Super Mario Bros. "Ground Theme" tear down

(Nintendo, 2008)

For the track tear down this week we turn to one of the most iconic video game themes that was ever created. Almost all kids from the 80's and also anyone familiar with Nintendo franchise will be able to hum to the tune as soon as they hear the first few bars.

Koji Kondo was the composer for the Super Mario franchise.

Track waveform viewed in ProTools

Leitmotif - Fill Long - PreV - Fill - PreV - Fill - A - B - B - Breakdown - A - C - C - Breakdown - C Outro

The Piece starts with the first three bars that has become one of if not the most iconic hook and leitmotif for any piece of game music.

TEMPO

The tempo of the production is set to 100 BPM does not change throughout the whole piece and is in 4/4 time.

Key Signature is in C Major

PRODUCTION

Koji Kondo strove to create tunes that would be memorable with the players within 2-3 seconds ("GDC 2007: Mario Maestro Shares His Secrets: News from 1UP.com", 2007).

The Leitmotif at the beginning of the piece sets the mood and is used as a signpost to a new player when ever they enter the level. Just by listening to the first few bars most players around the world will immediately be able to picture in their head the rolling green hills and the green pipes of the first level in Super Mario Bros.

The drum fill and Pre-Verse builds tension for the listener with the two bars of full first then followed by two bars of drum fill then a tasty two bar bass Pre-Verse wets the appetite for the listener to expect more. The pattern repeats with a shorter single bar drum fill followed by another Pre-Verse which leads into the main theme. This is an excellent use of a tension and release in the music.

For this particular arrangement Koji Kondo used a great deal of syncopation with almost every note in the first phrase being on the off beat shown below.

Super Mario Bros "Ground Theme" (Kondo, 1985)

Koji Kondo made a seemingly difficult phrase easy to remember since the beat is constant throughout at a swinging beat. The video below describes this best at 10:55min.

("What Makes Mario Music So Catchy?", 2017)

The drums in the Super Mario theme carries the swinging beat which makes remembering the syncopated beat easier to rem ember since most of the notes in the theme will land on the syncopated drum rhythm.

The section "A-B-B-Breakdown" leaves the listener in a state of anticipation after the breakdown which leads to the section which is starts with A again but intrigues the listener by using a new four bar phrase, "C" therefore making "A-C-C-Breakdown" then finishes off with a C part so that there is

INSTRUMENTS

For its era when it was made during the 1985 the track was composed using midi synth but this did not stop Koji Kondo from using the following instruments in 8-bit form

Drums, Trumpet, Double bass;

The Drums in the theme are loud in the beginning to signal the beginning of the theme and are struck in unison to the beat with all the instruments like in big band music. The drums then keep a constant swing beat with the syncopated rhythm that is so iconic in the theme. This keeps the listener interested even if its just a 4/4 beat.

After the first loud 4 introduction bars the Double bass introduces the melody line straight after the two following drum solo bars and plays a Pre-Verse to the listener to create tension. The double bass repeats this one more time before rolling in with the rest of the band in the main sections of the theme.

The Trumpet blasts with the beginning of the piece to create a loud entry and does not come back again until the main verse and breakdowns. The trumpet being a louder instrument carries the legendary first four bars which we will call "A" and then continues to play the next 4 bars "B" twice before going into a breakdown of 4 bars to end the section. After ending the section the melody revisits "A" again and then plays a different 4 bar phrase we will call "C" this adds interest and the altered melody line gives the theme a slightly different feel.

When we look at the whole piece we can see that even though the theme is limited in its actual sound being an 8-bit tune, the composition is nothing less than brilliant. The strong opening signposts the whole theme and then the sudden 2 bar drum solo leaves the listener wanting more. The double bass teases the listener with a short 1 bar melody coupled with a drum solo break. The main theme comes in as a the iconic 4 bar leitmotif then is followed by 8 bars of alteration then followed by a key change in the final bar of the 16 bar phrase to create a sense of tension. This is repeated again leading with the leitmotif again then ends with a 4 bars of the "C" part to give the entire piece resolution.

TAKEAWAY LEARNING

After analyzing this piece we can see that there is a great deal of thought put into the composition. The heavy use of syncopation throughout the theme breaks down the monotony of a 4/4 bar sound by having the drums come in every off beat. The swing tune paired with the slow 100 BPM makes the player in the game want to bob his/her head to the beat. This could be applied to future compositions by adding interest by having the melody land on a syncopated beat.

Another take away learning is that you can create a 4 bar or 3 bar leitmotif that can be used in your composition to attached itself to certain sections of the game scene so that when players comeback to the same area they are immediately transported back to the location by hearing the first few bars. More on leitmotifs here.

The full 16 bar phrase used in the first then the second 16 bar phrase always ends with 4 bars of that is in the key of F minor which gives a sense of tension since this is a minor 4th of the theme which is in C major. Ultimately in the last two notes it resolves into a C Major but this leaves the listener anticipating for the Major key again. This release of tension at the version end of a dissonant section can be used in other compositions in future to keep the listener wanting more without becoming bored of the same melody.

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Reference:

Nintendo. (2008). Super Mario Bros. Original Theme by Nintendo [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/uhscMsBhNhw

GDC 2007: Mario Maestro Shares His Secrets: News from 1UP.com. (2007). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20120710232628/http://www.1up.com/news/gdc-2007-mario-maestro-shares

Kondo, K. (1985). Game Music Themes - Home. Retrieved from http://www.gamemusicthemes.com/sheetmusic/nintendo/supermariobros/overworldtheme/Super_Mario_Bros_-_Overworld_Theme_by_BlueSCD.pdf

What Makes Mario Music So Catchy?. (2017). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-x1kn0-HIO8?t=656