I love it when people analyze Celeste's OST from a music theory point of view because it allows me to see many things about the game that were hidden before
Literally hidden! I've loved this track for years, but never would have noticed the cobweb thing without this video, because I never had reason to look at the sheet music.
Mr. Oshiro is incredibly relatable. I know how it feels to be anxious and on edge at all times, trying to appease someone. To have someone treat you as a problem with a solution, fixing things for you without actually helping you. And the violent anger when that person snaps at you for still having those problems.
I think the 5th arrangement also has motifs from Track 7 which is "Spirit of Hospitality" which is arguably Mr. Oshiro's theme as it plays when we're first introduced to him. It's a lot more bubbly and warm but still has some creepy notes (as he is introduced as a ghost). And it's really cool to see his original theme come back during his enraged state, as it's him finally getting control, of HIMSELF, hence his own theme is present
A recent Celeste video delving into OST analysis with music theory, selecting one of the best tracks in the game, with a very high production quality and entertaining narration, all from a small UA-cam channel? Count me in, this is absolutely amazing. I hope there's more Celeste-related musical content to come, because I am in for the ride!
I hadn't even thought of that! It's VERY similar, but Anxiety stays on the high note longer and hits another pitch on the way back down. Certainly not a coincidence!
12 hours ago? Hell yeah, I love Celeste so much, and this is genuinely one of my favourite songs now, the way everything slowly builds up and goes insane with the drums is incredible, it perfectly captures Oshiro's declining sanity as you clean up after him lol
@@JonathanBarouch A full 20 minute long video of one of my favourite video game OST tracks is pretty clear proof that this song is incredible, so I don't blame you for loving it haha
@@JonathanBarouch Oh damn, I just realized, I have my first genuine anxiety attack about a week ago, and it felt exactly how "Anxiety" feels... goddamn this music is too accurate.
@@blokvader8283 I'm sorry to hear that. But yes, Raine said she based that track off her own experiences. This game was very personal to everyone who worked on it, and it shows!
@@JonathanBarouch Nah its cool, don't worry, everything was fine, I'm more upset about the fact that i just noticed a video of quality only has 300 views, this deserves way more recognition!
Didn't know the mountain Easter egg on First Steps, now that's sneaky! This track has been my favorite of the entire soundtrack, followed by Confronting Myself so I am quite happy at it being analyzed.
Isn't it?? I never would have thought to look, but Raine mentioned it in an interview. I also love Confronting Myself, and I hope I do a video on Badeline's whole arc in the future.
aghaghagh you're the only music analysis yter who explains what keys and chords are. my violin teacher never told me so I had to figure it out from context. you are appreciated by the humble casuals in the audience
12:34 the way I experience the track clearly outlines it as 2 3-bar phrases, then the last measure is just a transition phrase to lead into the next part. Easily one of my favorite songs in the OST, great vid
I always thought of a phrase as a "musical sentence" in that some are short and others can go on. It could also depend on maybe the instrument being used and the mood I suppose. Seeing the little details composers think of to put in their music makes me happy. They can be like little Easter Eggs for the listener. Side note, I really love your style of explaining things and how you stylize your videos! From the time spent analyzing the music to the annotations to go with what you're saying and just the visuals of the sheet music. You make it accessible (at least I think so, maybe I don't count since I already know some of this haha) and enjoyable so you get a Skittle!
I like the sentence analogy! I haven't thought about phrasing being dependent on voicing before. I don't know offhand of other writers who hide stuff like this in the details, but I know there are plenty. I'm so glad the style works for you! It's really fun to put together. It's its own form of storytelling :)
Omg yessss love how well you analyzed this. Lena Raine is great as building up songs throughout the chapters, and with Scattered and Lost she does an amazing job of building up a song that feels off into a full on meltdown. It perfectly encapsulates Oshiro's denial and anxiety, thanks for this video! Also heck yeah Anxiety is underrated.
Celeste OST is one of the best ones I've seen in a while, the way it's sewn into the story so seamlessly and passionately it's an incredible thing I hope more games would master; the music in itself is a character in this game and really speaks volumes about the love the team behind the game put into it
Another nice detail about the boss chase arrangement is that the newly introduced melody is a slight variation on Mr. Oshiro's theme (Spirit of Hospitality). And what I love in particular is how this melody then cycles through the same build-up as the main melody of Scattered and Lost: First an 8-bit sounding synth, then theremin, saw-synths, followed by the drums break-down and of course the falling piano arpeggios before neatly looping back to the start. Awesome video, you made many great points!
I love Lena's work in general. I saw her thoughts on making the OST for Chicory, and there is just so much thought going into her tracks that I admire her for it. I don't know if you take recommendations from the comments, but if you could take a look at anything from Chicory: A Colorful Tale, the fans of the game such as myself will be grateful. The game needs more love.
Thank you! I'm especially interested in bringing new listening experiences to non-musicians, so it's really important to me that this was useful for you.
This video is amazing. Most people always talk about the music in chapter 2. The analysis of chapter 3 is so refreshing and also wow, it is detailed. Love the work!
12:33 i've always heard that phrased as 3 measures, then 3 measures with the extra 4/4 measure tacked on. three 6/4 measures give me that feeling of 12 4/4 beats, but it still somehow manages to feel like 3 measures, and then the last 3 have the same feeling, and the 4/4 measure creates a nice, albeit unexpected, transition to the next phrase.
17:00 "There's also a brand new phrase for this final arrangement" That's technically true, because it's brand new "for this areangement", But I think it would have been cool if you pointed out that this is a more menacing version of Mr. Oshiro's theme, "Spirit of Hospitality" Maybe you could have mentioned how, like. In Spirit of Hospitality, this melody had plenty of pauses, but here it's just barreling through without time to breathe, and that like represents something? Also, earlier in the video, you said "Adding synths because it fits with the game's retro aestetics" neglecting to mention that this specific synth is heavily associated with Mr. Oshiro himself. Just like Piano is with Madeline, and Guitar with Theo
Please do more Celeste tracks. I love love LOVE the analyses of both this and the Mirror Temple. There are so many little things in the music for this game that most people won't ever even see or learn about and this format is such a fun way to discover it all!
Music analysis like this is always so drawing, I am a big fan of worldbuilding and lore in games and music just adds so much extra complexity. Great video!
I loved the video! I get a similar feeling when listening to Joy of Remembrance (from chapter 9) it feels like Madeline is going through this same progression of chaotic bittersweet mix of sadness and happiness. This piece brings me a fine collection of duality from the music (a more agressive tone followed by a calm Pachabell`s Canon progression) while going through confusing space/sea landscape looking for a bird.
That drum sequence is quite possibly my favorite piece of video game music ever made. Like that is a beastly and powerful drum solo just crashing in and overruling everything. It's like Mr oshiro saying "fine, screw it all then! Screw you too for making me feel so pathetic!"
One thing of note is that Lena has indicated various instruments denote various characters (piano for Madeline, synth for Badeline for example). Though the sheet music includes the theremin, in-game that section of the track only plays when you’re standing near Mr. Oshiro, regardless of where you are in the level.
I definitely think you're right about the theremin representing Oshiro! But I'm pretty sure the proximity thing isn't true, and that instrumentation only changes at the points I mention in the video.
16:45 here I was thinking, wow the drummer is really skilled, this is finally a drum melody I like And it turns out it is super complicated and difficult
This video was so good! Super cool to see what was probably my favorite track in the game analyzed so in-depth, and it's nice to see it analyzed in a way that doesn't just go "erm when you break the blue bubbles it sounds different" haha. Amazing work!
11:30 the first two bars reappear after the 3rd, so i would present it with repeat signs as: repeat start, two bars, volta 1 for the 3rd bar, repeat end, volta 2 for bars 6 and 7. i also would split the bars into alternating 4/4 and 2/4 to outline the structure of the musical idea used for the melody here
I actually did write this with repeats originally! I removed them because I thought it was easier to talk about phrasing if the entire period was visible all at once. As for the time signatures, I personally use 6/4 as shorthand for alternating 4/4 and 2/4, since that's almost always what 6/4 means. But I agree that the choices you're describing absolutely work. If I were writing this with the intention that someone perform it, I would use many more repeats than we see here.
I know nothing about music theory aside from listening to a lot of music and playing trumpet once in elementary school (it took like all year to learn the notes for me lmao), and yet this video is still so digestible! I really liked how it was formatted, the chapter names were funny, it was interesting, and all in all a fun watch. Looking forward to more :)
Excellent analysis! I know nothing about music theory so this brought a deeper understanding to one of my favorite games that I couldn't have achieved on my own. Can't wait to see what else you do :)
This was a fun video! The section of the piece that has those chaotic suspended 4th chords feels reminiscent of the type of chords you would hear in jazz music, but in this song it doesn't necessarily feel jazzy. Instead it feels "off" while still sounding melodic and pretty. The dissonance is hidden just beneath the surface of those chords. You would never know the melody is pure chaos until you take those chords away, just like how many people hide their internal struggles with a smile and a casual demeanor. You would never know how much they're hurting. It's amazing how a composer can capture the essence of that concept through the music. I like how you highlight this sort of musical coding that's going on in these different pieces. It shows how in-tune the composers are with the story they are writing music for, and your ability to express the musical storytelling is really unique. Great work! Best wishes and God bless you! :)
Yeah, sus4 chords are very common in jazz! They have a sophisticated, atmospheric feel to me. And well said, I hadn't thought of those parallels. Raine said that this wasn't just another job for her, it was special. It shows!! Thanks for your support 😃
Please look at some of the other songs in this OST because literally every track (at least in the A-sides) give the general vibe of the whole level, and how it builds upon the music directly relates to what’s happened in the level, like you explained here! I’d love to see the other songs tackled!
You and me both! I've loved every track for years and I'm really happy I have a platform to explore it further now. There are more great tracks to talk about than time to talk about them in, so it will likely be slow going, but absolutely there will be more Celeste videos. Absolutely.
I never really payed too much attention to this piece. I've been enamored with everything about this game, but whenever I listened to the OST for Celeste, I always just skipped this one and saw it as the "weird hotel level song". But this video gave me a whole new appreciation for it. I guess I just never really looked at it too critically. (I never even realized there was a saw synth, I don't know how I managed to be that ear blind). Great video!
Celeste is easily in my top 3 favorite games of all time, and the soundtrack is a huge chunk of why. Thank you so much for making this video, it was phenomenal. Can't wait to see what you do next!
oh my god thank you for making videos on all my favorite soundtracks, i see the shadowlord video which is my favorite song from all the nier games i think
Celeste is one of if not the best game i have ever played and i love that people still talk about it after 4 years of its release. Best 10 bucks i spent on steam ever.
A lot of people really hate this level, but this was the level i knew celeste was something special- and its all thanks to this track. I remember playing through this section having a pretty frustrating time but this music was so good i couldnt quit. Immediately after finishing this level i went to spotify to track this track. Its amazing to me that this basically perfectly captures mr. Oshiro's character- makes him feel so rounded despite the little screen time he got. Thank you for this analysis!
Thank you for actually saying this analysis is from a western point of view. It actually means so much to me bc you’re acknowledging it’s not the only way to view things. And you’re acknowledging many musical traditions a variety of people (like myself) may come from. It was actually interesting to see it like this bc I’m super used to 6 measure phrases that I didn’t even catch it as unusual.
That's really cool!! Yeah ever since I learned the historic ties between European music theory and, well, racism, I've been eager to learn more about other models of music theory as well. I didn't know there were cultures where 6-bar phrases are the norm!
great job on this! I loved your breakdown of the theory of this, and I'm glad my transcription helped you with it! as for your question of how people hear the 6/4 section, I've always heard it as a 6 measure phrase in 3/4, then another with the 4/4 dropped on the end (as you probably guessed from my transcription). the accent on the 4th beat always seemed to me to be the start of a new measure, despite the other parts not following it. it's cool to see how ambiguous it really is though!
Thank you again! I noticed that the left hand piano part repeated every 3 counts, but it didn't occur to me that it's accented when it repeats, that's cool. That 4/4 at the end really messes it all up too because it's more like a suffix than a separate measure.
“Please let there be more Celeste videos from him please let there be more Celeste videos from him please let there be more Celeste videos from him……….aww dang.” This video was SO good! Please make more videos on Celeste it’s in my top two games of all time and no doubt especially because of its flawless soundtrack.
@@JonathanBarouch well I’m definitely subbing immediately now. What takes #1 for you (if not celeste)? For me it’s outer wilds and Celeste is either 2nd or shares the throne.
I'm kind of surprising myself with this answer but I think Celeste is 1 and Danganronpa 2 is 2. For vastly different reasons. Obviously. But NieR: Automata is up there too because it and Celeste are the only games to date to make me understand MYSELF better.
ok I know this video is almost a year old, but I'm going through your other videos after coming across the Xion one, and I want to say that 1. this is great, 2. it's always great to see coverage of Celeste, and 3. I'd also recommend covering Chicory sometime, it's also a Lena Raine ost and I genuinely think her work is as good on it as it is on Celeste
The way the phrases around 12:30 feel to me is as if the music goes through its normal phrase progression up to the 4th phrase, but instead of resolving it feels like the music just wants to keep going and stitches the last 2 phrases onto itself. Swag video btw
Looking at the rhythm/form in each measure, they have the pattern A, B, A, A, B, A. It doesn't feel like two phrases of ABA because A ends with a pickup. Splitting a measure across phrases is an interesting idea. It could also be pairs: AB, AA, BA, the middle repeat then reversal suggesting confusion maybe? Or, maybe it's just that phrases aren't so useful an idea to apply here; ABAABA has a modest amount of entropy, like it could be a random result... a great big mess? (ayy) Also interesting that it seems to take the previous section's 4/2 measures per phrase, and now the _beats per measure_ are doing 4/2.
i just watched some good quality content right now i knew that Scattered and Lost means a lot to Lena Raine, and you've just explained the composition of the track so well that i understand even more now, maybe im overinterpreting it but this part 6:59 looks like a fast heartbeat rate i think you may like the work of the game INMOST's compositor : Alexey Nechaev you talked about that four is our default assumption, well the most (and maybe the whole) of INMOST's soundtrack are odd numbers and listening to it feels like, i dont know how to say that, like "strangely beautiful" ? so yeah, oh and of course, you should play INMOST, a beautiful game with deep meaning and metaphors well that's all i wanted to say thank you for this great video hope to hear from you soon :0
I'll check that out, thanks for the rec! I'm really glad you liked the video. I know Raine has said this is the track she had the most fun composing and its the one I have the most fun listening to
@@JonathanBarouch ooh that's cool you already have it have a great time playing it :0 (well, if you play it, no obligation of course) and thank you for responding me have a good day :0 (or night idk)
12:34 I don't know, I hear the two three-measure phrases the first time through. I think it just depends on what kind of music you listen to. I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately, and it's very common in a lot of standards to restart phrases after a key change. In fact, I think a lot of the confusing things you found in this song make a lot more sense in a jazz context. I love the transcriptions.
Yes, through a jazz lens almost none of this is strange! To me it doesn't cross the line into jazz and so the breaks from traditional European patterns are very noticeable, but it's subjective, isn't it?
@@JonathanBarouch True. It's especially funny in the 6/8 section because jazz listeners will hear the melody without chords and fill in the key changes themselves.
@@JonathanBarouch For example, take "Invitation". ua-cam.com/video/oqB-sz2SBsg/v-deo.html In the section 0:45 to 1:06 the chords go ii-V-i and then it modulates a whole step down and repeats those chords, using the minor 1 as the next 2 in the turnaround. The saxophone part sounds totally natural with the chords, and even without the chords, it probably would sound natural because the saxophone's sound already makes you think jazz. To jazz musicians and people who listen to the melodies isolated a lot, the first note from the new key in the next phrase after the modulation makes them think key change immediately. It's then reinforced by repetition of the melody in the new key. The same thing happens in Scattered and Lost's melody. In measure 19, at 9:19 (lol) the A# makes you think key change already, because there's no A# in the last key, and then when it goes to E# it cements that key change in because 1. it's also not in the previous key and 2. it's exactly repeating the last melody with the same timing a half step down. It's a pretty common thing in a lot of standards to chain key changes like this.
Thanks for talking about the Celeste music. This video was actually recommended to me by Waffleman30 during his Celeste playthrough of the game. (Sorry that it took so long for me to watch it...) I like how you explained it so it was easy for someone like me who doesn't know music theory, except that part with the weird phasing in the music. You certainly make the video fun to watch with your funny humor. I've seen a few UA-camrs say that this track feels "out of place" (...and I like to answer with yes, but actually no), so I was nice seeing you talk about this surprising complex track to your fullest extent. I hope you make more awesome videos like this and maybe do another Celeste OST analysis again in the future.
Personally, in my eyes, I'd say the part with complex phrasing has the first phrase in 3 measures, and the latter phrase in 4 measures. The measure with the key of A sounds like a resolution of the one in B, at least within the progressive context of the song. That was how it sounded to me anyway. And my thoughts on why Oshiro's final section is more musically simplistic: he's no longer anxious or uncertain about Madeline taking a shine to the presidential suite, he just wants her out. His goal is more obvious and the outcome is more certain. This video is definitely going to earn you more subscribers, including this one. A brilliant analysis of my favorite song in Celeste.
Thank you so much! I think that that phrasing makes the most sense on paper. I'm not totally sure why it's not the one I feel. I like that interpretation of Oshiro's mindset a lot! You're right, there's no more uncertainty.
@@JonathanBarouch Personally I find it really cool that you perceive the phrasing a little differently from me. It shows how brilliant Lena Raine is, especially in creating something that can be so musically unique and yet so incredibly appealing to listen to. Thanks for the reply, and can't wait to see more of your work!
Now I'm curious to see what kind of music theory/analysis videos QuantumAlt would make, after seeing something I paid like almost no mind to explained as if it was so deep, because I mostly just focus on the way things sound rather than pay any attention at all to the formalised notation on every occasion Also you might be saying that now, but clearly probably neither you nor Lena have actually heard something like noise music :P
At 9:45 my brain went “Almost unlistenable?? What do you meeeean! I can easily predict where it is going! Oh. I have been listening to this song for double digits of numbers… that explains a lot…”
I might upload something in the future going over the music theory concepts that come up most often in my videos. I want the price of entry for music appreciation to be as low as possible!
As someone playing modded Celeste while watching, it always surprises me just how much depth this game can create, from a normal, yet incredibly written story of mental health, to one potentially influenced by gender dysphoria, to one being told via music. I didn't even realize just how spicy this song was until it got broken down like this.
It's cool to see that "a supporting chord structure" making the unlistenable "chromatic descend" quite musical is Madeline trying her best to help a man who needs a reality check instead. I would've never seen it myself. Cool vid
12:30 i hear the 2nd phrase start on measure 21. i assume its because the idea is divided into 6 sections, and since the 4th section starts off on the same key that the 1st section does, it splits the idea in half and starts a new phrase
![Reflecting on the Music of the Mirror Temple [Celeste]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UKzZI_h32gs/mqdefault.jpg)
![Reflecting on the Music of the Mirror Temple [Celeste]](/img/tr.png)
I love it when people analyze Celeste's OST from a music theory point of view because it allows me to see many things about the game that were hidden before
Literally hidden! I've loved this track for years, but never would have noticed the cobweb thing without this video, because I never had reason to look at the sheet music.
Mr. Oshiro is incredibly relatable. I know how it feels to be anxious and on edge at all times, trying to appease someone. To have someone treat you as a problem with a solution, fixing things for you without actually helping you. And the violent anger when that person snaps at you for still having those problems.
I think the 5th arrangement also has motifs from Track 7 which is "Spirit of Hospitality" which is arguably Mr. Oshiro's theme as it plays when we're first introduced to him. It's a lot more bubbly and warm but still has some creepy notes (as he is introduced as a ghost). And it's really cool to see his original theme come back during his enraged state, as it's him finally getting control, of HIMSELF, hence his own theme is present
I completely agree! It seems obvious in retrospect but somehow I missed the connection when I made this video.
A recent Celeste video delving into OST analysis with music theory, selecting one of the best tracks in the game, with a very high production quality and entertaining narration, all from a small UA-cam channel? Count me in, this is absolutely amazing. I hope there's more Celeste-related musical content to come, because I am in for the ride!
Absolutely thinking the same!!!!
Thank you so much for your support!! I REALLY want to talk about this game more in the future. Nothing on the calendar yet, but so much more to say!
15:25 Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure she literally just put the track anxiety in there and god it fits so well
I hadn't even thought of that! It's VERY similar, but Anxiety stays on the high note longer and hits another pitch on the way back down. Certainly not a coincidence!
It's not at all the melody of anxiety, but it does also have those octave jumps, so there might be a correlation.
12 hours ago? Hell yeah, I love Celeste so much, and this is genuinely one of my favourite songs now, the way everything slowly builds up and goes insane with the drums is incredible, it perfectly captures Oshiro's declining sanity as you clean up after him lol
I love it too! Maybe that's not surprising though.
@@JonathanBarouch A full 20 minute long video of one of my favourite video game OST tracks is pretty clear proof that this song is incredible, so I don't blame you for loving it haha
@@JonathanBarouch Oh damn, I just realized, I have my first genuine anxiety attack about a week ago, and it felt exactly how "Anxiety" feels... goddamn this music is too accurate.
@@blokvader8283 I'm sorry to hear that. But yes, Raine said she based that track off her own experiences. This game was very personal to everyone who worked on it, and it shows!
@@JonathanBarouch Nah its cool, don't worry, everything was fine, I'm more upset about the fact that i just noticed a video of quality only has 300 views, this deserves way more recognition!
Didn't know the mountain Easter egg on First Steps, now that's sneaky! This track has been my favorite of the entire soundtrack, followed by Confronting Myself so I am quite happy at it being analyzed.
Isn't it?? I never would have thought to look, but Raine mentioned it in an interview. I also love Confronting Myself, and I hope I do a video on Badeline's whole arc in the future.
mr oshiros outburst at the end of this level was one of my favorite moments in this game. God i wish i could play it again for the first time
aghaghagh you're the only music analysis yter who explains what keys and chords are. my violin teacher never told me so I had to figure it out from context. you are appreciated by the humble casuals in the audience
Understanding our favorite music shouldn't be reserved only for musicians! I'm happy to help
12:34 the way I experience the track clearly outlines it as 2 3-bar phrases, then the last measure is just a transition phrase to lead into the next part. Easily one of my favorite songs in the OST, great vid
The more I look at it, the more I think that's the most reasonable way to feel it. But I can't 🤷♂️
I always thought of a phrase as a "musical sentence" in that some are short and others can go on. It could also depend on maybe the instrument being used and the mood I suppose. Seeing the little details composers think of to put in their music makes me happy. They can be like little Easter Eggs for the listener.
Side note, I really love your style of explaining things and how you stylize your videos! From the time spent analyzing the music to the annotations to go with what you're saying and just the visuals of the sheet music. You make it accessible (at least I think so, maybe I don't count since I already know some of this haha) and enjoyable so you get a Skittle!
I like the sentence analogy! I haven't thought about phrasing being dependent on voicing before. I don't know offhand of other writers who hide stuff like this in the details, but I know there are plenty. I'm so glad the style works for you! It's really fun to put together. It's its own form of storytelling :)
Omg yessss love how well you analyzed this. Lena Raine is great as building up songs throughout the chapters, and with Scattered and Lost she does an amazing job of building up a song that feels off into a full on meltdown. It perfectly encapsulates Oshiro's denial and anxiety, thanks for this video!
Also heck yeah Anxiety is underrated.
The track, yes. The condition, no. ;)
@@JonathanBarouch Nah man you should try some anxiety /s lol
Celeste OST is one of the best ones I've seen in a while, the way it's sewn into the story so seamlessly and passionately it's an incredible thing I hope more games would master; the music in itself is a character in this game and really speaks volumes about the love the team behind the game put into it
My brain goes weeeeeeee whenever someone talks about Celeste. You in particular do that very well, Thank you for this video :>
Thank you as well! I don't yet know when, but I'm determined to make at least one more Celeste video
The editing transition at 7:37 from the keyboards notes back to the game is sooo nice. I had to replay it a few times lol very satisfying visual
Thank you! :)
The celeste soundtrack is a wonderful experience
18:30 the way you didn't finish it made me chuckle
Another nice detail about the boss chase arrangement is that the newly introduced melody is a slight variation on Mr. Oshiro's theme (Spirit of Hospitality). And what I love in particular is how this melody then cycles through the same build-up as the main melody of Scattered and Lost: First an 8-bit sounding synth, then theremin, saw-synths, followed by the drums break-down and of course the falling piano arpeggios before neatly looping back to the start. Awesome video, you made many great points!
I'm so mad I didn't notice Spirit of Hospitality in the end there!! That makes it even cooler and more tied together. Thank you!
I love Lena's work in general.
I saw her thoughts on making the OST for Chicory, and there is just so much thought going into her tracks that I admire her for it.
I don't know if you take recommendations from the comments, but if you could take a look at anything from Chicory: A Colorful Tale, the fans of the game such as myself will be grateful. The game needs more love.
I always take recs from the comments! And I'm definitely down to hear more Lena Raine. I'll add it to my list! (No promises or ETAs, blah blah blah)
You can't call a suspended chord SUS and expect me not to laugh every time
also 18:30 it's just a theory, a MUSIC theory!
Even if I might not be the most knowledgeable on music theory I love music breakdowns like these, amazing video of very high quality, good job !
Thank you! I'm especially interested in bringing new listening experiences to non-musicians, so it's really important to me that this was useful for you.
no way is that parrot dash renowned celeste modded map aficionado???
This video is amazing. Most people always talk about the music in chapter 2. The analysis of chapter 3 is so refreshing and also wow, it is detailed. Love the work!
12:33 i've always heard that phrased as 3 measures, then 3 measures with the extra 4/4 measure tacked on. three 6/4 measures give me that feeling of 12 4/4 beats, but it still somehow manages to feel like 3 measures, and then the last 3 have the same feeling, and the 4/4 measure creates a nice, albeit unexpected, transition to the next phrase.
This video is awesome, it needs so much more recognition for so high quality
17:00
"There's also a brand new phrase for this final arrangement"
That's technically true, because it's brand new "for this areangement", But I think it would have been cool if you pointed out that this is a more menacing version of Mr. Oshiro's theme, "Spirit of Hospitality"
Maybe you could have mentioned how, like. In Spirit of Hospitality, this melody had plenty of pauses, but here it's just barreling through without time to breathe, and that like represents something?
Also, earlier in the video, you said "Adding synths because it fits with the game's retro aestetics" neglecting to mention that this specific synth is heavily associated with Mr. Oshiro himself. Just like Piano is with Madeline, and Guitar with Theo
Both are true, and important! Unfortunately I didn't notice those details until the video was already up 🥲
I always thought: "Man, the music in this game's really good", but jeez theres a lot that went into making it so powerful. Good video
I know nothing about music theory and have no idea what you're talking about, but I am here for it.
Please do more Celeste tracks. I love love LOVE the analyses of both this and the Mirror Temple. There are so many little things in the music for this game that most people won't ever even see or learn about and this format is such a fun way to discover it all!
Music analysis like this is always so drawing, I am a big fan of worldbuilding and lore in games and music just adds so much extra complexity. Great video!
Listening to the music is like replaying the game. Playing it is a weird surreal experience. -sincerely Uel
You perfectly described how i perceive that 6/4 section. good job.
I was starting to think I was the only one!
This is a fantastic video. Celeste is my favorite video game and I'm a huge music theory nerd, so thank you
Lena's music is the definition of "chaotic order"
I loved the video! I get a similar feeling when listening to Joy of Remembrance (from chapter 9) it feels like Madeline is going through this same progression of chaotic bittersweet mix of sadness and happiness.
This piece brings me a fine collection of duality from the music (a more agressive tone followed by a calm Pachabell`s Canon progression) while going through confusing space/sea landscape looking for a bird.
That drum sequence is quite possibly my favorite piece of video game music ever made. Like that is a beastly and powerful drum solo just crashing in and overruling everything. It's like Mr oshiro saying "fine, screw it all then! Screw you too for making me feel so pathetic!"
One thing of note is that Lena has indicated various instruments denote various characters (piano for Madeline, synth for Badeline for example). Though the sheet music includes the theremin, in-game that section of the track only plays when you’re standing near Mr. Oshiro, regardless of where you are in the level.
I definitely think you're right about the theremin representing Oshiro! But I'm pretty sure the proximity thing isn't true, and that instrumentation only changes at the points I mention in the video.
In scattered and lost it's based on level progress, but in the earlier piece "checking in" it is based on proximity, which is a really cool detail!
@@xiloscient3335 Ah my bad, I didn’t realize “Checking In” was considered a separate piece!
12:30 Definitely something that I felt since the first listen, cool to have an analysis of what's going on there.
NO WAYYY. My thoughts exactly! It perfectly reflects what's happening, and it's my favo(u)rite song in the sountrack for this reason.
16:45 here I was thinking, wow the drummer is really skilled, this is finally a drum melody I like
And it turns out it is super complicated and difficult
This video was so good! Super cool to see what was probably my favorite track in the game analyzed so in-depth, and it's nice to see it analyzed in a way that doesn't just go "erm when you break the blue bubbles it sounds different" haha. Amazing work!
omg this video absolutely made my day! thank you so much for the awesome content, im absolutely subscribing
11:30 the first two bars reappear after the 3rd, so i would present it with repeat signs as:
repeat start, two bars, volta 1 for the 3rd bar, repeat end, volta 2 for bars 6 and 7.
i also would split the bars into alternating 4/4 and 2/4 to outline the structure of the musical idea used for the melody here
I actually did write this with repeats originally! I removed them because I thought it was easier to talk about phrasing if the entire period was visible all at once. As for the time signatures, I personally use 6/4 as shorthand for alternating 4/4 and 2/4, since that's almost always what 6/4 means. But I agree that the choices you're describing absolutely work. If I were writing this with the intention that someone perform it, I would use many more repeats than we see here.
I know nothing about music theory aside from listening to a lot of music and playing trumpet once in elementary school (it took like all year to learn the notes for me lmao), and yet this video is still so digestible! I really liked how it was formatted, the chapter names were funny, it was interesting, and all in all a fun watch. Looking forward to more :)
I also had a very challenged relationship with trumpet in k-12! Good to have you on board.
This was one of my favorite songs from the game
Excellent analysis! I know nothing about music theory so this brought a deeper understanding to one of my favorite games that I couldn't have achieved on my own. Can't wait to see what else you do :)
This is my favorite thing to hear! I'll have to explore your channel as well
This was a fun video! The section of the piece that has those chaotic suspended 4th chords feels reminiscent of the type of chords you would hear in jazz music, but in this song it doesn't necessarily feel jazzy. Instead it feels "off" while still sounding melodic and pretty. The dissonance is hidden just beneath the surface of those chords. You would never know the melody is pure chaos until you take those chords away, just like how many people hide their internal struggles with a smile and a casual demeanor. You would never know how much they're hurting. It's amazing how a composer can capture the essence of that concept through the music. I like how you highlight this sort of musical coding that's going on in these different pieces. It shows how in-tune the composers are with the story they are writing music for, and your ability to express the musical storytelling is really unique. Great work! Best wishes and God bless you! :)
Yeah, sus4 chords are very common in jazz! They have a sophisticated, atmospheric feel to me. And well said, I hadn't thought of those parallels. Raine said that this wasn't just another job for her, it was special. It shows!! Thanks for your support 😃
Oh man, cool to see a new video on Celeste! Production quality on this is top notch too imo, very lucky to have gotten you in my recommendations
Amazing analysis! One of my favourite games and favourite OSTs!
* lena raine is so awesome‼
Please look at some of the other songs in this OST because literally every track (at least in the A-sides) give the general vibe of the whole level, and how it builds upon the music directly relates to what’s happened in the level, like you explained here! I’d love to see the other songs tackled!
You and me both! I've loved every track for years and I'm really happy I have a platform to explore it further now. There are more great tracks to talk about than time to talk about them in, so it will likely be slow going, but absolutely there will be more Celeste videos. Absolutely.
@@JonathanBarouch excellent to hear, best of luck!
This is one of the best analyses of video game music I've ever seen god damn
I never really payed too much attention to this piece. I've been enamored with everything about this game, but whenever I listened to the OST for Celeste, I always just skipped this one and saw it as the "weird hotel level song". But this video gave me a whole new appreciation for it. I guess I just never really looked at it too critically. (I never even realized there was a saw synth, I don't know how I managed to be that ear blind). Great video!
I’m only one minute in and I can already tell this is an all-timer video essay for me. Subscribed!
ok now when is youtube gonna recommend this gem of a video to everyone else?
Celeste is easily in my top 3 favorite games of all time, and the soundtrack is a huge chunk of why. Thank you so much for making this video, it was phenomenal. Can't wait to see what you do next!
What are the other 2
@Johnnyvtg Super Mario Galaxy and Minecraft
@@DeviDoesNothing Good take
Best revision on that tune, thankyou!
scattered and lost (especcially last 2 minutes where the best melody comes in) is my favorite celeste song by far its funny i came across this video
oh my god thank you for making videos on all my favorite soundtracks, i see the shadowlord video which is my favorite song from all the nier games i think
Celeste is one of if not the best game i have ever played and i love that people still talk about it after 4 years of its release. Best 10 bucks i spent on steam ever.
A video about my favorite song from my favorite game? Sign me up!
This video is amazing!!
What an incredible work, just wow I'm really amazed
I'm happy that my favorite video game music has an analyse video
amazing video! I love stuff like this
man I've been wanting to write an essay on Celeste ost for a couple of years now but i just can't get around to it. your music analysis is great!
Thank you! If you do end up making one, feel free to share it here! I'd love to see it.
A lot of people really hate this level, but this was the level i knew celeste was something special- and its all thanks to this track. I remember playing through this section having a pretty frustrating time but this music was so good i couldnt quit. Immediately after finishing this level i went to spotify to track this track. Its amazing to me that this basically perfectly captures mr. Oshiro's character- makes him feel so rounded despite the little screen time he got. Thank you for this analysis!
NOW that's what we say underrated videos
Lena is such a genius, love her work
i know nothing about music, i didnt understand anything, 10/10 video its amazing
Thank you for actually saying this analysis is from a western point of view. It actually means so much to me bc you’re acknowledging it’s not the only way to view things. And you’re acknowledging many musical traditions a variety of people (like myself) may come from. It was actually interesting to see it like this bc I’m super used to 6 measure phrases that I didn’t even catch it as unusual.
That's really cool!! Yeah ever since I learned the historic ties between European music theory and, well, racism, I've been eager to learn more about other models of music theory as well. I didn't know there were cultures where 6-bar phrases are the norm!
@@JonathanBarouch yeah it’s pretty common for breaks in music for Dabke :)
great job on this! I loved your breakdown of the theory of this, and I'm glad my transcription helped you with it!
as for your question of how people hear the 6/4 section, I've always heard it as a 6 measure phrase in 3/4, then another with the 4/4 dropped on the end (as you probably guessed from my transcription). the accent on the 4th beat always seemed to me to be the start of a new measure, despite the other parts not following it. it's cool to see how ambiguous it really is though!
Thank you again! I noticed that the left hand piano part repeated every 3 counts, but it didn't occur to me that it's accented when it repeats, that's cool. That 4/4 at the end really messes it all up too because it's more like a suffix than a separate measure.
I heard it as measures of 4/4 and 2/4, and then the downbeats on the 2/4 measures are leading tones to the 1 of the next key
I almost don't know anything about music theory and that stuff yet its very entertaining watching this!
That's awesome to hear because that experience is the main goal of my channel!
“Please let there be more Celeste videos from him please let there be more Celeste videos from him please let there be more Celeste videos from him……….aww dang.”
This video was SO good! Please make more videos on Celeste it’s in my top two games of all time and no doubt especially because of its flawless soundtrack.
Celeste is in my top 2 as well! I ALSO want there to be more Celeste videos from me. I don't know when they're coming, but ohhh they're coming.
@@JonathanBarouch well I’m definitely subbing immediately now. What takes #1 for you (if not celeste)? For me it’s outer wilds and Celeste is either 2nd or shares the throne.
I'm kind of surprising myself with this answer but I think Celeste is 1 and Danganronpa 2 is 2. For vastly different reasons. Obviously. But NieR: Automata is up there too because it and Celeste are the only games to date to make me understand MYSELF better.
ok I know this video is almost a year old, but I'm going through your other videos after coming across the Xion one, and I want to say that 1. this is great, 2. it's always great to see coverage of Celeste, and 3. I'd also recommend covering Chicory sometime, it's also a Lena Raine ost and I genuinely think her work is as good on it as it is on Celeste
I just made a note! Thank you :)
The way the phrases around 12:30 feel to me is as if the music goes through its normal phrase progression up to the 4th phrase, but instead of resolving it feels like the music just wants to keep going and stitches the last 2 phrases onto itself.
Swag video btw
I see that! I guess it does all work as one phrase after all.
Looking at the rhythm/form in each measure, they have the pattern A, B, A, A, B, A. It doesn't feel like two phrases of ABA because A ends with a pickup. Splitting a measure across phrases is an interesting idea. It could also be pairs: AB, AA, BA, the middle repeat then reversal suggesting confusion maybe? Or, maybe it's just that phrases aren't so useful an idea to apply here; ABAABA has a modest amount of entropy, like it could be a random result... a great big mess? (ayy)
Also interesting that it seems to take the previous section's 4/2 measures per phrase, and now the _beats per measure_ are doing 4/2.
really amazing analysis - subscribed :]
so much hidden beauty in this game
i just watched some good quality content right now
i knew that Scattered and Lost means a lot to Lena Raine, and you've just explained the composition of the track so well that i understand even more now,
maybe im overinterpreting it but this part 6:59 looks like a fast heartbeat rate
i think you may like the work of the game INMOST's compositor : Alexey Nechaev
you talked about that four is our default assumption,
well the most (and maybe the whole) of INMOST's soundtrack are odd numbers
and listening to it feels like, i dont know how to say that, like "strangely beautiful" ?
so yeah, oh and of course, you should play INMOST, a beautiful game with deep meaning and metaphors
well that's all i wanted to say
thank you for this great video
hope to hear from you soon :0
I'll check that out, thanks for the rec! I'm really glad you liked the video. I know Raine has said this is the track she had the most fun composing and its the one I have the most fun listening to
Omg I own it LOL it was part of a massive Humble Bundle. Haven't played it yet
@@JonathanBarouch
ooh that's cool you already have it
have a great time playing it :0
(well, if you play it, no obligation of course)
and thank you for responding me
have a good day :0 (or night idk)
9:22
I like it. It's funky.
3:14 Exactly.
4:01 "I should be dead"
6:48 Lol.
8:47 "I'm helping"
13:49
CLEAN TRANSITION
Pausing the video to state there better be at LEAST like 4 minutes talking about the drum fills at the end of this song because hot DAMN they’re spicy
This song had a penchant of giving me mild headaches, now I know why
12:34 I don't know, I hear the two three-measure phrases the first time through. I think it just depends on what kind of music you listen to. I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately, and it's very common in a lot of standards to restart phrases after a key change. In fact, I think a lot of the confusing things you found in this song make a lot more sense in a jazz context. I love the transcriptions.
Yes, through a jazz lens almost none of this is strange! To me it doesn't cross the line into jazz and so the breaks from traditional European patterns are very noticeable, but it's subjective, isn't it?
@@JonathanBarouch True. It's especially funny in the 6/8 section because jazz listeners will hear the melody without chords and fill in the key changes themselves.
Then I have CLEARLY not listened to enough jazz lol
@@JonathanBarouch For example, take "Invitation".
ua-cam.com/video/oqB-sz2SBsg/v-deo.html
In the section 0:45 to 1:06 the chords go ii-V-i and then it modulates a whole step down and repeats those chords, using the minor 1 as the next 2 in the turnaround. The saxophone part sounds totally natural with the chords, and even without the chords, it probably would sound natural because the saxophone's sound already makes you think jazz. To jazz musicians and people who listen to the melodies isolated a lot, the first note from the new key in the next phrase after the modulation makes them think key change immediately. It's then reinforced by repetition of the melody in the new key. The same thing happens in Scattered and Lost's melody. In measure 19, at 9:19 (lol) the A# makes you think key change already, because there's no A# in the last key, and then when it goes to E# it cements that key change in because 1. it's also not in the previous key and 2. it's exactly repeating the last melody with the same timing a half step down. It's a pretty common thing in a lot of standards to chain key changes like this.
incredible
Lena Raine is up there with Toby Fox, Heaven Peirce Her, Motoi Sakuraba and c418 as one of the best video game composers of all time.
Thanks for talking about the Celeste music.
This video was actually recommended to me by Waffleman30 during his Celeste playthrough of the game. (Sorry that it took so long for me to watch it...) I like how you explained it so it was easy for someone like me who doesn't know music theory, except that part with the weird phasing in the music. You certainly make the video fun to watch with your funny humor. I've seen a few UA-camrs say that this track feels "out of place" (...and I like to answer with yes, but actually no), so I was nice seeing you talk about this surprising complex track to your fullest extent. I hope you make more awesome videos like this and maybe do another Celeste OST analysis again in the future.
Thank you for your kind words! And I'll have to thank him as well :)
Personally, in my eyes, I'd say the part with complex phrasing has the first phrase in 3 measures, and the latter phrase in 4 measures. The measure with the key of A sounds like a resolution of the one in B, at least within the progressive context of the song. That was how it sounded to me anyway.
And my thoughts on why Oshiro's final section is more musically simplistic: he's no longer anxious or uncertain about Madeline taking a shine to the presidential suite, he just wants her out. His goal is more obvious and the outcome is more certain.
This video is definitely going to earn you more subscribers, including this one. A brilliant analysis of my favorite song in Celeste.
Thank you so much! I think that that phrasing makes the most sense on paper. I'm not totally sure why it's not the one I feel. I like that interpretation of Oshiro's mindset a lot! You're right, there's no more uncertainty.
@@JonathanBarouch Personally I find it really cool that you perceive the phrasing a little differently from me. It shows how brilliant Lena Raine is, especially in creating something that can be so musically unique and yet so incredibly appealing to listen to. Thanks for the reply, and can't wait to see more of your work!
Now I'm curious to see what kind of music theory/analysis videos QuantumAlt would make, after seeing something I paid like almost no mind to explained as if it was so deep, because I mostly just focus on the way things sound rather than pay any attention at all to the formalised notation on every occasion
Also you might be saying that now, but clearly probably neither you nor Lena have actually heard something like noise music :P
god i really want to arranged scattered and lost for handbells
My favourite celeste track let's go
At 9:45 my brain went “Almost unlistenable?? What do you meeeean! I can easily predict where it is going! Oh. I have been listening to this song for double digits of numbers… that explains a lot…”
0:40 WHAT IF A PANIC ATTACK WAS A SOOOOONG
I love celeste and I'd love to know more about its secrets but I know nothing about music theory, so saving that for later when I know more
I might upload something in the future going over the music theory concepts that come up most often in my videos. I want the price of entry for music appreciation to be as low as possible!
As someone playing modded Celeste while watching, it always surprises me just how much depth this game can create, from a normal, yet incredibly written story of mental health, to one potentially influenced by gender dysphoria, to one being told via music. I didn't even realize just how spicy this song was until it got broken down like this.
This song is soo disorderly, thankfully Mr. Oshiro has Madeline to help him with this song.
It's cool to see that "a supporting chord structure" making the unlistenable "chromatic descend" quite musical is Madeline trying her best to help a man who needs a reality check instead.
I would've never seen it myself. Cool vid
I only noticed it as I was transcribing it. No matter what note I input for the melody I was like "that can't be right, can it?" Context is powerful!
Now i want more analysis videos from celeste heh
12:30 i hear the 2nd phrase start on measure 21. i assume its because the idea is divided into 6 sections, and since the 4th section starts off on the same key that the 1st section does, it splits the idea in half and starts a new phrase
Makes sense to me! I'm not sure why that isn't how I hear it, it's the most logical.
Yeap, I didn't even realize what spoilers disclamer was about and right after it you put spoiler for those, who just can't close the video that fast.