Make a Soundtrack People Will REMEMBER! [The Musical Structure of UNDERTALE Explained]
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Undertale is a game that has been given a whole ton of praise for its music and story.
And while the lore has almost been bashed over our heads through youtube videos, then we haven't really explained why Undertales music is so good AND memorable!
Links I recommend checking out if you enjoyed this video!:
An Examination of Leitmotifs and Their Use to Shape Narrative in UNDERTALE
jasonyu.me/unde...
Games as Lit. 101 - Leitmotifs
• Games as Lit. 101 - Le...
Video Game Music - How to Create a Timeless Theme - Extra Credits
• Video Game Music - How...
I've noticed a lot of people discovering this video as of late. It's a bit of an old one! And I know it's due its criticism. But I hope you enjoy it none the less and enjoyed learning about leitmotifs with me ^^
1 hour ago lol
hi!
a
All hail the Algorithm
Algorithms, who understands them?
Ironic that a huge part of what makes this soundtrack great is how everything is connected together, but the one song with no connection to any other becomes the most popular track.
Tbf it is a banger in and of itself
isnt it supposed to be contrasting?
@@PurpleAmalgam assuming they’re talkin bout megalovania, its not purposefully made to be contrasting, it was just made for a game wayyy before undertale and was just reused for the sans fight (and other things too). so there arent any leitmotifs
@@tiantozoku k
@@tiantozoku earthbound halloween hack ??
"Leitmotif"
Sideways: I've been summoned.
YUP
FITOMTIEL??
@@akpilgi’m so glad that i’m not the only person who though this is what they meant
I always get goosebumps when undyne becomes undyne the undying.
Its just so good
One of the best fights in the game.
I agree… I get goosebumps when the music of Undyne the Undying starts and also the music boxxxxxx
Same, and I get huge chills from waterfall. It's just so beautiful??
@@nonji.4160 yeah, the most beautiful area
i think its *But the Earth Refuses to Die* that causes i think "frission?" aka goosebumps and chills
Right when he said leitmotif, I was like "I know where you are going with this."
After 2 years he hearts comments what a legend
Ohh, is Sideways in the chat?
Hearing the same leifmotif over and over again throughout the game: *aw shiet. here we go again*
Also: The best description of Undertale's use of leitmotif I ever heard was "preemptive nostalgia": You hear echoes of each character's melody before the theme itself. By the time you encounter them, they feel like an old friend.
I’m super late, but you’re the first person I’ve ever heard say the name of Bergentrückung in a convincingly correct way and I thank you for teaching me lol
Haha Burger truck king go brrrr
Burger truck king 😂
*cough* *cough* man on the internet *cough*
me, a german, smiles with a tear in her eye and sighs softly
@Reid Gill somewhat 😆 it's difficult to spell it correctly. So the components are "Berg" which lirerally translates to "mountain" and is pronounced like bear with a G at the end. Not "burg" like in burger but bear(g).
Entrückung is more difficult. Spelled out, you say Ent (like "end" with a sharp T) + Rü (like the French word Rue, it has that R from the back of the throat that is uncommon in American english) + (c)kung which you can spell somewhat like in kung fu.
So: Bear+g - End - Rü-(c)kung
(Rück is similar to Rick but less of an i sound, more towards y/u)
"BergEntrückung" is a religious/mythological motive of someone (oftentimes a hero or important person, usually older people) suddenly disappearing without a trace (but not having died)/mystically being obducted by supernatural forces to a otherworldly plane of existence (through a stone, a wall, into a mountain) - in some believes forever, some other myths incorporate the belief that those who have been snatched/taken/"transplanted" will return when the time is right :D (Bergentrückung is more of a lessen known/heard of term/concept)
10:16 This was my emotional peak in this video. I started crying when i heard his theme.
Well… can’t deny it
Same
When I played undertale for the first time, my heart was literally crushed, I had never felt something like that before. Even now, remembering his theme, tears come down my face. It's a game I won't forget very easily
Bro you need help
@@gabef.218 .-_.- You have no emotion
After playing through Undertale just twice (Neutral then Pacifist) I could already hum almost the entirety of the OST.
Also, pretty sure it's called His Theme so people that look through the OST before playing the game don't get spoiled. Same reason why STMPWYFS is there, to mess with people. If you looked at the OST before playing then once you get to Sans you think a really cool battle is about to happen. Awesome prank by Toby.
when i was wayy younger, in the 2016-2017 times, i counted how many times i finished the game
the final number was 37
Toby was genius with how he made this game, I wish other games I played used this brilliant technique.
I'm trying to design a game myself and I'm trying to improve it anyway I can, and this pretty much helped!
Fun fact: Flowey's main theme (your best friend) is the F.U.N. song from Spongebob
And the track "Final Power" (song that plays when asriel releases the human + monster souls) is just Hopes and Dreams reversed
Mind blown
floweys theme is not FUN from spongebob
@@realbrhancitygeming22 dude, use ur brain, it actually sounds similar to it
@@realbrhancitygeming22 the melody certainly sounds similar to it
@@fallen728 it is similar, but its not it. use ur brain
Can't forget that Here we Are is just a demented version of Alphys :)
Fun fact: the Ruins theme can be heard in BAATH towards the end, and the time signature of the song switches to 3/4 during that Ruins part.
Man I wish I could experience undertale for the first time again
You mean the second time?
Just make a time machine I do it every day
@@GetHypedandShocked that dont mean youll forget undertale completely bro
Your videos are really great!
But I think something really important you missed is that you can actually hear "memory" in "finale" (omega flowey's theme). This foreshadows his true identity.
There is an almost obnoxious amount of detail in this game so it wouldn't surprise me if I missed a ton of stuff ;) I am aware of some other reoccurring themes like the mini boss theme but I didn't know that one! Nice catch :D
yes, his true identity as mecha homer from Simpsons fully loaded
took me several years to figure that out it's very subtle as a quiet music box
as well as floweys thwme in hopes and dreams
5:14 What about ‘An Ending?’
Also another little detail that I loved(Not necessarily a part of the game); the assortment of tracks in the OST on the Apple Music app is reminiscent of the path that the players were most likely to first take through the game.
Neutral run, pacifist, and then genocide if they were bored enough
Even after I’ve finished the game several times. Everytime I hear his theme I struggle to keep myself from getting emotional.
I don't cry when I hear His Theme, should I be concerned
@@TheRadElectric yes
i dont cry when i hear it, but i feel nostalgic and sad when i hear it since i spoiled myself before i plased undertale :(
not only does Ruins share its theme with Waterfall, Quiet Water, and Undyne's Pacifist battle music, but also the main Melody of Battle Against A True Hero.
when i listen to the game soundtrack i just see myself playing the game inside my head, i remember everything and this is what i love so much in undertale music
You need more subs
aww that's so nice of you to say! But I'm really appreciative of what I've already got :)
seems like you got your wish lol
@Lochlan Samir what an elaborate, uninteresting setup you both got there. Don't spread this type of stuff, thank you.
He really does deserve to be heard
I haven't played undertale or deltarune once I've only ever seen one playthrough of each deltarune chapter, and yet undertale's music makes me feel such nostalgia its so strange.
My absolute favorite song on the soundtrack is "His Theme". I am a sucker for emotional music, and it's the one song in the track to make me ball my eyes out. Every time I listen to it, I feel Asriel's pain and all I want to do is comfort him and tell him that everything is going to be ok..
The music is full of litemotifs
Or the same melody in a lot of tobys songs
But somehow they sound completely unique that’s how good his music is
One of my favorite musicians, Miracle of Sound, uses leitmotifs all the time in his music, both instrumental (such as all his Dark Souls songs having the same 8-bar snippet somewhere in them) or lyrical (such as all of his Assassin’s Creed songs referencing “justice runs in crimson rivers”).
Woah, I didn't know most of this
Glad that you learned something :) Was afraid I rambled too much
Just about every track in this game contains part of some other track, you could literally draw a connection between any two songs. It's brilliant.
here's a comment because the algorythm was harsh on you
??
@@madkirk7431 comment* I got a square brain
Here's a reply because why not.
@@Puppeteer_in_the_Void Here's a reply to your reply
@Hunter Zalo to watch UA-cam content
Most game songs I remember are just monster hunter songs, I feel these are really great because they al, describe a monster your fighting, where a basic monster theme sounds more wild or dangerous, but then some monsters have unique themes, where say a nargacuga, it’s theme sounds slightly stealthy and energetic describing how the monster acts, with quick movement and it blends in with the shadows, or a elder dragons theme, say fatalis, it’s theme sounds intimidating and extremely dangerous, and is a remix of some old melodies in the game series too, some monsters do use some parts of a soundtrack from a older game in the series, or in world, the second most recent, some event quests use revamped monster themes but blend in perfectly with another song they put in it.
I found your video and I'm wishing for your succeed in this platform
OMG! So, I'm going through a playlist, splitting it up, as it became a dump-all.
This is the video I learned about liemotifs from!!! You have no idea how much this changed the way I think about everything music related. Use the word in my head daily, and often out loud too.
The music box theme always makes me cry. Even now. Dangit.
I think you missed one song. Its name is Last Goodbye and i think its beautyful
I love this breakdown!!
Undertale has a amazing soundtrack and I'm glad you've shown the similarities between a lot of the songs
A lot of people actually didn't know this
2 videos that showcase this to a full extenct are
- It's all connected
- it's all(so) connected
11:25
*Ending the video while Toby fox appears on screen to say hi*
How to make music memorable?
Toby's answer: make it so damn good that people will listen to half the songs every day
Toby: Writes 4 songs.
Everyone: Aw yeah this is my jam!
You made a video on something I struggled to explain to my new choir teacher lol
You forgot to mention genocide, (except for genocide undyne) I feel this is important as it completely turns under-tale’s music on it’s head, you don’t get the happy music, you don’t get the subtly, you get songs like megalovania, which are very engeratic and high pitch which is unlike anything in the game, or the song you get when you kill all the monsters in a area, it it slow and mathordical and sends chills down your spine. (Fun fact this is flowey’s theme slowed down by like 1000x i think)
1) when I think of video game soundtracks I don’t think of chip tune ones, I just think of both my favourite games and also ones I’ve recently played
2) undertale got picked apart, people looked and analysed every corner of the game to find every secret, a lot of people know about the lietmotifs that are constantly reused in it and there’s 100s of videos about it on yt that compare tracks and explain them already
Let's be honest, megalovania, despite being the arguably best song in the game, doesn't fit in, and intentionally. It doesn't fit in, it's memey, it's fourth wall breaking, it's epic. It says, you are not really in undertale anymore... But it's epic anyway
Tbf it wasn't an Undertale song it was a remix in a Halloween earthbound hack. Plus I've heard theories that it's not sans theme but actually your theme and sans real theme is "the song that sometimes plays when you fight sans"
Hope's ane dreams with Save the world
Always have me at the verge of tears
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky is one of my favorite soundtracks too, it uses leitmotifs extraordinarily well too.
I get shivers every time I hear his theme and hopes and dreams
I think I cry again every time I grow closer to the end of the soundtrack when listen
Quality content, I will share this channel on my discord channels
Twenty seconds in and I know where you’re going with this. All about motif work. Nice example.
This is so underrated!
another fun one with flowey and asriel is that your best nightmare (photoshop flowey’s theme) and burn in despair (asriel’s second phase theme) have the same motif, most likely since they’re the two parts of the game where he is the most aggressive and violent
Me: why is my sleep schedule so bad
Me at 3 am:
edit: really cool vid bro
3:02 that looks like the video game that Kris and queen played in deltarune chapter 2 talking about the mechanics
3:02 a very interesting coincidence is that this game has also served as inspiration for some gameplay sequences in Deltarune chapter 2!
Wow!
Toby Fox with music: how’s you chance to make a [BIG SONG]
Everytime I watch a video about Undertale I get so emotional. This shit is so cool. Great video!
While you where talking about the plot i remembered all the fun memories of playing the game for the first time. thank you
Wonderful video! Sooo underrated!!
man, the music always makes me sad and happy at the same time...
I have a theory that the "Once Upon a Time" theme is Chara's theme especially if Chara is the narrator, or a theme for the Dreemurr family, or a theme for like players and player characters and stuff - the theme plays in the intro, Toriel's home, Asgore's home, and the former location of the Royal Memorial Fountain 201X!
The single best use of leitmotif I can think of in video games is the Time Gears from the second generation of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. It's only a couple of songs, but going from the fairy tale of "Time gear" to the hopeful and determined "Dialga's fight to the finish" is an absolute treat that you don't even notice the first time around.
Tolkien created a world for his languages.
Toby created a world for his leitmotifs.
I normally despise any combination of Darth Vader and UA-cam, but in this case, I instantly knew where you were headed and nodded approvingly.
That's right:
1) I exist
2) You have my approval
8:36 “best boss in the normal or even the
pacifist playthroughs”, because for genocide it’s obviously Sans.
Also the judgment track is just the Undertale "Once Upon a Time" theme slowed down
Prey 2017. Not an indie game and isn't a retro game. I'd love to see you cover it.
UA-cam recommendations, thank you!
this video is absolutely great. thank you.
Omg I knew what was coming rigth when you said old retro games or those Witch are trying to imitate them I knew it was undertale
when i watched this i assumed it had 5 mill-ish views and wow, it doesn't
how
anyways, great essay man!
You missed one last song... (last goodbye) this plays after (bring it in guys) the ending song i recomend listening to it :D
4:49 let me guess! The one other theme is the one used f.e. In spider dance, ghost song and dummy huh?
wait...
Wait...
WAIT...
once a pon a time...
you forgot one!
its hopes and d r e a m s!
Not very musically savvy at all but I took a music theory 101 class as an elective first year. The one big takeaway I got from that was how leitmotifs are everywhere.
Then theres megalovania that once a soundtrack became a genre
So true
And yet it's the only song that has literally zero leitmotifs.
How come I cry every time I listen to this OST
LOVE this video! Showing my students!
Soundtracks are what made games stand out. Among them, minecraft and undertale tracks are the most outstanding.
If we are talking motifs then the 2 ori games also hit it just perfect
More recognition for this man!
My heart
Can we talk about final fantasy 14 soundtrack and how many earworms are in that in the trial battles 👀 like oblivion
Battle Against a True Hero isn't the human (true hero) fighting a monster. It's Undyne (true hero) fighting the genocidal human.
i started watching this video, i was like, i'm not sure i will watch this video, but right when undertale came, i was like heck yea
remember, Toby Fox isn't even "properly" schooled in music. all of his leitmotifs, connections, and feels are completely self-taught it's insane
7:07 dont get the bombs out dont destroy them destroy the robots
Yeah it's use of music is amazing
Damn, I knew it wasn't the Imperial March, but I thought it was one of the dozen times they played the sting from the Imperial March in the Prequel movies
My hero academia's leitmotif in the first two episodes is also really good.
Why am I constantly rewatching the part where he says bergentruckung
Yes
me who has every 101 one of the songs in the soundtrack:
3:11 first thought was last of us soundtrack
When I first heard "leitmotif" I thought it was "light motief"
Is it just me, or does him saying 'Letimotifs' sound like 'Light mode thieves'
Toby Fox you evil genius
Wait
So Undyne was trying to play alphys theme?
The characters knowing about having leitmotifs and theme songs is canon?
I wrote a little bit with sans and PAPYRUS for a comment, and the running gag was Papyrus and sans trying to find out who created the Bonetrousle theme, But I didn't think that could actually realistically happen in this universe...
huh
Great now I’m crying
Dude this is underrated
Is it just me, who got cold breeze when heared the Lord of the Rings theme?
Basically: Leitmotifs
upload date: 2018
views: 14.000
youtube we need to talk
asgore has the best theme no doubt