It makes me sad that the SNES song isn't the one that became such a staple. I like it so much more than the N64 version! As long as they just don't forget about the good ol' SNES rainbow road though, I'm happy. The Mario Kart 8 remix was pretty good.
@@shinigamimiroku3723 While that's true, I get a special kind of nostalgic happiness when something I appreciate is addressed by the people that made it. It makes me happy to see that I'm not the only one who likes something.
So happy you covered this topic! It's really interesting to me how all the versions of Rainbow Road make you feel a certain way, sort of uplifted and happy. The fact that there are *consistent* musical techniques used across the iterations is incredible, because it suggests that these musical things are what makes us feel this way. Of course, correlation doesn't mean causation... but it's so cool to see a direct translation of music theory to feeling! (64's iteration is still my favorite)
The guy that composed the Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack had no major level of education in music, but just wanted to make music for people to appreciate, and that's what he did. I always feel motivated to do anything when I think about it. On these videos, I have a vague understanding of what is being discussed myself. I used to play on band awhile back. I can take in the knowledge, but good luck to me for trying to relay it elsewhere lol.
The 1-5-1 melodic motif seems to be associated with space in general in the Mario series. Just look at the opening four notes in Super Mario Galaxy's title screen and credits.
Kevin R. That’s why I got Galaxy vibes from that! During one of them, I think double dash, I was really confused how Galaxy managed to make its way into Rainbow Road
The magical whale-ship from Final Fantasy 4's leitmotif is full of suspended chords, and Star Trek's theme starts with two consecutive perfect fourths. Open fifths are the sound of space travel in general.
When the chord is sus. Ok now that I made my generic meme reference and caught ur attention, this video was really well thought out and I love watching ur analytic videos since it develops my ever so vacant knowledge of music theory and “feel”. Great work man!
I know next to nothing about music on an intellectual level and I really liked the "stanky" chord. It really gave the song a space-y vibe, like it was blasting off on a voyage at the end of the song. Kind of reminds me of the Moon Theme from Ducktales. Actually, I think the Rainbow Roads have a lot in common with that tune.
Friggin snitch pawned its title off to Mario Kart like "Hey, don't look at me, look over there! This is bad, isn't it?" Kinda reminds me of the president.
I will say, the first time I heard the 64/Double Dash "B" section in Mario Kart 7, I actually cried. I could feel the music going in the direction of using that quote, and once it did, I got so many chills and I sang along with tears running down my face.
I kinda feel the same way whenever I boot up a new Mario Kart for the first time. I pretty much *have* to let it sit on the title screen so I can hear the new arrangement of the classic theme, before hitting Start.
Mario Kart 7's Rainbow Road literally gives me chills everytime. That intro playing with the original chords, then ultimately moving into my favourite version of RR (MK64). Just phenomenal.
I also love how in Mario Kart Wii's Rainbow Road, the composer was able to fit a quote from Good Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy in there too along with taking the motifs from the past Rainbow Road tracks and have its own twist!
That’s me but that’s because Rainbow Road is my favorite track (except for the one in Mario Kart 7, I thought the design of that one sucked plus it’s one lap from start to finish), when it should have been 2 laps at least.
I love Double Dash because the trumpets really stand out from the all of the flutes or synths that are usually used. To me, it just feels a little more epic because you're on a *freaking rainbow road!*
It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. It is a road that you go. It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. And you will know, when you get there! It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. It is a road that you go. It's a road that you go when you die.
It's a road called rainbow road It's a road, we're all gonna go It's a road called rainbow road It's got Princess Peach, Mario and the Toad It's a road called rainbow road It's a road, we're all gonna go We'll gooooooooooooooooo~
@@HardcoreHeely Rainbow road it's where you go when you die. It's Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad! I miss you again Uncle. Rainbow road it's where you go when you die. It's Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad! I miss you again. Ooooooooooon~ Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad~ **Random dancing**
OK so I recently reduced my patreon pledge from $5 to $3 but I'm bumping it right back up to five because I've remembered how much I love all these transcriptions
9:25 BLEW MY FRIGGIN' MIND. Those are my favorite parts of both of those tracks! Anyway, as arguably my favorite video game series of all time, I'm always happy to see, well, any analysis of what makes it so great. I have to say, you really did its most iconic course justice. I can't help but feel that the chromatic planing and jumps to 7ths were done intentionally, alluding to the aspects of the rainbow. I practically call 200cc SNES Rainbow Road my home these days, I love it so much. Objectively speaking, it is not at all a forgiving course, and while I wouldn't have it any other way, it is basically all but second-nature to me at this point, having driven it so very many times in the past.
Mkwii’s rainbow road, with it’s breakbeat drum track and orchestral yet electronic sound, will always be my favorite. With mariokart DS in a close second.
1:22 "This tune is great but its not until after the main melody that we hear some foreshadowing for future installments." No truer words have been spoken. The music we love was but a fetus at this point in the SNES game.
Quality content with polished and clear presentation as always :) Also, the 64 version's one chord fading into another sounds like falling off the track to me :p
Planing is VERY common in guitar music since we it's easy to keep our fingers in a set shape and move it up the fretboard. Love the video! Edit: also interesting how the entire A section of the SNES version is a giant V7 chord for the B second Fmaj resolution
Another awesome video! Mario Kart has some of my favourite themes in all of videogaming, and Rainbow Road has always been tops. I had always wondered why the various themes *felt* similar while sounding mostly unique, and this explains why. Thank you so much! ^_^
The Mariokart 8 Rainbow Road theme is just stunning. I'd love to see more Mariokart videos--analyzing the evolution of the Mario Stadium themes could be interesting to see, or just a look at how the main theme of the game has changed over time. Nice work on these videos!
As someone who's in a music theory class right now and struggling to write a simple 4 part, 4-measure Bach-style chorale, I always find it amazing just how many of these simple ideas are used in music of all complexities. This was a really cool video; I never realized how many ideas are present in various Rainbow Road themes beyond that one MK64 melody. Also Super Circuit's RR is seriously underrated.
Love this video! I do wanna point out the fact that in Mario Kart Wii's iteration, the main melody from Good Egg Galaxy is featured in the background, which enhances it greatly. Wonder how that factors in from a musical theory perspective!
There are no dislikes on the video at the time of this comment. I love it. Keep making more videos. I have been out of playing music for a while (French horn, former BM at CU Boulder for 2 years), but your videos do a great job of bringing back that magical feeling of studying and playing and understanding music at a high level.
It's really cool to know how the melody had changed over time and also I don't know if you knew but in Mario kart wii a part of the melody contains a reference to super Mario galaxy's good egg galaxy I believe
I need you to understand just how much this video taught me about reading music, as well as musical theory. Several things I've been trying to figure out FINALLY CLICKED while watching this. Your channel has been one of the most valuable assets I've found as a producer, and I thank you for your hard work. It's the lords work, I assure ye!
It's great how you actually get into the music rather than just shove the music in our face (like other stupid youtubers) You rock man. Space rock. at a space station. in space. SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACEEE
I loved this video. It amazes me how these composers are able to pay homage in structure and form to previous games in the series, while still making it new and fresh. I'd love more videos like this in the series where you compare evolution of game themes across a series. Great job.
I really didn’t expect much out of the title and thumbnail of this video. I thought it was gonna be a lazy money grab no commentary sequence of all rainbow road songs extended. Boy if I was surprised, and for the best! This video turned out really good! Well done!
There's a notation error in the bassline of Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64 . That 16th note octave skip should be on count 4 of the measure, not count 3.
Every single one of your videos is absolutely incredible, thank you for doing what you do. Every time I watch a new video of yours I learn new tools for my metaphorical “compositional toolbox” of techniques that I use when I write, and you bridge the exciting parts of theory with music that I’ve always loved, admired, and wanted to know how to write like
Really I was just vibing through each rendition of rainbow road here, but honestly, this stuff is so interesting to me. I barely know about the NNS and have just been playing guitar for over a year now, but it is all so awesome to see how the theory driven parts move the way we make and listen to music. Confusing and beautiful in a way that makes me incredibly curious and want to make music myself!
I love that the melody in motif 2 from SMK on the SNES became THE melody for Super Mario Galaxy later on down the road (mainly the first five notes). Love the connection they made there.
As always that was amazing, thank you for the video. While most of the technicality is lost on me, I love the detailed explanations of the concepts. And I especially like how small pieces of the whole song can be described as colorful, raunchy, stanky or smooth. Man video game music is just awesome!
I don't know all the vocabulary you use and sometimes I'm lost af but I still understand enough to love it. I like how passionate you are and that's universal despite my lack of knowledge on music theory.
I have been playing piano for over 10 years and I know everything you're saying already but I still binge all your videos for some reason, they're too interesting
I love DS's one mostly because of the prominent funky bass. It's a lot more prominent than in other renditions, it's undeniably funky, and sounds great, especially when it's climbing while the melody scales down.
I'm a man of simple tastes. I see Mario Kart, I like it. I see Rainbow Road, I double like it. I see an explanation behind all the Rainbow Road themes and how they are all improving one after another??? Man, I'ma gonna make some other accounts just to upvote this video more times! Thanks for such a detailed, complex yet easy to grasp the core ideas of all the themes for my favorite game series tied with Legend of Zelda. Awesome work as always!
Great breakdown! I love seeing how each game builds and experiments with the design while keeping the aspects that make the track sound "rainbow road-y"
Always thought it cool how the 5-1-5 motif from the original Rainbow Road was recalled in the later tunes, but I don’t know if I hear it (on the same scale degrees, at least) in DS’s; that middle section definitely sounds more like E major to me.
Awesome! I also love the instrumentation, especially how the tube-y and rather pure sounds (organ, brass, synth) work so well with the funky rhythm to give a strong sense that a world of exciting new adventures still await us after that final track.
I came into this video expecting another collage of Rainbow Road music and ended up pleasantly surprised. It's very educational and interesting, you earned a +1 sub.
I dont quite know what it is but the sound of N64 Rainbow Road's motif evokes a stronger sense of nostalgia than almost any video game piece that comes to mind. To me it stands as almost the theme of MK64 itself, as part of the longest track in the game and the climactic finish to the hardest cup in the game. It just takes me back to when I was 8 years old, grinding out those 150CC cups.
I always associate the song with the original and my favorite version on the SNES. It has such a groove and harmonization that the later incarnations just couldn’t match.
"Stanky chord" is some advanced theory terminology.
Also "Ranchy"
Mister Apple - Beat me to it, but yes.. it takes a lot of feel and knowledge to properly develop stank..
Raunchy*
No, ranchy. It's for a cool, creamy, refreshing chord.
Ah, yes, "Stanky", "Crunchy"'s funky black cousin.
"I want Moonlight Sonata to be the stankiest song ever written." -- Beethoven, probably.
Wrong, the grosse fugue is the stankiest piece of music ever composed. And it will always be Stanky, even in this modern age
Stanky!
Only the 1st movement. Listen to the 3rd and you're convinced that Beethoven was metal!
Rite of Spring was stanky
The 1st movement's stanky, the 2nd is bouncy, the 3rd is raunchy. That Beethoven was a cool dood.
"Space station in space."
That's some advanced meta right there.
I love your Mario episodes. Great work!!
Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department.
It was quite a redundant pleonasm.
why do i see you everywhere maki avatar person
you could literally comment in any video and somehow be top comment lol
Dylan England
Yeah but people dont say, an ocean ship in the ocean or a sky plane in the sky.
The SNES version is straight pure funk fire. You can't deny that.
While the others are majestic
It makes me sad that the SNES song isn't the one that became such a staple. I like it so much more than the N64 version! As long as they just don't forget about the good ol' SNES rainbow road though, I'm happy. The Mario Kart 8 remix was pretty good.
Funk fire? More like JUNK fire
@@Zebo12345678 If it did, though, it wouldn't be the classic you love to return to when you need some of that funk.
@@shinigamimiroku3723 While that's true, I get a special kind of nostalgic happiness when something I appreciate is addressed by the people that made it. It makes me happy to see that I'm not the only one who likes something.
So happy you covered this topic! It's really interesting to me how all the versions of Rainbow Road make you feel a certain way, sort of uplifted and happy. The fact that there are *consistent* musical techniques used across the iterations is incredible, because it suggests that these musical things are what makes us feel this way. Of course, correlation doesn't mean causation... but it's so cool to see a direct translation of music theory to feeling!
(64's iteration is still my favorite)
same here about 64
I love the way they did 64's in MK8
64 for life 👊🏼 Totally agree
Im not surprised to see Carlos here tbh haha, very glad he knows of this channel.
insaneintherainmusic - Carlos Eiene
So is it possible to use these motifs to make an "evil" rainbow road which makes us feel sad?
Hahahahaha....
*I understand none of this*
I feel bad for you. Playing music and instruments is the best!
@-insert forgettable name- Uh... Who said you can't??
I don't understand a word he's saying, but I like that he's comparing the different versions of the song, which I do understand.
The guy that composed the Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack had no major level of education in music, but just wanted to make music for people to appreciate, and that's what he did. I always feel motivated to do anything when I think about it.
On these videos, I have a vague understanding of what is being discussed myself. I used to play on band awhile back. I can take in the knowledge, but good luck to me for trying to relay it elsewhere lol.
Thomas&MarioFan1995 It just seemed very implied by what you said (even if you didn’t mean it)
The "Stanky Chord" is there to emulate a "shooting star" sound (probs not what a shooting star sounds like, but that would be cool!)
Very much there to accompany that twinkling sound to give the music the illusion of the Doppler effect.
Amazing how anyone can even recognize any Mario Kart tunes without all of the angry shouting and maniacal laughter that usually accompanies them.
I'm usually solo
(Y) Same
I use your videos to help me teach Music Theory at a high school.
Adam Conrad I use music theory in high school to help understand these videos
Whoa hey Mr conrad
i use these videos to help understand highscool
same lol
@@RudyAyoub Rudy! You're awesome!
The 1-5-1 melodic motif seems to be associated with space in general in the Mario series. Just look at the opening four notes in Super Mario Galaxy's title screen and credits.
The Star Wars theme too (5-5-5-1-5)
How about Ducktales' Moon Theme? I think it sounds pretty similar. And the Outer Space level from Super Paper Mario fits, too, right?
Kevin R. That’s why I got Galaxy vibes from that! During one of them, I think double dash, I was really confused how Galaxy managed to make its way into Rainbow Road
@@Andrew-jg9eu Well, there is a literal Good Egg Galaxy piece in Wii's Rainbow Road's string ensemble.
The magical whale-ship from Final Fantasy 4's leitmotif is full of suspended chords, and Star Trek's theme starts with two consecutive perfect fourths. Open fifths are the sound of space travel in general.
When the chord is sus.
Ok now that I made my generic meme reference and caught ur attention, this video was really well thought out and I love watching ur analytic videos since it develops my ever so vacant knowledge of music theory and “feel”. Great work man!
I came to newest comments just to see this comment
Found the sus comment
Mario Kart 7's final section is the best Rainbow road music. it's intense, quick paced, beautiful and it's a great piece of work.
stanky chord is nothing to be solved, it was the best part! It honestly doesn't seem jarring to me at all, I am broken by jazz.
True! It just sounds cool, no need to make it resolve at all. I feel that way about a lot of different chords. Just let them be!
Yup, I was gonna say -- that bVI to I is super common and I wouldn't call it jarring at all.
That's the fundamental difference between "music theory" and "music dogma". Music theory should be an description, not a prescription.
I know next to nothing about music on an intellectual level and I really liked the "stanky" chord. It really gave the song a space-y vibe, like it was blasting off on a voyage at the end of the song. Kind of reminds me of the Moon Theme from Ducktales. Actually, I think the Rainbow Roads have a lot in common with that tune.
Thank you!!!! I was thinking this throughout the video!! It's a difference in style, no need to be so snobish about it
Mario Party is the real game that ruins friendships.
Especially in Chance Time
Friggin snitch pawned its title off to Mario Kart like "Hey, don't look at me, look over there! This is bad, isn't it?" Kinda reminds me of the president.
Uhhh what about new super Mario bros. With 3 or 4 players?
Conclusion: Mario games are surprisingly good at ruining friendships
Only because there's always one person who's super into it and everyone else is bored
7:31 "That is, if you spell subtle like this: *S ☆ U ☆ B ☆ T ☆ L ☆ E* "
I'll never be able to decide whether Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road song is better than Double Dash's
Evan Edinger Nah game cube is better one
At least I hope we can agree that all the other ones are pretty disappointing in comparison.
Edit: OK, MK7 isn't that bad.
The answer is simple. Mario Kart 7's rainbow road song!
Evan Edinger
double dash's contains a remix of 64's 🤔
+my tits
Yes obviously but as a whole they aren't the same at all.
Mario Kart 7's Rainbow Road will always be my favorite. It is like a love letter to the Rainbow Roads that came before it. Just magical.
I will say, the first time I heard the 64/Double Dash "B" section in Mario Kart 7, I actually cried. I could feel the music going in the direction of using that quote, and once it did, I got so many chills and I sang along with tears running down my face.
I kinda feel the same way whenever I boot up a new Mario Kart for the first time. I pretty much *have* to let it sit on the title screen so I can hear the new arrangement of the classic theme, before hitting Start.
I think the same thing happened to me
That’s just weird. As a millennial I don’t see the emotion behind it.
SoLinkSmash boi shut yo sensitive ass up
SoLinkSmash nvm i just cried
Mario Kart 7's Rainbow Road literally gives me chills everytime. That intro playing with the original chords, then ultimately moving into my favourite version of RR (MK64). Just phenomenal.
I always thought the "stanky cord" as you call it sounded very "spacey" and helped with the atmosphere of racing amoung the stars.
It reminds me of the last chord from the song Xanadu, which is also somewhat space-y: ua-cam.com/video/cLi8fTlDEag/v-deo.html
As in it stinks compared to the snes one
I also love how in Mario Kart Wii's Rainbow Road, the composer was able to fit a quote from Good Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy in there too along with taking the motifs from the past Rainbow Road tracks and have its own twist!
Don't forget the part with the SMG2 main theme, it's kinda hard to notice but it's definitely there
the fact that n64's rainbow raod main motif is played again in future iterations shows how stunning it is
I never understand a word you're saying and, yet, I can't stop watching your videos.
11:59 you can hear the "boops" that are hella prominent in Mario Galaxy just beneath the chords, and its a detail I hella adore so much
We've all got that one friend who's amazing at Rainbow Roads.
Epic_stuff
Me: “huh, I don’t think I have one of those... wait... does that mean that I’M the friend?!?”
Epic_stuff I played too much mario kart wii when I was younger. I got so good I had all golds in 150cc and unlocked the mirror 200cc maps.
That is me with my friends but I do kinda have a friend who is good (I force her to play it every time she comes to my house)
Im one of them
That’s me but that’s because Rainbow Road is my favorite track (except for the one in Mario Kart 7, I thought the design of that one sucked plus it’s one lap from start to finish), when it should have been 2 laps at least.
Every time an 8 bit video comes up in my feed a single tear of joy rolls down my cheek. Once again, you did not disappoint.
And every time we kiss…
I love Double Dash because the trumpets really stand out from the all of the flutes or synths that are usually used. To me, it just feels a little more epic because you're on a *freaking rainbow road!*
So many terms that flew over my head like the shooting stars falling from rainbow road.
those aren't shooting stars
It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. It is a road that you go.
It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. And you will know, when you get there!
It's called a road, it's called a rainbow road. It is a road that you go.
It's a road that you go when you die.
It's a road called rainbow road
It's a road, we're all gonna go
It's a road called rainbow road
It's got Princess Peach, Mario and the Toad
It's a road called rainbow road
It's a road, we're all gonna go
We'll gooooooooooooooooo~
Damn that song makes me happy
Thank you, drunk Ross and drunk Barry.
@@BolleBoi how does a 30-year-old man mourning over his dead uncle make you happy?
@@HardcoreHeely Rainbow road
it's where you go when you die.
It's Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad!
I miss you again Uncle. Rainbow road
it's where you go when you die.
It's Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad!
I miss you again.
Ooooooooooon~
Rainbow Roooooooaaaaad~
**Random dancing**
OK so I recently reduced my patreon pledge from $5 to $3 but I'm bumping it right back up to five because I've remembered how much I love all these transcriptions
9:25 BLEW MY FRIGGIN' MIND. Those are my favorite parts of both of those tracks!
Anyway, as arguably my favorite video game series of all time, I'm always happy to see, well, any analysis of what makes it so great. I have to say, you really did its most iconic course justice. I can't help but feel that the chromatic planing and jumps to 7ths were done intentionally, alluding to the aspects of the rainbow.
I practically call 200cc SNES Rainbow Road my home these days, I love it so much. Objectively speaking, it is not at all a forgiving course, and while I wouldn't have it any other way, it is basically all but second-nature to me at this point, having driven it so very many times in the past.
Mkwii’s rainbow road, with it’s breakbeat drum track and orchestral yet electronic sound, will always be my favorite. With mariokart DS in a close second.
12:15
"At this point we've come a LONG way from the SNES era of gaming"
As he says this, there's a frame rate drop in MK8. Fuck.
anyway great vid dude
You should have a jam where people write their own Rainbow Road.
And Pokemon battle themes
I'm making one based off the Wii, SNES, and GBA versions.
I guess I shall, mine will be based off of Super Circuit's music and Wii's music because both just have appealing music to me.
Double Dash's version will always be my favorite because of the nostalgia :)
Also, this may be my favorite video of yours yet! Thank you :)
Motif #2 at 2:30 reminds me of the opening to the Mario Galaxy Overture - more Mario in space!
kingrobrob Wii’s rainbow road literally is based off of galaxy
@@SwimYBO specifically good egg galaxy (why didn't he mention the leitmotif present in the Wii soundtrack idk)
1:22 "This tune is great but its not until after the main melody that we hear some foreshadowing for future installments."
No truer words have been spoken. The music we love was but a fetus at this point in the SNES game.
Quality content with polished and clear presentation as always :)
Also, the 64 version's one chord fading into another sounds like falling off the track to me :p
Yes.
I’m sad that you didn’t go more into detail in Wii’s version. It’s my favorite version.
The original will always be my favorite. It's just so thrilling. But that's some beautiful movement in the Mario Kart 8 version at about 13:13
I have to say this was very “colorful” commentary! Your analytic abilities are Phrygin (friggin) awesome!
My opinion on that pun is mixed.
...olydian.
Quite the "dominant" pun you made there
To me the commentary just sounds like a big cluster...
...F***
Oh, shut the front dorian.
You've got to "Be Sharp" to get these joke.
The quality of your videos has gone from amazing to unbelievable. Your analysis is great, and the videos themselves are really well done.
As soon as the intro ended and the Rainbow Road music began, I started crying. The nostalgia is real, boys.
Planing is VERY common in guitar music since we it's easy to keep our fingers in a set shape and move it up the fretboard. Love the video!
Edit: also interesting how the entire A section of the SNES version is a giant V7 chord for the B second Fmaj resolution
Another awesome video! Mario Kart has some of my favourite themes in all of videogaming, and Rainbow Road has always been tops. I had always wondered why the various themes *felt* similar while sounding mostly unique, and this explains why. Thank you so much! ^_^
The Mariokart 8 Rainbow Road theme is just stunning. I'd love to see more Mariokart videos--analyzing the evolution of the Mario Stadium themes could be interesting to see, or just a look at how the main theme of the game has changed over time. Nice work on these videos!
WOOP WOOP IT'S THE SOUND OF DA _rainbow star plowing through everyone_
Rainbow Police
As someone who's in a music theory class right now and struggling to write a simple 4 part, 4-measure Bach-style chorale, I always find it amazing just how many of these simple ideas are used in music of all complexities. This was a really cool video; I never realized how many ideas are present in various Rainbow Road themes beyond that one MK64 melody. Also Super Circuit's RR is seriously underrated.
While I barely understood half of this, I can appreciate the time and effort that goes into these. You’ve gained a subscriber!
Love this video! I do wanna point out the fact that in Mario Kart Wii's iteration, the main melody from Good Egg Galaxy is featured in the background, which enhances it greatly. Wonder how that factors in from a musical theory perspective!
God you are one of my favorite channels. So well informed, well edited, and well spoken!
There are no dislikes on the video at the time of this comment. I love it. Keep making more videos. I have been out of playing music for a while (French horn, former BM at CU Boulder for 2 years), but your videos do a great job of bringing back that magical feeling of studying and playing and understanding music at a high level.
It's really cool to know how the melody had changed over time and also I don't know if you knew but in Mario kart wii a part of the melody contains a reference to super Mario galaxy's good egg galaxy I believe
I need you to understand just how much this video taught me about reading music, as well as musical theory. Several things I've been trying to figure out FINALLY CLICKED while watching this. Your channel has been one of the most valuable assets I've found as a producer, and I thank you for your hard work. It's the lords work, I assure ye!
It's great how you actually get into the music rather than just shove the music in our face (like other stupid youtubers)
You rock man. Space rock. at a space station. in space.
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACEEE
i cant believe you didnt mention the mario galaxy motif in the mario kart wii version. it's epic. gave me goosebumps as a kid.
I've watched this numerous times. Thank you for getting me interested in music
Mario Kart DS was my childhood. I haven't heard that rainbow road theme in so long, I teared up.
I never played Mariokart DS, but the music is still one of my favorites
You do an amazing job at this stuff. I hope your eclectic audience grows even more.
I loved this video. It amazes me how these composers are able to pay homage in structure and form to previous games in the series, while still making it new and fresh. I'd love more videos like this in the series where you compare evolution of game themes across a series. Great job.
10:44 am I the only one who cried when I heard that first note?
I really didn’t expect much out of the title and thumbnail of this video. I thought it was gonna be a lazy money grab no commentary sequence of all rainbow road songs extended. Boy if I was surprised, and for the best! This video turned out really good! Well done!
Best game music theory channel on UA-cam. Thanks for another solid analysis 🙌🏽
Every other mario kart: controlled sound
Mario Kart 7: S O U N D
God I love Rainbow Road's music. All of them are top notch.
There's a notation error in the bassline of Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64 . That 16th note octave skip should be on count 4 of the measure, not count 3.
I was literally thinking of how badass a video like this would be just a couple days ago! what a coincidence!
Or not.
I'm not a patron, so I couldn't request a video. Thus it was a coincidence.
Every single one of your videos is absolutely incredible, thank you for doing what you do. Every time I watch a new video of yours I learn new tools for my metaphorical “compositional toolbox” of techniques that I use when I write, and you bridge the exciting parts of theory with music that I’ve always loved, admired, and wanted to know how to write like
13:59 - I can just feel myself gravitating towards making it a jazzy/big-band piece with happy solos and a boisterous chorus.
damn, when I you said 26 years (00:25) I almost got an anxiety attack lmao. it's been that long since the first Mario kart.
*transpose up a semitone every time you fall off*
By the end of the track I'd still be in the same key.
An octave higher come on you knew where this was going
@@zyaicob I would be two octaves higher because I am not that good at Mario kart
I never noticed any similarities except in instrumentation and that 64 quote in Double Dash and 7. Which, by the way, makes 7 awesome.
This is the road
this is the rainbow road
It is a road that you go
It's called the road it's called the rainbow road
And you will know when you get there
I'll miss you again uncle.
And the toad
It's a road that you gooooooo... when you die...
Really I was just vibing through each rendition of rainbow road here, but honestly, this stuff is so interesting to me. I barely know about the NNS and have just been playing guitar for over a year now, but it is all so awesome to see how the theory driven parts move the way we make and listen to music. Confusing and beautiful in a way that makes me incredibly curious and want to make music myself!
I swear EVERY TIME I hear that B section melody from 64 it brings tears to my eyes.
And EVERY TIME we kiss…
I love that the melody in motif 2 from SMK on the SNES became THE melody for Super Mario Galaxy later on down the road (mainly the first five notes). Love the connection they made there.
Yea i understand a couple of those words
As always that was amazing, thank you for the video.
While most of the technicality is lost on me, I love the detailed explanations of the concepts. And I especially like how small pieces of the whole song can be described as colorful, raunchy, stanky or smooth. Man video game music is just awesome!
In my opinion, the Wii totally killed it. :3
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I don't know all the vocabulary you use and sometimes I'm lost af but I still understand enough to love it. I like how passionate you are and that's universal despite my lack of knowledge on music theory.
SUS IS AN ACTUAL MUSIC THEORY TERM???? OMG
I have been playing piano for over 10 years and I know everything you're saying already but I still binge all your videos for some reason, they're too interesting
_I'LL MISS YOU AGAIN UNCLE......_
I love DS's one mostly because of the prominent funky bass. It's a lot more prominent than in other renditions, it's undeniably funky, and sounds great, especially when it's climbing while the melody scales down.
I love you! Platonically, but still
I'm a man of simple tastes. I see Mario Kart, I like it. I see Rainbow Road, I double like it. I see an explanation behind all the Rainbow Road themes and how they are all improving one after another??? Man, I'ma gonna make some other accounts just to upvote this video more times!
Thanks for such a detailed, complex yet easy to grasp the core ideas of all the themes for my favorite game series tied with Legend of Zelda. Awesome work as always!
64's Rainbow Road.
Great breakdown! I love seeing how each game builds and experiments with the design while keeping the aspects that make the track sound "rainbow road-y"
Always thought it cool how the 5-1-5 motif from the original Rainbow Road was recalled in the later tunes, but I don’t know if I hear it (on the same scale degrees, at least) in DS’s; that middle section definitely sounds more like E major to me.
Rainbow Road DS will always be #1 in my heart. That melody just can't be beat
SMK's lush motif 2 remains my favorite.
Awesome! I also love the instrumentation, especially how the tube-y and rather pure sounds (organ, brass, synth) work so well with the funky rhythm to give a strong sense that a world of exciting new adventures still await us after that final track.
10:37 "it's getting hot in here!"
I came into this video expecting another collage of Rainbow Road music and ended up pleasantly surprised.
It's very educational and interesting, you earned a +1 sub.
It's called a road, it's called the Rainbow Road
It's the place you go, when you die...
That is by far my favorite version.
I dont quite know what it is but the sound of N64 Rainbow Road's motif evokes a stronger sense of nostalgia than almost any video game piece that comes to mind. To me it stands as almost the theme of MK64 itself, as part of the longest track in the game and the climactic finish to the hardest cup in the game. It just takes me back to when I was 8 years old, grinding out those 150CC cups.
I always associate the song with the original and my favorite version on the SNES. It has such a groove and harmonization that the later incarnations just couldn’t match.
I think Mario Kart 7’s Rainbow road has to be may favorite. But darn is Mario Kart 8’s rainbow road stellar. Some might say it’s out of this world.
MArio Kart 7 Rainbow Road will always be the best.
Bro I had this in recommended and I had no idea what you're talking about but I loved hearing the music develop.