Sonic 3's Ice Cap: Music Theory

[@jtg55]

There's always a reason why a certain song makes you feel that certain way (thanks music theory). In this case, Brad Buxer's IceCap makes you think the word ice, while Proto's IceCap feels more like snow.

[@Ellzia]

Wow I've never thought about it that way. I totally agree with you!

[@blakfloyd]

Dude, that is some spot-on, introspective stuff.

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@Ellzia Yes, especially when the instruments themselves make you think of being in an ice cave.

[@leonannaves9273]

For me, its actually inverted, Brad Buxer's ice cap, make me think of "Snow", and the one in the prototype make me think of "Ice"

[@knuckt.k.9456]

For me it is the other way around.

[@krushingbro6620]

ice cap zone might be the most fitting music track for an ice stage ever.

[@luiiguiiramis1074]

Ristar too with Planet Freon

[@nilixstar830]

@@luiiguiiramis1074 I dont think it fits

[@GraveUypo]

@@luiiguiiramis1074 yep. that one. act 2 specifically

[@_TheJp_]

Diamond Dust for sonic 3d blast do a nice job too imho ^^

[@analog_ape]

Donkey Kong Country - Snow barrel blast

[@inendlesspain4724]

I love the image of Tails being stuck in the snow sending S.O.S. signals with his stupid yellow tablet he nowadays carries everywhere, in morse code.

[@clonefighter1996]

Its [the tablet's] official name is the Miles Electric btw.

[@veggsbacon1891]

Tails, put that damn toy away and really help Sonic fight! Oh right, incompetent writers....

[@CassiusStelar]

@@veggsbacon1891 good thing they left with the voice actors. (I hope they didnt get the memo that Roger and Colleen came back)

[@RealAGuy]

@@veggsbacon1891 Tails in the 90s: breaks the game with his flight and when you get all the emeralds he has a literal *Flicky army of death* Tails now: carries around a useless iPad thing, “sonic help me” and let’s not forget his worst quote “true dat”

[@YasuFluffBall]

@@RealAGuy Um his role is the tech genius. so why not have some computer with him? That thing isnt the issue with his character all and yet you make it out to be. the problem here is both the writers and SEGAs stupid rule set that they have to follow when writing a sonic game. Things like "Sonic can't look weak or sad or show to much emotion, and Sonic must out shine the other characters because hes the star. " SEGA is to much of a bitch to take some risks with the franchise. So Tails turning into a panzy are a result of all of this.

[@xamit1u]

Probably my favorite song in all of Sonicdom. When I was completely obsessed with it at an early age I would go to this old piano at my church and figure out the chords by ear (I'm like the opposite of tone deaf). When I heard them deconstructed... the memories came rushing back.

[@SonicntZane]

we like to call that: "perfect pitch"

[@Bruhdawg69]

Sonicdom sounds cringe. I just like the music dawg.

[@thunderjay6300]

It's kinda crazy to think about that one of my favorite tracks of the Sonic franchise wouldn't have existed had the prototype music not been switched out.

[@WealthyIndustrialist]

Well you’d have the original Jetzon’s song, but you’d likely never know about it without the game’s version

[@autobotstarscream765]

@@WealthyIndustrialist Would Hard Times, which was originally shelved, even have been dug out of mothballs all these years later if it hadn't have been for its Sonic 3 counterpart ingraining it in a generation?

[@SwitchZetto]

@@autobotstarscream765 That's what he meant

[@Leonard_Wolf_2056]

@@autobotstarscream765 That is most definitely the reason why hard times is not in origins. Brad realized that. He is envious of MJ, and he wants too much money for hard times to appear in an ancient 2d game.

[@Alvaro-ci8ki]

@@Leonard_Wolf_2056 Ok, where did you get this information from?

[@MOSMASTERING]

I’m a musician and I’m not bad at music theory, but this video series that has crashed together and combined my love of sonic the hedgehog and music theory has really helped me hear and grasp concepts that understood in theory, but not in practice. Having the written sheet music, comments on what to listen for and the names of chord progressions and cadences has been utterly invaluable. Please never stop making these videos, or consider doing an entire music theory course based on retro video game music, I’d totally buy that!

[@MOSMASTERING]

There are SO many ideas and techniques mentioned in these videos and I totally believe that the composer had many of these thematic approaches in mind when composing the tracks.. So, I’d also be interested to seeing a song writing from scratch videos series, where its explained what tools you would reach for and why..

[@pennywise1281]

IceCap Zone is one of my favorite soundtracks of all "Hard Times"!

[@t3amtomahawk]

Hard Times gone by

[@sporkbot]

Happiest days of my life

[@popularvote3613]

I never thought about it before, but it's fitting that Brad Buxer repurposed a song about a breakup to make a song about a frozen wasteland. Ice Cap always stuck out to me as a kid because it was such a melancholy, isolating tune. And of course, loneliness and isolation was the original driver for the song.

[@JustJohn43]

That was very entertaining! Music theory is a fascinating art when it's explained to me like this.

[@jadendafinger]

I’ve always loved this zone. The opening scene really did it for me. I love the paralax scrolling on the mountains

[@Gloomire]

Ice cap zone is such a beautiful track, and this video makes me appreciate it even more :)

[@collie4856]

I learned more about music theory in ten minutes than in all my years at school

[@carpathia808]

Amazing video as always! One thing I learned from someone commenting on the act 1 deconstruction was that the audio waves almost look like they're shivering in this song as the pitch wobbles ever so slightly. I'm not sure if this was intentional by the composers or not but it's a nice touch to an already great track

[@jonathanmarois9009]

It's worth mentioning _Flying_ _Battery_ was originally meant to be before _Ice_ _Cap_ and the hatch Sonic uses to escape the zone would have been used as the snowboard.

[@denmark1226]

That would have been cool as fuck, especially since Ice cap and Flying battery are two of my favorite levels in this game

[@Freezerboy69]

Yeah always felt that flying battery fitted nicely between the two, it's a bit farfetched that sonic gets launched in a cannon all the way up to the top of an icy mountain which is magically in day time. Sonic 3 complete implemented this zone order really well.

[@Dark_Ronius]

You mentioned about songs making people cry in a previous video... This song did and still does. It "sounds" like seeing how far you've come. It feels like it should be further in the game than it is... In the original level layout I think the song is in the right place

[@sirnoodle1068]

Never have I been so intrigued by something I haven't the faintest understandance of

[@HeeminGaminStation]

Man the visuals!! Thanks for going the extra mile in editing!!

[@phammond68]

I always look forward to seeing how you connect the characteristics of the soundtracks to the theme of the level with such creativity. well done as always!

[@gigithehedgehog8469]

Wow. I love your commentary, but the brilliant visual imagery really brings the thought home. In this video I particularly liked the chart of each channel being played by different characters. But there are so many other examples of clever comparisons. You are one of my favorite music theory channels. Maybe my number one! I've learned so much from you. You've made it easy to understand for someone who knows next to nothing about theory. I know I love this music, but your videos give me extra appreciation.

[@mad_quack]

I fell in love with Ice Cap’s music when I first heard it. It’s always sounded so sorrowful to me

[@NukeTheOG]

Well it's in the C minor scale, so that's probably why

[@CookieCrescendo]

Yes! I love everything about this song. the history, Hard Times, the beta version, very interesting. And I haven’t even seen the video yet!

[@SolidSnake684]

Glad you mentioned Idioteque by Radiohead. I've always linked these two songs (for obvious reasons) and I've always been enamored by their chilling chord progressions, so much so that I prefer Act 2, when that progression is all thats playing following those lonely "snow fall" notes you mentioned. Love these songs! Something about a "cold" sound always gets me

[@benmarchant7315]

Sonic, Radiohead, MGS and FFIX... I like your style.

[@benzukolives9899]

Made it! So hyped for this.

[@paul.ignacio]

Sooooo happy you covered this. Nostalgia aside, this is one of the best Sonic songs, probably only rivaled by Chemical Plant Zone's and Carnival Night Zone's themes (though for Carnival Night, it's also hard to abstract oneself from the familiarity of the main...tune? That Carnival-y song? Yeah, that one.)

[@quinn562]

Definitely had those recess talks after seeing that snowboard shot in the commercial haha, it was genuinely exciting to see what brand new stuff sonic team was going to give us after the second game...and like you said even though the intro to icecap is more spectacle than anything, as a kid I ate it up! It was just another thing that elevated Sonic as a badass when compared to Mario during the console wars lol Great vid as usual!

[@Pēm̐cā]

I'm no longer getting hard times for waiting for this video

[@Vee_Sheep]

i adore all the neat visual metaphors for what the notes and chords do in these videos like the "bubbling magma" of the rising and falling notes in Lava Reef, the pyramid shapes in Sandopolis and the Andelusian cadence becoming a slippery snowboarding slope lol

[@ChilliusVGM]

excellent video, as always; loved how you also started discussing the theory behind crystal egg, despite the video being about ice cap. it was a run on that made perfect sense.

[@_SSGB_]

Finally, a video for one of the best Sonic 3 songs! AND GUMBALL DOILUS! You sir, are truly based.

[@cutman3931]

I got the reference

[@ansonx10]

Doilus? You mean AVGN's brother?

[@cutman3931]

@@ansonx10 more likely a bug in the gumball bonus stage

[@ansonx10]

@@cutman3931 Well, you certainly didn't get _that_ reference.

[@cutman3931]

@@ansonx10 you're right

[@KidPrarchord95]

You are actually my favorite KZbinr at the moment. Every time you upload it makes my whole week. You've also really helped me improve in my musical abilities; I can actually compose music I enjoy listening to now.

[@tkdyo]

Ice Cap is my all time favorite Sonic track, makes me happy every time I hear it. Really cool to learn its foundations, thank you!

[@Conradlovesjoy]

I am always looking forward to what song you will choose next!!!

[@mochico88]

I bought "Hard Times" off iTunes a few years back once I found out about it being the predecessor to Ice Cap Zone.

[@kinggalactix]

Brad's Ice Cap embodies the musical form of "ice", while SEGA's prototype embodies the musical form of "snow".

[@CringusMcDingus]

The proto ice cap music world fit in a zone called "Snow Day Zone"

[@530mentes9]

Excellent video. Loved the breakdowns. Got a whole new appreciation for the zone and music. Lotta hidden. Gems 💎 thank you!

[@pweteriscool7803]

8:53 my eyes have been opened i have never heard that before i thought it was a coincidence lol

[@JeffMakesGames]

At 8:40, you show Ice Cap Zone - Act 1 music to only have somewhere around a 42 second loop, but I took a 2nd look in the game and determine that the loop is actually around 1 minute 23 seconds. The second half may sound the same but it is different where a part is actually extended. From looking at it in a sound editor, the pattern looks like: (Section A - about 20-21 seconds) (Section B - about 13-14 seconds) (Section A again but it's shorter) (Section B again but about doubled in length)

[@syweb2]

I love the cool visuals and neat facts you put into these, like Tails covered in snow to demonstrate the "SOS" part and when you end with how a player discovered how to scale the mountain.

[@Zeknif1]

If anyone remembers back when we had both OCRemix and VGMix, the former being driven by a system of quality control for what submissions were accepted for publication through the website while VGMix accepted anything and everything… and the rate of remixes for individual songs told a pretty intriguing story. No one would ever say that Sonic 3 & Knuckles has a bad soundtrack with only a few gems. Most would say it had a pretty stellar track… but on VGMix, most of the songs only had 4 or 5 remixes credited to them… the final Boss and Doomsday Zone hit a dozen or so. Ice Cap Zone had over a thirty before I initially stopped visiting the website.

[@leobaiaeu]

the videos of your channel have a particular space in my heart, i return here a bunch of times every year

[@AlexYardZone]

Thank you so much! Can't wait for you to see what's in store next....

[@Qabra-]

I'm truly hoping for Doomsday Zone, it's my favourite (currently, it changes a lot).

[@miwiki6]

yeah now that i think about it, it is also my favourite

[@ahirunakamura9592]

delightful as always!! man the zooming sound followed by snow crashing down... always heard that, never quite connected the dots with the stage itself, that's what I love about your music theory videos...

[@josephwilson3180]

I’m sad so many people don’t know about those 10 extra rings in the intro. I didn’t know about them until I saw the achievement in A.I.R.

[@josephwilson3180]

Honestly, as a kid, I don’t think I even knew you could jump in that section. :p

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Brad be like "Fuck it, I gotta release this song _somehow"_

[@relld05]

Abrupt ending but another great breakdown of my favorite Sonic 3 track

[@LiveHedgehog]

These are some of my favourite videos on KZbin full stop. So informative.

[@althejazzman]

I love the imaginative way you disguised all the copyrighted music and videos.

[@water594]

I've been listening to that Jetson's song so much since you mentioned it!

[@setsers1]

This made me appreciate The Sonic 3 soundtrack more than ever.♥️

[@BlueMageWithSoulEdge]

I have just subscribed. This is ground breaking. Your Noble Peace Award is already in the mail.

[@uniqutilities2831]

Glad I stumbled across your channel. Getting ready to start music theory and this channel is perfect!

[@LuisferRomeroCalero]

Being from Sevilla, in Andalusia, I would have never guessed that connection and I am a fanatic of music theory and analysis. Congratulations. I binged all your Sonic 3 videos. Thank you so much, Alex.

[@neonnoir9692]

Dude likes one sound and proceeds to put it in everything. Good job Brad 😂 Hard Times is a fantastic song too

[@something_nintendo]

You know, a song called Hard Times being the basis for the song of a snow covered mountain that starts with a steep slope and ends with a long climb back up makes a lot of sense. Sure life will be bad at times, but it'll always get better in the end, as long as you're willing to climb back up.

[@ZorroLocoStudios]

I love these videos, and Ice Cap is awesome, both the prototype version and the final one!

[@bpfifa08]

If you are taking suggestions: Streets of Rage 2 - Dreamer Streets of Rage 4 - Down The Beach( Ghost Fair Part 2)

[@ShaleNinja]

This is an incredible analysis, I learned so much! Thank you for making this! Honestly this is probably my second-favourite Sonic track of all time, following the end credits for Sonic 3. And your analysis tidily explains why I'm yet to come across a remix of this sont that's better than the original - there's so many pieces to this puzzle, and something is always missing from that recipe in the many remixes out there.

[@WreckItRolfe]

I have hard times understanding music theory, and I can't play anything, but your videos are much easier to follow than most.

[@evil-wombat]

Sort of wondering if Brad Buxer used some of his old/unreleased material for his later MJ collaborations, which would explain the similarities.

[@mattfurda366]

The vocal demo literally blew my mind!

[@lordkiza8838]

Omfg I knew hard times was just ice cap with lyrics! Thanks brother bear.

[@TCMusicArchive]

Always happy to help. Another 10/10 video, Alex!

[@tomnuke9122]

Ice Cap's music is mesmerizing. I'll need to read some music theory after watching these videos. The Charmy voice is also cute.

[@edgardeitz2784]

I thought Ice Cap Zone bgm was the refrain for "Who Is It?". I even downloaded an audio file that proves the similarity.

[@damien__j]

Great video! I will admit I found the Sandopolis video a little hard going but I couldn't put this one down!

[@MrCalverino]

I was 9 yrs old when it came out, The music in Sonic 3 was like a party!!! Ice Cap zone was 🥇

[@tdark987]

4:43-4:47 Hearing this now, it actually reminds me quite a bit of the intro to Green Hill zone’s music, I pretty much suck at music theory in general, but I’m guessing this is a way to set up whatever comes afterward..? 6:57 weirdly kinda reminds me of Ice Mountain from Sonic Advance. Probably a coincidence, but stood out to me all the same.

[@MajoradeMayhem]

I went into this hoping for a breakdown of Crystal Egg Zone, and you did not disappoint!! I noticed the similarity the day I heard the prototype Ice Cap music for the first time.

[@Star_Mans_Legacy]

Fun fact: Another game created by SEGA named Ristar (a favorite of mine!) also adds a little reference to Sonic 3’s Ice Cap Zone intro cutscene by including the Main Character (Ristar) Snow Boarding down a snowy slope on Ski’s instead of a Snowboard. It is cool to see another SEGA character who goes down a slope by using the necessary equipment for fun when you know well sure they’ll be alright without it. But in Ristars case, he gets a pair of Ski’s after going down the slope via being a shooting Star. I believe it’s just a fun little nod to the game Sonic 3, and at the same time adding personality to the game itself (Ristar) which it does a really great job at doing with its cute idle animations for the Character, and it’s Music, and the ending credits of the game. Every single little aspect makes up the game perfectly. I wish SEGA created a sequel for such an immaculate and perfectly well made game. It’s a real great game for anyone who hasn’t heard of to try it out. I’m not kidding, you better play that game. 🔫

[@AlexYardZone]

Great game indeed. Not only have I played it, but I streamed it last week with the VOD still available!

[@tailsfan628]

I don't regret making this song my ringtone

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

I feel like remnants of the MJ influence still lingered at least until SA2, not directly, but in inspiration. Final Rush for instance feels somewhat similiar to Smooth Criminal as well, and i've thought that for like a decade now.

[@Birdhouseart]

I'd love to hear your take on Sonic 2 or any of the tracks from Sonic CD.

[@alexpersonne83]

I really like your vidoes, especially because even if I'm french, your english is perfect so I can understand it all without the need of any subtitles :)

[@I_HRT_TallyHall]

Okay, ngl this man’s singing voice is amazing

[@didiercollard]

We need a Sonic Mania 2 with Ice Cap Zone just so we can play through the level without the music cutting out for once.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Maybe Sonic Origins will fix the issue?

[@ImperfectNORE]

@@autobotstarscream765 it 100% will bc the music files would be seperate from the sfx

[@thenoobprincev2529]

@@ImperfectNORE :(((

[@ImperfectNORE]

@@thenoobprincev2529 i was wrong :sob: just play sonic 3 air

[@catinthehat5140]

​@@autobotstarscream765they can't because this melody is taken from an actual song made in 1982 and released in 2008

[@AxeToday]

ooooo the DOILUS stage

[@adjacent_dollar]

"Gumball Doilus" I love that reference

[@pink_phoenix]

So I suppose the lyrics of Idioteque should now be “Ice Cap Age coming Ice Cap Age Coming” I ALWAYS thought they sounded similar but I assumed it was cause of the ice theme but now you actually explained it! Thank you!

[@shadow479]

This is pure dissection. Incredible

[@BetterCallJamie]

I love the breakdown and thinking behind it. I’m thinking how can I apply this to my music and make something so epically themed.

[@ohiorushbaby]

Name me another video game song that could seamlessly blend into a techno rave in any generation. I'll wait. Ice Cap is one of those that you love the loop because the vibe is so...chill.

[@uriahwright2058]

I'm about to rant for awhile so be ready. The whole topic of this is where he references how the back and forth chords simulate skiing. So I looked more into that and found that the whole song adds to the setting. The bass, throughout the entirety of the song rises and falls. In section B the main melody can be split into sections where the notes also rise and fall. The rapid notes in section B obviously move up and down, but the root they move from also rises and falls. All this modulating somewhat creates a mountain peak. At the same time, the instruments give off a frozen vibe.

[@SuperBolt7]

This video is freaking amazing! Thank you!

[@jodyjohnson265]

When I first played Sonic 3 and when I finally made it to ice cap zone the zone felt like it was a different demention.

[@steampunkscientist]

Stage 2 is by far my personal favourite level of all time - I wished it lasted longer. Also, it's funny how after all these years, I just found The Jetzons "Hard Times" a month ago and it literally sound exactly like ICZ without lyrics. Banging.

[@adre2194]

I love the little accompanying visuals. Very fitting, fun, and helpful!

[@DrumsWithJames]

I don't have time to watch this right now, but I DO have time to hit like in advance! Can't wait

[@jonaszx6422]

I love your videos. You deserve more subscribers

[@corootai]

i whole heartedly enjoyed this, i would love love to see you cover more genesis titles, i'm loving the sonic 3 & Knuckles coverage but omg seeing you cover the Streets of rage series or the Ecco the dolphin series, would me a Amaaazing~! :3 thanks so much for this epic video~!

[@ohiorushbaby]

Would also love a look at the Castlevania series, especially Simon's Quest!

[@SECONDQUEST]

What a channel. :) amazing as always

[@whact]

i love your videos so much, they are really well made

[@Valientlink]

Forget what you said at 8:29, many won't hear it because the ring collection noise completely overrides the instruments. It always starts around the time I'm on the spring collecting a lot of rings. You do mention that at the end, but I think it's probably the main reason people don't hear it. Act 2 has 3 different routes so I tend to not breeze through and explore instead

[@MuffinTunes]

This will, forever, be one of my absolute favorite music theory videos of yours until the end of time. Amazing work!! 😎🎵🙌

[@AlexYardZone]

Thanks much Muffin Tunes!!! See you at future streams. I'll probably request Spiral Mountain until you master it lol.

[@AlexYardZone]

Just wanted to say this before I forget, that especially since you're a music teacher, I appreciate your open mindedness in watching my videos since I don't use the typical notation conventions with beams, ties, and perhaps some other elements. I do have a deliberate rationale for each of those type of presentation aspects and we ought to talk shop at some point!

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

I remember when KZbin was new this was act 2 Ice Cap Zone of the first songs I went for, even though I had not played the game in over 10 years, such did the music stick with me.

[@pengil3]

I love how he calls the gumball machine a doilus.

[@Axaul]

Love that the prototype track is also covered

[@blueknightskeleton8424]

BETA Ice Cap is happy go lucky winter wonderland. *Final Ice Cap is what Winter actually is.*

[@Xplasma1]

I think the reason the instruments are muted in act 2, is because the ice is starting to melt. You can see areas where the ice patterns are broken up. The sky is brighter, sunnier in act 2. You can see ice chunks floating by in the background layer, and what's at the bottom of the level? a massive pool of water.

[@null_state]

Ah your videos are the best. Top 5 channel for me. Please keep up the great work.

[@neonnoir9692]

The music never totally stopped on the gen1 Genesis. Maybe the gen2 with inferior sound chip.