"If the tritone is the Devil's interval, then the diminished seventh chord must be his summer house". You already won the crown for best quote of 2024 with this one

“Mouth crammed full of teeth” Sir those are eyes

The melody actually uses triplet partials and not sixteenth notes at 5:38 & 6:10 which are my favorite parts of the cello solo and later choir section. adds some lovely variation

Not that it really matters for the purposes of this video, but: his mouth is not filled with teeth, it’s actually filled with EYES!!!! It has to do with the eldritch horrors he has seen, which is why he is transforming into the beast. So I guess it does relate to your overall point of the music, but I just wanted to add a bit more of the creepy context.

I'd love it if you could cover Gaels boss fight song from Dark Souls 3 one day. The way the track evolves during the 3 phases of the fight mirrors his pull between hollowing and lucidity in a really beautiful way.

Probably my favorite fromsoft boss design, fight, arena design, and theme. Also a real difficulty spike that makes the eventual win that much more satisfying. I have nothing to add except that it took me multiple playthroughs and the art book to realize he has the sword on his back in the first phase, wrapped up the same way as when you have the weapon it's non-transformed state

Quick thing - it’s not teeth in Ludwig’s extra mouth, but eyes

My favorite from Bloodborne is definitely The First Hunter. The part where everything breaks down and you're left with only the highest and lowest voices is just so haunting. Then the choir comes in...

First time I got to the second phase of the bossfight I died because of the music lmao it was so good I got stunned IRL

Everything about Ludwig just, kicks ASS. The madness waltz, the screaming and kicking, every detail about him adds to his music; he’s fantastic!!!

This piece never fails to give me chills no matter how many times I listen.

I absolutely love Lady Maria's music. Something about the staccato violin work reminds me of Mussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain, or portions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Plus, I really feel that Bloodborne is at its absolute best when you, the hunter, are fighting against other hunters or human bosses--Lady Maria, Gehrman, Father Gascoigne, etc. Whether you prefer Ludwig, Maria, or another theme, they're all bangers!

I want that quote about the tri-tone and the diminished seventh chord on some merch!! When I heard that I wanted to laugh, but because I'm still recovering from surgery, I had to snicker instead. Very well written! I must say that very few things make me want to laugh out loud, but your sentence there was one such thing! I'm going to tell people this at my next rehearsal.

Every day automatically gets better when 8 bit drops a new video, especially when it is about souls games

That key change transition between cutscene and phase two hits so hard, so cool to look at the theory behind it!

I didn't see it mentioned, so I wanted to note that the transition has several versions depending on where in the first half you are when you hit it, allowing for a smooth transition of the different elements into the intro of the second piece. I made a video compilation of it a few years back to show off some of them, but I'm pretty sure there were ones I missed: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/abV_pNB73b-tqoE.html

Wish you would also take a look at Laurence's theme. It's probably my favorite soulsborne soundtrack.

All of your Soulsborne videos give me serious inspiration for writing metal. Thank you!

One of the GOAT pieces of music ever put in a videogame.

You making multiple videos on the soul series' music makes me so happy ! :)

Very happy you covered this one! Definitely my favorite track from Bloodborne.

Incredible work, honestly! Just 10/10s all around, thank you so much for this insightful (pun extremely intended) analysis!

This and Lady Maria was playing on my way to work so many times, what a beast of a track. Thanks for the breakdown! Amazing job.

Your scripts are so good!! I don't even need to know the source material, I can just watch and enjoy your discussions of the music.

OMG YES! I love your analyses and this might be my favourite piece of music from one of my favourite games, thank you for this!

Incredible work, loved the video!

A truly exquisite breakdown of one of the greatest boss fight's theme, really glad you made a video on this one!

Beautiful breakdown. Thank you so much for doing this! I absolutely love this game and the DLC.

How did I miss this video? Curse you KZfaq! Now you gotta do something like this for every great Soulsborne Boss theme :D

Love your writing style man and nice insights

Fantastic analysis, as always!

Rykard’s theme from Elden Ring “God-Devouring Serpent” is I think one of the most complex pieces of music to ever come out of the Souls series. If you plan to cover another piece from these games that one would be a great option as it gives you more things to talk about.

Fantastic video! I’ve been watching your stuff for only a little while, but as an aspiring game dev and composer, these videos have been awesome in learning all ‘bout music. Btw the Ys series has some great music, and the first two games have some great classic tunes, both on their original consoles and in the remake. Don’t gotta be a video on ‘em, but I recommend takin’ a listen at them, they’re great! Stay makin’ great stuff man.

Something I've always felt with the transition between phase 1 and phase two, is that while phase 1 always had this sense of barely restrained madness, phase 2 was the moment where rather than succumbing to it, it felt like the music was embracing that madness.

God, I really don't think it's possible to overstate how incredible the transition is between phases for this boss, musically speaking. It creates so much hype and sets the mood so well, I don't think it's a stretch to say that this moment is the highlight of the DLC for a lot of players

Of all the music in bloodborne my favorite is propably Laurence the first vicar as a former choir boy i cant get enough of the oratorium used

Even though I’m not involved with music academically anymore, and I don’t really plan on returning, I will always return to this channel to learn more about the music I love and see what makes it work. Thank you!!!

This is one of, if not my favorite, pieces of video game music ever. Thank you for breaking this one down

the devil's summer house line killed me 😂 another lovely video, thank you!!

great work man

Although Ludwig's theme may be the most interesting soundtrack from a music theory point of view, for me personally the highlight is Laurence's music, which depicts all the desperation, ambition and misery of the game and closes the game with an absolute climax.

YEESSSS 8bit & one of my favorite songs ever? Christmas come early.. or late, depending on who you are.

Bravo! What a wonderful take, exploration and explanation! The music of Bloodborne is so often downright primal. It makes you feel your blood swimming in your veins. It makes you bear your teeth and hold your hands like claws. It makes you sway and moan. It makes you wail with grief and pain. The part of the clashing cymbals/swords is elegant and menacing at the same time. I used to do Kendo and Aikido and I can feel the clashing of swords in my body during that part. Special props to you using Gascoigne the hunter as your intro and outro. Another wonderful example of Bloodbornes primal/predatory drunkeness. =)

Quite possibly the greatest video game track ever composed

Damn, I never gave this music enough credit! The 'Spooky choir chords' progression is genious!

This was great! Please do more Bloodborne music.

What a chilling track. Thanks for your analysis.

Yes! I've been waiting for a Bloodborne break down for a while now, especially for Ludwig's theme! Now do Gehrman's theme!

Awesome video! the second main theme sounds like the theme from Great Grey Wolf Sif!

I’m a huge fan of the Dancer of the Boreal Valley’s theme, it doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve ever heard before!

Truly spectacular vid... Would love to see you cover an analysis of other SoulsBorne stuff, like Lady Maria, Abyss Watchers, or even Slave Knight Gael. (All coincidentally written by Yuka Kitamura hahaha.)

0:32 Oh, those aren't teeth...

This is fantastic!

I love your videos

Ludwig I had a real hard time soloing. I think I had to call in one of those phantom hunters to help me and even then it was close. The music was so amazing. Great vid.

Great analysis. Never heard Holy Blade before, just gorgeous. The climax gives me 'His Dark Material' vibes, I guess for when the choir kicks in for its intro theme? Also the general tone probably, beautiful and majestic but bleak at its core.

I would enjoy seeing you analyze the Hypogean Gaol music. That one sticks with me more than anything else from the game!

I love your content

would absolutely love a whole series of these on other Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Elden Ring themes!!

That bass line descent in the chord progression you mentioned almost sounds like the great fairy fountain.

Omg god loves us new 8 bit video abt souls ... thank you

an absolute banger this piece.

dude, PLEASE make more bloodborne analysis videos. I feel the soundtrack is a masterpiece, but most of the content reviewing it doesn't get into the nitty gritty, stopping at saying "omg it's so gooooood..." which I already know, and say myself, all the time. this type of scholarly review is so much more valuable. can I request "hail the nightmare?" the dissonance is off the charts.

Best video to ever drop on youtube

One of my favorites from a soundtrack full of amazing songs. Another of my favorites would be Hail the Nightmare and the Mars throwback Living Failures.

2:31 Every time I hear the harmonic minor sound, I just think of Dune. Hans Zimmer is like a Bene Gesserit Imprinter.

Having known nothing about these games this makes me want to play them. That boss sounds so cool

8BIT OMG THANK YOU FOR DOING BLOODBORNE I LOVE YOU

love to see souls series music dissected!! it was always so mystical and complicated before i watched these videos

WE NEED MORE

I also love how the first melodic theme transforms from the sombre cello into the more powerful trombone in the first half.

Was always too busy fighting this guy to appreciate the music. Thank!

I am begging, on my hands and knees, to please do more Bloodborne tracks. Please. I need a breakdown of Blood Starved Beast or The First Hunter.

The last chord sounds like it was written by thall (subgenre of modern metal) artist. ”this sounds very nasty, perfect”

Would love you to take a look at Octopath Traveler 2. That game has a phenomenal soundtrack, with each character having their very iconic themes and there are some real good battle and sad themes.

Damn, never got a chance to play Bloodborne and that song is insane. The breakdown always helps appreciate these songs more, even ones I've already heard a ton of times, lets me appreciate them more. Here's hoping 8-Bit or some patreons agree with me, cuz I'd love to see some of the following covered one day: - Super Contra, just for how bizarre and chaotic and even non-melodic the melodies are, yet rather uniquely so compared to basically any other game music I've otherwise come across. - A Dos and Don'ts or similar video discussing how to remain true to a song's (or entire soundtrack's) original melody when the game is being remade/remastered. Secret of Mana's remaster compared to Trials of Mana (SoM2) would be amazing to compare originals to remasters to. The SoM remaster sounds like an absolute mess, some sounding like an OCRemix track, others like bad covers, others losing their very essence, meanwhile Trials of Mana is IMMEASURABLY faithful to the original orchestrations and it is light years better for it. - Outward, at the very least the Chersonese Region theme. Being the first region you enter from the starting town, you effectively on the brink of being banned from your home and forced to adventure to save yourself or carve your own path, it captures not only the beauty of the region, but also the emotions of such a situation. The intense anxiety and caution one would feel in a new and unfamiliar situation, only to build up over time to realize how they might actually like it, and how much to see and explore is in front of them if they'd only brave those first steps, absolutely remarkable piece. - Something out of left field, there are some MMORPGs out there that got some crazy good music. I remember BDO's launching theme fondly for while I played it. Lost Ark's "Swords Crossed" is about as intensely heroic a tune as you could hope to find, and Brelshaza raid gate 4 (formerly 6) is absolutely intense amazing (latin choir AND opera singer it goes hard). Anarchy Online could even be an interesting cover, at least as part of a larger whole, with how its combat music would grow bigger and more intense the higher level the mob attacking you was.

Aw man, I was no good at this game, but I LOVE the music, and especially this piece.

To me this song is one of the absolute best pieces of music ever written. It elevates the boss battle to top tier with the sum of all the other elements you mentioned of the lore and how it is staged.

Soulsborne games have excellent soundtracks. Great video!

If you haven't heard the Doom Eternal version of Ludwig's Holy Blade, you gotta check it out. It's incredible.

Oddly enough, as striking as this piece is. It has a way to bring a tear to my eye. A man who has lost everything, still clinging to what little he has left of himself, in such a grandiose way.

No other video game could replicate Bloodborne's incredible atmosphere

terrifying music for a super scary boss! love it!

I’ve been playing bloodborne for the first time and literally just a couple days ago I fought Ludwig and thought “man I’d love an 8bit music theory video about this music” and here we are.

Never stop these fromsoft videos I beg !!!!!!

The old hunter's dlc is some of the best dlc ever made. It has 7 of my top 10 bloodborne boss fights, making it top most of the ones from the base game. It didn't just give us more, but it gave us better. And the music accompanies that as well.

Having not heard the track before, it was an interesting experience watching this video and getting the analytical "this is why this track is good" at the same time as the emotional "damn, this track really takes off, this sounds so good".

i was ready to fight if this wasnt about Ludwigs theme when i got the notification

I have done this gruesome dance with Ludwig and boy is it a rough one. Just reliving the fight through the music was something. The second phase has that eloquence to it but upon vanquishing Ludwig, that long drawn out crunchy chord is almost like nails on a chalkboard. It's prolonged. You know what you've done. You've ended another beast. And as the chord fades away, the tightness in your chest alleviates and you're able to take a deep sigh of relief. It's over.

You should do a video analysis on the tune “The Face of the Deep” from Risk of Rain 2, or if possible, a general video analysis of the aforementioned game. 😮

I Like Your Funny Words, Music Man.

I do like this piece a lot, but I think my favorite is Blood Starved Beast's theme. It's so heavy at the end

amazing video! i would love to see you do a video on bury the light from devil may cry 5!

my favorite boss in my favorite series of games

This is my favorite boss from my favorite game

“WeLL aT LeASt oUr SkoOLs….”

broken down.... this feels like a huge homage to the Heroes of Might and Magic III Necropolis theme

5:58 well timed hit

Bloodborne's Best Boss Theme? Well, the only real competition are Gehrman and Lady Maria. Living Failures comes close to being in the conversation, but it doesn't have the same narrative storytelling to it.

"Aah, you were at my side, all along."