2 - The Very First Cave
Track: "Caves of Mt. Moon"
Composer: Jun'ichi Masuda
Game: Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue
Youtube link: [PocketMonstersMusic]
Sheet link: [NSM's PDF]
It's the original Pokémon adventure. It's the first time stepping into a cave entrance... let's take a listen to what you hear inside. (Besides endless Zubat cries, of course.)
Mt. Moon sets the scene perfectly for what one might expect after stepping into a cave for the first time. Something about this track just seems so desolate right off the bat, and that's the fact that this track uses only two voices (save for the lead-in to the 3/4 measures) and no percussion. Unlike every other major track in the game, the use of only two audio channels makes Mt. Moon sound empty. In a good way, because you're all alone wandering around the vast interior.
Adding to this is the use of the whole tone scale throughout the piece, which gives the piece a surreal, dream-like feel. On top of all that, this track has the strangest rhythms of all the Kanto themes. Listen to the intro and the song is pretty well-structured with a 3+3+2 rhythm. Things change at measure 13, and the song transitions into the section with lower chromatic ascents that slowly get lower and lower as the song slows down. Right when the song sounds like it's about to break down completely, it snaps back to something resembling the first section, but...
The rhythms past measure 20 can be written out in a number of different ways, but it's difficult to follow along with a single pulse. If somehow you manage to listen this far enough in the theme without being ambushed by a Zubat, this section serves to try and confuse and disorient you as you wander through the dimly lit rooms of Mt. Moon. And when you've finally uncovered a consistent 6/8 rhythm as one of the two voices drops out, the track throws one final curveball at you with a 7/8 measure returning back to 4/4 for the intro. Wow, that's one heck of a Game Boy track. And with only two voices, at that.
Other incarnations:
Track: "Caves of Mt. Moon"
Composer: Jun'ichi Masuda
Game: Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue
Youtube link: [PocketMonstersMusic]
Sheet link: [NSM's PDF]
It's the original Pokémon adventure. It's the first time stepping into a cave entrance... let's take a listen to what you hear inside. (Besides endless Zubat cries, of course.)
Mt. Moon sets the scene perfectly for what one might expect after stepping into a cave for the first time. Something about this track just seems so desolate right off the bat, and that's the fact that this track uses only two voices (save for the lead-in to the 3/4 measures) and no percussion. Unlike every other major track in the game, the use of only two audio channels makes Mt. Moon sound empty. In a good way, because you're all alone wandering around the vast interior.
Adding to this is the use of the whole tone scale throughout the piece, which gives the piece a surreal, dream-like feel. On top of all that, this track has the strangest rhythms of all the Kanto themes. Listen to the intro and the song is pretty well-structured with a 3+3+2 rhythm. Things change at measure 13, and the song transitions into the section with lower chromatic ascents that slowly get lower and lower as the song slows down. Right when the song sounds like it's about to break down completely, it snaps back to something resembling the first section, but...
The rhythms past measure 20 can be written out in a number of different ways, but it's difficult to follow along with a single pulse. If somehow you manage to listen this far enough in the theme without being ambushed by a Zubat, this section serves to try and confuse and disorient you as you wander through the dimly lit rooms of Mt. Moon. And when you've finally uncovered a consistent 6/8 rhythm as one of the two voices drops out, the track throws one final curveball at you with a 7/8 measure returning back to 4/4 for the intro. Wow, that's one heck of a Game Boy track. And with only two voices, at that.
Other incarnations:
- The FireRed and LeafGreen version supplements the original with subtle background voices, ultimately to the same effect.
- Pokémon Gold and Silver uses the first section for "Rock Tunnel", which interestingly has the melody echo itself an eighth note after it strikes. But it loses the entire rest of the track...
- Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver also add background voices but changes it to give the track a lighter, less imposing feel.
- In Pokémon Gold and Silver and HeartGold and SoulSilver the entire Mt. Moon area is revamped and the music is replaced with a simple, cheerful track... as the whole dungeon is gone.
- Most interestingly, Shinji Miyazaki's anime arrangement replaces the two voices with extremely echoey pianos and messes with the rhythm even more... it starts out in 9/8, changes, and evokes the same surreal-ness in the original.
