Nintendo Stole a Super Mario Theme from 6 years ealier?
In light of the upcoming Hollywood Bowl “Video Games Live” (see you there mel). I like to bring up a subject that’s been bothering me for some time now.
I’m a LP record digger. I love finding obscure stuff, even well past my DJing/sampling years. I feel like I’m finding a lost piece of time whenever I find some oddity I enjoy. You know that feeling you pride yourself in, when you “discovery” a band, and you find comfort that this band’s following is a tiny elite. An Elite that shakes their heads in shame at all the outsiders. I top that feeling by trying to find records who’s fans have long since come and gone, maybe even deceased, and now I… am the only fan. It may not be true, but who cares, let me hold on to this feeling for a tiny moment.
A while back, while digging through LA’s now closed Aaron’s Records, I ran across a Record from “Friendship”, and I recognized the bassists name, “Abraham Laboriel”. I remembered a buddy of mine telling me that Abe was a “sick bassist”, and at 99 cents, i couldn’t resist. So I bring my loot home, and pop it on my technics. The very first track I played is called “The Real Thing”. I was instantly floored. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was listening to a funked out version of Super Mario Brothers “Underworld” theme.
I flipped the album cover over to find out when this record was released, and why Friendship would cover a Super Mario Bros theme.
Friendship released: 1979
Super Mario Bros released: 1985
what???? Fellow bloggers, help me investigate this one. I’ve found nothing linking the two as of yet.
Give it a listen and tell me if you agree that somebody stole something. I’ve cut together “Underworld theme” followed by “The Real Thing”. Give a listen for yourself.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:46 am
umm, where were you?
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:02 am
Original musica de Super Mario tocada por banda de Funk Rock 6 años antes?…
Se ha detectado una cancion MUY similar al tema de Super Mario Brothers’ "Underworld Theme". La Banda Friendship la lanzó en 1979. Super Mario Brothers fue lanzado en 1985. El link incluye audio de comparacion….
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 am
WOW, I can’t believe how exact this is, if this accurate that the album was released prior to the game you may cause an uprise between this band and Nintendo. WTG nice reporting!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 am
gracias!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:23 am
just added a link your site on gaming based webpage
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:25 am
I don’t think those two are really that much the same. I mean, it’s like four notes of similarity.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 am
Holy shit! It’s note for note, my elementary school years were officially way more funky then I even knew. Great research.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 am
Good work. Can’t wait to see if this makes headlines!
Steve
http://www.mycampusguide.com
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 am
if you play the guitar that is such a simple guitar riff probably played ny millions of people, an uproar, how about nothing, what a waste of time. lol at yourselves
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 am
i doubt they stole it…its a natural chord progression, its almost cromatic..with the octave of each note.. plus the nintendo one modulates. i didnt hear a modulation in the sampled one.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:32 am
I agree the intial riff is the same but its not a very uncommon riff to hear. Simply put the Mario underworld theme has key changes and an entire section that is completely different. I think you are fishing on this in my option one but it is definately an interesting find!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 am
Nice reporting? One half of one line is the same, the first half. Big deal. After those first 6 notes the Mario theme goes in a different direction.
So, no, the entire “song” was not ripped off. If you’re going to be accurate, be accurate.
Frankly, it’s not impossible for those six notes to have been repeated by someone else.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 am
deff not stolen but your friend is right he is a sick bassist
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 am
Seriously, they aren’t that similar. Must have been fun to find when crate-digging but the chances of this happening all the time are huge.
It’s really only a few notes.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:35 am
Hey dude,
Can you telkl me what kind of media player that is you’re using here? Thanks Bro.
-Omar
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:36 am
Yeah, 6 notes being the same isn’t really stolen…
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:39 am
It sounds similar but I wouldn’t say patently so.
Nonetheless, what is the name of the album that the song is from? It sounds great!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:40 am
…no one else thinks it is a little odd that it took them this long to mention it?
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 am
In this day and age, where “copyright infringement” cases are all over the place, I would this is dead on. I don’t know jack about guitars and what not, but I can definitely say that these 2 sounds bear a similarity, maybe too similar. Yeah, Nintendo used modulation, but that’s not the point. In 1985, memory was precious and actual samples were not used. Modulation was pretty much the only route they could go. The notes being played, however, are a different story. Run that by a lawyer and see what happens
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:43 am
Is it possible to make the whole track available for download? It’s unlikely that anyone would have a snowballs chance in hell of finding another copy of the vinyl (especially if they’re like me and on the wrong continent). It sounds like a damn good tune.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 am
a few notes? There dead on identicle in the begining. thats like vanilla ice saying his song was diff than under pressure.
My guess is that a guy from the album worked on the audio for super mario.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:48 am
Actually you guys are all wrong that begining is exactly like the mario begining. I’m sorry it is not like 6 notes it is the complete intro to that song. The likely hood that it is just not a rip off is highly unlikely seeing as the beginging riff is exact to a T what is played in the underworld of the Mario game
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:51 am
what i want to know is if the nintendo theme was original (by nintendo’s own authoring) to super mario bros. nintendo first released stuff in arcades, and then on atari home systems. even still, these probably wouldnt predate the 1979 date. an arcade game might. im too lazy to look, but when did that first donkey kong come out? and didit have this tune embedded somewhere?
as for all this nonsense about common chords and whatnot, sure, most chords and chord progressions are pretty common. that said, if youre going to PUBLISH, the onus lies with you to make sure you arent recreating something else published earlier. whether ripped off or not, it amounts to a bit of sloppiness.
and THAT said, nintendo is — as far as im concerned — THE videogame industry. their stuff rules.
however, the chances that this was random replication are far more slim than you people make them out to be. its easy to say the chords are common, but realistically, there is almost zero chance that two published items — independently of each other — would replicate the exact musical process. and forget that nonsense about nintendo’s being “modulated” and “going in a different direction.” a remake is a remake is a remake, no matter whats changed.
but thats just my opinion, and opinions are like assholes.
yours stinks.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:52 am
Does anyone have a link to the FRIENDSHIP song to hear the comparison?
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:52 am
*** FAKE ***
Please ignore this crap. It is all lies. You sir, are a liar. I think this could be considered slander. Why would you slander Nintendo like that?
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:57 am
According to the law of Intellectual Property which is homogeneous in most civilized countries, this is a rip-off. I BET there’s some financial arrangement between the former members of the defunct band and Nintendo, otherwise back in ‘85 we could have heard about some great scandal between those. Is not that easy to steal a melody to sell it. For a brand like Nintendo could be like loosing millions of dollars in restitutions and fines.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:58 am
That’s a pretty similar sounding song. However, it’s not very easy to ’sue’ someone based on it being nearly identical. Also the fact that it’s only 15 seconds of a song.
Now if that was the entire song, it’d be a different story. Still cool though
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:01 pm
I credit you with having a good ear to pick out the pattern similarity, but it’s really just four notes, not the whole tune (or even the biggest part of it). If there were additional similarities in the funk tune (beyond what is in the sample) then maybe you’d be on to something. Otherwise I’d say it’s just an intresting coincidence.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:04 pm
Six notes does not thievery make. Sounds like a coincidence to me. Or, Nintento and Abraham may have both borrowed it from some unknown THIRD source.
You want outright theivery, listen to this:
http://www.bdmonkeys.net/m/BDM-Blood_Sausage-03-Under_the_Pipe.mp3
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Sounds the same to me. Those saying it’s different probably think “You Can’t Touch This” and “Superfreak are way different as well as “Ice Ice Baby” and “Under Pressure”.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:32 pm
all the people who are on here talking about how this isnt a rip off are crazy, this is the whole reason hip-hop music gets a bad rap for sampling. They should pay up if they haven’t already. That’s a rip off.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:36 pm
I’m in the music industry, and law suits for hundreds of millions of dollars have been won over less.
Example: Garth Brooks settled out of court with Kenny Loggins over a simple cord progression. That was not nearly as note for note accurate.
I am a Nintendo fan.
But this is theft…. and where can I get MP3s of that… (cause I’m a Nintendo fan! and I love it LOL)
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:40 pm
I find it far more likely that Nintendo liscensed the song than stole it. It’s not exactly the same, just very very similar.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:48 pm
@Omar
You can download the flash audio player used on this site from the following address: http://www.mightyseek.com/podpress/
Hope that helps
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Even if it was intentional, it’s only the first few seconds of the song. What if the composer was a fan of Friendship? It is not totally uncommon for artists to give little tributes to each others work.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:11 pm
DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-DOO!
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
this is an exact match with the bass line, damn and the bassist is sick! sounds like les claypool! they should sue and make a ton!!!! and for the person that says its four notes that are similar, uh, its four exact notes in the exact order can you hear the bass line?
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
“Actually you guys are all wrong that begining is exactly like the mario begining.”
lol. the beginning IS the mario song. it specifically says, “I’ve cut together “Underworld theme” followed by “The Real Thing”. Give a listen for yourself.”
gg
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:46 pm
That’s very suspicious. Maybe they cut some kind of deal, you would think the band would notice their song is exactly like one of the biggest video game themes of all time.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:43 pm
you guys must work for Nintendo or something because that is the Mario Brothers song. It states the 4 note melody then modulates up a 4th i think and restates the melody, then the 2nd melody is way to complicated to be a coincidence. this would constitute copywright infringement in this day and age.
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:00 pm
video games really wasn’t considered that big a deal by anyone over the age of 20 in 1985, certainly not enough to sue over musical similarities. it wasn’t uncommon in those days for vg composers to borrow parts of pop melodies for game soundtracks because there was virtually no risk involved. this is only a small bit of the melody that’s similar though, and as someone said earlier it’s a very natural riff to anyone who’s ever picked up a guitar(i’m pretty sure i’ve heard earlier examples of it being used, probably as early as 1959-62…) that said, koji kondo may very well be a fan of friendship, i know he borrowed bits of songs by three suns and other space age pop bands for super mario world and yoshi’s island.
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
That’s nothin’! You wanna get really freaked out, go listen to CAN’s “Turtles Have Short Legs” and then go listen to Parappa The Rapper - “Inspector Mooselini’s Rap.”
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:00 pm
..for example, i would say there are clear similarities between some of the music in super mario bros. 2 and this rendition of smoke rings (download), found on the 1958 three suns album “here comes the suns”, eh?
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Guys, it’s not just 6 notes. Listen to the very beginning, right before those 6 notes - that’s the part of the Mario song right before it loops. The Mario version was simplified but it’s clearly the same section. Just listen to the MP3 - first is the Mario version, pay close attention to the last section of the Mario song. Then a percussion section, and then the last section of the Mario song again! Only a bit more complicated.
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Wow that’s way too similar to just be a coincidence. Insane. My childhood is crumbling.
September 23rd, 2006 at 10:20 am
That rocks!
Here is a Japanese copy of the Friendship album on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FRIENDSHIP-s-t-JAPAN-LP-w-OBI-LEE-RITENOUR-4508_W0QQitemZ4068792814
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Very similiar! Great find.
September 23rd, 2006 at 9:57 pm
One thing that hasnt been mentioned. They are in the same key! You can at least hide something like this somewhat by changing the key of the song. But koji kondo might just have used this. Great find! OR it could just be an amazing coincidence…
September 24th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Great find. Amazing that it took us this long to find it.
There is definetly a better chance that this was stolen then it being a coincidence. Too many things match up too perfectly.
For all of you that are saying it’s four notes, it’s six notes..just for the record.
Being a classically trained musician, I can tell you that yes, it would be easy for anyone who picks up a guitar or sits down at a piano to play the notes “C-C-A-A-Bb-Bb” in succession. They might even like it a lot and make note of it. However, in both recordings, they seperate the notes starting with a lower octave and then proceeding to one higher, thus making the chance of coincidence much less probable.
And then you throw the rhythm into the mix. The rhythm is identical to both. Exactly. One measure In 6/4 time: six eighth notes, three beats of nothing, then repeat. 6/4 time isn’t used very commonly, at all. And let me tell you, I’ve only heard this rhythm combination in one place: mario underground. I guess this makes it two places now.
But the real clincher for me, which I noticed immedietely, (and as jordan stated above) is that they are both in the same key. They both had twelve keys to choose from. They both used C-minor. Enough said there.
Even though I beleive that Koji Kondo used this, I would not look down at him for this, at all. He took this awesome riff, and explanded it to make it much more interesting, and suitable for the undergroundish feel. He made it his own, essencially.
Again, really great find!
September 24th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
i want the friendship album
September 24th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
What?! No way, this is a completely unrelated coincidence! I can’t believe you people think that the three octave notes in that song are even close to the underworld theme. They happen to be the same three octave notes, very popular in the late 70s, found in almost every disco tune…the fact that this band used them in this rhythm is not so unusual either - we’re talking about three notes, here, the first two beats out of four, like a stoptime. Christ, what is it with these lousy conspiracy theorists…there is no way in hell that the Mario song, which contains many, many more notes and parts, ripped off THREE NOTES! Get a life!
September 24th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Looks like the track is featured on a CD compilation called Friendship/The Captain’s Journey.
http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Captains-Journey-Lee-Ritenour/dp/B0007W7HD4/sr=8-1/qid=1159154543/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7331337-9275322?ie=UTF8&s=music
September 24th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Yeah, considering the affinity of disco for jumping bass lines (stringing together pairs of one-octave-apart notes), I’d say this is much ado about nothing.
There are only so many different ways to combine notes into melodies, folks. Now think of the number of songs that have been written in Western music since the invention of the phonograph. Coincidences are bound to emerge.
For this reason, the burden of proof lies on the claimant. The two melodies might sound similar, but that’s not enough evidence to accuse anyone of anything.
September 24th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Found another link that has previews of the CD. The portion of “The Real Thing” that they let you listen to doesn’t anything like the clip, but another song called “Let’s not Talk About It” sounds like it has the same bass riff.
http://www.mp3.com/albums/20013006/summary.html
September 24th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Last one. Found a full version, from keyboardist Don Grusin’s CD. It’s on a reunion album called “The Hang”.
http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/grusin-01.m3u
CD info is here
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/grusin
September 24th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Dude, you need to have the whole song up for download. That is one funky ass song! Its cool!
September 25th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
I think that it’s just a coincidence, but it really sound too similar… Maybe if you play just the bass without the other instruments… Maybe
September 25th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
doo doo doo doo doo doo
lovin it
September 25th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Interesting, though not enough to be a huge surprise. Alot of the greatest soundtracks in both film and games have their influences in existing music. Take for example the infamous Star Wars Imperial March composed by John Williams and compare it to Holst’s Mars.Akin to the songs you’ve presented, the similiarity is obvious although both tracks are very different.-Matt
September 25th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
First off, glassjoe, thanks for the link - that is a sick tune.
Second off, I get the feeling some people aren’t comparing the right parts of the pieces. If you listen to the cut, the first part that sounds all video-gamey and midi-fied (the part BEFORE the drum cuts in), that’s the part from the actual game.
Now I have to admit that there are some striking similarities:
1) The riff uses the same notes in the same key.
2) Rhythmically, they sit near to identically.
But seriously guys, that’s not all there is to it. If you listen to it, the rhythmic situation of the riff shifts in the last part of the Friendship tune - at the exact same time as it modulates. The surrounding melodic structure is supported by it, but not in the same way as it is in the mario tune when it enters the more complex part.
I would cecede to it being a tribute, but in no way a rip off. Frankly, I’ve heard this riff used in plenty of funk tunes and imitated in jazz that taps that spectrum.
In short, good ear, but keep your pants on.
September 25th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Nintendo robó la música de Super Mario Bros?…
Al parecer 6 años antes que saliera Super Mario Bros (1985) a una banda funk llamada Friendship que lanzó un disco con un tema muy similar.
Acá está la comparación:
Link: all things mau
Via: HotLinks
……
September 26th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Pretty strange that some of you see Nintendo as a kind of holy cow. This would not be the first case of something that is seen as untouchable for a long time, later to be revealed as a scam.
Well there might *be* some technical differences between the two songs, but honestly folks…. to most people, the songs sound absolutely the same
There is a slim chance that both composers thought of the same tune — in science, sometimes the same discovery was made independently by two different people. However, the likelyhood of this tune being a rip-off is pretty high. The claimed composer of the Mario Theme, Koji Kondo, is a jazz fan, so he propably knew this record.
Nintendos chances of getting away with this were very high in pre-internet times.
September 26th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Im a crate digger myself. Its stolen, bo question. Play the intro and the Mario tune and people would have a hard time figuring out which is which. Based on ‘beat stealing’ cases over the years, Friendship would have a good case.
September 26th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
You know how I know you’re gay? You listen to “Friendship”
September 27th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
I went to BN.com and ordered a 2LP/1CD of Friendship & The Captain’s Journey. In listening to the whole song I can only find the following to be a true conclusion, tribute and nothing more. There are only some original arangements and eventually all the possibilities will be used up. If the entire song had been emulated in the Nintendo variant this would be a different story, but it wasn’t. It’s good song nonetheless.
Furthermore, Chris that is just childish. Maybe you don’t like Jazz, or maybe you are just a fool, but titles aren’t all things can be cracked up to be.
**********************
Thanks Darth. Actually - I fucking LOVE chris’s comment, it’s my #2 favorite.
September 28th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Wrong Darth, copying even the beginning like that is thievery unless they got permission.
September 28th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Vanilla Ice had 7 notes that he stole that made him famous.
September 29th, 2006 at 5:20 am
진정호 경원대학교 합격
September 29th, 2006 at 8:08 am
Blimey, so it is, AND THIS THREAD WAS STARTED ON MY BIRTHDAY! Hurrah!
September 30th, 2006 at 5:55 am
경원대학교는 어디에 있나여. 저는 한국인입니다. 하지만 모르겠네여. 설마 듣보잡?
where is 경원 univ? i’m korean. but i don’t know. ….. You don’t say 듣보잡?
September 30th, 2006 at 6:06 am
アンビリーバブルや。
October 1st, 2006 at 12:03 pm
“Underworld theme” de Super Mario Bros podría ser una copia…
Al parecer, un grupo de la década de los 70 llamado Friendship realizó un tema en 1979 (6 años antes de la salida al mercado de Super Mario Bros) que se llama “The Real Thing”. Dicho tema recuerda poderosamente al tema “Underworld theme” del jue…
October 1st, 2006 at 4:16 pm
닌텐도가 이젠 망할지도 ㅋ
아무리 그래도 배경음을 독창성없이-_-;
아주 꽤 실망……
October 1st, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Great discovery ! I’m inclined to think this is more a tribute than a rip-off. Between composers this is common, and I really doubt we’ll see any legal procedures regarding the topic.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Don’t think they are that simular.
Why didn’t friendship hear this before?
I mean who doesn’t know that theme…….?
October 4th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Are you kidding me? It is very unlikely that this is just a coincidence:
1) Same tempo.
2) Exact same notes relative to each other.
3) Transposition is exactly 1 and 2 octaves (ie. not even transposed by some amount of semitones!).
4) Exactly 6/8 rests between repetitions.
5) Song is introduced by these notes in both cases.
6) Notes are alone and are used as bass.
I think it’s a stretch to suggest that this is a total coincidence.
But I still think the development of the Mario song (as little of it as there is) is enough for us to consider it as a song that stands on its own. I just wonder what other 1970s songs “coincidentally” sound like other Koji Kondo themes…
October 5th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Man Mau - you sure poked a hornet’s nest with this one. I love all the back-and-forth; especially Mr. Classically-Trained versus the guy talking about modulation like it’s some kind of ray-gun. And btw there’s no chance this is a coincidence.
October 8th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
You really do have all kinds of free time, I really hope you know this.
anywho…….
This is groundbreaking journalism at its best!!! war? what war? I like the idea of my nodes of ranvier and synapses are firing away at the likes of attempting to solve this one hell of a mystery. Not that it will go any further than a brief moment of anger at the audacity of Nintendo stealing from a Funk band.
I’m a fan of music myself and for people to say that this is a coincidence is shitty because I’ve never heard anyone else “steal” this. I SHAKE MY FIST ANGRILY!!!!
October 15th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
Sin duda se trata de la misma rola…
October 18th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Why does nobody complain that the song from Double Dragon on the NES is the bassline from Radar Love? Oh yeah, nobody cares about the music from that game.
October 20th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Yes, the 6-note lick is the same in both tunes. However, it’s entirely possible for the similarity to be coincidental.
They’re in the same key… but that key is C, which is quite probably the most commonly used key in any musical genre. Secondly, that sort of octave-jumping bass line (along with the tempo) is VERY characteristic of disco music of the late 70s / early 80s. Heck, the same lick can be heard in 1981’s “The Great Muppet Caper” when the band is playing on the bus (and I think that may also be in the key of C, if memory serves me well). Songs that are created within the same rough time period are bound to contain similarities, simply due to the collective sense of style at the time.
Could Koji Kondo have heard the Friendship album at some point? Perhaps. But even if he was inspired by it, I doubt he meant such a short lick to be some kind of “tribute” to a little-known jazz album. And considering the amount of completely original music he came up with and the high work ethic he’s shown over the years, I find it laughable that he would stoop to intentionally “ripping” from someone else’s work.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:41 pm
I just found a great video of Laboriel and Koinonia and posted it on my blog. Frankly, I don´t care who stole what from who…
November 14th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
hola hermanos norteamericanos,bueno pues la verdad es que me decepciona terriblemente por parte de nintendo el que alla plagiado de esa forma la cancion,y pensar que nintendo siempre a sido un simbolo de honestidad y originalidad en cuanto a entretencion,pero aun asi sigo siendo fiel fan de nintendo y aqui estoy esperando a que salga super smash bros.brawl.desde chile …SALUDOS.
November 18th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
I think it is very much alike, especially because of the measure (6/8) and timing in combination with the octavation. I think that whoever composed the Mario theme at least heard this other number once, and then, maybe unaware of doing so, copied it.
November 26th, 2006 at 3:25 am
It’s remarkable. Either someone high up in Nintendo was a fan, or it’s a coincidence. It seems more likely the first one but who’s to say?
I will definately be hunting down a copy of that.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
who is it by
January 12th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
It’s probally a coincedance. But SHigeru Miyamoto did like American music and he also love Fitgeralds Books. He kinda kept him alive by using his wifes name in his famous game:
ZELDA
April 15th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
It is like they say:
The good musicians emulate
The great musicians steal
The best musicians get away with it.
To be honest, he could’ve easily (Koji) heard this guy somewhere randomly, thought it was a great tune, and the riff might of got stuck in his head when he prepared the work. I hear a lot of music everyday and can sometimes catch myself taking stuff from other people. I go see so many bands and listen to so much music that I wouldn’t be surprised if I stole a decent portion of a riff from someone else. But its only been recent that people have noticed that musicians have been doing this for a millenia now. Goddamn Musicologists!
April 15th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Whoa!! that’s totally weird. Do I hear “copyright infringement”. Some greasy lawyer somewhere is going to get a fat paycheck off of this one.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:32 am
the notes and key signature are exactly the same in both songs. The melody is very common but paired with the exact time signature makes me wonder…
April 27th, 2007 at 1:15 am
Jack47 go to hell, that goes to anyone else craping on this thread.
Nice find mate.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Im a professional composer and the idea is C C A A B flat B flat jumping in octaves…the keeps repeating… Because the Mario’s Theme develops the material much much more… The first “original” piece does not move down in sequence .. and that its just three different notes… This is meaningless…even if Nintendo “took” that idea on purpose… it doesn’t matter… there are millions of songs with the same EXACT progession … and plenty with the same rhythm… its all about context… Nice catch though….
SH
May 31st, 2007 at 3:33 am
anything happen with this?
June 1st, 2007 at 6:54 am
THIS IS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!! bASED ON YOUR EVIDENCE I BELIEVE THAT NINTENDO RIPPED THIS OFF. AS SOMEONE SAID DONT YOU THINK THEY WOULD HAVE MENTIONED THIS IF THEY ASKED PERMISSION TO COPY THAT RIFT. ALL THE PEOPLE WHO RIGHTS ITS NOT SIMMILAR ARE JUST TRYING TO DEFEND NINTENDO. DONT GET ME WRONG,I LOVE NINTENDO!!!
June 12th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
WOW! im only 13 and ive played my share of games (mostly nintendo!!) and it does sound alike
a caring gamer: noodles
July 11th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
more than coincidental for sure, but itd be interesting if someone knows for sure if Kondo knowingly or purposely jacked it.
fresh stuff though, im a vinyl junkie and mario enthusiast so thats pretty awesome. i’ll watch for that name .
have you ever came across this record?
http://www.videogamemm.com/v/Mario/Miscellaneous/Super+Mario+Bros_+Record.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1
August 15th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Can anybody give me the notes to the mario theme? Not sheet music but notes like ABCDEFG.
August 17th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
i just recently noticed a similarity between a song from final fantasy vii and kashmir by led zeppelin. i made a comparison-type mp3 like you did for these too, also:
http://plaza.ufl.edu/bjornwad/jhat/ff7zep.mp3
October 31st, 2007 at 12:13 pm
can’t listen it. it says: “error opening file”. can anybody help me? what should i do?
no puedo escucharlo. me dice: error al abrir el archivo. puede ayudarme alguien? que puedo hacer?
December 12th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Nintendo killed your link dude.
They are on to you.
January 4th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
They probably just asked the group if they could sample it.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:49 am
You do realize that is a common progression, right? It’s just a I, vi vii, walkup using octaves. A lot of disco songs use that same pattern. I really doubt Nintendo stole it.
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I call coincidence on this one. The only similarity is the first six notes repeating, then both songs go in complete different directions. Besides…a lot of songs have similar parts. There’s only so many notes you can use.