Music in Pikmin: Difference between revisions

''Pikmin'''s soundtrack was also released on CD under the title "[[Pikmin World]]". This official release features some minor changes to the music. In addition to the higher quality on the CD, in most instances, many sounds are now panned towards a specific speaker, instead of being centered.

|name = Pikmin

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Level Select

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = View

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Challenge Mode

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Results

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Today's Results

|official = y

|header = y

}}

{{clear}}

|name = Journey Complete

|official = y

|header = y

}}

== Cutscenes ==

{{clear}}

|name = Carry, Fight, Increase and be Eaten

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Prologue

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard after beginning a new game, accompanying the [[Cutscene#Opening|prologue cutscene]]. This eclectic soundtrack begins in space, with synthesized drones and patterns gravitating around C to set the mood that the protagonist of the game is from an alien planet. [[Captain Olimar]]'s idling ship seems to produce a small hi-pass waltz in D♭, almost as though he is listening to a radio. This hint of D♭ resounds in a dramatic string section when a passing meteor approaches; the strings quiet down as the scene cuts back to the [[S.S. Dolphin]], but the drone of C gets more intense as hand percussion and an alarm sound effect join in. Finally as the meteor strikes the ship a cymbal roll and a leaping gesture on marimba and pizzicato strings warp the previous ethereal drone into chaos. The strings descend across stinging triads far from C as the ship plummets to [[PNF-404]]. Finally as the camera cuts to the sky and ground another cymbal roll changes the tempo and genre to an orchestral rock beat in D minor with another alarm sound overlay. The drums and orchestra simultaneously cut out to a residual ring when the ship crashes; as the entire cutscene has no sound effects on its own, this sudden {{w|tacet}} during the expected sound of a crash landing produces a wholly suspenseful effect, only to be resolved when the first [[day]] begins.

{{clear}}

|name = Discovery of Onion

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Meet the Pikmin

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard when Captain Olimar plucks a new type of Pikmin. This theme stresses curiosity, by way of a transposed melody. That is, the marimba establishes a key of G major, while the exotic synthesizer playing the melody is playing in A♭, making the theme not dissonant but odd. The perfect mood set for a player who did not expect a Pikmin to be plucked from the ground.

{{clear}}

|name = Finding of Parts

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard when Captain Olimar discovers the [[Main Engine]]. Triumphantly ringing through flute, piccolo, vibraphone, french horn, and two synthesized sounds used in the [[#Today's Results|Today's results]] theme, this short scalar melody aids both the understanding of how Pikmin can help and of how [[ship parts]] are important.

{{clear}}

|name = Spaceship Part Obtained

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Power-Up!

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Level Complete

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Night Comes

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard when a [[day]] ends and Pikmin are returned to their Onions. The tone of this piece is very conclusive, yet also builds enough tension through augmented chords and strong melody that the player eagerly awaits the S.S. Dolphin's liftoff by the end. The reverb in this theme is more prominent and more polished than in other cutscenes, most likely since this theme is to be heard at the end of every day.

{{clear}}

|name = My Mistake

|official = y

|header = y

}}

{{clear}}

|name = End of Day

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Plays when the S.S. Dolphin departs after day 30 with all mandatory ship parts but without all 30 ship parts. Flute, strings, vibraphone, marimba, and piano reprise the theme of the Sunset cutscene, with a more conclusive air and a slower tempo, although this reprise does not play the final note. Instead, the scene cuts to three curious Pikmin watching the S.S. Dolphin depart, and the music changes to a progression of loosely connected major and minor chords that sum into a feeling that the events portrayed are not the end of the story. The following cutscene uses the Epilogue theme.

{{clear}}

|name = Escape & Fail

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard when the S.S. Dolphin departs after day 30 without all mandatory ship parts. The beginning of the cutscene is the same as the Epilogue theme, but this theme is heard when the S.S. Dolphin is shown trying to escape the atmosphere. The theme begins the same way as the successful theme, but synthesized chromatic noises, again resembling alarms, intervene as the S.S. Dolphin slows its ascent. Finally the apex of the Dolphin's flight is accented by a dissonant synthesized glissando, after which all music cuts out and the ship falls.

{{clear}}

|name = Live as a Pikmin

|official = y

|header = y

}}

Heard after the final analysis of the [[Cutscene#Bad ending|bad ending]]. This bouncy theme sets a mood of failure and the request to try again more than it predicts the fate of Captain Olimar. A piano and some comical instruments play a frivolous tune, passively complemented with the motivic Native American bass flute from the game's main theme. Xylophone and marimba descend the chromatic scale as [[Olimar as Pikmin|Olimar as a Pikmin]] descends from the Onion. Then, the main motif of the game resurfaces in flute and trombone with a very jocular feel, before resolving and ending with Olimar planted in the ground. This theme's joyous mood helps indicate that this ending is roughly a joke, and not to be considered the serious, canon ending.

{{clear}}

|name = Chapter Complete

|official = y

|header = y

}}

{{clear}}

|name = Escape to Hocotate

|official = y

|header = y

}}

{{clear}}

|name = Enemy Reel

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Credits

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = The Impact Site

|official = y

}}

A playful theme that immediately reassures the player that Captain Olimar is safe after he crash-lands at [[The Impact Site]]. The high-pitched melody carried on glockenspiel and pizzicato violin also accent the tiny stature of Pikmin as they are discovered.

'''Instruments'''

*'''Main version''': '''Oboe''', {{w|contrabassoon}}, '''glockenspiel''', '''violin''' (pizzicato and section), violas, and cellos.

The strings in the regular version drop out when the enemy mix is added. Only during the sunset version of the theme is a tuba added in the enemy mix.

|name = The Forest of Hope

|official = y

}}

'''Instruments'''

*'''Enemy mix''': Congas.

*'''Sunset version''': Marimba, '''music box''', violins, violas, and cellos.

|name = The Forest Navel

|official = y

}}

With a widening scope of exploration, a new visual landscape, and three types of Pikmin, [[The Forest Navel]]'s theme can afford to sound more exotic. The principal of this theme is a chordal instrument upon a droning C, unlike the previous two areas with a solid melody over C major. The faster tempo may also encourage the player using this area to discover more efficient ways to organize Pikmin.

'''Instruments'''

*'''Enemy mix''': Congas, bongos, gourd shaker, steel string guitar, and oscillating sounds resembling a {{w|sizzle cymbal}}.

The guitar squeaks meant for the steel string guitar are present in the sunset version as well. It's unknown if this is erroneous, as this is removed in Pikmin World. Also, the oscillating sound is much lower in pitch in Pikmin World.

|name = The Distant Spring

|official = y

}}

[[The Distant Spring]]'s theme is the most ethereal in the game, having no easily definable rhythm until the enemy mix fades in. Its sounds are all soft and distant; the music is no longer trying to aid a rhythm of gameplay, but is instead resigning and forcing the player to explore the huge area and solve tasks on their own. It features a cymbal-like melodic instrument from the Kurzweil K2500, which will make a comeback in the following games of the series.

'''Instruments'''

*'''Main version''': '''"Cymbalesque"''', echoing {{w|glass harp}}, piano-like synth pad (with flanger and slide), {{w|mark tree}}, pad strings, and female choir.

*'''Sunset version''': Tenor recorder, celeste, echoing {{w|glass harp}}, mark tree, reed organ, piano-like synth pad (with flanger and slide), and female choir.

|name = The Final Trial

|official = y

}}

The gentle, calm, and predominantly major music of the game so far suddenly takes a sinister turn in [[The Final Trial]]. Although the melody and some accompaniment are a chipper skipping tune, the texture underneath it is a bass drone in F and a chromatic glockenspiel that does not fit in wherever the piece goes. And whenever combat ensues, the piece becomes even more suspenseful with low piano octaves that accent at weird times.

'''Instruments'''

*'''Main version''': '''Flute''', french horn, pipe organ pedals, marimba, piano, glockenspiel, and violins.

*'''Sunset version''': '''Flute''', french horn, harp, glockenspiel and violins.

|name = Impending Doom

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Final Boss Battle

|official = y

|header = y

}}

{{clear}}

|name = New Record

|official = y

|header = y

}}

|name = Finding Lost Pieces

|official = y

|header = y

}}

;''<span id="Swarm">{{tt|Swarm|This title is conjectural.}}</span>'':

{{clear}}

== Trivia ==

*In the [[New Play Control! Pikmin|''New Play Control!'' version of ''Pikmin'']], the saved game selection menu has a slight change in its music. The sound effect that plays in the beginning is slower than in the [[GameCube]] version. The slower sound effect can be heard briefly at the beginning of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NHxu-nacXg&list=PL67D9B2451819D268 this video].

== See also ==

*[[Pikmin World]]