(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). Piano/vocal/guitar arrangements of 25 top hits spanning the wildly successful career of the Swedish supergroup. Includes: Dancing Queen * Fernando * Knowing Me; Knowing You * Mamma Mia * S.O.S. * Super Trouper * Take a Chance on Me * Thank You for the Music * Waterloo * and more.
#3896984 in eBooks 2011-07-01 2011-07-01File Name: B00GOMZW6K
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Perfect for a Gamer Who Loves Music (But a bit heavy with some of the theory...)By C. W. SmithI enjoyed this book as a whole.In particular; I liked the context and history and technological discussions about what videogame music was at the time; how it was made; and who Kondo approached his design to the Mario Soundtrack.That being said; there are parts of this book that went WAY over my head. As the chapters progress and Schartmann delves into the music theory and historical context of Kondos inspirations--he lost me. I consider myself a fairly intelligent and informed person; but when it comes down to the nitty gritty theory of why music works as it does and what Kondo did to achieve the equivalents with his limited tools; I often had no idea what the words I was reading meant.And just because a person doesnt understand something; I realize that this is not a bad thing. Thats part of why I love reading: finding new words; new ideas; new concepts that force me to do some research. But with what Ive read--and have seen--of the 33 1/3 series is that theyre fairly accessible to any and every music aficionado. But I dont think Im alone in being lost here. (Granted; I DO want to learn music theory; and perhaps Ill enjoy this book even more after.)In the end; this is a mixture of mostly good with some "over my head" stuff that weakened the book for me. Is this for everyone? No. But bare minimum; I think Schartmann has written a very convincing argument as to why we can--and should--look at such scores like the SUPER MARIO BROS. Soundtrack as complete and whole albums; cohesive and glorious in their simplicity.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Awesome Insight to a great soundtrackBy MattdFun neat insight on the Mario soundtrack. Does a good job of fleshing out; why the songs were written the way they were; and what led to such a memorable soundtrack. Id love to see something similar for the 1st Zelda game next!5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Great little book.By Bob G.The soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. is only three minutes long; but its four main songs (Overworld; Underworld; Water; and Bowser Castle); shorter themes (like the Starman music and Level Completion); and sound effects are iconic. Dozens of games re-arranged the music and hundreds of new arrangements can be found on Youtube.The author says nostalgia alone doesnt explain its appeal - that the music is charming and full of character. It was also innovative. He goes into the background of Super Mario Bros. and what made it unusual for its time; coming after the arcade revolution; when music mostly consisted of flashy sound effects. He also examines the musics voice leading; rhythms; harmonic structure; form; as well as its imaginative sound effects.The score excerpts are well transcribed; better than anything youll find on the web. Separate voices are designated as square-wave; triangle-wave; etc.; and are stay within their staves; instead of the quick and dirty piano reductions you usually see. The time signatures and tempos are consistent with standard notation (e.g.; the simple cut-time signature for the Overworld theme; instead of the ridiculous "Quarter Note = 200" designation you may see on the web). The book doesnt include a full score; which isnt in its purview and would probably be a copyright violation.The book also as a thoughtful interview with an NES composer who points out the different styles of composition in the West vs. Japan. Western composers often focused on pushing the limited sonic capabilities of the NES via clever programming; and Japanese composers focused on writing catchy tunes with more traditional voicing..The analyses are solid; but the writing is uneven. It switches from fanboy raving to dry academic term paper. No big deal if youre used to reading music theory papers; but boring for a general reader. On the plus side; its footnoted and has a full bibliography; in case you want to read yet more academic writing.As a whole; a great book if youre interested in video game music.
