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Title Screen / Demo
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| Title Screen / Demo | |
|---|---|
Samples of "Title Screen / Demo" from Kirby's Adventure and its remake. | |
| Details | |
| Debut appearance | Kirby's Adventure (1993) |
| Last appearance | Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World (2025) |
| Other appearance(s) | Kirby's Avalanche Kirby's Block Ball Kirby's Toy Box Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land Kirby: Planet Robobot Kirby's Blowout Blast Kirby Battle Royale Super Kirby Clash Kirby Fighters 2 Kirby and the Forgotten Land Kirby's Dream Buffet Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe |
| Composer(s) | Hirokazu Ando[1] |
"Title Screen / Demo"[Japanese title] is a music piece that originated in Kirby's Adventure. It was composed by Hirokazu Ando[1] and has been remixed several times throughout the series.
Composition[edit]
"Title Screen / Demo" is an upbeat, short theme in 4/4 time at just under 128 bpm, in the key of G flat/F# major. It mimics a classic rag in miniature, with the structure incorporating a one-bar introduction followed by an AABB pattern using two four-bar themes.
- To begin with, the song starts with a rising 5th-6th-flat 7th-7th-high 5th intro, which plays on a ubiquitous musical phrase in early 20th century music, including rags[2] but also vaudeville, music hall, and Broadway showtunes.[3]
- The A theme emphasizes upwards melodic movements and mostly focuses on the tonic harmony for the first two bars, but executes an implied ii-V-I turnaround through the second two bars accompanied by downwards movement. The lead pulse waveform's attack/decay and duty cycle are tuned to mimic a plucked string instrument, almost resembling the banjo so common in ragtime's predecessor genres of blues and other African American folk music.
- The B theme features undulating and upwards melodic movements within each bar and focuses on more conventional harmonies, with a IV-I-V7-I progression in the first iteration and IV-I-V7-V progression in the second. The lead pulse channel's envelope and duty cycle becomes more even and the triangle wave channel harmonizes more prominently for a less aggressive sound overall.
Throughout the A and B themes, the rag-like melody is full of syncopation, grounded by a walking bass (although with slight syncopation that de-emphasizes the backbeats). Each of the A and B themes also features a melodic phrase in the first bar repeated with slight downwards modulation in the third bar, again in miniature mimicry of classic rag structure. Unlike any classic rag composition, "Title Screen / Demo" loops indefinitely, with the end of the B theme leading back into the A strain.
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land[edit]
True to its name, this theme can be heard in the title screen and demo reel of Kirby's Adventure. It also plays during the gameplay demo after waiting on the title for a bit.
The theme reprises its role in the title screen for Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, remastered using new instruments which make use of compressed synths, steel drums, and whistles. This arrangement is named タイトル (Title) on The Very Best of Kirby: 52 Hit Tracks.
Kirby's Avalanche[edit]
A simple B major arrangement of the theme serves as the game's staff credits theme.
Kirby's Block Ball[edit]
The track "Borderline Clear" from Kirby's Block Ball begins with a short snippet of "Title Screen / Demo" before transitioning to "Kirby Dance".
Kirby's Toy Box[edit]
An arrangement of the theme, notably leaving out the last four bars of the melody (while the bass and percussion lines continue until the loop point), plays in the title screen theme of all mini-games except for Star Breaker. To date, the Kirby's Toy Box version is the only re-arrangement of the theme that doubles down on the plucked string-like character of the lead voice in the original Kirby's Adventure version, while versions in other games tend to soften the sound (with the exception of the Merry Magoland remix in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, which makes the lead aggressively electronic).
Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]
The original version heard in Kirby's Adventure also reappears in the secret moon section of Stage 8 EX of Access Ark in Kirby: Planet Robobot. It can be found as Track 135 in the Jukebox. This title confirms for the first time that the song was composed by Hirokazu Ando.
Kirby's Blowout Blast[edit]
A new arrangement of the theme can be heard on the title screen for Kirby's Blowout Blast, named "A 3D Adventure! Kirby's Blowout Blast"[4]. This version is similar to the rendition in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, but makes use of more modern instrumentation and new percussion (such as conga drums and crash cymbals). Interestingly, the original rendition from Kirby's Adventure can be heard beneath the new instrumentation.
Additionally, a short, horn-focused jingle based on the theme plays on the HOME Menu when hovering over the game's icon.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
In Merry Magoland, an electronic dance remix of this theme plays at the title screen for the Egg Catcher minigame representing Kirby's Adventure. The original version is unlockable as a secret song after clearing all Egg Catcher missions.
Other appearances[edit]
"Title Screen / Demo" is included on the Kirby's Adventure soundtrack and is featured as part of a medley in the vocal track "Kirby of the Stars", though it serves as an instrumental portion.
Starting with Kirby Battle Royale, "A 3D Adventure! Kirby's Blowout Blast" represents its game of origin in the Past Adventures menu.
The theme was also performed as part of the "Kirby Through the Years: 1993-2004" medley in the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival, along with "Drawing Song", "Grass Land" from Kirby's Dream Land 2, "Peanut Plains", "Candy Mountain", "The Last Iceberg", "Heading for 0²", and "Ending" from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
The prize A for the Ichiban Kuji Kirby Pupupu Ramen merch line is a kitchen timer, which when activated plays the "Egg Catcher - Title" remix from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.[5]
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"Title Screen / Demo" in "Kirby of the Stars" from the Kirby's Adventure soundtrack, arranged by Takashi Takaomi and performed by Mako Miyata.
-
"Title Screen / Demo" in "Kirby Through the Years: 1993-2004" from the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival", arranged by Yuuta Ogasawara and performed by the Kirby 30th Anniversary Special Band Deluxe.
Names in other languages[edit]
Title Screen / Demo[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | タイトル画面／デモ[6][7] Taitoru Gamen / Demo |
Title Screen / Demo |
Title[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | タイトル[8] Taitoru |
Title |
A 3D Adventure! Kirby's Blowout Blast[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 3Dアドベンチャー！カービィのすいこみ大作戦[4] suridī adobenchā! Kābyi no suikomi daisakusen |
3D Adventure! Kirby's Inhale Operation |
| English | A 3D Adventure! Kirby's Blowout Blast[4] | - |
Egg Catcher - Title[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | たまごきゃっちゃ：タイトル tamago kyatcha: taitoru |
Egg Catcher: Title |
| English | Egg Catcher - Title | - |
| Traditional Chinese | 接蛋：標題 jiē dàn: biāo tí |
Catch Eggs: Title |
| Simplified Chinese | 接蛋：标题 jiē dàn: biāo tí | |
| Dutch | Fijnproeverei - Titel | Fine egg tasting - Title |
| French | Gobœuf - Titre | Egg Gobble - Title |
| German | Eiderdotte: Hauptthema | What the egg: Main theme |
| Italian | Acchiappauova: titolo | Egg catcher: title |
| Korean | 알 캐처: 타이틀 al kaecheo: taiteul |
Egg Catcher: Title |
| Portuguese | Papa Ovo: título | Egg Eater: title |
| Spanish | Atrapahuevos: título | Egg Catcher: title |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kirby: Planet Robobot Jukebox
- ↑ Euday Bowman's Twelfth Street Rag, for example, uses a variation of this phrase to kick off the final quarter or so of the rag (see the end of page 4 of the IMSLP's copy of the rag; Wayback Machine archive of score PDF). The Howard and Emerson rag "Hello! Ma Baby" also features a version of this phrase in its introduction (in the third and fourth full bars—see, e.g., page 3 of this score book).
- ↑ The wide use in turn-of-the-century music results in a wide range of names for the phrase, which include:
- the "Minsky pickup" as asserted by the TV Tropes wiki based on an AudioSparx stock music library listing (Wayback Machine snapshot), apparently after the racy stage shows of Minsky's Burlesque;
- the "Cockney intro" as in British comedian Bill Bailey's routines—see, for example, Episode 5 of Is It Bill Bailey? (Wayback Machine archive; "you got your basic Cockney intro [...]", 10:40-45—in reference to archetypal working class Cockney show personas featured in Victorian music halls that influenced subsequent novelty and comic music acts in 20th century variety;
- and the "Schubert" (possibly a misspelling of the name of the Shubert family, which founded the Shubert Organization that owned and still owns numerous Broadway theatres) according to Dick Hyman (page 50, 500 Piano Intros for the Great Standards, The Steinway Library of Piano Music; Wayback Machine archive of image; via Reddit).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Kirby's Blowout Blast: Go, Kirby!" Nintendo 3DS Theme
- ↑ Official Ichiban Kuji website about the merch line
- ↑ Kirby's Adventure
- ↑ Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival pamphlet (Internet Archive copy; direct image link)
- ↑ The Very Best of Kirby: 52 Hit Tracks
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Categories:
- Music in Kirby's Adventure
- Music in Kirby's Avalanche
- Music in Kirby's Block Ball
- Music in Kirby's Toy Box
- Music in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
- Music in Kirby: Planet Robobot
- Music in Kirby's Blowout Blast
- Music in Kirby Battle Royale
- Music in Super Kirby Clash
- Music in Kirby Fighters 2
- Music in Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Music in Kirby's Dream Buffet
- Music in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
- Music in Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World
- Music from Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival
