Video game music fans were pleasantly surprised this week when YouTubers 8-Bit Big Band won
a Grammy – and actual Grammy – for their arrangement of a Kirby song.
The band’s cover of Meta-Knight’s Revenge won the award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental,
or A Capella.
While the idea of a video game music cover band winning a mainstream award might seem
strange, this is the culmination of years of work by some of the very best musical talent
in New York City.
Band leader Charlie Rosen was born to a musical family – his mother plays the bassoon (and
the flute, and the clarinet, and the piccolo, and the saxophone).
His father plays the organ (and the guitar, and the banjo, and the accordion).
According to an interview with The New York Times:
“When he was 3, his parents noticed he could tell if a note played on the piano was white
or black — he had perfect pitch.
So he started on the piano, with his mother as his first teacher.”
At the age of fifteen, Rosen auditioned – and got the part – for a role in the pit for
the regional production of the Broadway musical 13.
He played swing bass, guitar, and percussion.
At age 17, he moved to New York City to join the Broadway proper, and attended four semesters
at Berklee College of Music, in between Broadway appearances.
As his star continued to rise, he moved on to roles in both regional, on and off Broadway
shows, where he made connections with some of the best musicians of the stage.
He added more and more instruments to his repertoire, learning to play some incredibly
weird and wonderful things, such as the theremin, which he integrated into the musical Be More
Chill.
He also played a lot of computer and video games.
Naturally, this also meant listening to a lot of video game music, and falling in love
with it.
Rosen is particularly fascinated by older music titles from older eras in gaming.
He said: “[Retro game musicians] only had 45 seconds,
and they had to loop, and they could only play three notes at the same time.
It forced them to come up with these incredibly iconic melodies using the bare building blocks
of music.”
Rosen is a fan of big bands, and is the leader of his own orchestra, named Charlie Rosen's
Broadway Big Band.
He wanted to create large, complex, nuanced arrangements of classic video game music,
and his connections in the musical world made this dream a reality.
He said: “I wanted to [form] the big band that reinterprets
video-game music in the same way the great 20th-century jazz arrangers reinterpreted
the Great American Songbook.”
Putting together the band is not an easy, or a cheap experience.
Rosen pours many hours of work into each recording.
He said: “It’s expensive, but it’s something
I think is worth doing.
I contract it all, and I know enough incredible musicians here in New York that can come in
and just sight-read it and make it happen.”
It’s because of this passion, and because of his reputation, that Rosen is able to attract
some of the biggest names in music to work with his band.
These musicians aren’t always familiar with video games themselves, but quickly pick up
on the band’s excitement as they explore the music.
Award-winning saxophone soloist Grace Kelly said:
“When Charlie Rosen approached me about guesting on these tracks, I fell in love with
the music and the energy of the band and the audience.”
For Meta-Knight’s Revenge, Rosen collaborated with Jake Silverman, a jazz musician who has
created his own body of video game music covers under the banned Button Masher.
The pair then liaised with talented musicians both throughout New York City and across the
world to create their cover.
And then it won a Grammy!
The end result is the culmination of years of work from dozens of talented musicians,
a true love letter to video games, and a testament to the power of collaboration.
The moral of the story is that it’s worth pursuing your passions.
8-Bit Big Band may not be Charlie Rosen’s day job, but because of the hard work and
effort he put into his video game arrangements, it was this project that won him a Grammy.
So too, while you may not have all the time you want to embrace your own hobbies, time
spent having fun is definitely not wasted.
You may not win a prestigious award, but so long as you enjoy yourself and learn and grow,
then your time is well spent.