dun dun dun da-dun DUNNNN dunnnn

October 9, 2018 7:17 PM

Super Mario Bros, with a live big band score, featuring Guy In Headband on solo NES controller.
posted by cortex (19 comments total)

Third grade talent show, in front of the entire school. My buddy Adam played the game on a TV while I provided the beep boops. I was mercifully taken offstage after Adam completed world 1-1. But I tell you that in my eight-year-old noggin, it sounded like this!
posted by infinitewindow at 7:23 PM on October 9, 2018 [11 favorites]

MICHAEL

I love it. I would have driven my parents crazy with this track if it had been around when I was a kid.

Also, I was just thinking of what a great song "Jump Up, Super Star" is, and I don't even have a Switch. Yet.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:41 PM on October 9, 2018

This is a precision-guided missile of genetically modified super virality. The internet is going to break. Holy shit they put so much work into that, and holy shit it was worth it.
posted by Caduceus at 7:50 PM on October 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

There are exactly two FPPs with the tag 'headband' and the other is a dead link flashnon-flash something from 2005. Metafilter, we can do better than this.
posted by Caduceus at 7:51 PM on October 9, 2018

headbandvember
posted by cortex at 8:02 PM on October 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

In 0:15, he pushes the power button, but it clearly takes a second to turn red, so he hadn't actually gotten the game to boot yet. I know they probably turned the NES on way beforehand, and they filmed multiple takes for each level, but for a minute I had this vision of him spending like a dozen tries fiddling with the cartridge to get the game to actually turn on, while everyone in the orchestra sitting in this studio that he paid out the ass to rent is watching as he gets more embarrassed and frantic.

At least, that's what happens to me whenever I try to break out my NES when I have people over.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 8:41 PM on October 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

Oh, wait, never mind. He wasn't actually controlling the gameplay, he was just reacting to a recording. Ugh, screw you, dude blowing into a cartridge and pretending to turn on an NES that clearly wasn't turned on! You make a mockery of our pain!
posted by J.K. Seazer at 8:46 PM on October 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

As a firm believer in the maxim that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, this pushes ALL my buttons.
posted by fedward at 9:00 PM on October 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

Adam Neely's video with Charlie Rosen where they talk about the specific arrangements is worth watching as well.
posted by timelord at 12:38 AM on October 10, 2018 [6 favorites]

So out of the many, many wonderful things I love about this, the expressions at perilous or level-winning moments are what do it for me. When they made this, they weren't thinking go big or go home, more what's the biggest sound we can fit in people's heads? Yey for best of the web!
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 3:31 AM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

best gig for a bassoonist ever
posted by Morpeth at 4:51 AM on October 10, 2018 [7 favorites]

today's spiritual lesson os to be happy with what I can do and not be jealous of this guy's massive talents
posted by thelonius at 5:05 AM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is so wonderful on so many levels. Wonderful music, wonderful arrangement, wonderful performance. I didn't know I needed this on a Wednesday morning. I love that there are still people out there making great music just because it's fun.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 5:54 AM on October 10, 2018

So so good
posted by like_neon at 6:10 AM on October 10, 2018

Charming! I notice the conductor is using the Wind Waker, which is a nice touch.
posted by Monster_Zero at 7:04 AM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]

Came for the Mario, stayed for the F-Zero - I mean check out that saxophone solo!
posted by Molesome at 7:20 AM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seriously, the F-Zero link is everything. So awesome!
posted by dellsolace at 9:05 AM on October 10, 2018

So there was a moment when he cleared level 1-1 when I thought maybe that was all there was and then I was so pleased that there was 5 minutes left in the video and I can't tell you when the last time that happened with an internet video (maybe because it's never happened)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:12 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

Here's a rock band doing a live soundtrack for Mega Man 2. I believe the person in this video is actually playing the game live.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 12:24 PM on October 10, 2018