Sonic on bass
The increased audio fidelity of 16-bit consoles brought several significant changes to video games, but perhaps the most important was that instruments could be readily identified. Instead of the melody being assigned to a triangle wave, for example, it could be assigned to a trumpet.
This change, I would argue, brought about a shift in musical thinking. Before the 16-bit era, game composers thought like programmers (“How can I arrange this so that the countermelody will sound all right?”); with the ability to mimic real instruments, they thought more like composers (“Which instrument do I want for this part?”). The upshot was that virtual instrument parts began to more closely resemble real ones; when the audio actually sounds like a trumpet, it feels natural to compose a trumpet-like part.
The bass parts in 16-bit Sonic games helped lead the way here, featuring smooth melodic lines and memorable hooks. They’re some of the earliest video game bass parts that sound like they could be from real pop songs.
Let’s look at some examples. Here’s the bass from the Mystic Cave Zone theme, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (starts at 0:02):
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I’m leading off with an unusually prominent part here; if you asked ten Sonic 2 fans to sing this song, I’d bet that eight of them would pick the bass. There’s simply not much else of interest here, except for the “Thunder and Blazes”-like section that shows up at 0:20.
Here’s the Emerald Hill Zone theme, also from Sonic 2 (starts at 0:03):
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This bassline picks up on a simple rhythmic motive from one part of the melody and repeats it — even as the rhythm it’s imitating changes. While this part doesn’t overpower the piece in the same way as Mystic Cave’s, it’s still easily noticed thanks to the riffs played in the higher octave.
Here’s the Marble Garden Zone Act 2 theme in Sonic the Hedgehog 3:
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As with Mystic Cave, the bass hook is far and away the most memorable part here. In fact, the large gaps in the melody give the impression that the piece was written around the bass part, so as to highlight it further.
Here’s the Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 theme from Sonic & Knuckles (starts at 0:03):
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This piece similarly emphasizes the bass by featuring it during breaks in the melody. Also, did you notice the muted attack in the first measure? It’s small, but performance quirks are another way that virtual parts are made to sound more like real ones.
Finally, here’s the Spring Yard Zone bass part in Sonic 1 (starts at 0:02):
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This is a strange piece any way you look at it, but I think the bass is particularly interesting. It provides a rhythmic anchor but goes out of its way to avoid resolving the melodic and harmonic ambiguity. Its erratic motion keeps the listener off guard until the more consonant B section at 0:21.
Great stuff! Never realized how funky the Sonic music was, what with the swung 16ths and all.
It really is! I was very tempted to turn out a post that was just “Hey, check out these awesome Sonic basslines!” But then I decided to try to wrap it all in a theory to make things more substantive. ;-)
Other Sonic basslines I like that didn’t make the cut: Launch Base Act 1, Hydrocity Act 1, and Ice Cap Act 1 from Sonic 3 (all simple but effective), Green Grove Act 1 from Sonic 3D Blast, Hill Top from Sonic 2.
Man, I could write all kinds of posts on Sonic music.
I was a SNES boy as a child, but I played some Sega Genesis here and there (my cousin had one). I knew a few Sonic tunes in my day, but the more and more I hear nowadays, the more I come to like it. Sonic had some funky (in the good way) songs indeed.
And, as always, I love the fact that you actually give little music samples in your posts. It makes things way more accessible and entertaining for those who may not know the names of tunes, or even the tunes themselves that well. Keep it up.
Oh, (and sorry to double post), but to kinda branch off from the first two paragraphs: Do you think that video game music has perhaps become less memorable in general because of the shift to 16 bit and beyond? What I mean is, do you think the limits imposed on composers by the older hardware resulted in better tunes because they had to work with what they had and make the best of it, or does more freedom mean better music?
I don’t really have an answer myself, but with rare exceptions, I find that older game music is much more memorable and toe tappingly delicious. Then again, that may not be because of the “simplicity”, but actually maybe because of nostalgia…
Limited resources makes better music and art for sure. Having limited channels simplifies composition and the musician feels closer to the end result. My adventures in Famitracker have helped me figure out better piano voicings. :) Also I bet that most of the early composing methods were so time-intensive that it was worth getting the song right the first time. Raw assembly, anyone?
Limiting composition makes music better like delaying satisfaction makes the marshmallow taste better.
Oh by the way Dan, I just discovered this site and I would like to give you a hug. I’m not usually into them but after reading your Mother 3 articles it seems appropriate.
Thanks!
I’m not even that big a Sonic fan, but I would love for you to write more Sonic posts. The music from the first two games particularly always stood out for me, it was so funky and memorable. I recently had the priviledge of hearing a mix of Sonic melodies played at Video Games Live, and it was awesome. Sadly, Sonic music has gone the way of the Sonic games – downhill.
Great post :)
I found this to be a really interesting post! Definitely outlining one of the trademark aspects of the “Sonic sound”.
While far from as popular, I’d say that this was all preceded by “ToeJam & Earl”, whose identity of the game was defined by the music’s “Funk” influence. Enough so that people do covers and tabs
In college, we used to host parties in which we only used the music from “ToeJam & Earl”. (Yes, it was done ironically; but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it was damn good music)
Wow, did hearing this take me back!
Props on an interesting read.
However, must point out that something like Sega’s Out Run from ‘86 is sonically (pun mildly intended) very similar (ala FM digital, or manic Casio demo button mode), and stylistically as well, though all a bit less early 90’s “New Jack Swing”ish. Out Run originally a coin-op, you say? OK, fair enough, but those sticky bass lines are very present throughout what is a highly underrated yet pervasive video game score.
That said, time to break out that oddball 5-disc “Sega Tunes” box set I found on clearance eons ago.
Thanks, everyone! Glad you’re enjoying the posts. Flit, your e-hug is accepted. :-)
The Unknown and Flit: Regarding the theory that restriction breeds creativity: you may be interested in my Ocarina of Time music series, which uses that very idea as its thesis.
Chris Brummel: That’s a fair cop, as they say. Although in my defense, ToeJam & Earl only preceded Sonic 1 by a few months! :-) In any case, it’s on the docket for future analysis — a fantastic soundtrack, and definitely a break from the typical game music fare.
Walkathon: Another good call — Out Run was ahead of its time and had a lovely bossa nova-influenced soundtrack. I hope to look at that one day too. I bet at least a couple of those would fit nicely on a lead sheet!
Hey Elroy/Dan, a friend linked me here. Nice blog and nice post! Your features are pretty slick as well. As you mentioned, Sonic 3-D Blast! had some hot tunes, and I actually really dig on the Sonic Adventure soundtrack for Dreamcast quite a bit!
There was definitely a unique aesthetic to the sounds chosen for the early Sonic games, reminiscent of the tracks for Golden Axe II — very clean and prominent bass and snare. The Genesis/Megadrive sound card was like, the renaissance of video game music and I love that it couldn’t produce cleaner sounds. Everything sounds like some dystopic cybertechno, idealized in games like Streets of Rage.
Incidentally, the SOR composer Yuzo Koshiro has specifically mentioned in interviews that he preferred the sound aesthetics and unique flexibility of the Megadrive sound card, and the exact limitations that have been discussed here. I wish I had a link to the interview, but I couldn’t find it! It’s also worth mentioning that Koshiro arranged the Sonic the Hedgehog orchestral suite that was played one of the last North American PLAY! video game music concert tours.
Dan Bruno: Ah, so you did post about that already. I’m kinda embarassed; I had read that post in the past, and I admit that it was floating in the back of my mind when I wrote my comment, but I wasn’t sure if I read about that on this blog or not, and I was frankly too lazy to go check. I’ll try to be more mindful of the archives next time. =P
I’m pretty sure music from Sonic ended up on the Prodigy’s Fat of the Land album on the track “Diesel Power” (I think Sonic’s even directly referenced in a small spoken clip towards the end of the song).
I’ve been working on learning the bass parts to old game songs recently. I began with the Starman Theme from Super Mario Bros. – it’s simple enough – and I’ve been working my way up. I thought I’d check to see if anyone had arranged the tablature for the Spring Yard Zone, as I’m unable to read music.
You’re probably aware of the Michael Jackson rumours surrounding Sonic music. I always thought that his work involved some awesome basslines.
Wow, Dan. I just found your blog today and I can tell I’ll come back a lot. You’ve combined two of my favorite subjects and you analyze them more thoroughly than anyone else on the net. Cheers to you, man. If you can somehow work animation analysis into the posts, you will have covered everything important in my book.
I cannot wait to read more of your work!
Sonic the Hedgehog is my favorite video game series of all time. Sure, there may have been better games before and since, but for me, the games were just plain fun. This is a great examination of the funk bass lines that made for such catchy music hooks. I remember humming along to the music as I played. I just found your site today, so I’m off to dig into some more articles. Be well.
Whenever I hear Sega Genesis music, it always takes me back to the console wars. When you compare the quality of the music to the Super Nintendo’s you really see who had the better system (which today is kind of ironic).
All of the music on the Sega Genesis all had that weird distortion on it and it all sounded like the same keyboard. The first music you hear when you turn on the Spiderman game is, to me, the epitome of all Sega Genesis music.
With the Super Nintendo they didn’t have that – all of their music was a bit clearer. It made me feel just a tiny bit better when I would argue against my cousin about who had the better system.
>>You’re probably aware of the Michael Jackson rumours surrounding Sonic music.
I was under the impression that certain tracks, like those with the voice-sampled stuff in Sonic 3, were at least co-written by Michael Jackson’s songwriters. I.e. the miniboss theme, the Launch Zone music, and so on.
Let me reiterate the other words of praise here. Your blog, simply put, is fantastic, sir and thank you. I’m singing your praises to anyone I think might appreciate it and I look forward to more postings.
Up until reading this post, I never really analyzed the music in the Sonic games, because it just flowed so naturally that I assumed there wasn’t much going on in the way of theory (Excluding songs such as ARZ, of course)
However, I’ve recently started taking a look at the inner workings of a few songs, and one that has me completely baffled is Spring Yard. The very prominent opening riff points strongly to D minor (A A B B C C C# C#) but then it completely throws you off by going straight into an A minor arpeggio.
The rest of the A section also features an F# note, and with it, the outlining of a B minor triad. Out of all the chords that could possibly be borrowed in the key of D minor (Via mode mixture, use of harmonic/melodic minor) this is certainly not one I would expect.
The B section is mostly just in F major (Obviously, to serve as a more consonant section, a sort of structural cadence, I guess)
Sorry if I’m going a little off-topic here, but I’d really like to hear your take on an analysis of Spring Yard. All of the songs in Sonic 1 are amazing, but this one always stood out to me, and I guess this is the reason why.
Oh, and it’d be extremely rude of me not to thank you for the post I’m commenting on. Great job! Marble Zone has always been one of my favorite Sonic basslines, simple, but effective.
Thanks, guys! I’m glad to see there are so many other Sonic music fans, and you’ve all been teaching me a lot about it too.
The Unknown: No worries — I don’t expect you to have memorized the archive! :-)
AlexB: I unfortunately don’t know much about animation, so I don’t think I can help you there. Two out of three ain’t bad, though, right?
Sharky: Excellent point about Spring Yard, and one that I conspicuously sidestepped in my post. ;-) I noticed the oddball harmonic progression as I was working out the bass part, but figured I would save it for another day since it wasn’t the focus here. I’ll be sure to get back to it now that I know it’s not just me who’s curious.
Sonic 2: Kick ass music that wont leave our heads for ages.
Yet
What are your thoughts on the Sonic 3 Soundtrack and the “possible” decline of Sonic style soundtrack over the next iterations of the games.
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Hey, awesome blog, I just found it.
I just wanted point out a transcription error since you seem like the sort who would care: in the Mystic Cave Zone theme, the last note of the first measure is a G#, not G natural.
Man, I loved the music in those early Sonic games.
Mokuu: I thought the Sonic games had pretty solid music throughout the Genesis years. Things began to go downhill with the heavy metal theme song in Sonic Adventure, which I found incongruous with the rest of the series. The more recent stuff I’ve heard has never really recaptured the original spirit.
dfan: Hey, thanks for coming by! Hooray for Harmonix. :-) Good catch on the G#, I’ll update that soon.
Wow, as a bassist I really appreciate this. I’ve always loved the music from the Sonic games, and I remember trying to learn the Emerald Hill Zone theme by ear but I couldn’t quite play it (that last bar was a real challenge!). I’m probably going to use your transcription to learn these songs, because I find bass lines like this to be *extremely* fun to play.
By the way, I’ve been reading quite a bit of your blog and I find the stuff you dig up just fascinating, especially the irregular time signature post. If anything, you’re dissection of the Ocarina of Time songs actually taught me a bit more music theory; something that I’ve always been interested in but have never had the chance to learn about. All in all, great blog. I’ll be sure to keep reading.