Musical Influences and Video Games. - General Discussion

#1 Posted by EarthBowl (125 posts) - 2 months, 7 days ago

Whether it was influences within their distinct eras, or simply based around notoriety for the musicians, the more I thought about video game themes and melodies, the more I remembered listening to certain songs from outside of games that share similar aspects to them in interesting ways. Basically, I wanted to know what piece of music from a game you can recount sharing certain comparisons to another song outside of games. My example of this would be the theme to Tetris and it's similarity to the Russian song "Korobeiniki". This comparison just came to me so recently that I didn't believe it at first until I listened to both songs together. I still love seeing these kinds of things in games.

Tetris theme:

"Korobeiniki" Song:

#2 Posted by ultraspacemobile (29 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

I submit the Intellivision game "Thunder Castle":

The opening music (00:00 - 00:16) is from Henry Purcell's "Abdelazer Suite":

The death music (about 4:45) is from the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. The exact passage runs from a little after 3:45 - 3:55 in this clip:

#3 Edited by SirOptimusPrime (1555 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

There's this thing:

Some of them are so uncanny. I could totally see Yuzo Koshiro being way into "Pump Up The Jam."

#4 Edited by EarthBowl (125 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

@ultraspacemobile: That is amazing. I never would have realized Orchestrated pieces would be an influence back to games. Fantastic pull, especially for its age.

@siroptimusprime: I would absolutely agree with you on that statement. I think "Pump Up The Jam" has immortal qualities and can last beyond our own mortality. :p

#5 Edited by mellotronrules (965 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

i can't point to a specific piece of music that this apes, but this is one of my favorite examples of the genesis synth in action. it's essentially the early 90s rave and techno scene distilled, and run through the genesis.

side note- god i love how the genesis sounds. it's got so much grit and grime.

#6 Posted by Zithe (1037 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

Can't have a thread like this without April by Deep Purple and The Legend of Zelda. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Just listen to the first 3 minutes or so.

#7 Posted by ultraspacemobile (29 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

@zithe: Oh man, this song is tits--and it totally works as a soundtrack for Hieronymous Bosch.

#8 Posted by ShaggE (4415 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

The Dr. Mario/Beatles connection blew my mind when I first noticed it.

#9 Edited by Flacracker (627 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

Im noticing a trend here. All of the games listed so far are 8 or 16 bit. The music in these games isn't influenced by other music, it directly copies other music.

#10 Posted by casper_ (723 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

@zithe: i'm not getting zelda from this. it sounds more to me like deep purple are trying pretty hard to get an ennio morricone vibe.

its cool though.

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#11 Posted by JasonR86 (7673 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

Boom bitches.

#12 Posted by JasonR86 (7673 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

By the way Rick Astley kind of dances like Shepherd.

#13 Posted by BoG (5169 posts) - 2 months, 6 days ago

There was this song that I sang in church when I was a kid, but instead of thinking about Jesus, I thought about Marble Madness. I had my priorities straight from a young age. I wish I could remember the name of that hymn, the two are so similar.

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