Pipe organs are one of the most popular instruments used in video game soundtracks, so I thought it’d be awesome to take a look at all the unique ways in which they’ve been featured in video game music as well as how they’ve appeared visually. Also, just how many times can Final Fantasy show up in this video anyhow?!
Heya! I haven’t uploaded to this channel in a super long time, so I thank everybody for their patience! Immediately after Pianos in Video Games, I spent 6 months working on a project I ultimately canned, before moving onto various other projects including launching a new comedy channel and filming the newest episode of my show HIGH SCORE (more info at the end of this video.) I’ve still been constantly creating even in my hiatus, and now I just hope I can get more videos out. I’ve actually been filming stuff for this channel for months and months, but haven’t been focused enough on any one project to finish it. I think this has been a huge factor in why it’s taken me this long to upload a new video, and so right now I want to prioritize finishing one video at a time so that stuff gets DONE. That’s how I finally finished *this* video.
So, Organs in Video Games. After first working on the script from late 2019 through late 2020 (again, this is why I’m going to focus on one project at a time now), I really started making this video in earnest starting in January this year. In total this video took several dozens of man hours to create (~70 as a rough estimate? But I’m bad at guesstimating so don’t take my word for it.) Most of that time was spent researching (i.e. hunting for examples of organ music) because, just like with Pianos in Video Games, I wanted this video to be as comprehensive as reasonably possible. There’s tons of lesser known pieces/games I feature that I’m sure I would’ve missed if I hadn’t dedicated several weeks to finding all the organ examples I could. Beyond that, I listened to over 300 pieces in search of the lowest notes, which after narrowing it down to a list of about 60 I analyzed each in my DAW to ascertain what pitches those notes were.
TL;DR a lot went into making this video special, which I hope is reflected in the end result. Making this video and the last has been very fun, so I hope people find this stuff as fascinating as I do. Look forward to the new content coming soon!
For the list of music used in this video with timestamps, see my pinned comment. The list was actually so long it maxed out the character limit for this description (never had that happen before.)
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– MUSIC USED IN THIS VIDEO –
0:00 Catherine: Full Body – Hymn (Applying)
0:31 Genshin Impact – Windborne Hymn
0:58 Chrono Trigger – Cathedral Organ
1:06 Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Garreg Mach Cathedral
1:30 Super Mario Odyssey – Honeylune Ridge: Wedding Hall
1:46 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Tarrey Town Wedding
2:09 Katamari Damacy – Fugue #7777
2:14 GRIS – Perseverance
2:30 Final Fantasy XIV – Ishgard Day Theme
2:49 Final Fantasy XIV – Churning Mists Day Theme
3:08 Final Fantasy XIV – Azys Lla Theme
3:35 Final Fantasy VI – Dancing Mad
4:29 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army – Gouma Den
4:43 Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice – Makai Fugue
4:47 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Holy Wisdom
4:50 Final Fantasy VIII – The Castle
4:52 Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Tabuu
4:56 Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs – Church Organ
4:58 Luigi’s Mansion 3 – Boo Attack!
5:00 Tales of the Abyss – Farthest Place – Threat
5:06 Dragon Quest VIII – Healed by a Hymn
5:22 Xenosaga Episode I – KOS-MOS
5:31 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – Safety in the Sanctuary
5:44 World of Warcraft – Karazhan (Opera House)
6:00 Bloodborne – Laurence, The First Vicar
6:19 Castlevania: Curse of Darkness – A Toccata Into Blood Soaked Darkness
6:23 Shin Megami Tensei IV – Battle B6 (Merkabah II)
6:29 Silent Hill 3 – Kill God
6:34 Demon’s Souls – Old King Allant
6:47 J.S. Bach – Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
6:53 Super Mario 64 – Ultimate Koopa
7:03 Final Fantasy IX – Dark Messenger
7:16 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Calamity Ganon Appears
7:35 Kirby: Triple Deluxe – Dirty & Beauty
7:54 Resonance of Fate – Basilica [A]
8:10 Paper Mario – King of the Koopas
8:15 Drakengard – Inuart Battle
8:24 Miitopia – Battle: The Darkest Lord
8:36 Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia – Song of Peace
8:48 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Ganon’s Tower
9:08 Suikoden – Neclord’s Wedding March (can’t actually find a name for this)
9:29 Banjo-Kazooie – Inside the Church
9:57 MediEvil (PS4) – Master of the Mausoleum
10:11 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Damon Gant – Swimming, Anyone?
10:24 Gitaroo Man – Tainted Lovers
10:40 King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella – Organ (Sheet Music)
11:05 Mother 3 – A Tiny, Enormous Miracle
12:03 Mother 3 – Forest Prayer Sanctuary
12:31 Charles-Marie Widor – Toccata from Symphony No. 5
12:49 Xenogears – Pray for the People’s Joy
13:12 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – The Dungeon is Full of Monsters
13:18 Shin Megami Tensei II – Cathedral of Shadows
13:35 Shin Megami Tensei IV – Cathedral of Shadows #4
13:42 Mega Man X8 – Lumine Battle (Phase 1)
13:46 Dark Souls III – Curse Rotted Greatwood
13:52 BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger – The Road to Hope
13:56 Devil May Cry – Underworld Temple
14:03 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates – Pope Galdes
14:10 Final Fantasy X-2 – Vegnagun Starting
14:18 Final Fantasy XIV – The Vault Theme
15:01 Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru – Patchwork Chimera
15:16 Persona 5 – Life Goes On
15:59 Persona 5 – Beneath the Mask (Instrumental)
16:16 Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Fly Away in the Violet Sky
16:28 Resonance of Fate – Armed and Dangerous [B]
16:46 Mother 3 – Big Shot’s Theme
16:53 Mother 3 – Back Beat Battle
17:01 Mother 3 – The Green Train’s Fun, Too!
17:09 Mother 3 – Master Porky’s Theme
17:19 Mother 3 – 16 Melodies (Beginning)
17:44 GRIS – Gris, Pt. 2
18:27 Catherine – Lost
Oh he has returned 😎
Great work on this video, I expected no less. The organ isn't an instrument I often think of beyond its most basic clichés even when I've used it, but like I expected it to, this video helps me appreciate it more.
I loved seeing the variety in soundtracks, most of which I would've otherwise not paid much attention to. The part when you actually played the Banjo & Kazooie sheet music was really cool!
Also, the effort you put into finding all those video game tracks with those low notes and presenting them in the video is commendable.
Very nice, like always
Oh you meant the instrument, thought you were going to bring up Mortal Kombat.
Oh jeez I can't hear the isolated G9. Is it time to schedule an appointment with a doctor??
One video game pipe organ I've been enjoying lately is in Animal Crossing (New Horizon). I was just speculating about it's specs yesterday! It has 14 stops, two manuals, and a flat, non-radiating pedalboard. It has two "shoes" – so I presume they are swell/crescendo. All-in-all it seems to be probably an "English" instrument" (Since an american one would almost certainly have a concave/radiating pedalboard. Based on its size and shape, I suspect the only 8' stops are either stopped, or Tenor C, and the only 16' is a pedal Bourdon. With 3 couplers (Sw/Gt, Sw/Pd, Gt/Pd), and trem, that leaves 11 stops. I figure 1 for the pedals, and 5 each for Gt. and Sw. There's a 4' Principal in the Facade – but that's really the only guarantee!
Loved the video!
Persona 4 and 5 gave me massive appreciation of the organ, especially electric organ. Those games made great use of it not only in it's "traditional" usage in jazz and funk, but in (to my knowledge) less traditional ways as well. Persona 4, for instance, uses electric organ in poppy sounding ways, such as in the nighttime town theme, Sky Full of Stars ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJrIJGGbPKE ) and the normal battle theme, Reach Out to the Truth ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cbjrTNSq0I ).
Also, a question: at 15:16 you include Life Goes On, but I was under the impression that the instrument used there was a Rhodes piano, not electric organ? I got that from watching this video (timestamp to the relevant part provided): https://youtu.be/6aj7FbynOQk?t=228
It can be hard to me personally to tell the difference between the two instruments sometimes.