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Clock Town First 7 Notes

Started by alleysandgullies, December 13, 2017, 02:13:24 PM

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alleysandgullies

Hello, a&g again,

Ok, I have discovered a similarity between Majora's Mask Clock Town theme and the famous baseball tune "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". It is just 7 notes, but they are the main notes of each song.

The first notes of the chorus to TMOttBG are C, C, A, G, E, G and D (song is in C major scale). Clock Town's theme is in the key of D major, except for the third day which is in the key of B minor (which is essentially D major). Now, shifting each of the TMOttBG notes up by 2 gives you D, D, B, A, F sharp, A and E (which means the song is now in D ). Both the newly transposed Ball Game song and the Clock Town song are in the same key, but to change it up, the final five notes of the first 7 notes of Ball Game (B A F# A and E) are changed to C# B A B G, in order to differentiate the two songs.

As to whether it was an intentional similarity, I would say yes. There are a lot of Links (pun intended) between Majora's Mask and baseball:
-Three strikes and you're out? You only have 3 days before the world ends.
-The goal of both games is to get back "home", going through the days/bases.
-The Bomber kids seem to be wearing baseball attire that children usually wear
-There is a baseball minigame in A Link Between Worlds, a game in which you can find Majora's Mask in Links house, hinting at the future MM 3DS remake.

I just thought this discovery was really interesting, not sure if anyone has noticed it before.

Also sorry for the bad English music terminology, I am a music theory noob.
Something minor.

Sebastian

Wow. I have never thought of that before. Interesting!



alleysandgullies

Yeah, I realised this last year when my mum was watching a documentary about baseball. Take Me Out to the Ball Game was played in one part of the show and when I heard it I was like "Hang on a minute, those first few notes sound a lot like Clock Town's theme."

Also, another similarity I discovered in a different game is Banjo-Tooie's Glitter Gulch Mine theme. The "chorus" of that song is just an elongated version of the "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits" 7 note tune.

The notes for Shave and a Haircut are C G G A G B C. The notes for the first bit of Glitter Gulch Mine's chorus is C G G A G, G A G F E G, C G G A G, G A B C. Grant Kirkhope has just held off the "two-bits" resolution (B-C) until the fourth bar.

Again, not sure if anyone has already discovered this before me.
Something minor.

SlowPokemon

I love things like this because no one ever just considers that in tonal music you're going to have a lot of repetitions and similarities because there are very limited possibilities

Like oh maybe it's just that they're both tonal pieces in major keys that stick to diatonic pitches only in the same meter (they're not in the same meter, but the rhythms are being treated like that here)? Nahhh it's plagiarized or definitely a reference can't covince me otherwise
Quote from: Tobbeh99 on April 21, 2016, 02:56:11 PM
Fuck logic, that shit is boring, lame and does not always support my opinions.

ThatHiddenCharacter

Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 13, 2017, 04:58:28 PMI love things like this because no one ever just considers that in tonal music you're going to have a lot of repetitions and similarities because there are very limited possibilities

Like oh maybe it's just that they're both tonal pieces in major keys that stick to diatonic pitches only in the same meter (they're not in the same meter, but the rhythms are being treated like that here)? Nahhh it's plagiarized or definitely a reference can't covince me otherwise
1. He's just voicing his opinion and he never said this was definite, don't just go around judging people. I know a lot of people do what you said, but still.

2. I agree with the Shave and a Haircut one because Banjo-Kazooie's/Banjo-Tooie's music is highly based off that style and it makes sense to use that famous bit.
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alleysandgullies

I am not accusing Koji Kondo of plagiarism or anything like that. I just thought it was interesting. Since baseball is quite popular in Japan, maybe he subconsciously heard this song while Majora's Mask was in development. Or maybe it is just a complete coincidence. Only Koji Kondo knows.
Something minor.

LeviR.star

Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 13, 2017, 04:58:28 PMI love things like this because no one ever just considers that in tonal music you're going to have a lot of repetitions and similarities because there are very limited possibilities

Like oh maybe it's just that they're both tonal pieces in major keys that stick to diatonic pitches only in the same meter (they're not in the same meter, but the rhythms are being treated like that here)? Nahhh it's plagiarized or definitely a reference can't covince me otherwise

Calm down there. As he said before,

Quote from: alleysandgullies on December 13, 2017, 02:13:24 PMI am a music theory noob.

Don't go so hard on him. As a noob, I think it's a fine observation he made, even if an entire new topic was created.

Alleys, are you on Discord? If you want to discuss specific instances like this, you don't have to keep it exclusive to the forums here. We have an official Discord server I'm sure everyone would be happy to invite you to.
Check out my Youtube channel for remixes and original music! LeviR.star's Remixes

Also check out my piano arrangements here on my PA thread! LeviR.star's Arrangements

alleysandgullies

Yeah I just created a Discord account.
Something minor.

LeviR.star

https://discord.gg/BenBj

Here, ^^ this link will be your invitation, but it will expire after one day.
Check out my Youtube channel for remixes and original music! LeviR.star's Remixes

Also check out my piano arrangements here on my PA thread! LeviR.star's Arrangements

alleysandgullies

Should I put the same info in the Discord discussion so more people can see it?
Something minor.

BlackDragonSlayer

If you really want to, but you don't have to.
And the moral of the story: Quit while you're a head.

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