Rock it / Pack Attack Instrument Deconstruction - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

The music of the space and jet pack levels of Crash Bandicoot composed by Josh Mancell.
Music analysis and theory in comments.
Music theory analysis and piano cover visualization project made with the actual original samples intended for the Play Station game. We can now dig inside the score for the first time; offering us a glimpse for how each instrument contributes to the whole.
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Musical Analysis The bandicoot went into the final frontier of space years before Mario did-that is, only if we count out the idiosyncratic star world or Rainbow Road-And even if he pretty much lifted his brand new move-set from Super Mario 64, the jet pack levels are a significant change of pace from the plattforming; it is unlike any other gameplay type in the game, paving the way for the alternative type of levels we will find on the sequel, like the underwater ones or racing with the bike. The music is also very different from your typical Crash Bandicoot fare, ditching the cool marimba riffs in favor of a multi suite space opera that uplifts the experienced action and lifts its sound from ubiquitous sci-fi tropes, albeit while still retaining some bluesier and cartoon influences. From the title screen we could already see and hear the change in tone in comparison with the first game, leaning more into the technological/industrial side of the equation in favor of the Indiana Jones temples sparser jungle beats. The Crash Bandicoot main theme is rearranged with more synthesizer and electronic tones, reflecting the technologically drenched ambients we will encounter; there is more oomph to the sound. For the Rock It cue, returning composer Josh Mancell even decided to create the most complex track for the series, arranging it with multiple sections and creating a long buildup meant to reflect the wonder of trying to slowly acclimatize with the new jetpack controls which are a big overhaul for players; and then it morphs into a rocking drum fill filled composition kicking in, presumably, when you have dominion over zero gravity space movement. Unsurprisingly, the theremin, or a synth that closely matches its wobbly radio sound, is one of the lead instruments featured prominently as the representative of the sci-fi movie tradition that began way back in the Bernard Herrman score for 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' from the 1950s which used the instrument effectively to convey the otherworldly feeling of space, UFOs and aliens; the instrument just has that flying saucer sound. Even today the instrument seems from the future and what an outer space civilization would conceive since it is an electronic device with an antenna that you don’t even need to touch in order to provide musical sounds that are characterized by a smooth portamento across a pitch range and sounds like a radio transmission from another planet. It is difficult to use nowadays in an effective non-cliche manner but that is not a preoccupation for a cartoon character like Crash; in fact, it is the incentive. including this instrument on any soundtrack has become common shorthand for the presence of the paranormal, such as aliens or ghosts, generally with the implication that the subject matter is not going to be treated very seriously. Perfect for the marsupial first foray into space. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXvCmHuNa9hlrLM Back when the theremin was not parody but a true disquieting sound from other alien civilizations. The space age was upon us. The original track meant to accompany the space levels in Crash Bandicoot 2 was also going for a more frightening sci-fi sound that payed homage to these famous scores, like the use of a waltz to parody in comedic fashion the use of the Johann Strauss II's waltz "The Blue Danube on the 2001: A Space Odyssey film and then a dissonant sounding action orchestral cue as opposed to the uplifting one of the final version. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gorNZnako7-fi80 The original version for Rock it! at the very least already had the idea of the long buildup that seamlessly transition into a different orchestral sound (On this version, you never learned to dominate the jetpack controls). The revamped track that ended up on the final product retains the ideas of making it the longest Crash tune to date, buildup and using the non-Crash orchestral language straight from space operas like Star Wars and 2001: A Space odyssey, themselves born out of the tradition from Gustav Hoist’s The Planets.........................................

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The theme opens up with the also cliche harp glissando that brings us up in the air, weightlessly floating like a dream. Never mind not with the typical whole tone scale but with the more Crash Bandicoot appropriate notes of the E blues scale forming an E7 chord. Josh Mancell did not forget about his blues influences even if he was going for an epic arrangement, the harmony using all dominant seventh chords while the lead theremin plays around with the E minor pentatonic scale and the blue note D#. The strings and pizzicato samples, which on the PlayStation console sound much better than what the N64 cartridges could contain, play in a contrary, symmetric wavelike pattern also meant to give that weightless floating sensation. They play the dominant seventh chords but don’t forget about sounding sci-fi and mysterious enough by also adding some extended notes on their arpeggios (mostly the b5 which is the tritone, the b9 and the 11). The progression is not a blues progression but the full of wonder, going up E7 - G7 - A7 - B7 all connected with the wavelike voice leading. The chords begin changing every four bars, then every two, then every bar. You are getting the hang of the jetpack controls slowly. Space themes often opt to use such chords separated by large distances on the circle of fifths which is like the family tree of music showing how related or unrelated chords are. So we get an I to bIII which is a classic that is also the basis of the sci-fi Metroid theme. “One small step for the piano, one giant leap for the circle of fifths” (the I to bVI is still the king of space though). The violins do some counterpoint here. But then the intro keeps going and building up with flutes entering the mix with staccato articulations just like on the violins, both instruments sounding like a short burst of notes. The flutes are not on the same page as the theremin, refusing to use the minor blues scale but instead the Mixolydian profile from each underlying chord. The glockenspiel is also somewhere there aiding the sparkle of the stars to the accompaniments. The other members of the woodwind family are also slowly introduced cooking a tapestry of melodic counterpoint; both the oboe and flute end with an echoing morse code signal into outer space. Unlike the theremin, the woodwinds are playing major profiles with the major chords; they are the non-blues quota. There is also a synthesizer pad where the notes are sampled in reversed form, meaning the sustain comes first and then the attack; this also is often used to create an otherworldly or ghostly feel since it is a totally unnatural sound. The drums are raring to go, with Josh Mancell, being himself a drummer, preparing to show off his programming chops and learned vocabulary on the instrument. Is the Intro still going? Yes it is. There is a third Intro section where the theremin plays some Western-like phrase straight from a Ennio Morricone film-just replace the theremin with a similar sounding whistle-which in context with the harmony would be using the tail tetrachord of the Mixolydian profile. The tempo accelerates to the climax of the piece where an assured violin melody captures your newfound ease of the use of the jetpack, having fun crashing boxes in anti gravity space. The rhythm section consisting of drums and bass enter in full force completing the 'Rock It' name double meaning. The bass maintains the bluesy spirit of the dominant seventh while the theremin now plays the remainder of the minor notes to complete the minor profiles; natural and melodic minor. The woodwinds keep on with their counterpoint role, creating a complex and layered track that fills any possible space. The harmony would be E7 - G - A - B. This is the Section 1. Second section of the main track would be when the flute plays the action packed pedal arpeggio that starts on A and is then transposed to B while the bass plays single lines. The harmony implied for this part might be Em - Am7 - F#m7 - Bm7 if we consider the notes from the reversed synth pad The cymbal crescendo brings with it yet another section where the pizzicatos introduce some chromatic runs and the underlying harmony changes implying something like Bm - Em - F# - D with the bass playing more passing notes. After this, the track goes onto the baroque inspired melody-also similar to the Iron Maiden song ‘Fear of the Dark’-on the strings, playing a figure over the E minor chord and then transposing it in similar fashion to play in harmony with the D major. This piece truly has all bases covered. The main string phrase returns presumably restarting the loop but nah, the thing keeps going onto more frantic sections since you are now going through more difficult parts of the level; notes begin to whirlwind at faster, steady subdivisions and the woodwind arpeggios get zanier. Flutes and oboes go up while the clarinet plays the contrary pattern moving down. The piece is now on a Dm profile based, transposed a tone down. The dynamic drum playing marks the call and response times between the calm theremin and the crazy woodwinds. There aren’t enough notes to infer an harmony but having in mind the transposition that comes next some chords that could work for this section would be Dm - C - E - D. The Figure is then presented on the G profile with the bass going for the Gm - F - C - D. this time the last two chords go one step up in order to complete the phrase. Then onto an interlude where the harp returns to play some more lifting glissandos over a Gm chord that go into the stratosphere. This time the harp plays a minor hexatonic scale that ignores the Eb of the G Aeolian/Minor profile and the woodwinds respond. The oboe and tremolo string play when the piece transposes yet again to the Am chord. The timpani, used as ornamentation on the beginning, contribute power to the bass line here. The call and response section is played again but this time the strings are the ones doing the fast runs, replacing the woodwinds. There are a couple of last sections for a whooping 12 different sections depending on how you count This is truly Looney Tunes in space. The last two are the outros meant to connect the loop back to the exciting full tempo track. This is the one Crash Bandicoot song where the intro is never to be heard again. The harmony goes for the space E - G - E - Bm and then the standard E7 - G - A - B from the main motif. The violins play some foreshadowing of the main melody. A brand new piece was needed for a brand new gameplay mode that the developers felt could be too difficult for players to master. This resulted on a track that sounds nothing like the others from the Crash bandicoot series, fitting since the levels were nothing like the typical Crash Bandicoot levels. Even so, the composer seemed to have fun with it and go wild with multiple sections that capture the storytelling of a player navigating the sections of the level, from learning the controls to excitingly exercise dominion of the jetpacks, to frantically trying to evade the different hazards presented. As always, Josh Mancell has uploaded the pre-console version showing how the original mix sounded before being fitted to the console: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nInHoZSkaLyNfNE 
The composer was more involved with the final mix of the soundtrack this time around since he didn't like how the first game sound turned up ♫ Support the Channel: www.buymeacoffee.com/musictracks ♫ Media files, Requests and support for future interactive tools: bit.ly/officialmusictracksmedia Or you can donate or join as a member

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Crash Bandicoot Influences Buragata! Or whatever is the sound that the tiki mask Aku Aku makes since pretty much every person has their own interpretation (in truth it is gibberish and was never intended to mean anything. However, various people on the Crash team say it sounds like ”Rutabaga). Obviously we would not leave behind (unlike the Super Smash Bros series) the other big 90s mascot with attitude, who alongside Sonic the Hedgehog was destined to fight against the plumber boy moustache man-as Crash himself refers to his nemesis-becoming in the process the unofficial mascot for the Sony’s Play Station who had just entered the ring in the heated console wars. The idea was to explore the graphical capabilities of the console and the CD-ROM medium and bring them to their absolute limit and beyond, creating a truly playable cartoon that pays homage to the greatest hits of the Looney Tunes series with Indiana Jones thrown in for good measure. From the facial animations, to the death animations, to the design philosophy and narrative concept, The all-possibe-angles plattformer Crash Bandicoot came alive like no other game before, bringing various new literal perspectives to the oversaturated 2D plattformes of the time. Conceived during a road trip, the developers set up to create a mascot for the brand new console from Sony, a classic mascot in the sense that it was meant to be a true animal with an alliterative name where the surname was the species (Felix, the Cat, Donald Duck, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny) plus all the edge that 90s kids could muster. Willy the Wombat, as he was initially known, was meant to be cool, like the American market expects (Remember the rules: America is hardcore, Japan is cute, Europe is artsy). He took on an exotic species nobody had heard of, just like the crazy Tasmanian Devil from Warner that was popular at the time and who also destroys everything on his path with his vortex spin; was given a spiky punk haircut like Sonic and a sexy girlfriend like Roger Rabbit (...and Bugs Bunny? No judgement). At the end of the day the name Willy the Wombat was deemed too ridiculous so they ended up changing it to another exotic species from Oceania, the bandicoot- seems everyone picks oceania since the weirdest creatures apparently come from there (the people are mostly normal)-and just like Sonic was named after his capacity to travel at supersonic speeds, this bandicoot was named after his capacity to destroy crates-which were a late minute addition to the game when the developers felt their levels were too empty, thus the final name also came pretty late. Like many other cartoon characters his final design has little resemblance to what a bandicoot is supposed to look like, the color and clothes having more to do with what looked good on the screen produced by the 32-bit system. Crash himself was edgier and had more attitude in the marketing materials than in the game; inside the game he was more of a goofy, happy-go-lucky character most likely Nsane due to the experiments performed on him by the Frankenstein like doctors who are the big baddies of the series. The gameplay was mostly modeled on the Donkey Kong Country series with innovative camera angles that explored the new 3D medium. The wombat, and later bandicoot species dictated the islandic culture of the first game, with Polynesian imagery, Māori masks and totems, and inhabitants. The game is set on these Indiana Jones inspired temple ruins on the first half, and later, the laboratories with The Jetsons-like concentric circle designs and expressionistic castle from Dr Neo Cortex, who is also based on the Looney Tunes character The Brain. All here is Polynesian culture... well, naturally, except for the music which in typical media fashion is portrayed closer to ones from African tribesmen or the Caribbean as opposed to any attempt at Māori accuracy other than getting some samples and sounds for the didgeridoo instrument which in any case was developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia. The developers of Crash Bandicoot at Naughty Dog initially discussed populating the Crash universe with just ambient sounds and wacky, random sound effects just before coming to their senses and bringing at the last minute the services of the American music production company Mutato Muzika, founded by Mark Mothersbaugh of the band Devo. The LA company specialized in audio and music for media such as films and television; they were just dabbling in the medium of video games so they were looking for people who could do excellent MIDI mockup orchestration and knew enough about software programs. Enter composer Josh Mancell, who was fresh out of university and had all this computer savvy knowledge. He had just came to the competitive Los Angeles scene encouraged by his teachers in order to pursue a career in composing for media. Josh learned the piano at an early age but his main instrument are the drums. He pulled some strings and some contacts in order to meet up with the Devo musician and was just at the right time, right place since they were looking for experts on new technologies. He became the go to man for the first few video game gigs of the company. Universal Studios which were the publishers of the game, worried about the lack of music in the game, contracted the music production company unbeknown to developers Naughty Dog. Universal and the developers butted heads about the direction of the music; the former wanted it to be more traditional sounding while Naughty Dog wanted someyhing bold and experimental. Composer had to find a way to please both. There was a two month deadline. So the music for the original game was created very late into development. Even long after it was playable and most of the final concepts were entering their finishing touches, the levels were silent asides from the sound effects caused by Crash and the other characters that were taken straight from the psychologically addictive tried and true sounds from casinos, slot machines and pinball machines. The final music ended up as a nice mix of the cartoon music popularized by Carl Stalling for Disney and Warner Bros, who alongside his musicians featured heavily the xylophone since The Skeleton Dance short animation and because the instrument was useful for the mickey mousing technique of following footsteps and runs with heavy emphasis on African percussion and beats; this in tandem worked twofold with the tribal aesthetic since marimbas and wood mallets are one of the few melodic instruments that sound aboriginal and primitive this for the first half of the game. While the later part which were laboratories benefited from the composer’s popular music influences in industrial music and the use of new wave type synths alongside some surf guitars. Following in the footsteps of the Hollywood tradition of making film music appropriate to scenes and not distracting from the dialogue or the visuals, it dismisses wall to wall melody opting instead for ambient drum beats, ostinatos and melodic licks-the contrast with Japanese games was deemed so wide that some of the music got overhauled alongside the character designs in order to make them more cute and melodic, the composer having to change all of the boss cues in a weekend and receiving strange comments such as the bonus music sounding too ‘nostalgic’ for Japanese audiences. Mancell's initial tracks for the game were manic and hyperactive though, right before the producers directed him toward more ambient compositions. Even though the Sony Play Station with its CD capabilities had room for pre-recorded music, which many games used, the memory bandwidth of Crash Bandicoot was exhausted with the graphical engine, so the music is composed of MIDI sequences as pictured here delivered by the composer alongside note samples that were later imported into the game. As said, Josh Mancell was initially directed to provide some demos for the main theme and other ambients. The message was for the music to be more atmospheric so the composer wrote some for the various environments that received a mixed reception; Yet they knew that they got the right man when he brought the Hog Wild theme which had a higher sense of fun, allowing the composer to inject more melodic phrases to the score. Even so he features heavily his main instrument, the drum kit, and African percussion, inspired by the combination of drumming with world instrumentation of groups like the African Head Charge: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJrQkJxsaseghNk just throw in the marimba Josh Mancell would go on to compose the soundtrack for the classic trilogy alongside the obligatory mascot kart racer. For some reason, even though apparently he was willing, Mancell was not called back to compose for the fourth entry-the game itself makes a point of not acknowledging the rest of the games-which was meant as a revamp and a call back to the original trilogy. As a fun fact, Among those who auditioned for the position of composer for Crash Bandicoot 4 was Grant Kirkhope from the Banjo Kazooie series who later shared his audition tracks after also being rejected for the gig: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpOleJ14n8uhpck Too Kirkhopian; there is fierce competition out there Crash became one of the last classic cartoon mascots, right before games took a turn for more realistic characters allowed by graphical advancements. The music and spirit of the game is captured in the Dash Dingo games from The Simpsons, which parody Crash. ♫ Support the Channel: www.buymeacoffee.com/musictracks ♫ Media files and support for future interactive tools: bit.ly/officialmusictracksmedia Or you can donate ot join as a member

[@MatrixEvolution17]

Love it, this track is burned into my mind from childhood it's cool to see it broken down like this

[@MatrixEvolution17]

I actually just learned how to play this song on bass thanks to this video