Gotta Catch ‘Em All (Pokémon Theme)
The Pokémon series and their well-known music theme don’t need much introduction. The song, Gotta Catch ‘Em All, was written by John Siegler and John Loeffler for the first season of the English Pokémon version. However, over the years, the performance by Jason Paige became synonymous with the entire Pokémon franchise. In the end, they used the fast-paced pop-rock song as the intro song for all the seasons. The song’s tempo is pretty fast, making it not the most accessible song to play. Moreover, it is one of those song people do not expect from a percussion ensemble. Once studied, the players and the audience will enjoy the performance of the Pokémon theme song.
I don’t know what triggered the idea to play Gotta Catch ‘Em All with a percussion ensemble. Although, while going out in my student city, Leuven, I remember that they regularly played the song in the late evenings. I might have just woken up one morning and started writing the Pokémon theme for the percussion ensemble. The first performance of this arrangement was by the Drum- & Percussionband Paal, and afterwards, the Meerhout Percussion Orchestra. I re-wrote some parts of the arrangement to make it more suitable for commercial use. Played at full speed, the percussion ensemble version is 3:30 minutes long. The arrangement is written for 11 players but can easily be extended to about 16.
Gotta Catch ‘Em All (Pokémon) for Percussion Ensemble:
Xylophone and Glockenspiel:
A recurring phenomenon in my arrangements for Percussion Ensemble is that the xylophone parts get the melody lines. It is because of its dominant sound and character and because my strongest mallet players were usually positioned behind the xylophone. In Pokémon, that isn’t any different. To ensure that the melody has more character than the sharp wooden sound, they get the support of the Glockenspiel.
Vibraphone:
The vibraphone part in the Pokémon theme for the percussion ensemble is most likely the hardest to play. The part is dominated by sixteenth notes on a fast-forward tempo and gets all the critical transitions in between. I recommend bringing a 12th person to double this part and add extra mid-tones to the music. The players should write chords above their lines to help them memorize the part instead of reading.
Marimba:
Apart from the piano, these two marimba parts are responsible for the harmonics in Gotta Catch ‘Em All for the percussion ensemble. Marimba 1 is closely related to the piano part, where Marimba 2 mainly plays secondary melodies. It is recommended to double at least one of the marimba parts to create that extra harmonic support.
Piano and Bass:
Although also played in some parts of the marimbas, the piano part is crucial in this arrangement. Since the piano is dominant in the original version of the Pokémon theme, I had no choice but to make it prevalent in the percussion ensemble version. Unlike in other arrangements I wrote, the piano part has a leading role in Pokémon. The bass guitar and the piano bass have the same part. You can play the bass guitar part on the guitar or on the bass marimba.
Percussion and Drums
Gotta Catch ‘Em All is extremely fun to play on the drums. The part in the percussion ensemble version is not a transcription but an adjusted version for the ensemble version. The drummer should play in a forward motion and support the entire ensemble. The tambourine and bongos parts complete the percussion ensemble by adding that extra character.
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