In addition to being a music teacher, composer, and video game enthusiast, I am also a percussionist! I played all kinds of mallet percussion instruments in my high school’s marching band in the “pit” section (front ensemble). In today’s article, we are going to be talking about a small family of keyboard mallet percussion instruments that all have characteristics in common, but each contribute very different things, musically.
Single-Track Analysis
STA: KHUx.09 – Peaceful Hearts / Instrumental Range: The Harp
Ah, the harp. A beautifully calm, peaceful instrument, capable of playing solo or with the orchestra, lovely glissandi, and with a strong and gnarly bass! …What!? In today’s article, we are going to be listening to a piece called “Peaceful Hearts”, a lovely track played by a small, intimate ensemble comprised of a few stringed instruments, an oboe, and the harp.
STA: KHUx.08 – Victory Fanfare / The Difference Between Swing and Compound Time
Today’s article is going to cover a topic that somewhat sparked the idea to write about Kingdom Hearts Union Cross music in the first place. As the music that plays after every single victory, I have heard the “Victory Fanfare” probably hundreds if not thousands of times at this point. It’s a very upbeat, playful theme, and has a strong swing feel to it—which brings me to the topic of interest today: what is the difference between swing time and compound time?
STA: KHUx.07 – Rowdy Rumble / A Lesson in Chromatic Descending Bass Line
“Rowdy Rumble” first appeared in Kingdom Hearts II.5, but it is also the “Target Battle” music in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross. Super fun fact: all plant enemies bounce in perfect time to this track. You bet I stared at the screen, not making a move in the game while the music looped a few times, to make sure their movements were indeed exactly on the beat! X’D
STA: KHUx.06 – Villains of a Sort / A Lesson in Ambience
Today’s article is going to focus on a quite dark and foreboding theme, “Villains of a Sort”. This track appeared originally in Kingdom Hearts I, but also makes an appearance a few times in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross as well. We’re going to talk about a type of music that has gained a lot of popularity in recent times—at least to my knowledge—ambience.
STA: KHUx.05 – Shipmeisters’ Shanty / A Lesson in Modal Mixture
As the music for the avatar boards, shop, equipment menus and all actions regarding medals (fusion, evolution, and keyblade medal selection), “Shipmeisters’ Shanty” is arguably a main theme song in disguise, simply because of the nature of how often you will hear it while playing Kingdom Hearts Unchained X. The bouncy, syncopated energy of this piece breathes life into and reflects the whole atmosphere the game. In today’s article we’re going to talk about a somewhat advanced but very fun and interesting music theory concept: modal mixture.
STA: KHUx.04 – Daybreak Town Battle Theme / A Lesson in Syncopation
In Kingdom Hearts, with nearly every field/town theme comes a corresponding battle theme. Epic battles need epic music, and battle themes are usually driven by strong percussion or otherwise strong rhythms. This particular battle theme includes one of my favorite rhythmic components, our topic for today: syncopation.
STA: KHUx.03 – Daybreak Town / A Quick Look at Instrumentation and Intimacy
Ah, one of the first original themes written specifically for Kingdom Hearts Unchained X. Daybreak Town is the first land that you visit in the game, and I would consider it the “home town”, as it keeps coming back as the area where most of the important story-line events occur.
While I immensely enjoy “Dearly Beloved“, “Precious Stars in the Sky“, and other short musical loops that are included in this game, “Daybreak Town” is particularly special simply because of how long the loop is. Clocking in at around 1:30, there is so much time and space for development, instrumental melody-passing, and even modulation.
STA: KHUx.02 – Precious Stars in the Sky / A Lesson in “Steam Iron” Modulation
“Precious Stars in the Sky” is a simple, lovely piece of music that plays in the Quest Selection menus in Kingdom Hearts Unchained X. The original version of this piece was in Kingdom Hearts I, but this exact arrangement of the piece was actually also used in Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix HD, though I am unsure as to where exactly it was used (probably in a quest-selection sort of area as well).
STA: KHUx.01 – Dearly Beloved / A Lesson in Variation
It has been said by the great Yoko Shimomura herself that “Dearly Beloved” is her favorite composition. An absolutely gorgeous track, simple yet oh-so poignant, “Dearly Beloved” tugs at the heartstrings of and evokes powerful nostalgia in all Kingdom Hearts fans, especially die-hard fans that have been invested in this saga since the beginning 15 years ago.
Whimsically Theoretical 