My Gaming Audio History: Maniac Mansion (1990)

Next up in My Gaming Audio History is the NES game, Maniac Mansion.  I rented this game and played with friends.  It was definitely a tough one for me because I found the interface with the mouse arrow/ NES controller to be confusing as a kid.  I almost always got caught by the nurse in the kitchen immediately!  As I blogged earlier, I love the fact that two of the characters could play the piano-- a big connection I felt with Syd and Razor as a child.  Also cool is the fact that the music is connected to the characters you're playing or encountering rather than a certain level, area, or room.

The audio for the NES version was created by a number of folks: Dave Hayes, George Sanger, David Govett, and David Warhol.  According to the game credits, Dave Hayes composed: The Boys Are Still Back, Psychadelic Brie, Flashbulb Funk, Heeeeeeeere's Talk-Show Host.  George Sanger composed: Surf Face, Better Ed Than Dead, No Never Well Maybe Sure Ok.  David-Govett composed: Go See Mark, Comp-U-Nerd, Sonata in G Opus 47 BVW 801.  David Warhol composed: Eddie Van Tentacle and Doo Dop Deep.  Crazy names, right?  I don't know a lot about popular music, but I found this post that compares these names with the names of popular songs they are spoofing.

One of my favorite themes from this game is the Edison family/ Tentacle theme.  When I hear this theme with the raised fourth and neighbor motion, it always reminds me of the Jetson's Theme.  I wondered if this was by design and, since I know him from being a guest speaker in my game music class, I wrote to George Sanger to ask.  Here's his response:

"I bet it was at least a subconscious salute.  Maybe conscious.  I do LOVE that theme-- it's just the kind of thing I would dip into when looking to get my blood up for composing.  There's a similar suspension thingie in the Rocky and Bullwinkle theme, another one on my mental top 15.  Oh, and come to think of it, West Side Story is on that list, and there's a similar feel in 'Maria.'  So.... if you're like me, when you think 'Maniac Mansion,' you picture a futuristic gang-fighting moose and squirrel, and you can see that no other melody will do."  

Another favorite tiny musical moment of mine is the Tchaikovsky reference to Swan Lake on the record that skips.  Just a two second snippet of the Dance of the Petite Swans plays from Act II.  Clever attention to detail!

This game has a little more than 18 minutes of music, which is really astonishing for a NES game.


Here are my usual detailed notes below for those interested.  To compile these notes on the audio, I used this playlist.

-Title screen: 65 sec.  G major.  Intro (6) A B Intro with bass (6)?  I'm not able to find a version that plays longer than 65 seconds, so I don't know if this music loops or is one time through.  
-Dave's Theme (The Boys Are Still Back): 80 sec.  A major.  A A' A'' B B' B'' A''' A''''.  This music is theme and variations, essentially, a beat and chords where a melody is "improvised" over top.  The A sections are A-Bm-G and the B sections are over an E chord.  Kind of like a jam session with friends.  Very cool, a style of music I've not heard in my game studies so far.
-Razor's Theme (No No Never Never Well Maybe Sure Okay): 48 sec.  A major.  A A' B A'' B' (4).  Again, variations over a chord progression and beat.  Very dissonant in A' between the melody and the vamping accompaniment.
-Bernard's Theme (Comp-U-Nerd): 48 sec.  F major.  A A' B.  This track stays in F major for its entire length.  Again, a vamping beat with melodic variations.
-Syd's Theme (Psychadelic Brie): 81 sec.  A major.  A (20) A (20) B (16).  A crazy track where I debated how to describe the form.  I hear this as two run-on sentences.  The first is repeated, and then a second.  There are moments when this track gets rhythmically out of sync with itself, particularly toward the end of the B section, measures 13-15.  Is that why the drum drops out during the second half of the B?
-Wendy's Theme (Sonata in G Opus 47 BVW 801):  90 sec.  C major.  A B (6) A C (13) A'' Rondo form!  Definitely a more "classical" sounding track.  This track has some rhythmic variability; if you listen to the steady drum pulse, you're hear that it speeds up slightly and slows down at times.  Very unusual-- I've not heard this kind tempo fluctuation before.
-Jeff's Theme (Surf Face):  98 sec.  A minor?  C major?  A major? I feel this piece never has a solid tonal center.  The A major cadence a the end of the C section is so satisfactory, but then the C major A'' and B'' is equally strong.  Not sure what key to settle on here.  A B A' B' C (10) A'' B''
-Michael's Theme (Flashbulb Funk): 100 sec.  E minor.  A B C (break) D E F-- through-composed.  Another example of a solo over a beat and chord.  Almost all of the track is E minor, though there are a couple of moments of F# minor.
-Edison Family/ Tentacle Theme (Better Ed Than Dead): 67 sec.  A major-minor.  Intro (2) A (16) B C C.  The use of raised 4 (fi) in the A section of this tune and the lower neighbor motion of the  melody share similarities with the Jetson's Theme.  I also really like the canonic counterpoint in the C section of this theme.  Easily one of my favorites, though it usually meant I was about to die!
-Piano Demo: 37.5 sec.  C major.  Intro (4) A B C (6) A (4).  Love that the two of the characters could play the piano!
-Three Guys Who Publish Anything (Go See Mark): 27 sec.  C major.  Intro (1) A B.
-Tentacle's Demo (Eddie Van Tentacle):  44 sec.  G major.  Wild solo-- 18 measures metered-- wild solo.  Such a contrast to the piano demo!  I suppose if you were a tentacle making a demo tape it wouldn't necessarily sound like a human....
-Wink Smiley Talk Show (Heeeeeeere's Talk Show Host): 56 sec.  C major.  A A B(4) A C C' B(4).  Another example of variations over a bass and beat.
-Skipping Record: 2 sec.  F# minor.  The record plays a snippet of Tchaikovsky's ballet, Swan Lake.  From Act II, Dance of the petite swans.  
- Credits: 61 sec.  G major.  Intro (2) A A' B (11)  This music shares similarities with the Title music, but is new variations. This makes for a nice bookend with the beginning and end of the music to the game.
-Unused:  59 sec.  A major?  E major?  A A' B C D D' (9).  I find this track to be tonally ambiguous as well.  It spends a lot of time in E, but midway through when there's a small section in A, that feels like we've finally arrived home.  Cool that this goes between completely normal sounding pop music and wildly crazy solo moments and clashing harmonies.  It's like Bebop, Spanish dance, and popular song all came together at once.  Wonder why it was cut?