How to Write Atmospheric Music on a Super Nintendo

[@Moewenfels]

You have NO idea how WIDE my mouth opened up in shock and awe to see Secret of Evermore covered. I literally listen to that OST every single night to calm myself and reach for happy thoughts so i can somewhat sleep well. I love this game, i LOVE the soundtrack and I'll be eating well with this video

[@NovaeXelon]

Feel you! I have the soundtrack in my playlist as well!

[@Svikthuset]

I'm a fellow sound sleeper to this OST!

[@mopsydaisy]

calm down

[@Moewenfels]

@@mopsydaisy Having a terrible day? Feeling the need to tear down others to elevate yourself? Thats okay, we're all hurting some days.

[@mopsydaisy]

@@Moewenfels please, calm down 😂

[@monkehm]

Secret of Evermore is my favorite game of all time, and is one of the games I most remember playing with my Mom, who has since passed away. The nostalgia of this game is that hard hitting kind of nostalgia that makes you simultaneously feel like booting it up again but also wanting to cry and go back to times before things got bad. Thanks for giving this game some recognition, it never gets as much attention as I always felt it deserved compared to Mana.

[@monkehm]

Oh, and for the record, the copy of the game I played with my Mom back then came used from a Funcoland, and we played on an existing save file where the kid was named FuckYouKid#1 and the dog was Shithead. Good times.

[@Puddlenaut]

Such a good game. I played through that game so many times. I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your mom, but I'm glad you have good memories. Take care of yourself.

[@KairuHakubi]

That's a top quality mom.

[@hell_pike9150]

When I was 12 or so, I went to a local pawn shop and I asked for a recommendation what was the best RPG for super Nintendo. Super Nintendo was all I had. And I had something like $5 that I could buy a game. The shop owner recommended Secret of Evermore. The battery inside didn't work, so I had to leave my console on to progress through the game. I would play it everyday and try to see how far I could get before my super Nintendo would eventually freeze and I had to reset. I was never able to beat the game, but about 15 years later I was playing it again on my phone using an emulator. I finally beat the game, and seeing the end of the game made me cry. This game has a heart and soul and love to it. Passion in it's creation. Supposedly this music was composed by one guy in his twenties. Music is some of the best I've ever heard in gaming. My channel has the SOM soundtrack converted to mp3 using sound fonts. It is by far one of my most popular uploads even though I've done the same thing with more popular games like super Mario Bros. The love that community has for this game is awesome

[@Objectifs-vu4hq]

You recommend still in 2024 ??

[@ChipsNCellos]

One of the best era of video game OSTs, indeed!

[@jasonulloa]

So glad you finally got to this game's soundtrack. I remember playing this game when it first released and really loving the moody soundscapes it had, especially that echoey reverb-like quality you pointed out. I always felt this game should've gotten more attention; even if it's not quite at the level of FF6, Chrono Trigger, or Secret of Mana, it's still a great game in its own right. Now I must go find another game soundtrack to pester you into analyzing.

[@nowonmetube]

It's a hidden masterpiece that people who newly play or replay it saying it's not good 😢

[@Svikthuset]

​@@nowonmetube I played it for the first time semi-recently and I thought it was pretty good. There was a tendency for a lot of quick enemies being very hard to hit and the 4th part felt very rushed being so short especially compared to the 3rd one. Think I've read after that they unfortunately ran out of development time which might also be why they had all the backtracking in part 3 which wasnt very enjoyable. If I had bought this game back when it released it would definitely have been a great purchase though. Easily standing above a lot other stuff you ended up with back then when buying games based on box art alone and as many have already pointed out the OST is excellent.

[@stephaniec6307]

I had to stop everything to watch as soon as I saw that thumbnail, Secret of Evermore is a childhood favorite that stood the test of time and that soundtrack is a big reason why!

[@themotioncodemarc]

The reverb part blew my mind. You sir are a treasure of theory

[@robhulson]

I rented the Secret of Evermore with a buddy way back in the 90s and fell in love with the game over a weekend. It was the first game I purchased for myself even before I had a Super Nintendo. It's always been a favorite and most people have never heard of it. Yes, I have the OST as well so this video delighted me. It's fun to talk about with people who appreciate his Elder Scrolls works. Really great atmospheric music I always found unique compared to any other SNES game I've played. Best thing about the internet, though, is the 2 Player ROMhack of Evermore that allows a second person to play as the Dog.

[@johnopowell9914]

Dude, I love your content. I'm a full time music teacher and life-long game enthusiast. I often teach game tunes in lessons and love taking a theory rich approach to things like this. You're nailing it!

[@owlyus]

It's kind of fun to see how the Evermore soundtrack sets its mood in comparison to how Kikuta does it in SoM

[@Deioth]

"While it's a hidden gem, it really is a gem!" Yes, Tiny like irony.

[@icaliver]

How dare you internet read my mind about reminiscing privately offline about secret of evermore.

[@ThePixelExpedition]

Secret of Evermore is my favourite game of all time, along with its hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. Thank you so much for showing it some love. I'm glad this game is not forgotten.

[@andrewmuir6606]

Can I make a request? "Happenings On A Moonlit Night" from Secret Of Mana. It's so harmonically and rhythmically bizarre. I've tried figuring it out on piano to no avail. Would love to hear a theoretical dissection! Thanks for the great content.

[@poweruser64]

It would be really cool if you could get interviews with some of these composers

[@user-ov8pc1yz4q]

Thanks for doing another kickass video bro. You Rock, or swing, or jazz…whatever musical adjective floats your boat. ;)

[@dominicmoisant8393]

The melody over the F to E- reminded me of the intro to OoT and Pokemon Stadium with the chromatic run

[@Micxhxael]

Finally, someone giving Secret of Evermore a bit of well-deserved love.

[@hugh_maniac]

Holy shit, someone's actually covering Secret of Evermore. Let's fucking go

[@ThatRedHusky]

Mega Man in the late 80s really took the video game music and put it on the board as legitimate. The RPGs of the 90s perfected it.

[@AlbertBalbastreMorte]

What about Castlevania?

[@spritemeister]

The game's soundtrack always carried a somber, hollow mood that underlines the game from start to finish. The few voicings, deep reverb, long sustained notes, and minor tonality. All these combine to convey that, despite having a grand adventure through fantastical locales, none of these places really feel like home.

[@alexchacon778]

Secret of Evermore no WAYYYYY!!!!!!! I've loved this game forever and it has one of my favorite video game OSTs of all time!!!!!! Nice pull, 8-bit!!!!!

[@metroidjones122]

Secret of Evermore! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh. Love this channel.

[@Caveras]

I LOVE this game and its music, one of the most underrated and rarely mentioned gems of the era. Absolute joy to see this covered here! :)

[@henrique88t]

Knowing this is Jeremy Soule six years prior to composing one of my favorite OSTs ever for the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone games, in which to this day I feel its extraordinary abundance of magic, I think I might learn something really useful here of how he got there.

[@AlbertBalbastreMorte]

Didn't they use the movie OST?

[@noble_rosethorn]

​@@AlbertBalbastreMorteNo, he didn't. He actually had not even heard the John Williams soundtrack because the game was being developed while they were making the film. Honestly, in my opinion Soule did a way better job with the franchise, he actually managed to capture the books' essence much better than John Williams, and I have mad respect for both.

[@ajhigginscomposer]

This music is so engaging! Your analysis was as well.

[@uffevonlauterbach]

I never heard of this game. The mention of atmosphere alone grabbed my attention.

[@vaendryl]

Add lufia 2 to that list in the beginning! 😂 And terranigma! Guess those were more popular in the EU

[@Moewenfels]

YEEEEEEEEEES!

[@AmateurHuman19]

Omg Terranigma mentioned?! I was just thinking he's gotta at least check that one out!

[@SILICONELAKE]

Severely underrated and unfairly criticized game Secret of Evermore was. Blows my mind that the composer was just 19 when he wrote this music, it has an incredible depth and maturity to it not to mention absolutely masterful use of the hardware limitations - it stands head to head with any other classic snes music of the era and surpasses a lot of it.

[@kevinsummerian]

Thanks you this is one of the most anticipated video I had for your channel!

[@milakz4671]

love your videos, have you ever thought of adding subtitles? There are a lot of technical terms and adding subtitles, even in English, would be easier to follow for us non-native speakers!🙏I know it's extra work but it doesn't hurt to ask

[@Luthee]

Thank you for analysing music from Secret of Evermore, I played the game when I was a teenager and its themes/melodies have always stayed with me.

[@RF-fr8mz]

SO awesome that you covered this highly underrated OST and game. One of my all-time favorites. Mind-blowing that Jeremy Soule was only 19 when he composed this. Thank you for shedding light on this amazing game!

[@vstalbain]

You know, I read an article in a music journal one time that posited that most instances of 20th century composers using the octatonic scale were probably just using Lydian Mixolydian as they switched between diatonic major, pentatonic, and whole tone scales. I've found it to be a pretty fascinating scale since then.

[@Kevin-bc9ek]

As a fan of your channel for quite some time now, I’m here with the commenters that were excited to see this great soundtrack covered. This was the game for me that made me more consciously aware of game music in general. Thank you for analyzing!

[@leonavem3317]

Man that Collosia theme is making me realize how versatile 7/4 time is. That feeling of suspension when that 8th beat just goes missing can lead to so many different effects. Also those dotted quarter notes in the melody really emphasize that feeling of being lost. Meanwhile songs like the main theme of Pirates: Legend of the Black Kat inspires a feeling of adventure, or Land Below from Fire Emblem Fates drawing a feeling of confusion or uncertainty. You never know what's around the corner with 7/4, and I love that about it so much

[@Dhalin]

One thing that isn't mentioned in the video (and for good reason) is just how they were able to use a collection of sampled sounds for pure ambience in areas with no music at all, such as the Jungle and some of the areas near the Temples, or that huge forest in the third chapter. Birds tweeting, critters making noise in the thicket, the soft breeze blowing, they used very clever sound sampling effects to really make these sounds pop on the SNES. SE had a history of doing this, as in FF6 they used a primitive wind sound to add ambience (which was also used by Chrono Trigger), but being the first time they had attempted such a thing, it didn't sound anywhere near as good. The team behind SoE did it much better, as they had some ideas and experience to work with. That, along with the ridiculously good music in SoE, made this game a sheer pleasure to listen to while playing. A lot of people diss this game because of its gameplay mechanics, and one of these days I'm going to do a video walkthrough to hopefully help people understand how to play the game as I feel the game is sadly misunderstood what it expects from the player.

[@chrismansi4855]

The music referenced in the "clever homage" section of the video, from both Chrono Trigger and Secret of Evermore, absolutely SCREAMS similarities to the track "Feena" from Ys Book I, which predates both games by several years. If you look up the track "Ys I ・ II (PC Engine CD) - Feena" on KZbin, and skip about a minute and a half in, you should pretty immediately start to hear the similarities unfold, especially the downward melodic motion you referenced as being shared between Chrono Trigger and SoE. Would love to see you tackle some music from the Ys series someday, it's really some of the best composed RPG music out there, from the series beginning all the way to the present day. Loved this video btw ❤

[@mixofreak]

Absolutely loved this game and its soundtrack, and it frequently is overlooked in discussions of video game RPGs, as well as OST reviews. So glad to see it covered. Chrono Trigger may still be my favorite RPG of all time, but Secret of Evermore still holds a special place in my heart for just how wild and interesting that it is.

[@taztrexx]

I love this channel so much, I’ve been trying to figure out modal theory for so long, and now here I am pausing your videos and saying, “oooh that f# probably means we’re going into C Lydian!” And then unpausing it and boom I’m right, the insightful analysis paired with nostalgic gameplay is such a double whammy for me. Thank you for these videos!

[@bannin]

This game, Terranigma, Secret of Mana and Lufia II really left a mark on my childhood and the music of these games will stay with me forever.

[@halcyo]

I may have known it was Jeremy Soule at one point, but I had totally forgotten. He's definitely always had this beautiful, haunting style, from this, to Diablo, to Elder Scrolls, etc. This game was always so awesomely strange to me as a youth. I never beat it back in the day, but I always remember it's aesthetic and ambience very fondly! The "halfway lo-fi" sample playback of the SNES soundchip has always been so ingrained in my head, and it's inspiration has found it's way into much of my music creation even today.

[@Mystik3eb]

I am SO happy you covered this game. I love it so much. I've played it far more than Secret of Mana, and actually find the music comparably good, if for wildly different reasons. This video made me very happy =)

[@BenD_Bass]

I remember 1995, I was 5 years old living on a US Navy base in Italy and I rented Secret of Evermore at the NEX

[@noahfrigault6606]

Playing this game as a kid, the atmosphere was nothing like anything else at the time. Jeremy Soule's young genius made the isolation and magic in this world feel so real. One thing I've always wondered: how did such a catchy and subtly unique drum beat get made in the prehistoric era? It's been stuck in my head for almost 30 years.

[@DuoBeard]

Secret of Evermore is by far one of the best and unsung gems I’ve ever had the luxury of playing. Truly adore the soundtrack

[@0x44_]

Amazing video. I was so confused on the Clever Homage because I heard the Secret of the Forest immediately, but I never noticed it before. I played both SoE and CT at launch, as I was a huge fanboy since FFII.

[@mashamishmash]

This movement of perfect fourths has a total "improv on the circle of fifths" feel.

[@classicgameplay10]

Isnt the same thing ?

[@MakakunaruLoco]

Bro. So much work on one video. Awesome! thanks a lot.

[@Hastrica]

My favourite game, and you're covering it. Now I can die happy.

[@georgelacatus1495]

Excellent analysis, the SNES truly had some of the best video game music. Big part of why I love Super Metroid so much! There were also some fantastic soundtracks on the Sega Genesis too, I'd love to see you dissect some Sonic or Streets of Rage at some point ❤

[@fadplastic]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJTbaGZ7hMZ6jbc

[@_vanessajane]

8:04 it also sounds much like the flute from the first Zelda and Super Mario Bros 3 (warp zone)

[@officialretroshell]

Awesome video, subscribed! We will share this in the next edition of our retro newsletter. Keep up the great content!

[@TalynWuff]

Owned this game back in the day in the late 90's, and the soundtrack was one of the reasons I kept going back to it, atmospheric, haunting, and beautiful. When I learned it was Soule who started doing Elder Scrolls when Morrowind came out (and subsequent the TES after), I wasn't surprised, and was very glad his skills were able to be heard better without limits. The soundtrack is only the way it is due to the SNES's limitations; he wanted to go a lot harder, but limitation created some creative workarounds and styles to make it work. If by some twist of fate somebody gets the rights to remaster/recreate the game such as WayForward, I'd hope Soule would return to provide his true vision for the soundtrack.

[@AtomicPotato216]

The Slumbering Weald from Pokémon Sword and Shield has been coming up on my playlists recently, and it really does a good job emulating music like this

[@seedmole]

This was my favorite SNES game, glad to see it get a spotlight.

[@bryanlegge5400]

Great to see SOE get some love. I think Soule was around 17 when he composed for this game

[@anthonymentalewicz5143]

this was my brothers favorite game growing up i need to send this to him.

[@TackerTacker]

Another one of my favorite games ✨ ...at this point I wonder if all of my favorite games are my favorite because of their great atmospheric music?! 🤔 Can't wait for Dungeon Keeper 1, SNES Shadowrun, Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Anno 1602, Anno 1404, ...

[@smoothbeak]

I personally find that period to be a bit of a "golden age" of composition. There's quite a bit of sophistication, creativity, and a new kind of medium which did not exist before that and doesn't really exist now. Either that or it could just be nostalgia of course ;)

[@irispounsberry7917]

Great analysis, but for the spooky sound of the last section, I think you missed how some of the syncopated rhythm adds to that 'off' feeling. Also, the third line of eighth notes on the piano constantly hammering away at your ears between the two notes adds auditory fatigue while carrying that sense of danger.

[@nihil1]

SoE was criminally overlooked at the time, and seems mostly forgotten now. I hope this servers as a shout-out to younger people, this game is excellent, and you should play it if you can! It breaks traditions of (action-)JRPGs, puts you in a completely different setting, and is altogether a joy to play.

[@edgerp4300]

Bro I'm BEGGING you, you NEED to make a video on Umineko's music, it would be the best day on earth if you released a video talking about some of the tracks in the game

[@ChiliTomatoNoodle]

Now this is a deep cut.

[@Jman0011]

God, I Don't think you can understand how fast I clicked this video when I saw that thumbnail. SoE is GOAT.

[@GabrielFreitasNetuno]

This is my favorite videogame soundtrack EVER!

[@grumblekin]

I still have my OST CD I ordered from Square back when you had to send a check and wait 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. It was amazing then and still is. The melodies are sparse, melancholy, and beautiful....I also got the FF3 OST multi-CD set with this and played the hell out of both of them. I read somewhere that Julian's apartment at the time was basically 90% synthesizers and sound gear and he'd be in there cooking up sounds for hours.

[@poobens]

Some absolute gold here!! Thank you!

[@Zaque-TV]

I love your short docs on this stuff 👍

[@zantetsu75]

I FEEL SEEEN!!!!!!!!! Oh my god I felt like this was by far one of the most slept on soundtracks and games ever made!

[@niveketihw1897]

I've actually got the SoE soundtrack on CD. I owned SoE back in the day and played through it twice on cartridge.

[@AlbertBalbastreMorte]

This game was overshadowed by other SNES RPGs, but it's the one I grew up with... And never actually beat. I really need to get back to it at some point.

[@Byron418]

I feel like I was hearing a lot of FF6 in addition to all the Chrono Trigger. Great video!

[@dreddbolt]

Love this game. I wish SquareEnix did too.

[@AlbertBalbastreMorte]

Reminds me of David Wise's trickery to maintain an ambient element to his music.

[@friend_xtra]

with that CT reference, it could also be a reference to EB/Mother 2 with the Snowman/Boarding School song. don't know if it's the same key/notes, but it's the same movement.

[@MartinBarreby]

Great video! I haven't played this game much, very interesting to hear more of its music. I thought the Snes instruments could be multi timbral though? So there is still a total voice count of course, but an instrument can play more than one note at a time and play chords. So not sure here, but to create that reverb/delay effect the same track just repeats the note in lower velocity rather than having a separate track to create that effect, since (I think!!) notes can overlap as long as the voice limit hasn't been reached. And regarding that delay effect that is so common to hear on the SNES, I always thought it was a built in effect you can apply to each loaded sample/instrument? And I also thought it is some post processing doing it, so it would not affect the voice count. Not sure at all though, and just how I imagined it when listening to SNES music. If it wouldn't work this way it feels like it would be so much more common to hear voice stealing that would abort the delay effect. But just speculating here. :)

[@Gatchi]

that Chrono Trigger-esque lick was done in the Pokémon title screen theme too

[@bradcook1537]

I'll never get over thst this was Jeremy Soule's early work from his youth

[@0num4]

My personal favorite of all time is still Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. However, so many of the games you've listed here could easily compete for the top spot--it was truly an amazing era. Silver Surfer on NES felt like the culmination of its age, and this particular game seems to be among the finest of the SNES/Genesis era. You should definitely check out Sega's The Revenge of Shinobi (AKA "Super Shinobi" in Japan) soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, composer of Streets of Rage; for 1989, it is really something else!

[@zacharywong483]

Fantastic analysis, as always!

[@medigoomnis]

I still can't find a game that makes me feel like this one did...the music mixed with the mystery and funny stuff...man...I just can't even. I can't call it BETTER than any of the other amazing stuff you mentioned or basically anything done by Uematsu or Shimomura, but...hot dang I'd pay $500 for a true remake of this game that kept the feel.

[@HatmasterM]

Even more interestingly, Secret of Evermore was one of very few games developed by Square USA before the closure of its development branch. For this reason, I believe your theory that the soundtrack could have been developed very quickly is likely. If so, no surprise that two of the SNES' best soundtracks include shades of assonance. Huge props to checking out this game's OST. The game itself is very palatable, and is well-worth a return to today. edit: also neat to think about how this OST likely inspired parts of Toby Fox's writing in the first parts of the Deltarune soundtrack, especially the airy, atmospheric tracks that play near the beginning of the main characters' descent into the Dark World. The instrumentation in those tracks is so on-the-nose that I can't come to any other conclusion that Secret of Evermore was an inspiration.

[@TimesNewDerp]

City of Ebony is God tier to me. My absolute favourite. ❤

[@Drcats69]

I love this game so much and i feel like people dont talk about the music as much. Im just such a big fan and find it funny that Jeremys music is so consistent over the years. wait! i mean 44 views in 41 seconds u fell off

[@mrchow5047]

I loved this game as a kid, music is awesome

[@Cross_Contam]

As a kid I asked Santa for Mana but ended up getting Evermore. I was disappointed until it quickly became my favorite snes game. The humor, adventure, and soundtrack made this game great. I enjoy using some of these sound fonts in my own music.

[@_OopsieDaisies]

this is one of those games that can feel like is underappreciated but when it gets brought up all of us SoE dorks come out of the woodwork to mention how great it is. ahem. THIS GAME IS SO GREAT IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED IT DO YOURSELF A FAVOR A PLAY IT

[@roeesi-personal]

If the 3rd and 5th of the Am7(add13) chord move to the 2nd and 4th doesn't that make it a G9/A which means we moved from the tonic Am chord to a dominant G chord with a pedal tonic in the bass?

[@Maplefoxx-vl2ew]

this is more the game music i wnt to learn and study. pls more games like this , more minimal music

[@Epicdps]

Finally a video on this amazing game !!!!!!!!!

[@daltongrowley5280]

Amazing game, amazing soundtrack, what a time to be a gamer.

[@ChristophJakob]

Don't think I've ever heard a tune from this soundtrack, I was missing out, huh.

[@Manas-co8wl]

Now that's a game I haven't even remembered in years..

[@birchwwolf]

Jeremy Soule struck a chord and it really was A-minor

[@SianaGearz]

Mhm SNES does have a send reverb implementation in hardware but the time constant takes away from your available sound RAM, which isn't generous!

[@jerrydavisf]

This game was one of the best, wish we could play it on Nintendo Switch 😢

[@Jockolantern]

One of the earliest video game soundtracks I owned on CD back in the 90s. I love Soule's freshman work to death and was always fascinated by it while playing the game itself. Great to see this music getting the respect it absolutely deserves.

[@conorreedR2C]

The way I was chanting Chrono Trigger (objectively the best ever OST) in anticipation at the beginning has me feeling more than a little bit embarrassed 😅

[@edwarddavis7858]

7:50 yeah didn't hear that, What I heard was the opening notes to the Title Theme to Ocarina of time.

[@TheStickCollector]

Would be something i would experiment with.