Jazz Pianist Breaks Down Pokémon 8-Bit Music

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[austinevans]

I'd watch you break down 100 of these Pokemon songs man

[maxhutar]

Imagine being a lounge pianist at some ultra upscale restaurant and sneaking Pokémon music into your act

[SSJK]

Hearing these took me back man...
Pokemon silver was my only game until like 6th grade and I beat it at least 30 times.
What a pleasant way to start the morning! Thank you.

[ElsieLovelock]

Sir, imma need a full piano cover of the National Park theme from you 😭😭😭🙏

EDIT: Very Joe Hisashi esque sound, extremely beautiful. I loved listening to that as I always loved the National Park theme and it’s so nostalgic!

[nautilus]

the Japanese don't get enough credit in the music world. they are cracked at composing music

[Dragonmastersservant]

Japanese composers, especially in video games and anime, have such a unique style and sound. They know how to capture emotions I've never felt from anything similar in Western media

[AlexMoukalaMusic]

Pokémon Red's Gym Battle music is also incredible.
To this day, it has some of the best arpeggios / run I heard in Videogame Music

[whiplash]

I would pay MONEY for an album of Charles covering pokemon music in his signature jazzy style

[cpthegenius]

This video got a little emotional for me. Hearing melodies that are submerged in some of my deepest memories; recalling playing hundreds of hours of Pokémon games. It’s deeply nostalgic and reminds me of simpler times. The detail and admiration you took in your approach to video this made my heart smile.

[edwardlee]

I have no idea what the funny jazz man is saying but it makes me happy

[rileymorel_]

I would watch an hour long video of Charles reacting to a bunch of different Pokémon music. He doesn’t even have to break it down, his reactions to chord changes are all we need.

[voia_online]

I LOOOOVE how you slowly fade out music when cutting to an explanation instead of it being a jarring jump. It's the little things, but it really keeps my focus and allows me to enjoy your playing as well.

[spynae]

The way that harmony is implied in chipset music is an absolute masterpiece in working around technical limitations.

[ATTACKoftheSTRINGS]

When you started playing that Ecruteak City arpeggiation, man. You doing these analysis of Studio Ghibli and Pokemon and stuff is everything my child heart could have wanted. Thank you for making these videos!

[TheBitBigBand]

I'm so glad you made this video because it's SO true that those early pokemon games have some of the most incredible use of the insanely limited voices they had to create some of the most interesting and inventive melodies and harmony which makes it SUCH a joy to arrange, since it really is some of the best raw materials of a piece of music to work from.

[samuelecallegari]

I would love to see Charles breaking down the Diamond/Pearl and Platinum soundtrack as it is the jazziest Pokémon Ost for sure!

[MindAndFancyMusic]

It’s even more amazing, the gameboy had 4 channels, but only 3 of them were tonal!

Channel 4 is a noise oscillator.
Channel 1 + 2 are always pulse waves. Channel 3 has a wavetable, so more sounds are possible.

[PrestonThePianist]

Charles' run at 11:13 is easily one of the coolest sounding renditions of National Park I've ever heard on piano. Especially the resolution and build into the high melody notes at 11:23-11:41.

[homiefromfl]

8:52 - 9:38 this slaps sooo hard! I'd pay for an entire pokemon music cover album by Charles.

[ErikCPianoman]

I also love how they mixed a stereo version of each track into the earlier games. Really changes up the feel of the track imho. Thx for sharing. Those gen 1 and 2 chiptunes are my jam.