Video Game Music: Tetrisphere

posted by Rob on December 8, 2008 at 2:01 am | Comments (0)

“Learn” is one of my favorite video game songs. It’s from Tetrisphere, which was released in August 1997 for the Nintendo 64 and was composed by Neil Voss at H2O Entertainment.

I’m generally not a fan of techno or electronic dance music, but I am a fan of interesting, well-written, well-produced music. “Learn” fits that description, with its relaxing synth pads, filtered drum samples, reversed cymbals, booming bass drum, and simple, catchy melody.

To anyone who believes the Nintendo 64 or video game cartridges in general can’t produce high-quality music, this audio clip will change your mind:

Listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download:
2 minute 18 second MP3 file – 4.2 MB (right-click to save)

Kudos to Neil Voss! Tetrisphere, along with Killer Instinct Gold, Star Fox 64, and Goldeneye 007, showed off the N64′s real-time audio capabilities during it’s first year on the market. They were also a lot of fun!

Links to Neil Voss:

Wikipedia – Neil D. Voss

IGN – Composing Tetrisphere (Interview With Neil Voss)

IGN – Interview With Neil Voss (Part II)

LinkedIn – Neil Voss

Diffuse Media Group

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Contra (NES) end credits by Konami – Keyboards

posted by Rob on November 17, 2008 at 12:47 pm | Comments (0)

Here’s my instructional keyboard video of the Contra (NES) end credits music by Konami:

YouTube – Contra end credits – How to play video game music

I decided it’d make more sense to keep my instructional video game music videos separate from my instructional guitar videos, so this is episode 1 in my new series.

Of course, Contra by Konami is another classic video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. My friends and I beat this game over and over again in the late 1980s. It featured great two player cooperative action, powerful weapons, huge alien bosses, excellent graphics, and some of the best music on the NES.

This is another one of my favorite video game songs. It plays during the credits after beating the giant alien heart.

Contra for the NES was released as Probotector in Europe in 1990.

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Blades of Steel (NES) end credits by Konami – Keyboards

posted by Rob on November 10, 2008 at 2:56 am | Comments (0)

Here’s my instructional keyboard video of the Blades of Steel (NES) end credits music by Konami:

YouTube – Blades of Steel end credits – How to play cool songs

As a fan of old video games and music, I highly recommend Blades of Steel for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a fun, arcade-style ice hockey game and features an amazing soundtrack. This is one of my favorite video game songs ever. It plays during the credits after beating the tournament.

Picking this song apart was a good challenge and a lot of fun, especially with all of the altered chords. I’ve been meaning to learn it for a while and I’m glad I finally did. Get your keyboard out and play along!

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