Game:

Mario Paint (1992)

Duration: 2:57

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Who invited you into our tree? Only members are welcome, ya see?

Time to continue the "Cuphead Run 'n Gun Stages in Mario Paint" series; four down, two to go! Treetop Trouble is the second available stage to play, and it's a tricky one. Bouncing ladybugs, woody Woodpeckers, giant projectile-shooting stacks of wood, disappearing leaf platforms, and a mean dragonfly impede your path as you make your way both horizontally and vertically through a gnarly old tree.

The music for Treetop Trouble is composed by Kris Maddigan. It was then transcribed, arranged, and "painted" into Super Mario Paint by dannymusic, yours truly!

I've said this before, but I like making these videos because it's an opportunity to appreciate the tune in ways I wouldn't have noticed before. Transcribing music you like is a great way for you to learn more about the processes involved and possibly pick up tips to arrange or compose music yourself.

One thing I find very interesting about Treetop Trouble is its form. If you take only the letters, it would be AABBACCBBAA -- almost like an arch form, though the initial part is like rounded binary (AABBA -- that pattern is common in ragtime music). However, when the B section returns following the transition after the second C section (B3), it initially comes back in the key of C major, whereas the initial iteration of the B theme is in the piece's home key of A minor. In the Mario Paint text files I called this "Fake B3." The reason I named it such was I initially interpreted Fake B3 as an extension of the (weird) transition because Fake B3 gets us from C major back to the home key of A minor (when Real B3 returns).

However, in retrospect, I think that label isn't accurate. I believe Fake B3 *should* be considered part of the form rather than an extension of the transition material. First, including Fake B3 in the form keeps the repetition pattern consistent. Second, each of the other transition parts uses the same motive that was introduced at the beginning, whereas Fake B3 doesn't use this motive. But, most importantly, I think that Fake B3 being in C major very cleverly foreshadows the end of the piece. Despite the majority of Treetop Trouble being in A minor, the very ending resolves to, you guessed it, C major!

Also worth mentioning -- this is my first video using the newly updated Super Mario Paint 1.1 designed by Rehdblob with additional developments by j574y923! Some new features include a cut/copy/paste/delete clipboard mechanic that lets you isolate individual instruments or ranges as well as an undo/redo feature. And zero crashes. These are definitely some awesome quality-of-life updates, and I'm happy and grateful that people are still working on the program!

If you're interested in picking up Super Mario Paint yourself, check it out here! https://github.com/DC37/Super-Mario-Paint

Thanks for listening! Click here to subscribe for more! This is the fourth of six Cuphead Run 'n Gun stages recreated in Super Mario Paint. I'm still pacing myself with these (and there's more trombone stuff to come), but I can't wait for the collection to be complete!

Subscribe Link: http://www.youtube.com/c/dannymusic?sub_confirmation=1

Playlist of all Run 'n Gun Stages: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu28NiFD3lD5ByAnF-3xbpOBrOACWGbFH

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