Koji Kondo
Japanese composerWikipedia
21
MENTIONS
15
EPISODES
13
PODCASTS
Search complete. 21 mentions across 15 episodes found for "Koji Kondo".
Oct 28, 2026
MarkHOST
Some quick research, early definitions of motif, the term and the concept, appeared in early music encyclopedias, such as Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie in 1765, which described the motivo as the primary thought or idea of an aria.
MarkHOST
In the classical era, classical composers used a head motif to unite movements or build entire symphonic structures out of brief rhythmic cells.
MarkHOST
Most famously, the iconic four-note fete motif, short, short, short, long, that opens Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
MarkHOST
So I was approaching this idea because I'm like, well, spooky season.
MarkHOST
you know, really classic and used everywhere.
MarkHOST
Yeah.
MarkHOST
Throughout time, early Romantic composers lay to the groundwork by using these reoccurring themes to track their narrative ideas.
MarkHOST
Hector Berlioz introduced the Idée Fique in his Symphonie Fantastique in 1830 to represent the artist's obsession, while Carl Maria von Weber used reminiscence motifs in early operas.
NolanHOST
Copyright laws in Japan could use it.
NolanHOST
So Koji Kondo, the goat.
NolanHOST
Hold on.
NolanHOST
Do you know
NolanHOST
That's crazy.
NolanHOST
So they didn't use it.
NolanHOST
And Koji Kondo- the goat wrote the now famous overworld theme overnight.
NolanHOST
Apparently is the, the, the legend, but go pull up that Bolero track and you'll be amazed at the vision that they, that inspired that song.
RhysHOST
While you look it up, I would just like to briefly interject.
RhysHOST
uh in the video game realm koji kondo uh has so so many similarities to the most well-known uh nintendo songs on these kind of like on a variety of jazz albums that are pretty you know some people say is accidental i think is on there's completely
TomHOST
100 percent yeah
RhysHOST
Yeah, and it's just sort of like you can wrestle with it if you want, but it's, you know, they're Kojis now.
MattHOST
did i even say what it was we got wario land super mario land 3 today that's that's the drop that happened today Let's go back then and talk a bit about Majora's Mask.
MattHOST
This was composed by Koji Kondo.
MattHOST
I have not played Majora's Mask since the 3DS version came out.
MattHOST
And, you know, I always knew the soundtrack was great.
Kyle WoodHOST
But now, as always, let's warm up our brains with a little challenge to see if you can tell fact from fiction.
Kyle WoodHOST
Consider this: The Legend of Zelda's title music, composed by Koji Kondo, is celebrated as one of the most recognizable original themes ever written for a video game.
Kyle WoodHOST
Just having mentioned it, I know it'll be running through my head for at least the next few days.
Kyle WoodHOST
But would you believe that famous melody was kind of slapped together at the last minute after concerns about rights to the song they originally wanted to use? Supposedly, Nintendo originally programmed Maurice Ravel's classical masterpiece Boléro as the title music, but hours before starting mass production of the game, they discovered that the copyright had not yet expired.
10 MINS LATER
Kyle WoodHOST
Finally, the moment you've been waiting for.
Kyle WoodHOST
At the beginning of the episode, I asked was The Legend of Zelda's opening song really composed overnight just because of a last-minute copyright concern? That's a fact.
Kyle WoodHOST
The composer, Koji Kondo, had fully arranged and programmed Ravel's orchestral work as the title theme, operating under the assumption that the 1928 piece was in the Japanese public domain.
Kyle WoodHOST
But late in the production cycle, Nintendo's legal department realized that copyright protections under international treaties and post-war extensions meant the rights wouldn't lapse till a bit later.
Jamie CarboneHOST
...
Jamie CarboneHOST
when, when you have the opportunity to see the com- composition of MILF Raiders live, you know, the, it's the only non-Nintendo album that Koji Kondo has worked on.
Jamie CarboneHOST
You've really gotta give it a chance, otherwise what are you even doing?
Aaron HarlemanHOST
Is that game?
Naoise O'HareHOST
So it was designed-- So I'm gonna get into the, the making of it and the, the early days of Nintendo and how I think things came about, because it was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, who- which most video game fans will know, and also Takashi Tezuka, and then there was a programmer called Toshihiko Nakago, and they were the three main people that were involved in creating the game.
Naoise O'HareHOST
And then the music was done by the legend Koji Kondo.
Naoise O'HareHOST
But prior to 1985 and the release of this game, there was the video game crash of 1980, uh, 1982 or 3 or something, where basically with Atari and all of the other consoles that were out, they just flooded the market with a lot of, a lot of junk games, basically.
Naoise O'HareHOST
And so the legend goes, the tipping point for the video game crash was an ET video game for the Atari 2600 that was rushed out before Christmas and is hailed as the worst video game ever made.
David PetrangeloHOST
So the
BrianGUEST
music's another cool thing, though, is, you know, because it's not done by the Zelda team or like Koji Kondo.
BrianGUEST
It's done by R&D one people.
BrianGUEST
So like the the I don't remember her name, but she does the Metroid music or, you know, did the Metroid music.
TonyHOST
The coolest thing I saw in there was the original Super Mario Brothers World 1-1, like, composition written in pencil.
TonyHOST
Like, Koji Kondo signed this thing, and it's like the do-do-do-do-do-do, and, like, it's right there on the fucking wall.
TonyHOST
It's crazy.
TonyHOST
But...
Rich VreelandGUEST
[laughs] Uh, Yoshi's Island.
Rich VreelandGUEST
Uh, I'm a big fan of Koji Kondo.
Rich VreelandGUEST
Yasunori Mitsuda did a lot of great stuff.
Rich VreelandGUEST
More recently, Tomas Dvorak is one of my favorite game composers.
5 more episodes mention Koji Kondo.
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