In this inaugural episode of The Soundtrack Exchange, we dive into the world of video games! (Each week, hosts Cameron and Christelle exchange tracks of their favorite scores from video games, movies and television.) In the debrief that follows, we discuss:

• Nostalgia!
• Fear of heights!
• Side quests and ADHD!

Whether you're a fan of game soundtracks, nostalgic for old-school gaming, or intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of music composition, this episode has something for everyone. So, join us as we embark on this auricular journey and discover the magic behind the tracks that shape our favorite games.

The tracks we explore:

• “Dire, Dire, Docks” from Super Mario 64. Composed by Koji Kondo.
• “Everybody Grab a Broom” from Hogwarts Legacy. Composed by J Scott Rakozy. 

Want to listen to the songs we talk about? Check out our playlist! 

Connect with our hosts:

• Christelle: https://www.instagram.com/stelleniumfalcon/ 
• Cameron: https://www.instagram.com/camthelemon/ 

Have suggestions for future episodes? Email us at thesoundtrackexchange@gmail.com and you just might get a shout out!

*Correction: Cameron references the 6th Harry Potter film when talking about the track “Dumbledore’s Army,” this track appears in the 5th Harry Potter film.

Christelle: Each episode, Cameron and I will give each other a song to listen to, and talk about the details, the history, and the reasons why we think our chosen tracks are so awesome.

Cameron: We'll listen to the songs, and do a wee bit of light reading. research so we sound like we know what we're talking about. Will we go down unrelated rabbit holes? Probably. But if you're a fan of soundtracks like we are, you're going to enjoy the ride. So

Christelle: buckle up and let's get exchangin I overshare because I care.

Cameron: Hello and welcome back to another episode of

Christelle: Is it the Soundtrack Exchange?

Cameron: The Soundtrack Exchange. No,

Christelle: this is the first episode.

Cameron: This is the first episode.

Christelle: This is the first episode of the Soundtrack Exchange. We should do a jingle.

Cameron: Did you have Teletubbies when you were growing up? Did you experience the Teletubbies at all?

Christelle: Aw, the weird baby in the sun.

Cameron: Who's now has a baby of her own.

Christelle: Kind of feels like a fever dream, if I think back on that.

Cameron: That's the Snapchat filter by the way, or not Snapchat, uh, Instagram filter.

Christelle: That's very, that's very young and hip of you to have a Snapchat.

Cameron: I'll tell you what's really young and hip, me recording myself with the Teletubbies sun filter. I won't do it right now because we're stuck for time.

Christelle: You did do that because I, you sent it to me and I, that was the graphic that I made for you.

Cameron: Yes. That's a bit of me. You didn't fully appreciate.

Christelle: And so I should demand that back, but it's fine.

Um, Cameron, I ha I do have a, I have a question for you before we jump in. You were traveling today and I'm curious when you fly or whatever form of travel you take, what do you listen to?

But today I read for two and a half hours, I read my book.

Christelle: Do you forget how?

Cameron: I didn't forget how, but I feel stupider. It's Jupiter on Jupiter, compared to when I was a kid, when I used to read all the time, and I had no phone or Netflix. I had VHS tapes and books.

Christelle: Yeah, or like responsibilities.

Cameron: Yeah, zero responsibilities, yeah.

So, um, I wouldn't, I don't know if I could, maybe a podcast, I couldn't just sit there and listen to music anymore, I don't think. Music to me is a very kind of active, activity based thing.

Christelle: Okay, so then follow up question, when you're reading,

Cameron: do you

Christelle: listen to music while you're reading?

Cameron: Oh, no way. No way.

Uber distracting. Would you do that?

Cameron: Wordless.

Christelle: Yeah.

Cameron: Yes. Lyricless. Um. Yeah. I'm the same.

Christelle: Yes. But even then I have to turn it down quite a bit or else I just like get really into what I'm listening to and then I completely forget what I'm reading and I end up reading the same page like over and over again.

Cameron: But yeah, the, with the music. Yeah. Like I could work very well. To like techno music because it's monotonous and same either way throughout. everybody grab a broom, which we'll dive into there shortly, um, is there's lots of movement in it and it's very kind of, you know, there's different, a million different pieces to it.

So I don't know if I could, I definitely couldn't read to that and it would be tough to not get distracted by that during work as well when you're in the zone.

Christelle: Interesting. So here's the deal folks.

Christelle: Back to the topic of listening to music while you're doing things, I didn't plan it this way, but it leads very well into what were the songs that we're talking about today as the one that you sent me.

I just had it playing in the background while I was working. Over and over and over again for a good, like, few hours. It was that, just like, perfect, chill, almost lo fi y song. Um, and that song is Yes,

Cameron: let's hear it.

Christelle: Oh no, I was gonna you tell.

Cameron: It's Dire Dire Ducks from Nintendo 64 Super Mario World.

Christelle: Yes, so for those of you who are not Irish, He's saying dire, dire docks, and not ducks.

Cameron: No, not ducks, docks. Sounds

Christelle: a bit like ducks, but it's docks, like where you put a boat. But

I actually did a presentation on him. He's only 63! I thought he was dead.

Christelle: Wow!

Cameron: I think the first, the first, um, President or CEO of Nintendo passed away there a few years ago, but, um, yeah, he did all of the like the early Super Mario games for the Super Nintendo. I think the Nintendo, which was the first everyone the, um, the NES Nintendo Entertainment System and all the Game Boy games as well.

Yes. And I'm pretty sure Zelda, which has, as I'm sure you know, some of the best Yes,

Cameron: So give me your thoughts.

Christelle: I really enjoyed it. I will say I am unfamiliar with the game. My first gaming platform was, uh, platform?

Yeah.

Cameron: Console.

Christelle: Console. Gaming console. There we go. Was a, um, a Nintendo GameCube. And as a child, I was, I was not a big gamer, so I played, like, Animal. The stuff that my sisters introduced me to, um, cause they're quite a bit older than me, and so I would play Animal Crossing. Soul Calibur, Rock Band, that kind of stuff.

Um, so I actually really didn't play any kind of Super Mario or Zelda games until like, I would say maybe

Cameron: Twenties?

Christelle: Ten years ago? Um, with the, the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Mmm. Um, cause I got a Switch. And then, because we got the Switch, we then played like Super Mario Brothers and Mario Kart and like all that stuff.

Cameron: It's opposed to his music, I'm pretty sure he did the Pokemon music as well, which

Christelle: You

Cameron: know, I could harp on about for years, but it's designed to, if you're just walking around or playing the game, that it kind of just loops without you knowing it loops.

So of course it will get repetitive, because you know the way I, maybe you didn't, because you just said you didn't play computer games when you were young, but I would have had the Game Boy and I would have played Pokemon. And those songs are like all four layers, because four bit meant that you could play only four lines of melody at the same time.

Christelle: Yeah.

Cameron: They're etched into my brain because of how many loops. There were. Me playing. Now I probably lose my mind, but as a kid.

But that's one of my favorite soundtracks to either read to, on a soft level, or, like, work to. But it's literally because it's made to. Cycle through like the specific tracks that are not story driven, but the ones are the ones that I, I listened to are made to like, I feel really dumb that that just like blew my mind,

Cameron: but I don't know if the ones in the game that we're about to talk about in a minute necessarily loop the same way as well.

Cause I think I, I've memories of playing this game and the music does fizzle out for a second and then the movement starts again. So I don't think you should feel dumb because I don't think the games these days would be doing the same thing.

Yeah. So, follow up question to this conversation. Why did you choose that one?

Cameron: It's very trendy at the moment. I think now, when you're perusing TikTok now, it'll jump out at you more and more. It's just very beautiful. Like, I've listened to people do piano covers of it. He, I love him because, maybe not so much with the N64, because that's when kind of music kind of kicked off, and then like the Game Boy Advance.

had a lot more musical options and lines of melody that were accessible. But like he was writing things that pianists on YouTube are like baffled by. I said pianists that are baffled by because of the, uh, um, no need to giggle. Uh, why, what he did with a minimal amount of lines of melody.

Cameron: Yeah, so the fact that he got more and more access technologically, his prowess and capability and talent and genius was able to shine more, but he was still rocking it back in the early, early 90s. Late 80s.

Christelle: Yeah. I would love to now go look at some piano covers because I think I, it was nice to like work to and, and it was, it was nice.

I don't know that it would be like one of my new favorites I think is because it sounds very tacky and kind of old school. I think I would gravitate more towards those. Those piano covers. So I'm going to do a YouTube dive to dive,

Cameron: deep dive YouTube, deep

Christelle: dive.

Cameron: Yeah.

Christelle: Words are hard sometimes. Um,

Cameron: but yeah, and this is also very nostalgic to me.

So when I hear the, you know, the techie tinny. Old school sound, I love it. Does

Christelle: it take you back to your childhood?

Christelle: Yeah.

Cameron: She's like, take that, they're not yours, and neither of them were happy, and I still to this day, they're both in their 40s, I will send them pictures.

Of the Nintendo 64. My head's been like, Oh,

Christelle: you still have it.

Cameron: It's clean. Oh yeah. You can't play it on a modern television. You have to get an adapter. That's very sad.

Christelle: Yeah. Well, you know, with the Nintendo switch, they've come out now with like arcade. I don't know what it's called, but it's kind of like arcade and it gives you access to a bunch of the old ones.

I've been looking for more of the Zelda games.

Cameron: Yes.

Christelle: I really want Wind Waker to come out because I think that was kind of the initial introduction into, without having played the whole thing, I played like a trial or something like that. And so I'd like to, to go back to that sometime, um,

Cameron: do.

How I didn't really play games growing up, but the first real, like, big video game that I played was, uh, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. The second one, not the second Legend of Zelda, but the second kind of big video game that I have now very deeply delved into is Hogwarts Legacy.

Cameron: What a game. I What a game.

Christelle: Love that game. I played through it once, all the way through, and then I started halfway through again. And then I restarted it, and then I started again once it got, um,

Cameron: Difficult?

Christelle: Once it became available on my Switch. Oh, sorry,

Cameron: yes. Apologies, yeah.

Christelle: And so that is why I assigned you, Everyone Grab a Broom. Um, cause it's just a very whimsical,

Cameron: Beautiful.

Christelle: Whimsical track of that soundtrack.

Cameron: Oh, so many thoughts. So many thoughts.

Cameron: yeah, I have more questions than I do have comments.

Christelle: Oh, okay. Ask questions. I like to talk.

Cameron: I don't know if you know this or not.

Christelle: Tell me.

Cameron: Obviously these are full blown composers.

Yes. Do you know if this was done through MIDI? Or is this, was this recorded by an orchestra?

Christelle: I have zero idea.

Cameron: These days you can't really tell the difference. I have zero idea. I'm finger, I'm finger crossed. It's fingers crossed. I don't know where

Christelle: you're going with that, because you stopped right after finger.

Cameron: I'll take that,

Christelle: I'll take,

Cameron: I'll take that one again. Fingers crossed it was recorded by an orchestra.

Christelle: I want to say that it was. But also, yeah, you can't tell. It's because it's too

Cameron: stunning.

Christelle: It's too stunning.

Cameron: There's just so much going on in it. I, I didn't listen to enough to know it off by heart, like to sing it.

But again, I was listening to the extended nine, ten version. Yeah, so to

Um, cause I don't have the, I haven't built up the, the dexterity.

Cameron: Nice words. Thank

Christelle: you. Um, I'm trying to think if it just, if it triggers when you just fly around too, or if it's just specifically. I don't know. I think, I think.

Cameron: One thing

Christelle: I find really charming about this game, and granted, I'm sure every game does this, this is just the one that I've played the most, is that, just the like, logistics of when certain tracks play when, and like, what tasks you're doing, and the kind of background music of that.

I just think it's really lovely.

Cameron: I agree.

Christelle: And I never noticed it until this game.

We, that's what we, that's why we go back to things. But, um, Harry Potter 1 for PlayStation 1 was the first ever game like that, like that Harry running around Hogwarts hopping on the broom. And I still remember all of the music from the first two games. But that's kind of the vibe, obviously to a much lesser scale, but like there was outdoor music, there was broom riding music, it was everything like that.

And that's what I love probably the most about Hogwarts Legacy is two things, how they kept that, initial vibe, because I think the fifth game and the sixth game and the seventh game, they were more kind of like phases of action and way less running around and world exploring and the music as well. It's it's superb.

Christelle: Yeah, I, I was actually going to bring up, I think that's one of the really cool things about this game's soundtrack is that, I mean, the, the Harry Potter, Movie soundtracks are so iconic and the, the, um, scores written by John Williams and, and Nicholas Hooper and all of the other ones that have done all of the different movies, um, It's iconic, you know, um, and I would say of all of the movie soundtracks, I think I'm the most familiar with most of the Harry Potter ones.

Um, and so I thought that it was really cool how they've brought in elements that are reminiscent of specific tracks from specific movies

Cameron: in

Christelle: a way that you can tell that it's really similar, but it's not exact. So it's not an exact copy. It's just inspired by, um, And there's, there's another track, which I'm sure at some point we'll, we'll get into called the great escape.

Cameron: London,

Christelle: Greater London.

Yes. You know, um, I would think that that would be really similar. That's just off the top of my head, though.

Cameron: And how scared would you be if you were flying a broom over the Thames in London?

Christelle: I would fall off.

Cameron: I wouldn't have made it. But then again, I'm not magic, so.

Cameron: um,

Christelle: well, and those, those aren't, aren't as difficult because you can see the ground.

So that's, that's less, it's the ones where you're like crossing a bridge.

Cameron: Yes.

Christelle: Um, and you can't see the ground or, um, you know, there have been a few of the, the tasks that like I physically cannot do and I have to have. My husband, Josh, do it, and it's when you're like jumping across stones. Yes. But it's like difficult enough that if you don't do it, you fall.

Like every time my stomach drops. And I feel like I'm like dying. It's terrifying.

Cameron: Yeah.

Christelle: Something to talk to my therapist about, maybe.

Cameron: Because I have that in real life because I'm a, I'm a poor flyer.

Christelle: But I also was going to ask, you know, if, do you have a little bit of a fear of heights because you're so tall?

Like how does that affect your day to day life and how tall you are?

Like, if people, people lose keys and stuff, you just like, leave it to me. I'm on it.

Christelle: Well, and I have very dainty, you know, hands. pincers and stuff like that so I can reach places.

Cameron: To be fair, I'm not rocking the dustbin lids. Anyway, can I give you my example of what I heard in Everybody Grab a Grab? Yes,

Christelle: please.

Cameron: That's actually described, that's how Hagrid's hands are described in the Philosopher's Stone, or as you would say, the Sorcerer's Stone. I do like

Christelle: the Philosopher's Stone better though, like as a concept. I forgot about that. It's been a hot minute since I've read the books. Tell me what you heard.

Oh

Christelle: yes.

Cameron: There's like a, there's a lot of that which is

Christelle: very indicative. The

Cameron: bird flying around. The

Christelle: piccolo

Cameron: I'm going to say. I'm gonna say piccolo or maybe just a high flute. Yeah,

Christelle: piccolo, yeah.

Cameron: And then a lot of six. I heard a lot of Dumbledore's army.

Christelle: Oh. In it.

Cameron: Don't ask me to recreate, but I did hear a lot of when they're, when Harry's teaching them all how to do Patronuses.

Yeah,

Christelle: yeah, okay. I heard a lot of that.

Cameron: And then I heard a lot of, you know, in three when the bird is flying through the

Christelle: Yeah.

Cameron: And then gets whumped by the whomping willow.

Christelle: I love that scene.

Cameron: There's a lot of kind of flute movement in that as well, which I heard.

Christelle: I think one of my favorite things about this track specifically is and.

I, a lot of the movies that are people's favorites, wouldn't be as incredible as they are without the music. Um, and then same with this game, like you're listening to this track and you're like, wow, it actually sounds like I'm flying around on a broom. Um, just the way that the music is shaped and the movement of it, you, you can place yourself in that.

Yeah. I just love it. It's magic.

Cameron: And I just love the attention to detail and the amount of work that goes into it as well, and that they don't skimp on video games like they wouldn't skimp on movies. They give it the same amount of, uh, work and talent and magic, as you just said.

Christelle: Yeah, this particular soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy for Best Video Game Soundtrack.

Cameron: Oh, uh, Fallen. I remember feeling very

Christelle: disappointed.

Cameron: That's also very good though as well. That's

Christelle: not Last Jedi.

Cameron: Yeah.

Christelle: It is. Fallen Jedi? It is. Um.

Cameron: The one with the actor, Cameron thingy?

Christelle: No, I don't, I don't know.

Cameron: With the red hair? He played the Joker in Gotham? Yes.

Christelle: Yes. He looks like my nephew, which is so weird to me. That's a random fact. That's the only connection I have to that game. Josh played it. I did not. And his

Cameron: name is Cameron as well. The

Christelle: character? Oh, oh. The

Cameron: actor. The computer game is based on an actor. I was like, my

Christelle: nephew?

No, his name's not Cameron. Um,

Cameron: Brother in law?

Christelle: His name is Cameron, yes. Shout out to Cam! Camoravski!

Cameron: Hey Cam!

But, um, so there's the actual game soundtrack, which is where this, everybody grab Broom is from. But then they also have a study themes, um, which I think is the last less story driven tracks and more in between music

Cameron: and beyond.

Christelle: Yeah. And, and that is, that is a playlist that I, I work to, I read to, I listen to.

It is one of the most lovely soundtracks. Um, so we will also link that as well.

Cameron: Is it sleepy at times?

Christelle: It is a little sleepy, I will say. Um, but not in a way that it like makes me super sleepy. It just is. It brings the kind of sleepiness that comes with like peace, you know, like, oh, interesting. So at some point I'll give you a track from that playlist so that we can talk about the different songs.

Cameron: Yeah. I wish I had the kind of time to play it all the way through, but I need to make a bit of time I feel, and maybe not do it so hard for those listening.

I tried to play this game all the way through. I think I got like 20 percent in and wizards were, um, witches were. Mergering the left, right and center with their wands.

Christelle: It is a very good game. If you struggle with any kind of ADHD tendencies, it is insane how off track you can get by how many, like with the side quests and I don't, I, I finished this game when, so the first game that I played, Legends of Zelda Breath of the Wild, it took me two years to finish because life got in the way, you know, just stuff happened.

Um, Yeah,

Cameron: things happen. I

Cameron: Bye. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's it. And like, would your brain be like, There's things I'm missing. I need to do them all.

I can't like walk past a side quest and not do it. That will, that will make me irritated. Uh,

Christelle: I don't know.

Cameron: Like I know I have something bigger going on, but now there's this side quest that I'm being invited to and I have to do that first. So I know that I've all that coverage before I do the bigger one?

Or is that just me?

Christelle: It might just be you.

Cameron: Okay. That's fine.

Christelle: Should we do a TV next time?

Cameron: Yes. No, let's do tv. Okay. Let's do tv. Let's, uh,

Christelle: let's assign it offline because. You have to go.

Cameron: I, I, I'm a, I'm a bit of a time commitment, but yes, let's do it offline and I'll see you next week. See you

Christelle: next week. That's good.

Cameron: Bye.

Cameron: Also, if you have some soundtrack themes and topics that Christelle and I should explore, feel free to email us with your suggestions.

If it's chosen, we'll be sure to give you a shoutout.

Christelle: Until next time, we out!