Probably when I first heard the battle music J.E.N.O.V.A. It's a stunning, thrilling track I would love as a ringtone. You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet (ancient city) and The Great Northern Crater are both incredibly atmospheric in different ways. (I used to play a selection of tracks from the 4-CD set as writing music.)
Under the Rotting Pizza (I just learned that was the name of the song a few seconds ago 😅) For some reason that song is just so perfect for that moment in the game, it even stuck out to me as a kid when I first played it. Something about how all the dissonance builds and builds and then goes back to the funky bass line. So good.
@@JustinKahrs Agree. That's the first song I think of when playing the game. I think it first appears when leaving the church with Aeris. I also like the variation of her theme played at her house and I think the church (title - Flowers blooming in the church).
I think the Main Theme I mean it's crazy how the main part is in Emaj, then by the middle section your in Gmaj, and then by the end it does this weird but very cool half step minor movement. Amazing piece of music. I agree with you I think he's one of the greatest composers of all time. Aerith's Theme is also a timeless piece, there's so many.... Listen To The Cries Of The Planet, In Search Of The Man In Black, Anxiety, of course Cosmo Canyon. This was dope thanks man.
There are SO many memorable musical moments in this game for me. They hold such significant meanings and are far beyond just the normal nostalgic feeling. One moment is when (*spoiler alert*) Aerith dies and immediately afterwards, we fight Jenova. That was the first time i've ever felt mourning and loss within a video game. Another moment was when we hear the main theme alongside the world map for the first time. Something about walking on the map and hearing the main theme is just profound. There's a sense of excitement and mystery ahead that gives the game life!
It's interesting how the music has outlived the game in many ways. I saw Distant Worlds performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and I was amazed how many people were there, and how moving it was.
I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time with this soundtrack, and have arranged and recorded acoustic guitar covers of over 30+ songs from it, and this still boggled my mind! Great video!
I’ve never subscribed so fast! Aerith’s theme in judgement day was never something I picked up on, that made me tear up all over again. Thanks for the video!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I really wanted to do justice to this game because I know how adored it is by fans - me included. So it's good to hear that you got some value out of watching. Thanks for the sub :)
@@theartofstorytelling1 keep it up on the videos! I love LOTR and SW too, and really enjoy your videos that talk about what we enjoy and love about them whole which in itself serves as a gentle critique of what we’ve been getting recently. I’m all for fan service, but I feel that none of it is even fan service if the storytelling isn’t there.
Love this! Few pieces of media have left as big of an impact on me as FF7. You did a great job pointing out Uematsu's genious and very classical use of motifs! I don't often get goosebumps from a 10 min video essay :-)
Never noticed that about Judgement Day! I could always tell subconsciously that it was related to the wider soundtrack but never consciously thought about it or made the connection with Aerith's theme. Thank you for that!
@@theartofstorytelling1I’d love longer videos of this kind of stuff. Happily subscribed. Also, the channel 8-bit Music Theory has some similarly fascinating dives into Uematsu’s music. There’s a really good episode on leitmotifs in FF6.
You just made my day. Was 10 years old when I played FFVII for the first of many times, it will always have a special place in my heart - and now I know even better why. Thank you.
I was a little older I think - around 14. But it hugely affected me actually. The game has so much heart, and so many interesting ideas in it. It really opened my mind to a bigger world beyond my little suburban life. I have so much nostalgia for this game and its music, as do millions. A couple years back I saw the soundtrack performed by the Vancouver Symphony orchestra, and guess who was the surprise guest. NOBUO HIMSELF. I take no shame in telling you I cried seeing him in person.
@@theartofstorytelling1 Wow that sounds amazing. Would have loved to be there. Quick follow-up: Do you happen to have any opinions on the remake series or even it's music? As a die hard fanboy, I obviously had to leap onto that nostalgia and play the games. I enjoyed it and I can appreciate the twists and turns the story suddenly takes. But I also can't shake of the impression that a big marketing stunt is being shoved in my face.
@@hanshurtig5943 I haven't had a chance to play the remake yet, but I plan to someday. From what I've seen, it looks really great. Although I've heard there's some controversy surrounding the ending of Part 2 that is concerning.
Interesting! Someone in the comments pointed out to me that Jenova's theme is also just the descending part of Prelude. How deep does this rabbit hole go?!??!
Great video. I recently completed my first full playthrough of FF7 in 25 years. Back when I was a kid, I longed for hearing the characters’ voices in an FF game. Coming back to the game as an adult made me appreciate just how well the emotions of the story are conveyed by the soundtrack. It’s a work of art
ive been listening to this soundtrack obsessively for decades, you werent kidding, even for having picked up a lot of this having learned how to play them on piano, youre connection to the stroyline and progression of the game, along with your demonstrations are just so good. 20/10
I has never explicitly realised that I was hearing a call back to Aerith's theme in Judgment Day. My appreciation has deepened! Great video, a very pleasant watch.
Absolute favorite videogame soundtrack ever. The number of repeated themes or modified motifs makes it absolutely unbeatable. I still sometimes find little threads that connect disparate songs to this day. Could watch a much longer analysis :) great work
Even some of the little chops he uses to make themes. Jenova is just the descending part of the main Final Fantasy arpeggio and Jenova Absolute is the normal battle theme chopped and changed. So much care clearly went into this entire soundtrack.
Pure, pure genius! I've still not made some of those connections even 27 years after playing it for the first time, and I am a composer myself. I am so familiar with the OST, even newer iterations of the soundtrack don't quite hack it for me. There's something about that MIDI sound that's soooo unique! One of my favourite pieces is actually 'Reunion'. I love how in the second section, the chords are always going places you wouldn't expect, which makes the resolution at the end of the cycle amazing. Using the classic dom7sus4 to dom7 change. As far as I can hear, this is a unique piece, with no references, but it prob isn't after all you've said!
You raise a good point about the midi sound. I actually really love it! I wonder if it's because of the nostalgia, or because midi instruments are just objectively good lol
Excellent video! You were right; I have "studied" this game about 25 years and I still learned something new about this. Uematsu truly is the master of motif.
I played this game over 20 years ago. Fell in love with it and its music, probably my most played soundtrack ever, and it keeps surprising me, such a masterpiece on its own. Great analysis, thank you for sharing!! ❤
This video was so, so good. Nobuo Uematsu is one of my heroes. He's an absolute genius and it doesn't get talked about enough in my opinion. Thank you for shedding light on some things I had not noticed about FF7, incredible work.
Great video. What great tunes. Nothing gets me as much as hearing that original FF7 OST - I still listen to it a lot. As a composer its both depressing and inspiring - his work comes off very very effortless, always writing just the right amount and it's all very tasteful. Plus the nostalgia is crazy with this soundtrack. Ahh. Good times.
This was an excellent analysis. This game introduced me to the idea of motifs in music as a kid, even though I didn't know what they were called. I've replayed it countless times and listened to the soundtrack so much, and still never picked up on some of the things you presented here.
What a lovely video. Great to see you covering FF7. When Final Fantasy was at its height, it had so much to teach us about storytelling (in a good way). And those lessons and memories live on. Sometimes they're given power again through videos like this. And people return to those games to feel the magic again.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. And yes I've returned to this game many times over the years and I always enjoy it. In fact I appreciate the story more as I get older.
After one video essay, I'm already a fan. Your production is so thoughtful and well-crafted. You can see similar use of allusive motifs in the Remake soundtrack, too--Flowers Blooming in the Church evokes Lifestream at just the perfect moment.
this sort of video scratches a wonderfully nuanced itch. thank you so much my dude. More people need to know how intentional music amplifies the gaming and movie experience.
This was a great video. It's somewhat rare for me to find thoughtful music analysis on youtube, and I enjoyed listening to the motif connections that you identified (the information about Barret's theme connections was REALLY cool to listen to). I do a similar sort of analysis with the Kingdom Hearts games, and boy it's a lot of work to keep track of all the things that must go through these composers' minds when writing a narrative soundtrack. I'll be excited for your video on the OoT soundtrack that you teased at the end^
I really enjoy this channel and to see you cover my favorite game ever just made me day. I actually didn’t pick up on the Shinra bit in Barrett’s theme so that it just awesome to learn.
Thanks! I actually didn't realize it either until I started working on this video and specifically looking for motifs. That chord - the minor/major7 - pops up everywhere in the soundtrack, showing the reach of Shinra and their evil-doings.
Great video!!! I love seeing my favorite game talked about (og ff7) but i love more hearing it's amazing music being gushed over. This games ost is rhe reason i got into making instrumental music and one of my first ever "this music is so good its making me violently vibrate" moments was hearing cids theme for the first time and then when i realozed sending a dream into the universe was also that track but different i began getting an idea for leitmotifs years before i knew what they were called Love this ost so much
I'm usually not one for commenting, but your this and The Matrix video are absolutely outstanding, and I'm super thankful to see such music to media ideas explained and covered. Please keep up the good work. I would love a video on the music of Babel (by Ryuichi Sakamoto), Akira or Cowboy Bebop (there are some particularly juicy ideas on both those titles).
Thanks for saying so! I'm still fairly new to UA-cam so words of encouragement are great to hear. I've been unsure about how much I want the channel to get into the "musical storytelling" side of things, but so far it seems like enough people are enjoying it that I should make more. :)
this is such an interesting mix of connections I knew, connections I struggle to hear but can just about register, and things where I think my brain had registered a connection but I never quite consciously realised! Seems like a good edit on the vid too!
I have played this game so many times and I have studied and transcribed plenty of the music too but damn you impressed me with your findings. This is my favorite game and for so many reasons
Thanks for saying so! It's nice to meet someone else who has the same love for this music. Honestly it's the main reason I even play piano to begin with. I was always so bored with my piano lessons, but I loved trying to figure out these songs when I was learning. They're so rich and complex. Hard to explain what it is that makes them great actually. Just some kind of magic. Thanks for watching and I hope you'll re-visit the channel.
Kind of off topic/on topic, but while you were going over a bit of Barrett’s theme it reminded me of film noir music and made me think how cool a Shinra detective noir side story investigating various avalanche related events prior to the beginning of ff7 would be. Also, thanks for the video! I’m endlessly inspired by Uematsu. Good composers are truly magicians of their craft.
Oh wow that revelation about Barret's song containing the sliver of Shinr'a theme. Shinra was the driving force behind most of his life choices. As much as he hates Shinra (as he should) Shinra also made him who he is. What an insight!
I love your exploration of the motifs here. So good! Even with all the great love and analysis of FF7 over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this angle covered, and this is fantastic!
Truly well done breakdown and expanding of our understanding of the greatness of FF7 storytelling through the music motifs. You said it would be in the beginning and I was intrigued to see how as a life long fan and watcher of UA-cam video breakdowns of FF7
This was an excellent video and very well explained. I just tagged my favorite Final Fantasy content creators on Twitter with a link because I think some of them would really enjoy this. Edit: I was going to tag you on twitter in the post as well, but don't happen see a twitter name in your YT about page.
Subscribed! I love this game deeply, and I appreciate how you explained things I was not aware of in the woven narratives in the musical themes, and I also appreciate how you played it on that little piano. Keep up the great work.
I bought a ff7 piano book a couple years ago. One of my favorite discoveries was the intro to Jenova is just the prelude but only descending which is so cool on a thematic level. Also I love we can identify evil with just one note. Most recognizable in those chosen by the planet.
The insights on this channel I discovered yesterday have stuck with me. I'm not into video games but I appreciate the breadth of the topics here. I came here to write this: I would love to see you analyze TV shows, especially dream sequences and discuss how effective they are. For example, A show like Mr. Robot uses surreal storytelling devices. It would be cool to see how you unpack these 'departures from coherent logic'
Thanks for the request, and for your kind words about the channel. The concept of my channel is that I don't discriminate between any storytelling formats - games, TV, movies, books. It could be interpretive dance. Anything that moves us with a story, I want to explore in my videos, so your comment is right in line with what I want to do.
The mood here is good. Good aesthetic texture and tone. The discussion of themes resonates. Educational! Comparing the hit shows of the last 2 decades would be valuable. Media is veering off into a strange course, as you have indeed reflected on in the Star Wars & Rings of Power vids. The Sopranos, for me, is a masterpiece. Iconic and strange, in how it was ahead of it's time. Comparing Sopranos x Mad Men x Breaking Bad , beckons curiosity. A study in different subgenres of Realism, perhaps. Cheers!
Alright, friend. I'm sold and subbed! This is the kinda stuff I've been trying to explain for two decades but am just not anywhere near as articulate or musically inclined. Thank you! Looking forward to more breakdowns.
Thanks for the sub! This was my first shot at doing this kind of video on the channel, and I'm excited to do more. Chrono Trigger, FF6, FF8, Ocarina Of Time, etc. There's so much inspiring musical storytelling in the world of classic games. See you next time :)
My first console was a PS2 and my first FF game was FFX. I loved the score so much. I remember grinding away at the game so I could unlock the soundtrack scores one by one and listen to them in the digital amphitheater. If i remember correctly you could listen to them with Dolby 5.1 if you used the optical out signal from the PS2. I loved it so much I went back and played the other FF games. I also had the honor of attending a FF concert at Benaroya Hall in Seattle where they played FF greatest hits to game visuals on the screen.
I found your channel this month because it popped into my mind that I should think about story telling to be a better composer/musician. I am one of those obsessed with Uematsu's work. I feel that I was telepathically drawn to your channel. Lol
Thanks friends! One thing I've learned in my short time as a UA-camr so far is that the algorithm is shockingly good at finding the right audience for a video. However it happened, I'm glad you got some value out of checking out my videos, and I hope you'll stick around for more. :)
I've always maintained the reason FF7 (and 6) have such amazing soundtracks, is because they have no voiced dialouge, so ALL of the emotional weight of a scene has to come through the music alone.
I won't claim this for all story-focused media/games, but for most JRPGs and espeically the Final Fantasy series. I believe that music is almost the most important factor in making the story work, resonant for the audience and to sell a scene. You take out the music and I don't believe most if not any scene would hit as hard and you would also strip out the core identity of the work. Whenever I want to reminisce my experience with Final Fantasy VII, it's usually listening to track like the world-map theme that takes me back, that's how important music is to storytelling.
Yep, and I would add that now with voice acting in modern games, you have several side effects impacting the storytelling: - less story overall as it adds text and increase the budget for actors, as well as increase a lot the duration of the game (it's way faster to read than to wait for lines to be acted) - less room for the music as it is not anymore at the forefront. Maybe that's why I think there are less motifs in modern gaming
Surprised you didn't mention the fact that the melodic minor pretty much makes up the entirety of the battle theme. Uematsu is a genius. Tifas theme is so wonderfully heartbreaking I love it.
I'm trying to make the videos that I wish existed on UA-cam haha. No detail is too obscure to be analyzed and understood, and appreciated, especially in music. And especially in this game!
I love the main theme when you take off in the Highwind. It's so triumphant and you feel so uncaged after most of the game slowly moving around in the buggy and Tiny Bronco. Also the Steal The Tiny Bronco track has a nice appearance of the main theme too before switching to a frantic 9/8 time signature.
I love your explanation of motifs in a soundtrack. While I came away with a better appreciation of its use in FF7, I'm not sure I feel more prepared to listen for them on my own or use motifs myself. It'd be great to hear you talk about this in more detail.
I played FF7 for the first time when I was 9 years old and it expanded my mind. The music was a huge part of that. It taught me about how music can convey emotions, mood and atmosphere. The music in FF7 creates the scene. Uematsu is a master.
I know what you mean about the mind expansion. I was just a kid living in the suburbs. This game felt like another planet - a totally different cultural experience that anything I saw on TV. Definitely opened my mind to bigger world of ideas.
Thanks! I always love watching other musicians play, so I figured it would be neat to actually show the songs in action. I might invest in an overhead camera setup so I can film a full size keyboard, but for now the little guy works pretty well!
I've always remembered that short triumphant reprise of the main theme when you escape soldiers by plane after the fight with Palmer. There it's used like John Williams would often use his main theme motif in Indiana Jones. Got me all excited.
I really liked when Sephiroth's theme reappeared in the game, especially in Birth of a God and One Winged Angel. Those are some of my favorite parts of those songs
Great video! I'd like to add as well, on the FFVII Main Theme, Nobuo used a 7th interval (E going to D#) from the first note/chord leading up to the next chord change. Coincidence using 7th for FFVII? I think not. Great observation on Judgment Day and Aerith's Theme. I thought I was the only one who heard the resemblance but when you played it on the keyboard, it became more obvious. From a musical storytelling standpoint, that was pure genius. It's kinda like foreshadowing that Aerith in the lifestream will interfere with the events of the Judgment Day to save the planet, wow. Shinra's theme included on Barret's theme was an eye opener for me wow. Looking forward to more of your videos!
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I did a lot of deep listening and playing along to the soundtrack before making this video, and I was surprised at some of the connections I heard. There's probably a lot more. There was so much minor/major7, which is interesting. The "mystery" chord. Honestly it appears so often in the soundtrack I have to wonder if that was also an intentional decision.
i often click around a bunch of channels talking about films or film scores etc etc. the algorithm provides, eh? and once im done I go back to what I was doing and might never watch that channel again. Ive just come from the matrix chord video (which was v good) and seen THIS video as the new recommended and yea im just gonna sub. Cant be missing gold like this.
Small correction: the motif doesn't change as the story unfolds, it changes even before the story unfolds. Actually, the leitmotif of the theme song is introduced well before the "standart" version, which is shown at the beginning of the video, is played. You can hear a "changed" version of it while you are in Midgar (when you are climbing the Shinra tower for example, or when you are in Sector 5 slums), but the basic version is only played when you leave Midgar, which I think is kinda genius to firstly hint at the motif, and only then show it in its full force, at a very bittersweet moment of the story, which kinda sets the tone of the story. It is adventurous and heroic, yet sad and sentimental. Edit: I think Shinra's theme is a distant variation of main theme, because it takes first three notes of main theme switched to minor and then repeats them higher, so it is kinda like a main theme's motif chopped in half and repeated over and over. I think the stepwise upward motion of the main theme's motif is distinct and important enough that a stepwise upward motion in Shinra's theme feels like a variation of it.
Regarding Anxiety/Sephiroth, I've always considered that 4-note motif to represent Mako. In full, Sephiroth's theme is two occurrences of a three-note motif (which itself becomes Se-phi-roth in one Winged Angel) followed by a corrupted variation of the Mako motif.
This is so good, thank you 🙌 this is where I think the remake went wrong. Wayy too many liberties taken with revisiting this literal perfect source OST.
I can still remember as a teenager how weird it was to be playing a game where I had an emotional attachment to the characters, and all that happened within the first 15 minutes of the game. I especially remember how meeting Aerith and visiting her home and her mom felt somehow intimate, vulnerable, and fragile. In days since, I've listened to the soundtrack a million times, but back then I wasn't even a musician. But you don't have to be a musician for the music to bypass your conscious mind and insert its message right into your heart.
I'm currently going through the remake right now, and it's funny because today it hit me that the battle theme shares a bit of overlap with the theme that plays in the slums section of the game. In the battle music, it's played very prominently, but in the slums version it's part of the bassline. Very different pieces, but that link is super, super neat. FF VII has such an incredible soundtrack. My favorite piece of Final Fantasy music, though, is Final Fantasy VIII's Balamb Garden theme. It's just beautiful.
FF7 soundtrack is one of the most amazing of any game I've played. I'm not well versed in musical theory but as you said, the ear recognises a lot of the motifs throughout the various tracks
FF7 music is incredible, I remember being shocked when One Winged Angel started playing as the only music with lyrics Aerith's theme and it's variations are still my favorite though, my favorite character. The No Promises to Keep song Uematsu made for her is also out of this world. Hollow for Cloud as well. Can't wait for one more FF7 song in the future
@@YTwcher if I had to make a bet, it'll be a sweet & tender piece. We'll first hear an instrumental version in the scene under the Highwind where they spend the night together, and a vocal version in the credits.
Wow man, you were not lying; great observations. It isn't just his excellent themes, but how he weaves them throughout as motifs. I never consciously noticed any of the examples you gave, even though I've listened to the music countless times. Also, I've seen story analysts, and music analysts, and while each does dip a little bit into the other topic as part of their analyses, I haven't watched any that fuse the two as much as this. (Aside, ever listen to Yasunori Nishiki's work in the game Octopath Traveler? It is a master's course in themes unto itself. And while the game is fun and pretty, it's too bad the stories are just too disparate to have even close to the same impact as FF7.)
You raise a good point, that a good soundtrack depends on a good story. In the case of FF7, I feel like Nobuo had a lot of material to work with, and was probably inspired by its bravery in taking on some very heavy issues.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
What are your favourite musical moments in the game?
Probably when I first heard the battle music J.E.N.O.V.A. It's a stunning, thrilling track I would love as a ringtone. You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet (ancient city) and The Great Northern Crater are both incredibly atmospheric in different ways. (I used to play a selection of tracks from the 4-CD set as writing music.)
Under the Rotting Pizza (I just learned that was the name of the song a few seconds ago 😅)
For some reason that song is just so perfect for that moment in the game, it even stuck out to me as a kid when I first played it. Something about how all the dissonance builds and builds and then goes back to the funky bass line. So good.
@@JustinKahrs Agree. That's the first song I think of when playing the game. I think it first appears when leaving the church with Aeris. I also like the variation of her theme played at her house and I think the church (title - Flowers blooming in the church).
I think the Main Theme I mean it's crazy how the main part is in Emaj, then by the middle section your in Gmaj, and then by the end it does this weird but very cool half step minor movement. Amazing piece of music. I agree with you I think he's one of the greatest composers of all time. Aerith's Theme is also a timeless piece, there's so many.... Listen To The Cries Of The Planet, In Search Of The Man In Black, Anxiety, of course Cosmo Canyon. This was dope thanks man.
There are SO many memorable musical moments in this game for me. They hold such significant meanings and are far beyond just the normal nostalgic feeling. One moment is when (*spoiler alert*) Aerith dies and immediately afterwards, we fight Jenova. That was the first time i've ever felt mourning and loss within a video game. Another moment was when we hear the main theme alongside the world map for the first time. Something about walking on the map and hearing the main theme is just profound. There's a sense of excitement and mystery ahead that gives the game life!
This is why FF7 will always be my most favourite of the series. The music alone is enough for me.
It's interesting how the music has outlived the game in many ways. I saw Distant Worlds performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and I was amazed how many people were there, and how moving it was.
It ain't your favourite
Same here
I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time with this soundtrack, and have arranged and recorded acoustic guitar covers of over 30+ songs from it, and this still boggled my mind! Great video!
I’ve never subscribed so fast! Aerith’s theme in judgement day was never something I picked up on, that made me tear up all over again. Thanks for the video!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I really wanted to do justice to this game because I know how adored it is by fans - me included. So it's good to hear that you got some value out of watching. Thanks for the sub :)
Same
I think Judgement Day has a bit of every character's theme meshed into it.
@@theartofstorytelling1 keep it up on the videos! I love LOTR and SW too, and really enjoy your videos that talk about what we enjoy and love about them whole which in itself serves as a gentle critique of what we’ve been getting recently. I’m all for fan service, but I feel that none of it is even fan service if the storytelling isn’t there.
The northern crater/Aerith is genius. I didn’t realize that until today. Earns you a sub.
Love this! Few pieces of media have left as big of an impact on me as FF7. You did a great job pointing out Uematsu's genious and very classical use of motifs! I don't often get goosebumps from a 10 min video essay :-)
Never noticed that about Judgement Day! I could always tell subconsciously that it was related to the wider soundtrack but never consciously thought about it or made the connection with Aerith's theme. Thank you for that!
Great video. I could easily have watched an hour of this.
Interesting! I've wondered if this sort of thing should maybe be longer form. Maybe I'll do a deeper dive! Thanks for watching.
@@theartofstorytelling1I’d love longer videos of this kind of stuff. Happily subscribed.
Also, the channel 8-bit Music Theory has some similarly fascinating dives into Uematsu’s music. There’s a really good episode on leitmotifs in FF6.
@@theartofstorytelling1 totally agreed. the only problem I had with this was it was too short. *easily* I'd watch for an hour or more.
You just made my day. Was 10 years old when I played FFVII for the first of many times, it will always have a special place in my heart - and now I know even better why. Thank you.
Same☺️✨️
I was a little older I think - around 14. But it hugely affected me actually. The game has so much heart, and so many interesting ideas in it. It really opened my mind to a bigger world beyond my little suburban life. I have so much nostalgia for this game and its music, as do millions. A couple years back I saw the soundtrack performed by the Vancouver Symphony orchestra, and guess who was the surprise guest. NOBUO HIMSELF. I take no shame in telling you I cried seeing him in person.
@@theartofstorytelling1 Wow that sounds amazing. Would have loved to be there.
Quick follow-up: Do you happen to have any opinions on the remake series or even it's music? As a die hard fanboy, I obviously had to leap onto that nostalgia and play the games. I enjoyed it and I can appreciate the twists and turns the story suddenly takes. But I also can't shake of the impression that a big marketing stunt is being shoved in my face.
Oldest here
@@hanshurtig5943 I haven't had a chance to play the remake yet, but I plan to someday. From what I've seen, it looks really great. Although I've heard there's some controversy surrounding the ending of Part 2 that is concerning.
Sephiroth’s theme and Anxiety are also perversions of the Prelude
Interesting! Someone in the comments pointed out to me that Jenova's theme is also just the descending part of Prelude. How deep does this rabbit hole go?!??!
Great video. I recently completed my first full playthrough of FF7 in 25 years.
Back when I was a kid, I longed for hearing the characters’ voices in an FF game. Coming back to the game as an adult made me appreciate just how well the emotions of the story are conveyed by the soundtrack. It’s a work of art
ive been listening to this soundtrack obsessively for decades, you werent kidding, even for having picked up a lot of this having learned how to play them on piano, youre connection to the stroyline and progression of the game, along with your demonstrations are just so good. 20/10
I has never explicitly realised that I was hearing a call back to Aerith's theme in Judgment Day. My appreciation has deepened!
Great video, a very pleasant watch.
Absolute favorite videogame soundtrack ever. The number of repeated themes or modified motifs makes it absolutely unbeatable. I still sometimes find little threads that connect disparate songs to this day. Could watch a much longer analysis :) great work
Even some of the little chops he uses to make themes. Jenova is just the descending part of the main Final Fantasy arpeggio and Jenova Absolute is the normal battle theme chopped and changed. So much care clearly went into this entire soundtrack.
Hearing the Sephiroth interval, in the anxiety piece when I was much younger, blew my mind. Nobuo was the reason I became a professional musician.
Best game ever. The music is not only perfect but brings back nostalgic moments from my childhood
Pure, pure genius! I've still not made some of those connections even 27 years after playing it for the first time, and I am a composer myself. I am so familiar with the OST, even newer iterations of the soundtrack don't quite hack it for me. There's something about that MIDI sound that's soooo unique! One of my favourite pieces is actually 'Reunion'. I love how in the second section, the chords are always going places you wouldn't expect, which makes the resolution at the end of the cycle amazing. Using the classic dom7sus4 to dom7 change. As far as I can hear, this is a unique piece, with no references, but it prob isn't after all you've said!
You raise a good point about the midi sound. I actually really love it! I wonder if it's because of the nostalgia, or because midi instruments are just objectively good lol
Mad respect for people who give respect to FFVII
Love your channel man, this was the first vid of yours I watched, subscribed right away
Excellent video! You were right; I have "studied" this game about 25 years and I still learned something new about this. Uematsu truly is the master of motif.
This is a wild breakdown man, Nobou and Mitsuda are my favorite composures to ever live.
I played this game over 20 years ago. Fell in love with it and its music, probably my most played soundtrack ever, and it keeps surprising me, such a masterpiece on its own. Great analysis, thank you for sharing!! ❤
8:01 immediate dread
I have been listening to this music my whole life, and you taught me something about it! Thank you!
My favorite composer, my favorite music, my favorite story
I hope this video gets a million views! Really well done
Gosh this is amazing, I wish the video was longer out of selfishness!
Thank you for that!
Very happy to have found this video and channel, FF7 is my favorite game of all time and I adore the music!
This video was so, so good. Nobuo Uematsu is one of my heroes. He's an absolute genius and it doesn't get talked about enough in my opinion. Thank you for shedding light on some things I had not noticed about FF7, incredible work.
Thanks for saying so, it means a lot. Glad you stopped by the channel.
Great video. What great tunes. Nothing gets me as much as hearing that original FF7 OST - I still listen to it a lot. As a composer its both depressing and inspiring - his work comes off very very effortless, always writing just the right amount and it's all very tasteful. Plus the nostalgia is crazy with this soundtrack. Ahh. Good times.
This was an excellent analysis. This game introduced me to the idea of motifs in music as a kid, even though I didn't know what they were called. I've replayed it countless times and listened to the soundtrack so much, and still never picked up on some of the things you presented here.
What a lovely video. Great to see you covering FF7. When Final Fantasy was at its height, it had so much to teach us about storytelling (in a good way). And those lessons and memories live on. Sometimes they're given power again through videos like this. And people return to those games to feel the magic again.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. And yes I've returned to this game many times over the years and I always enjoy it. In fact I appreciate the story more as I get older.
After one video essay, I'm already a fan. Your production is so thoughtful and well-crafted.
You can see similar use of allusive motifs in the Remake soundtrack, too--Flowers Blooming in the Church evokes Lifestream at just the perfect moment.
Great video 👏 Shared on Sonicstate today!
That Dmin7/A at 2:00 to my ear is a F major chord in first inversion or F/A.
this sort of video scratches a wonderfully nuanced itch. thank you so much my dude. More people need to know how intentional music amplifies the gaming and movie experience.
Thanks so much for watching! Glad to hear you got some value out of it. :)
This was a great video. It's somewhat rare for me to find thoughtful music analysis on youtube, and I enjoyed listening to the motif connections that you identified (the information about Barret's theme connections was REALLY cool to listen to). I do a similar sort of analysis with the Kingdom Hearts games, and boy it's a lot of work to keep track of all the things that must go through these composers' minds when writing a narrative soundtrack. I'll be excited for your video on the OoT soundtrack that you teased at the end^
I really enjoy this channel and to see you cover my favorite game ever just made me day. I actually didn’t pick up on the Shinra bit in Barrett’s theme so that it just awesome to learn.
Thanks! I actually didn't realize it either until I started working on this video and specifically looking for motifs. That chord - the minor/major7 - pops up everywhere in the soundtrack, showing the reach of Shinra and their evil-doings.
Great video!!! I love seeing my favorite game talked about (og ff7) but i love more hearing it's amazing music being gushed over. This games ost is rhe reason i got into making instrumental music and one of my first ever "this music is so good its making me violently vibrate" moments was hearing cids theme for the first time and then when i realozed sending a dream into the universe was also that track but different i began getting an idea for leitmotifs years before i knew what they were called
Love this ost so much
I'm usually not one for commenting, but your this and The Matrix video are absolutely outstanding, and I'm super thankful to see such music to media ideas explained and covered. Please keep up the good work. I would love a video on the music of Babel (by Ryuichi Sakamoto), Akira or Cowboy Bebop (there are some particularly juicy ideas on both those titles).
Thanks for saying so! I'm still fairly new to UA-cam so words of encouragement are great to hear. I've been unsure about how much I want the channel to get into the "musical storytelling" side of things, but so far it seems like enough people are enjoying it that I should make more. :)
this is such an interesting mix of connections I knew, connections I struggle to hear but can just about register, and things where I think my brain had registered a connection but I never quite consciously realised! Seems like a good edit on the vid too!
I have played this game so many times and I have studied and transcribed plenty of the music too but damn you impressed me with your findings. This is my favorite game and for so many reasons
Thanks for saying so! It's nice to meet someone else who has the same love for this music. Honestly it's the main reason I even play piano to begin with. I was always so bored with my piano lessons, but I loved trying to figure out these songs when I was learning. They're so rich and complex. Hard to explain what it is that makes them great actually. Just some kind of magic. Thanks for watching and I hope you'll re-visit the channel.
Kind of off topic/on topic, but while you were going over a bit of Barrett’s theme it reminded me of film noir music and made me think how cool a Shinra detective noir side story investigating various avalanche related events prior to the beginning of ff7 would be.
Also, thanks for the video! I’m endlessly inspired by Uematsu. Good composers are truly magicians of their craft.
Oh wow that revelation about Barret's song containing the sliver of Shinr'a theme. Shinra was the driving force behind most of his life choices. As much as he hates Shinra (as he should) Shinra also made him who he is. What an insight!
I love your exploration of the motifs here. So good! Even with all the great love and analysis of FF7 over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this angle covered, and this is fantastic!
Truly well done breakdown and expanding of our understanding of the greatness of FF7 storytelling through the music motifs. You said it would be in the beginning and I was intrigued to see how as a life long fan and watcher of UA-cam video breakdowns of FF7
I love these videos about music in movies or games, please continue making them :)
Honestly I had a blast making it. Working on the next one already! :)
absolutely subbing for more of this. very well done. much enjoy.
I loved this video. It’s also so great to see the piano alongside the chords at the same time
Incredible video! I'd very much love to see even more breakdowns of the various tracks for FF7 - this is just the tip of the iceberg!
Great video - FF7 (the original) is genuinely the best game of all time. Thanks so much for this awesome video.
This was an excellent video and very well explained. I just tagged my favorite Final Fantasy content creators on Twitter with a link because I think some of them would really enjoy this.
Edit: I was going to tag you on twitter in the post as well, but don't happen see a twitter name in your YT about page.
Subscribed! I love this game deeply, and I appreciate how you explained things I was not aware of in the woven narratives in the musical themes, and I also appreciate how you played it on that little piano. Keep up the great work.
I wish this video went on longer. I was enjoying it so much.
3:36 wow, I actually never noticed that, and I listen to both songs often
I bought a ff7 piano book a couple years ago. One of my favorite discoveries was the intro to Jenova is just the prelude but only descending which is so cool on a thematic level.
Also I love we can identify evil with just one note. Most recognizable in those chosen by the planet.
Top tier quality content, subscribed and eager to see more videos like that. Keep up the great work man !
Thanks for the words of encouragement, friend! My channel is still sorta new so it's really great to hear that. Keeps me going for the next one! :)
The insights on this channel I discovered yesterday have stuck with me.
I'm not into video games but I appreciate the breadth of the topics here.
I came here to write this:
I would love to see you analyze TV shows, especially dream sequences and discuss how effective they are.
For example, A show like Mr. Robot uses surreal storytelling devices. It would be cool to see how you unpack these 'departures from coherent logic'
Thanks for the request, and for your kind words about the channel. The concept of my channel is that I don't discriminate between any storytelling formats - games, TV, movies, books. It could be interpretive dance. Anything that moves us with a story, I want to explore in my videos, so your comment is right in line with what I want to do.
The mood here is good. Good aesthetic texture and tone. The discussion of themes resonates. Educational!
Comparing the hit shows of the last 2 decades would be valuable. Media is veering off into a strange course, as you have indeed reflected on in the Star Wars & Rings of Power vids.
The Sopranos, for me, is a masterpiece. Iconic and strange, in how it was ahead of it's time. Comparing Sopranos x Mad Men x Breaking Bad , beckons curiosity. A study in different subgenres of Realism, perhaps.
Cheers!
Alright, friend. I'm sold and subbed!
This is the kinda stuff I've been trying to explain for two decades but am just not anywhere near as articulate or musically inclined. Thank you! Looking forward to more breakdowns.
Thanks for the sub! This was my first shot at doing this kind of video on the channel, and I'm excited to do more. Chrono Trigger, FF6, FF8, Ocarina Of Time, etc. There's so much inspiring musical storytelling in the world of classic games. See you next time :)
My first console was a PS2 and my first FF game was FFX. I loved the score so much. I remember grinding away at the game so I could unlock the soundtrack scores one by one and listen to them in the digital amphitheater. If i remember correctly you could listen to them with Dolby 5.1 if you used the optical out signal from the PS2. I loved it so much I went back and played the other FF games. I also had the honor of attending a FF concert at Benaroya Hall in Seattle where they played FF greatest hits to game visuals on the screen.
I found your channel this month because it popped into my mind that I should think about story telling to be a better composer/musician. I am one of those obsessed with Uematsu's work. I feel that I was telepathically drawn to your channel. Lol
Thanks friends! One thing I've learned in my short time as a UA-camr so far is that the algorithm is shockingly good at finding the right audience for a video. However it happened, I'm glad you got some value out of checking out my videos, and I hope you'll stick around for more. :)
I've always maintained the reason FF7 (and 6) have such amazing soundtracks, is because they have no voiced dialouge, so ALL of the emotional weight of a scene has to come through the music alone.
I won't claim this for all story-focused media/games, but for most JRPGs and espeically the Final Fantasy series. I believe that music is almost the most important factor in making the story work, resonant for the audience and to sell a scene. You take out the music and I don't believe most if not any scene would hit as hard and you would also strip out the core identity of the work. Whenever I want to reminisce my experience with Final Fantasy VII, it's usually listening to track like the world-map theme that takes me back, that's how important music is to storytelling.
Yep, and I would add that now with voice acting in modern games, you have several side effects impacting the storytelling:
- less story overall as it adds text and increase the budget for actors, as well as increase a lot the duration of the game (it's way faster to read than to wait for lines to be acted)
- less room for the music as it is not anymore at the forefront. Maybe that's why I think there are less motifs in modern gaming
Yes, I do think that I know a lot about the game. Yes did learn things watching this that I didn't know. Thank you for the thought provoking video!
Surprised you didn't mention the fact that the melodic minor pretty much makes up the entirety of the battle theme.
Uematsu is a genius. Tifas theme is so wonderfully heartbreaking I love it.
Oh damn I didn't catch that one! Good ear. Doing this video made me realize that scale is EVERYWHERE in this soundtrack.
@@theartofstorytelling1 goes to show how much uematsu weaves his themes around its amazing.
Great video by the way! :)
Uematsu is the greatest composer of all time. Period.
Nobuo is such an inspiration. My personal all time fave game composer - just barely topping Harry Gregson-Williams tbh.
that's my kind of content right here. subbed.
I'm trying to make the videos that I wish existed on UA-cam haha. No detail is too obscure to be analyzed and understood, and appreciated, especially in music. And especially in this game!
I love the main theme when you take off in the Highwind. It's so triumphant and you feel so uncaged after most of the game slowly moving around in the buggy and Tiny Bronco.
Also the Steal The Tiny Bronco track has a nice appearance of the main theme too before switching to a frantic 9/8 time signature.
I love your explanation of motifs in a soundtrack. While I came away with a better appreciation of its use in FF7, I'm not sure I feel more prepared to listen for them on my own or use motifs myself. It'd be great to hear you talk about this in more detail.
I played FF7 for the first time when I was 9 years old and it expanded my mind. The music was a huge part of that. It taught me about how music can convey emotions, mood and atmosphere. The music in FF7 creates the scene. Uematsu is a master.
I know what you mean about the mind expansion. I was just a kid living in the suburbs. This game felt like another planet - a totally different cultural experience that anything I saw on TV. Definitely opened my mind to bigger world of ideas.
great video !! loved that you actually play the examples
Thanks! I always love watching other musicians play, so I figured it would be neat to actually show the songs in action. I might invest in an overhead camera setup so I can film a full size keyboard, but for now the little guy works pretty well!
I've always remembered that short triumphant reprise of the main theme when you escape soldiers by plane after the fight with Palmer. There it's used like John Williams would often use his main theme motif in Indiana Jones. Got me all excited.
I really liked when Sephiroth's theme reappeared in the game, especially in Birth of a God and One Winged Angel. Those are some of my favorite parts of those songs
Great video! I'd like to add as well, on the FFVII Main Theme, Nobuo used a 7th interval (E going to D#) from the first note/chord leading up to the next chord change. Coincidence using 7th for FFVII? I think not.
Great observation on Judgment Day and Aerith's Theme. I thought I was the only one who heard the resemblance but when you played it on the keyboard, it became more obvious. From a musical storytelling standpoint, that was pure genius. It's kinda like foreshadowing that Aerith in the lifestream will interfere with the events of the Judgment Day to save the planet, wow. Shinra's theme included on Barret's theme was an eye opener for me wow.
Looking forward to more of your videos!
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I did a lot of deep listening and playing along to the soundtrack before making this video, and I was surprised at some of the connections I heard. There's probably a lot more. There was so much minor/major7, which is interesting. The "mystery" chord. Honestly it appears so often in the soundtrack I have to wonder if that was also an intentional decision.
Glad i found this channel 👍
this is incredible! i had never noticed that theme in judgement day! Great spot! just gained a sub from me. :)
30 years on this earth and I never picked up the connection between Judgement Day and Aerith’s theme. Holy shit what a cool discovery.
One of the best video game soundtrack of all time ❤
Fantastic video. Subscribed. Please do more final fantasy content.
Brilliant! My favorite soundtrack and game
Nice video man, subscribed.
Nobuo Uematsu is nothing less than a grand mastermind of music.
Great stuff. Would love longer more in depth analysis down the line though if possible.
your channel is great. subscribed!
Damn the motif combination in Judgement Day is amazing!
amazing video man. thank you
i often click around a bunch of channels talking about films or film scores etc etc. the algorithm provides, eh? and once im done I go back to what I was doing and might never watch that channel again. Ive just come from the matrix chord video (which was v good) and seen THIS video as the new recommended and yea im just gonna sub. Cant be missing gold like this.
There’s some great musical finds in here, nice stuff!
Small correction: the motif doesn't change as the story unfolds, it changes even before the story unfolds. Actually, the leitmotif of the theme song is introduced well before the "standart" version, which is shown at the beginning of the video, is played. You can hear a "changed" version of it while you are in Midgar (when you are climbing the Shinra tower for example, or when you are in Sector 5 slums), but the basic version is only played when you leave Midgar, which I think is kinda genius to firstly hint at the motif, and only then show it in its full force, at a very bittersweet moment of the story, which kinda sets the tone of the story. It is adventurous and heroic, yet sad and sentimental.
Edit: I think Shinra's theme is a distant variation of main theme, because it takes first three notes of main theme switched to minor and then repeats them higher, so it is kinda like a main theme's motif chopped in half and repeated over and over. I think the stepwise upward motion of the main theme's motif is distinct and important enough that a stepwise upward motion in Shinra's theme feels like a variation of it.
Regarding Anxiety/Sephiroth, I've always considered that 4-note motif to represent Mako. In full, Sephiroth's theme is two occurrences of a three-note motif (which itself becomes Se-phi-roth in one Winged Angel) followed by a corrupted variation of the Mako motif.
What a video, a little mindblow here, some there.
This is so good, thank you 🙌 this is where I think the remake went wrong. Wayy too many liberties taken with revisiting this literal perfect source OST.
I can still remember as a teenager how weird it was to be playing a game where I had an emotional attachment to the characters, and all that happened within the first 15 minutes of the game. I especially remember how meeting Aerith and visiting her home and her mom felt somehow intimate, vulnerable, and fragile. In days since, I've listened to the soundtrack a million times, but back then I wasn't even a musician. But you don't have to be a musician for the music to bypass your conscious mind and insert its message right into your heart.
Aeriths Theme in Judgement Day holy shiiiit. I love finding all these new facts about this game even 27 years later
Very laconic and compact.
Thanks.
I'm currently going through the remake right now, and it's funny because today it hit me that the battle theme shares a bit of overlap with the theme that plays in the slums section of the game. In the battle music, it's played very prominently, but in the slums version it's part of the bassline. Very different pieces, but that link is super, super neat. FF VII has such an incredible soundtrack.
My favorite piece of Final Fantasy music, though, is Final Fantasy VIII's Balamb Garden theme. It's just beautiful.
FF7 soundtrack is one of the most amazing of any game I've played. I'm not well versed in musical theory but as you said, the ear recognises a lot of the motifs throughout the various tracks
FF7 music is incredible, I remember being shocked when One Winged Angel started playing as the only music with lyrics
Aerith's theme and it's variations are still my favorite though, my favorite character.
The No Promises to Keep song Uematsu made for her is also out of this world. Hollow for Cloud as well. Can't wait for one more FF7 song in the future
I'm excited and hopeful that the Remake trilogy's final big vocal piece is about Tifa.
@Ozz9223 They could make us revisit the gold saucer in part 3 and make Tifa sing the theme music of the game
Would be very interesting
@@YTwcher if I had to make a bet, it'll be a sweet & tender piece. We'll first hear an instrumental version in the scene under the Highwind where they spend the night together, and a vocal version in the credits.
Amazing stuff. Kudos.
Wow man, you were not lying; great observations. It isn't just his excellent themes, but how he weaves them throughout as motifs. I never consciously noticed any of the examples you gave, even though I've listened to the music countless times. Also, I've seen story analysts, and music analysts, and while each does dip a little bit into the other topic as part of their analyses, I haven't watched any that fuse the two as much as this.
(Aside, ever listen to Yasunori Nishiki's work in the game Octopath Traveler? It is a master's course in themes unto itself. And while the game is fun and pretty, it's too bad the stories are just too disparate to have even close to the same impact as FF7.)
You raise a good point, that a good soundtrack depends on a good story. In the case of FF7, I feel like Nobuo had a lot of material to work with, and was probably inspired by its bravery in taking on some very heavy issues.