i think you really could've taken this further by pointing how not only do the beginnings of each of these themes start with a perfect fifth, but they all feature the cascading downward melody while also maintaining that interval. this video made me realize that the melodic shape of all these themes are extremely similar in a way that i had never consciously recognized before
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@oktinaa I think your observation is true, but also it might just be a result of good counterpoint
@RobinsMusicАй бұрын
Yeah the perfect fifth represents the significance and epic nature of the story and the downward cadence adds a darker element to it
@mincho0616Ай бұрын
@@Rides1283man ye especially Ueamatsu has some very solid counterpoints in his compositions
@RobinsMusicАй бұрын
@@mincho0616 FF9 the place I’ll return to someday
@iimpact_3rr0rАй бұрын
If you really think about it, the melody should correlates with Final Fantasy’s main theme (or even the character login screen) as its an arpeggio. Im not educated in the field but its what i just thought after reading your comment lol.
@juicegirl2696Ай бұрын
I mean the perfect fifth is just a really solid way of establishing a key. It is cool that all of the songs do this, but a significant portion of my own compositions also start with an ascending fifth. This could also be a string musician thing, although guitars are mostly based on fourths instead of fifths like bowed strings so I'm not too sure.
@clarioncaffeineАй бұрын
it's such an easy and surefire to establish a key! Both as an opener and finisher. It's why V-I (so-do) and I-V (do-so) is so so common. Honkai Star Rail's "Take the Journey" and Suzume's title song also start with a perfect 5th. I don't know if it's a string player thing! It might be a relic of the ye olde counterpoint from the church days. I kind of fell asleep during 8am music history....
@Naoto-kun1085Ай бұрын
I agree, I think Soken really likes to open melodies on perfect fifths and Uematsu also happened to use this technique!
@EpicHeroSandwichАй бұрын
@@clarioncaffeine IDK man orchestral strings just lend themselves to being both tuned and played in 5ths.
@andreaallson765Ай бұрын
Final Fantasy has a long history with leitmotifs and 14 is no exception. I think that from a meaning standpoint starting the main theme with a rising perfect fifth signifies the beginning of a new adventure, moving upwards. My music theory minor finally has some value yay!
@AresLodinАй бұрын
Uematsu only did answers and revolution songs. Rest was Soken. But still enlightening. I never noticed that. I'm no composer, musician, or anything related to music but soken has made me want to learn.
@jenechekАй бұрын
Dragonsong too
@AresLodinАй бұрын
@@jenechek yeah but not the main theme of HW.
@shinobirecords2018Ай бұрын
Isn't Dragonsong the main theme of HW?
@AresLodinАй бұрын
@shinobirecords2018 dragonsong came out in post patches of hw during the dragonsong war if I'm not mistaken
@apanofbreadАй бұрын
Dragonsong is literally in the trailer for HW the song had already been written@@AresLodin
@L337Koala17 күн бұрын
1:51 - There is no such thing a a coincidence, if your hearing these two notes together in sequence, then Hydaelyn wants to your ears to be exactly where they are, hearing those notes at this current time. Remember, she guides us through all hardships, not to punish us or make us hurt, but to make us strong and appreciate the times we have with those around us who we love. Your clothing is spiritually aligned with your aether, making you one step closer to who your supposed to be. There’s no such thing as a coincidence.
@Rides1283man17 күн бұрын
HAHAHAH
@ktkat7115Ай бұрын
This was eating at me ever since I noticed it in SB and HW. Thank you for confirming that I'm not crazy!
@MikeE_wfАй бұрын
Heavenward and shadowbringer are the most obvious for me
@YoshinatorАй бұрын
Technically Footfalls is the theme of endwalker but it doesn't acknowledge it nearly as much as Flow which I consider to be the actual main theme anyways.
@vbarreiroАй бұрын
Ohhhhh THAT’S why I keep thinking I’m hearing Tomorrow and Tomorrow in Dawntrail
@williamp8823Ай бұрын
To me it is interesting since thematically most expansions start off at a “low point” ARR is the aftermath of the Calamity, Heavensward is post bloody banquet, stormblood is post Omega and Baelsars Wall, Shadowbringers is post Scion snatching and Endwalker is just itself, and the rest of .0 is spent reaching a high point for a conclusion with the .x patches setting up the next conflict. Dawntrail is the only Expansion to not really follow this trend. The perfect 5 could be a subtle nod to the story format of most expansions starting low and going high.
@WarrenGarabrandt21 күн бұрын
Quotation and callbacks have always been a key part of final fantasy music across the series. Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack is fascinating in that nearly every single song in the entire game is quoting the main song (that plays during credits). Once I figured that out, I noticed that Final Fantasy 9 does the same thing. I've not studied the other ones as much to find all their references and quotations, but I'm sure they are there. FF14 seems to have a main theme for each expansion, and a large amount of music for each expansion quotes and references it extensively. It's not just the opening or closing interval. It's the entire thing. Dig in deep and you'll start to see it everywhere.
@confitaoАй бұрын
Nothing seems to be coincidence in the world of music composition, especially in FF in general. Nice finding!
@muddyscot22 күн бұрын
In my mind, the significance is super simple but effective. That perfect fifth marks a beginning. A new story or a new chapter of a story for our Warrior of Light to go down.
@xtuffmanАй бұрын
I also noticed something cool in one moment of the Endwalker trailer and the Heavensward trailer. Check Endwalker's official trailer at 01:58 when the scene transitions to Estinien and Vrtra descending from the skies with a rock tune and at 04:15 of the Heavensward's trailer when the dragons are advancing on Ishgard with an orchestral tune. They're the same part of the music, just played differently.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
Endwalker - Footfalls is a medley of every main theme. Stormblood, Shadowbringers and Torn from the Heavens is also in the trailer.
@xtuffmanАй бұрын
@@Rides1283man then it's explained, I didn't know that and I think it's awesome!
@Lukeormaybenath26 күн бұрын
This is possibly no coincidence. This can simply be a way to assocaite the brand/idea of XIV as a game to players, through music. Same thing with the prelude, or with Torn from the Heavens, which occasionally gets arranged and remixed over tracks on multiple expansions. These people are doing fine work, I say!
@coffeegamermomof366517 күн бұрын
Nice job I like that u pointed that out ❤
@wexman6Ай бұрын
They reference the older expansions in the later ones, too. Especially in Endwalker and Dawntrail. Footfalls is literally a combination of every expansion’s theme put together followed up by a newer theme at the end. If you watch the trailer, it syncs up with what happens on screen. And characters from said expansions show up on screen when their theme starts playing. In Dawntrail, it does something similar, lyrically: “From the ashes we’re REBORN To the HEAVENS we will fly Fighting through the STORM Leaving SHADOWS far behind As we WALK right to the END…” As a bonus, these lyrics follow a similar rhythm to Who Brings Shadow from Shadowbringers
@esperan2kАй бұрын
I just sort of assumed that every expansion's themes were just variations on the FFXIV theme overall. To put it another way, each FF game has an overall theme for that game, usually part of the overworld music and also part of the more serious or dramatic parts of the game. This commonality between the themes are just variations on this overall musical theme of FFXIV that began with Answers and evolved from there each subsequent expansion.
@YdlaАй бұрын
THank you for this. I thought I was going crazy! I really thought I was the only one to notice this when I pointed it out during a topic in my FC. This made me feel vindicated!!
@rohiogerv22Ай бұрын
I think what makes these feel more connected than just "the same interval" is that they're all used rhythmically in a really similar way. It's almost always a pickup, landing on the upper note on beat 1, and after this comes either a lot of space, or a more meandering continuation that leads back to a restatement of this rhythm. In any case, these notes are the longest notes of their respective melody.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@rohiogerv22 Hard agree, this is an observation I made after making the video and I'm glad someone else also picked up on it. Most of the tracks use them on quarter notes as well except Flow.
@spectria.liminaАй бұрын
Thank you for doing this video and pointing this out! There's so many deep musical connections and I hope you'll do more of them... Most of FFXIV music can be drawn back, often through a meandering path, to Answers, so I really want to see more of it elucidated for everyone to see!
@JallenbahАй бұрын
I always thought they all sounded very similar but could never put my finger on a particular quality that made them so. Now I know!
@azuroth8609Ай бұрын
Its because a perfect fifth is the least 'dynamic' of the intervals, in the sense that it's the least likely to lead to a different harmony - 'sol' wants to resolve to 'do', so going 'do' to 'sol', you're most likely to want to resolve back to where you came from. In that sense you could say the perfect fifth is crystalline - static, immobile.
@roii4124Ай бұрын
I KNEW IT
@noaagАй бұрын
Dawntrail is a pretty good 5th expansion for me so far, tho i'm not sure it's "perfect" 😉 heehee hoohoo okay seriously they might've had this in mind though, it's a lot of perfect 5thing going on in that one
@doubleo6464Ай бұрын
i noticed this but i didnt know what it was called because i'm not musically inclined at all. thanks for this
@AzzinothfulАй бұрын
Does this kind of commonality help when trying to string the song together to make medley or similar?
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
I reckon it will give the medley more coherence if you were to put certain songs back to back as it could sound like the phrases are similar.
@anushay5426Ай бұрын
@@Rides1283man Yeah! Wonder if they will do that towards the end hahaha :) (also not me just thinking they were all the same themes LOLL - keen to hear the OST once I finish endwalker! Trying to avoid online FF14 content to save myself from spoilers and so far successful :))
@datsatАй бұрын
@@anushay5426 You are then probably going to like Endwalker's final boss theme :)
@InimicalWitАй бұрын
It’s a heroic leap in music, as I understand it. You’ll find it in themes by John Williams, too, STAR WARS, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, too Although ambiguous, as far as major or minor key, the triad leap in music often generates glimmering hope, if not outright triumph 💙 I would say it’s a common thing for music in general, and the reason it’s seen in so much of FFX|V’s score, if not consistently 😅💙
@cheffdontyАй бұрын
Also in the nald thal fight
@HUNTERxROYАй бұрын
Congratulation... you discovered leitmotifs
@carelesswhisker4155Ай бұрын
Something else i noticed is that all of these themes contain notes at all
@ZetLeonhartАй бұрын
I've never noticed that... Maybe unrelated but I can't be the only one who hears parts of Close in the Distance in Tuliyollal theme, right?
@The_Lesser_EvilАй бұрын
Checkmate, Soken
@ElShogosoАй бұрын
To be fair, the 5th is arguably the most common interval in western music.
@kjj26kАй бұрын
Last month I started a Music Appreciation course where I now know what any of this means, and THIS WEEK I decided to be interested in Final Fantasy 14. HELLO? Do we know each other?!
@erzellesАй бұрын
I mean … yeah, but i this case a good 80% of the all music répertoire is linked to ffxiv
@SprDrumio64Ай бұрын
I wonder if any of this could be found in FF16's tracks
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
I unfortunately haven't gotten the chance to play that but when the PC port comes out I will. I have been trying to avoid the music desperately because I didn't want to be spoiled on it (I haven't even heard Find the Flame yet)
@nisbahmumtaz909Ай бұрын
@@Rides1283man holy SHIT good on you for avoiding or so far though you will be fucking blown away from THE FIRST BOSS, that much i can tell you
@Slamfist00Ай бұрын
yes, especially phoenix theme
@strf90105Ай бұрын
Wait, it wall Answers? Always has been
@pumpkingamebox14 күн бұрын
So it’s all the 5th? Always has been.
@nikolaytrofimov4175Ай бұрын
While it's nothing special and in fact one of the crucial points in writing hamrony in general (Captain Obvious at your service), Perfect Fifth is very... life-affirming interval, crucial for the theme to have a complete feeling. Jeremy Soule called this interval "triumphant", it feels like as if you have achieved something.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
The perfect fifth as mentioned by another commenter is helpful in establishing a key, but is not necessarily crucial in the melody. Perhaps you are describing the tonic-dominant relationship? Because what I'm illustrating here is unrelated to harmony
@IPWNEDSASUKEANDKIRAАй бұрын
So, the final expansion will end where we began?
@RainbowsaurАй бұрын
Obvs I'm niave about music and all but... It seems so damn insignificant as an outsider to the details when it comes to music, like is it really that shocking? It seems like something that would be extremely common. I can see it but like, I'm not "shook", and I feel like I'm supposed to be shook or suprised or something.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@Rainbowsaur It's not extremely shocking nor is it one-in-a-million, but it's an undeniable trend, where the interval appears directly at or near the beginning of the phrase. Other comments have also rightfully pointed out that following the interval the melody takes a downward contour - this is attributed to good counterpoint. I will also admit that I made a red rectangle clickbait thumbnail on purpose.
@ikanuhmАй бұрын
The main theme of Heavensward is Dragonsong, not Heavensward, and the main theme of Endwalker is Footfalls, not Flow.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@ikanuhm each expansion has two main themes. You couldn't possibly dismiss Heavenward as a main theme when it is 1. titular and 2. in numerous dungeon and area themes. As for Endwalker, the same applies; Flow is in every main town theme and several cutscene themes. There is no one singular main theme for any expansion.
@1jidionАй бұрын
"enjoying yourself...for a change?" well erenville...i was, till i got roped into another world ending threat and off goes azem to save the world again...for the millionth time
@ryanisthebomb203Ай бұрын
haha i've been thinking this too, just didn't know how to put into words... nice observation!
@KaggiiАй бұрын
Shouldn't ew be footfalls?
@lemonbread8019Ай бұрын
The perfect 5th is so ubiquitous that this doesn't really mean anything.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@lemonbread8019 It's not as common to see every theme in the game using it as the first interval of the melody consistently in this manner
@jacobgonzalez2313Ай бұрын
Perfect fifth is like the most common note change in all of music 💀
@ThorpenAlnyrАй бұрын
Wow...TWO notes always being the same distance from each other in every theme...such a revelation.
@Rides1283manАй бұрын
@@ThorpenAlnyr it's pretty hard to find the balance between a video being appropriate for layman and one for musicians. My last analysis was decidedly too complicated so I tried to step it down
@qinec459Ай бұрын
Layman or musician,it's really nice to see folks appreciating even the smallest things in such a huge franchise like this. Keep it up!
@alloounou6900Ай бұрын
Consider where in the song the perfect fifth is occurring in every song provided. Bonus points: listen to the shape of the melody that follows after the perfect fifth in each song.
@kumoko3728Ай бұрын
ngl as much as i enjoyed dawntrail the music I was already tired of the music day 3