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Music Media Entertainment Games

The Video Game Pianist 216

Posted by timothy from the tickling-ivories-for-extra-lives dept.
Neil Halelamien writes "Many enjoy listening to video game music arrangements, like those offered by OCRemix, Project Majestic Mix, or the Minibosses NES-rock band. A newcomer on the scene is the Video Game Pianist, an accomplished performer studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His skills garnered the attention of some in the industry -- he performed at the 2005 Game Developers Conference and will also be playing live at E3 this year. His web site offers some amazing performance videos (many with him playing blindfolded), downloadable albums, live internet concerts, sheet music, and other goodies, all for free. His albums and videos include several selections from the Mario, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Final Fantasy series. Fans of his work can also donate to support his music."
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The Video Game Pianist More

The Video Game Pianist

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  • Blindfolded? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:22PM (#12257635)
    Since when is playing the piano while wearing a blindfold a great accomplishment?

    Any reasonably accomplished pianist should be able to do this trivially.
    • I've been playing piano for about five years now, and you're absolutely right.
      Now, if he could learn a song blindfolded, by ear, with bamboo shoots under his toe nails, then yes, it would be an accomplishment.
    • Agreed.

      Some pianists read music without looking entirely. In fact, it could be said that typing while not looking is harder. We all do that, right?
      • Sure, but how do you find the home row? I don't see nubs on any of the keys...
        • While I'm sure this was meant to be a joke (and a rather good one, given that there is no "default position" for your hands on a piano... er... anyway)... It's actually quite easy. For example, a computer keyboard's keys don't sound different when you hit them, while a piano, well, that's its whole point.

          Also, finding a specific note on a piano is relatively easy with a blindfold on because of the fact that the black keys help you to find your way. Finding the right octave is easy (and finding the right

    • Re:Blindfolded? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It's not, I'm not even that accomplished and I hardly look down when I play, if ever. I also touch type on the computer without looking, which I think is somewhat more complex than the basically 1-dimensional piano keyboard.

      After all, if you have to look at the keys, how the heck do you read the music??
      • I play some piano too and if I have a song to memory I only have to occationally glance at my fingers. When typing on a keyboard, I never have to look at my fingers unless I need the top row of symbols above the number keys. I find that blind piano playing can become a bit more tricky when your hands have to shift one or two octives at a time. Once your hands leave its position, the fingers no longer have a frame of reference. So you simply have to memorize the distance your hand needs to move to reach
      • When you type on your keyboard it doesn't matter how hard or soft you hit the keys. The number of keys needed to perform some obscure command rarely exceeds 3.

        When you play the piano, it matters how hard or soft you hit the keys. Often the keys are played 6+ at one time; also figure in that certain keys want to be played louder than others when striking the chords. There is also a sustain pedal involved.

        The most challenging skill is to "hear with your eyes." You can't look at music and push the right butt

    • Re:Blindfolded? (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      He played backwards too, although I bet that isn't very hard. !ees ,sdrawkcab epyt hcuot nac I

    • Re:Blindfolded? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is not exactly the case. Musicians use visual cues all the time to judge timing and distance to the keys. It's true that dealing with the blindfold isn't that difficult for a lot of musicians, but it does make things tricky for many others.

      This is the reason why Bösendorfer makes a special black cover for the extra keys at the bottom of the range -- so pianists used to the regular 88-key Steinway keyboard don't get confused by the extra keys at left.
    • It seems most of the comments here are simply claiming this to be an ordinary, if not trivial feat. Which admittedly, if you are a long-time pianist, isn't entirely out of the question. But even if his playing isn't phenomenal, it it still quite unprecedented for someone to play some piano and be recognized on ebaum's world and the other such sites. So maybe you don't think he deserves to be on /.'s front page, months after his appearance onto the web (I don't think its timely at all), but if you can't do i
      • Damn right. If these people are so great as him, why don't we hear about them on ebaums world.

      • Re:Blindfolded? (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I can do it better than he can. So this post is just flamebait.

        I'm also a graduate student at Julliard. I took a look at the sheet music, and those arrangements are nothing exceptionally difficult.

        They are on the level of a 5th or 6th year student.

        Playing blindfold is a stage-trick without any real merit.
        • Right, we know this, because the top musicians in the world are not those who play blindfolded at concerts and so on. But that's not the point; if you are a grad student at Julliard, then show us what you can do. Just, of course, make it video game related, and maybe the next /. front page news will be you instead of this guy and his "stage-tricks".
    • You're right...now if he actually played Super Mario Brothers and beat the game (or even a level) while blindfolded, THAT would be impressive. :)
      • I know a guy who used to be able to beat everyone up through Bald Bull in Mike Tyson's Punch Out with his back turned to the screen. That was a long time ago, but he can still beat King Hippo that way without getting hit, even though he hasn't practiced in a long time.

  • Acapella (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    you should also check this out [ebaumsworld.com]
    • For some reason a cappella choir has preserved the beauty of the human voice mixed with modern, interesting, entertaining repertoire, with more than a thread of sophistication.

      I don't know why the rest of the musical world insists on being so stuck up and bass-ackwards. It's fun to hear something really old every once and a while, but never before in the history of western music has the arts community been so obsessed with OLD MUSIC.

      The moral of the story is, go to a cappella performances - they're great!
    • I wish I had mod points - that is a hilarious video. College a capella performances are almost always incredibly fun. I've seen a lot of really awesome fun covers, and this video is a great example of the fun people can have with a little creativity.
  • Not everyone could link to videos of themselves on muchosucko or ebaumsworld with such dignity.

  • Send money, quick! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:24PM (#12257648) Journal
    Fans of his work can also donate to support his music

    If he is as good as people say, he'll make a bundle of money, much more than the avarage joe. If you want to give money, try finding an underfunded public school music program. Get some friends together, and maybe raise enough to help support a music teacher.

    If this guy sucks, he is not worthy of your financial support, and will probably end up as a side-show in bars all across America playing the theme song to Bards Tale.

    • How many really talented folks are still paying out-of-pocket to put their own mp3s up while the general public is happily making the latest "Idol" drones rich? The least we could do is throw him a few bucks to compensate for his iminent slashdotting.
    • Well if you don't want to donate, that's your choice of course.

      However, for all of us who dislike all that modern copyright and RIAA stuff, then we should seriously consider giving donations to musicians we like who distribute their work freely.

      The best way to send a message to the industry, to society, and to musicians is with money. Actions speak louder than words, but money speaks louder still. If artists know that they can actually be compensated for distributing their music freely, then new business
    • I make donations to many organizations and projects, and I have to decide how to best spend this money. If a project is very popular, there are more people who are likely to donate. If the developer/author/composer is getting rich as a result of the donations, then I don't see the need for an additional donation from me. The money would be better spent on a project that I think is important and useful but which is not so popular.

      With nothing more than a "donate" button I have no way of judging whether

  • Argh (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rbarreira ( 836272 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:25PM (#12257653) Homepage
    His tempo sucks in the Mario song video. Quite cool though :)
    • Actually his tempo is quite accurate compare to the video game itself considering this is a human playing the note.

    • Re:Argh (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Zorilla ( 791636 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @07:19PM (#12258227)
      He only used a metronome as a reference to prove that the video is not being sped up when he starts playing really fast.

      He may not be a legendary piano player, but for a bunch of basement gnomes, you guys sure are crapping on him.
    • He likes to play the Mario theme at about 116 beats per minute. In my head I hear the original Mario theme at around 98 beats per minute... correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel he takes things a bit fast.

      There is a long standing tradition of rubato in music - you take some time away from some beats and give it to others - a musical jenga of sorts. It was very popular in older times and has been lost in the modern age of cool-clean recording perfection.

      I don't think the rubato is out of place for an acousti
      • You're right that it's a bit fast. I don't think he's trying to throw in rubato though. I think it's an attempt to make sure the triplets are even. The majority of the main theme is lot of syncopations on various sixteenth divisions, but there are places (the ascending arpeggios) that are triplets. I think what happened was that he got excited and squished the sixteenths too close together and overexagerated the triplets.

        I only know all of this detail becuase I've recently arranged the theme for my mid

  • So that's what happened... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dante Shamest ( 813622 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:26PM (#12257656)

    I was downloading a bunch of files off OCRemix, when suddenly all my downloads became very slow for no reason.

    Then I saw the front page of Slashdot...

    • Heh, how funny. I noticed the same thing happening too. Anyway, here's a script I wrote specifically for the purpose of updating songs from these guys

      By the way, I'm using a mysql database for this. The table looks like so:

      CREATE TABLE `Remix` (
      `Id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
      `FileName` char(100) default NULL,
      `Downloaded` tinyint(4) NOT NULL default '0',
      PRIMARY KEY (`Id`)
      ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1

      Oh yeah, there's a query class that I regularly use for something like this. But

      • Consider it an Exercise for the Reader to rewrite this using Pear:DB

        Hmm, or rewrite it in Ruby On Rails, and spend all of 5 minutes doing it.

  • Legal? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tepples ( 727027 ) <tepplesNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:27PM (#12257663) Homepage Journal

    He's distributing recordings of copyrighted video game tunes and asking for donations. Isn't that an infringement? Or is he paying 8 cents per downloaded song to the copyright owners?

    • Re:Legal? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      They're his own recordings of his own performance. Now, in the US there are automatic royalties due for "covering" another band's song, but when the original "band" is in Japan, I wonder what happens...

      • Now, in the US there are automatic royalties due for "covering" another band's song, but when the original "band" is in Japan, I wonder what happens

        The mechanical royalties for phonorecords made on U.S. soil would still go to the copyright owner under international treaties.

    • The mask works the music came from are out of copyright. Now does the music thereon constitue a separate copyrighted work? Hmm...

      • The mask works the music came from are out of copyright.

        The audiovisual works are not out of copyright, and the audiovisual works will not be out of copyright until after you have died.

        • The audiovisual works are not out of copyright, and the audiovisual works will not be out of copyright until after you have died.

          Sure, but if they aren't filed as separate copyrights, I doubt anyone would bother going after him. It's not as if there were a huge market in video game soundtracks. (at least not in the US)

          • Sure, but if they aren't filed as separate copyrights

            How can you assume this? Given the budgets of the legal departments of major video game publishers, it's just as easy to file form PA as it is to file form MW. Many countries where Nintendo has a subsidiary don't even require any form of copyright registration at all.

            It's not as if there were a huge market in video game soundtracks.

            Even if the market for video game soundtracks is not huge, such a market is present. Does whether or not preparing

            • How can you assume this?

              I didn't. Notice the "if".

              Does whether or not preparing a derivative work is a fair use depend on whether or not the market is huge?

              No. I don't intend to make a judgment of any sort. Just trying to guess as to what Nintendo will do. I imagine that they would measure the cost of any bad PR of a lawsuit before proceding.
    • that perform well known songs and having a hat or a musical instrument case opened in front of him accepting donations.

      • Are you claiming that performing BMI music without a BMI license and distributing records of copyrighted songs without permission are both well within "it's not illegal if you don't get caught"?

    • There's a difference (a very big difference) between the copyright of the music (which is relevant here) and the copyright of a specific recording (which is not). If you publish your music as is normally done (e.g. by U2, or Britney, or whoever) you cannot prevent others from performing it, or recording it. You are usually due a (pretty small) fee, but you can't stop it. Hence all the cover versions of songs where the original artist didn't like it.

      On the other hand, distributing/performing a recording of

  • Wow memories! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by LiquidCoooled ( 634315 )
    The Amiga was the first place I heard decent quality music (I missed out on c64...).

    The quality of some tunes easily outstripped modern "pop" groups.

    Heres a nice rundown [mirsoft.info] of the main history of game music.

    I just had to go hunt down the Project-X mod files.

  • Fantastic! (Score:3)

    by SendBot ( 29932 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:28PM (#12257668) Homepage Journal
    I had been listening to this guy's performances for a few months now, but my copies weren't very good quality and I never actually knew who this was. I even had a video of him playing like mad as his phone rings in the background and it's simply amazing to see him go.

    That site is very informative and has some great resources. Go see it if you haven't already.
  • Oh man this poor guy is trying to make some money on the side, but without ads the bandwidth costs for the next few days are going to destroy his bank account. Hopefully he'll think quick and at least put up some google ads. I'm sure a lot of people here read on penny-arcade about the ex-keenspotter who is making more money with just google ads. (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/)
  • I can only give you two great URLS:
    http://remix.kwed.org/ [kwed.org] for c64 remixes and the homepage of a SID-metal band: www.machinaesupremacy.com [machinaesupremacy.com]. You can find there free great songs to download!

  • Ninentdo Themes Choir (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Xeo 024 ( 755161 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:42PM (#12257733)
    I thought this [gprime.net] one was rather well done (it's a .WMV).
  • This guys used to call himself the blindfolded pianist [archive.org]. Identity crisis?

  • Sorry about the donations link in submission (Score:5, Informative)

    by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:46PM (#12257755) Journal
    Gah, looking through the comments I'm starting to regret adding in an explicit link to this guy's donation page. I figured I was doing him a favor and trying to make up for the inevitable slashdotting, but looking through the comments, the donations link seems to have been received rather poorly.

    The impression that I get from him is that he plays video game music because he truly enjoys it, and hopes to broaden the popular perception of piano. I don't think he really cares about the donations very much, just that they help keep things running smoothly. I thought his work and efforts were worthwhile enough to give him $50, but your mileage may vary.

  • I won't be impressed (Score:5, Funny)

    by VikingBerserker ( 546589 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @05:48PM (#12257766)
    ...until I see him perform the Frogger theme song while trying to cross a freeway.
  • Stuff Sonic and Zelda -- anyone here remember some of the great music accompanying some BBC Micro games? Crazee Rider, Dunjunz, Icarus, and FireTrack all had great original music that was worth listening to on its own, and pushed the little sound chip to its limits. (Most were also great games, too, but I was never a particularly avid game player.)
  • I was playing Mario, Zelda, and Sonic music on the piano back in 1995. Played them at the piano store in the mall and in the drama room at high school during lunch breaks. I guess I should have just kept doing it until the Internet reached critical mass...

  • From the site:

    The Video Game Pianist has never:
    Played Chopsticks on the piano, or Hot Cross Buns
    Learned Beethoven's Fur Elise
    Taken a pill
    Got a headache
    Smoked a cigarette
    Tasted alcohol
    Drank coffee
    Broken a bone
    Driven a car
    Bought anything with cash over $25
    Torn a muscle
    Turned on a radio to listen to music
    Watched the Superbowl
    Got in a fist-fight
    Played a song composed by a female
    Gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain
    Got a sunburn
  • "...some amazing performance videos (many with him playing blindfolded)..."

    I'm no Mozart, but even I can play my instrument with my eyes closed. What's that instrument? The bass guitar. I used to play the piano, and part of one of my lessons involved playing a song with my eyes closed.

  • Pretty cool, but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by arodland ( 127775 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @06:51PM (#12258070)
    Not excessively creative. On the FF front, his Kefka is almost identical to the Piano Collections version, and for Balamb Garden and To Zanarkand, I might as well just put on the games themselves; I'll hear the exact same thing, only with much better recording quality. The Mario-related work is of a similar quality level, only the track labeled as SMB3 "Overworld Theme" isn't. On the other hand, "Calm [er, Silence, whatever ] Before the Storm" has some promise. It's one of my favorite tracks from the rather mediocre FF X soundtrack, and it translates rather nicely to a real piano. Even here, though, the interpretation is entirely literal. If this guy had submitted to VGMix I think he'd be told to go back to WIP :)
  • To all those lamenting about how untalented this kid is -- can you link to a better played rendition of the Zelda theme, for example?

    I, for one, think it's pretty cool to see/hear the Zelda theme played on piano by anybody, let alone by someone halfway decent.

    So if there is someone who plays this stuff better, gimme a link. Otherwise shut the hell up.

  • Pianist (Score:1, Insightful)

    by LaupRellim ( 528307 )
    From the perspective of a person who has taught at a major American conservatory for many years, I should say that this guy is doing something admirable by challenging the assumption that most conservatory faculty make that the only music worth playing is "the classics". The classics are great -- ridiculously great, in fact -- but this dude is taking a risk and doing something reasonably well that hasn't really been done much before.

    Also, keep in mind, he's an undergraduate, and so if his technique isn'

  • disillusioned (Score:5, Insightful)

    by infinite jester ( 206583 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @07:19PM (#12258225)
    The majority of the replies in this forum are downright contemptible.

    Here is a humble and talented teenager who is producing fun and original arrangements of video game music because he obviously loves to do it. He set up a free video game sheet music archive and community, and his videos and audio are free to download as well. Read some of his words, and you'll find that he's a really smart and sweet guy, and there's not a picture in his gallery where he's not wearing an ear-to-ear grin. For good measure, he's even a chess champion.

    And yet, all anyone here seems to be concerned about is his tempo and the occasional wrong note, instead of appreciating his ability and his spirit. "He's not that great." "This is nothing special." "Anyone can do it with a little practice." I would have thought that a unique young talent who's doing what he does for the love of the art would find a better reception on Slashdot. I'm sorry to see that I'm so very wrong.

    As Cartman says, "Screw you guys. I'm going home."
    • I think some of the bad response is from other actual musicians. The generally amazing reception this guy is getting is a real shot to musicians who know it's just a hack job.

      As I musician myself I can say I have nothing against this guy or his playing.. Music students (University level) often put 10+ hours a day in practicing and studying the art, and seeing somebody put some hack project together and get internet-wide praise is, well, annoying.

      Any serious musician KNOWS this guy isn't claiming to be a

      • Re:disillusioned (Score:3, Insightful)

        by EEBaum ( 520514 )
        As a musician, mod parent up!

        As a composer, I've recently written a piece based on video game music (no tune in particular, but the general Mario/Zelda/Kirby/etc.-esque feel) for clarinet choir that will be performed next month. It isn't the subject matter that's upsetting; I believe all, and I do mean all, musical styles have something to offer and should not be discounted.

        I totally agree that most of the backlash isn't due to the fact that he's playing video game tunes, but that he's playing them slo

      • Re:disillusioned (Score:3, Insightful)

        by violajack ( 749427 )
        I think the bad response is mostly from amature musicians who would like to think they're really good, so they want to claim to be able to do the same stuff he's doing. Did you even read the kid's bio? CIM is not a hack-job school to get into. I work with several CIM trained musicians in the Erie Phil, and they are certainly not hacks. He has several awards from international competitions under his belt. He is an accomlished player. Whether or not these pieces show off that accomplishment is another m
  • I remember really liking the Sonic CD soundtrack when I was younger, for the Sega CD. Hahah man that was a cool system. Snatcher was great! So I realized you could play back Sega CD discs in your CD player, and I made a tape of the Sonic CD soundtrack. It was probably influential in getting me into electronic music.

  • video game pianist? (Score:2, Informative)

    by krunk4ever ( 856261 )
    i was going to say, isn't the only songs he play mario tunes, but then i found his list of recordings [videogamepianist.com]:

    Mario Fantasy
    Release Date: February 4, 2005
    Total Playing Time: 33:23
    Download size: 17.5 MB
    Track Listing:

    01 Super Mario Brothers 1 - Overworld Theme
    02 Super Mario Brothers 1 - Underworld Theme
    03 Super Mario Brothers 1 - Castle Theme
    04 Super Mario Brothers 1 - Star Theme
    05 Super Mario Brothers 1 - Underwater Theme
    06 Super Mario Brothers 2 - Ending Theme
    07 Super Mario Brothers 3 - Overworld Theme
    08 Super M

  • Why video game music? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    People who haven't listened to a lot of video game music might not understand what's so compelling about it. Several things are unique about video game music, especially from 1990 and earlier:

    (1) It's designed to be repeated, since in most games you'll hear a 3-minute song over and over during your whole 15- or 25-minute level. Today's pop music is designed to be as memorable as possible, whereas video game music is designed to play *in the background* and not annoy you too much. Modern video game music
  • You gotta be kidding me.... people have been covering Super Mario for over a decade at least.

    My favourite version is Mr. Bungle's.

    http://mp3download.01-mp3search.com/top53-Super- Ma rio-Bros-Theme.html
  • For those of you who enjoy the minibosses and other music incorporating videogame's into their music I would recommend checking out Machinae Supremacy [machinaesupremacy.com], they even offer their music for download in Ogg Vorbis. :)
  • It took me 20 years to get that stupid Mario music out of my head. I used to fall asleep and wake up with it stuck in my brain on endless loop. Now that I finally can't remember it, do you think I ever want to hear it again?
  • Pretty harsh comments, considering it's not likely that a single person here could do any better. I've had piano lessons for over 8 years (since I was 5) and it's easy to tell that this guy is head and shoulders above anything I could do. He's got a gift, and I'm glad he uses some of it to belt out old-school video game tunes. Besides, it's pretty obvious this is a hobby/fun thing for him - I doubt he practices 5/hours a day of Mario so he can upload a video to the web.
    • "Pretty harsh comments, considering it's not likely that a single person here could do any better."

      Don't be so sure. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but I've been playing piano since I was 6 (well over 20 years at this point). I have excellent relative and absolute pitch, yadda yadda. I haven't seen him do much of anything I couldn't do with enough practice - it's not a matter of ability so much as it's a matter of rote memorization... getting the muscle memory thing down, etc. It doesn't take
      • Sure it is, but seriously now, for all the people here bashing the guy, how many are like you? Also, for all the "rote memorization" claims, it's pretty clear from what he's done and the festivals/competitions he's been in that the dude is an accomplished piano player, and chances are he's better than most people who simply claim they have 10-20 years of standard training.

        Besides, I'm assuming that 1) he did his own composing/transcribing, and 2) the playing that he's doing is unquestionably at a pretty h

  • ...But there is no sheet music in front of him either!

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