake when designer Al Alcorn experimented with the sync generator found inside the game machine. And look how iconic that sound is! Sonic 3's tunes were and still are celebrated all over the world, and surely Jackson must have noticed, so I do not know why he would've been so coy as to have his name attached to such a great game.

Anyway, click here for what is arguably Sonic 3's most famous tune: Ice Cap Zone.

Enjoy,

Upcoming Arrangements

For those of you who follow my youtube page, I'm currently in the process of arranging some new game themes......


Tomb Raider
Nights Into Dreams
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Sonic the Hedgehog medley
Mario 64

Less retro this time round, but after a bit of 'writers (composers?) block' I'm ready to get back in the game!

Jamie

Akira Yamaoka Leaves Konami :(

As Aeropause have just recently reported, legendary horror producer/composer Akira Yamaoka of Silent Hill fame is to leave Konami. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will be his last Silent Hill game working for the company. That doesn't neccessarily mean that he won't be composing for any further games in the series though.

I have always held the Silent Hill franchise close to my heart, and this news is quite upsetting. However, since development shifted to the west, any subsequent title in the series was never going to be fully capable of capturing the essence and love that Team Silent wove into the first three. That being said, I am a closet fan of Origins and Homecoming (despite the terrible controls), but this is mainly due to Yamaoka's beautiful scoring ability. As I will suggest in an upcoming article on Silent Hill 2, it is Yamaoka's music - and indeed sometimes, lack of it - that create the incredible atmosphere needed to completely immerse you in the game.

For now though, I leave with an often misunderstood quote from the man himself:

"Silence is also a sound".

In case you haven't heard it, click here for the Original Silent Hill Theme - On Piano.