Music Analysis with Evan Davis

Link to Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijniBZWR5D0&list=PLzdQcm51guT8Wljks6-D00J8qEEIs3ZEy       Modern MIDI and VST engines provide even amateur composers with such good instrument samples that they can recreate semi-convincing sounding performances without having to hire expensive professional singers and instrumentalists; however, this wasn't always the goal of MIDI. Early MIDI was famous  because  it was a cheap imitation of real instruments, and some composers embraced it with open arms. One of the pioneers of this style of music is Jun'ya Ota, better known as ZUN—the creator of Touhou Project.       While in university, ZUN created MIDI music to practice writing for RPGs and top-down shooters using an old sound module with built in samples called the SC-88Pro. While many Touhou music fans know that he wrote the three Seihou soundtracks during this era, but only the most dedicated fans h ave even heard of  ZUN's Str...

Atelier Ryza, a painfully average JRPG from a line of subpar item crafting simulators, broke the mold with one of the best soundtracks of the 2010s. Written by a bunch of no name composers who are almost completely new to game scoring (besides Asano who has worked on other Atelier games), Ryza features beautiful orchestral pieces that make the repetitive exploration gameplay much more tolerable. I found myself stopping at various points in the game to marvel at the magnificence of their work. Before I throw a bunch of lingo at you, take a listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHewOXVPafU This track is called "Emerald Climbing" and plays while you are walking around the base of a volcano at night. It is written by Kosuke Mizukami, and if you listen to other tracks from this OST, you will begin to realize that wherever there is heavenly string writing, it is always him. (I didn't check the harmony, but I am sure it is close. No promises though.) Mizukami begins wi...

Today's 2hus Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism is ZUN's most notorious game of all time. It features the hardest bullet-hell gameplay, an incredible sense of atmosphere, and some of the highest musical highs in the series. Today, we are doing a deep dive into the land down under to visit the guardian sisters of the Palace of the Earth Spirits---Satori and Koishi Komeiji. Design Even though ZUN's fans are way better artists then he could hope to be, no one creates cooler designs than he can. Briefly chuckle at ZUN's inability to draw hands and then we'll move on... Satori Komeiji Koishi Komeiji Their designs pull from many unusual sources that might not be readily apparent. First of all, the most prominent design element are the tendrils surrounding their body with a third eye over their heart. If you look closely, Satori's extra eye is open while Koishi's is closed. We will discuss the implications of this later on. It may not be super apparent at first, but t...