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[Aaaaand here we go!]

I've been quite busy this year with graduating university and starting my first "real" job, so, this year I'll, once again, be doing the 12 days of Sheetsmas where I post an arrangement (good, bad, or hopefully-only-mildly ugly) every day for 12 days straight!
Most of these will be sheets I've had lying around needing to be finished and this is the perfect opportunity to get them over the finish line. I will not be imposing any extra rules like only one per game/series/console because I'm boring like that. Just 12 arrangements, posted daily.

Aaaaand here we go! I recently started playing through the Trails in the Sky subseries of the The Legend of Heroes series and finished the first and second chapters this year, with the third waiting on the Steam Winter Sale! The soundtrack overall is pretty good, but one of the leitmotifs, "The Whereabouts of Light", is just absolutely gorgeous and forms the melody for this piece, arranged beautifully and sentimentally for piano. Enjoy!
Day 1:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - "Confession"
[PDF] [MIDI] [MUS] [MUSX]

Lots of wonderfully spoOoOoOoky music! Great work everyone!

One thing I'd suggest is maybe messing around with the spacing, or perhaps the distribution to give those bars a little more space.  I did something like that with mine to get the picture I sent, which looks a lot less cramped than yours does currently.  I probably should have mentioned that in my previous post.

Ah yeah. Good point. I've done some tweaking and updated the files. Take a look at it! (If we need to more finely workshop this, ping me on Discord so we can skip the slowness of the forum workflow.)

No worries!  Not sure about why the notification didn't send...

No clue, but it happened again (i.e. I wasn't notified about this). However, I was anticipating your response, so it didn't matter in the end.

Honestly, even if it is a little shorter than a sixteenth, it's still very close to that.  I think a 32nd is too short and also looks a lot messier.  I definitely prefer it how it is now.

Alright then! We'll just leave it to the performer to make the length shorter.

I can see where you're coming from, although I think this is an improvement over the chromatics from before.  Have you considered something like this?  The playback doesn't sound very good, but it works pretty well on the piano.  Just a thought.

Spoiler

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Oooh! Yeah, I quite like this. I vaguely remember considering grace notes, but I think I shied away from it because it makes the measures longer, particularly compared to what I had before, which I felt was satisfactory, but I can't remember. Nevertheless, as you said, it doesn't sound very good on the playback (neither in Finale nor MuseScore), but having plonked it out on a keyboard, it's quite natural and actually quite fun! Plus, it does sound pretty good against the original.
With that said, I've committed to this, so look for it in the update .musx. Do also look in the area to make sure I didn't accidentally break something whilst implementing it -- Finale tried to split the beams when I put in the grace notes, but I corrected those, yet there's still a small chance something else might've broke that I didn't notice.

Thanks, Libera!

Sorry about the delay! I expected to get a notif email, but it never came...

-I'm normally pretty lenient when it comes to tempo markings, but "If he sees you, run away..." doesn't really tell me anything at all about how to play the piece, and is just a reference to the game (I'm assuming).  I don't mind references to the games, but I think they should also actually give the performer some information on how to ... perform the sheet.

Fair point. I've changed it to just "Eerily" as I couldn't come up with something wittier.

-Honestly I don't really hear these chromatic descents in bars 20 and 24.  It's a little out of tune but it still pretty solidly sounds like Fb _> Eb -> Eb -> Db -> Db -> Cb -> Cb -> Bb to me (for bar 20, and then similarly for bar 24).

Hmmm. Where applicable, the first half of the note is slide-y, whereas the latter half of the duration they settle on the pitches you spelled out. I guess if we take the notion of "what they settle on" as guidance, then yeah, you're right. I still prefer the chromaticism because I feel it flows better (because it better captures the leading pitch instead of the trailing pitch), but I've changed them anyway.

I agree with Bloop that it's fine to modify these intervals if you need to, and here I don't really like the En over the Fb, so I think it would be better to adjust the intervals to avoid using it.  Similarly, I think you could also get away with those Bbbs as Ans, but I don't really mind.

Alright then! I'll keep the Fb's then. I'll also just keep the B double flats -- they mesh better with my brain over the A naturals.

The only thing I'd say is that the second to last note is completely measured, just like the rhythm at the end of bar 8, and so I don't really think the grace note is appropriate to use here.

Another fair point, and one I hadn't thought of. However, that leaves me unsure what to use. I originally chose the grace note because the duration is shorter than a 16th note, but a 32nd note was (a) technically too short and (b) made things messy, so I picked that instead. I've changed it to a sixteenth note for now, but I'm not satisfied. Do you have a preference? Perhaps just embrace a 32nd note? Or does it not matter?

Why all the hidden slurs?

An artifact when I was working out legatos/con pedale. I was just too lazy to delete them originally. They're cleaned up now.

And, one last thing not addressed, I realized that the tempo marking was errantly using "quarter note = 64", when we're in 12/8 and should've been using "dotted quarter = ____", so I changed that. Just wanted to make a note of that.

Alright, that should be all the feedback.  Files are updated. Thanks Libera! And, again, my apologies for my tardiness.

Nothing to say here except maybe changing the repeat barline to a D.C. marking? It's a completely personal preference and either way is totally acceptable, but using D.C. would avoid the performer trying to look for a non-existent 'repeat from' barline.

Yeah, I've noticed that some arrangers prefer to use D.C. compared to a repeat barline. However, I was taught that there's nothing wrong with using a repeating barline to signify returning to the beginning. That said, I could definitely see preferring a D.C. on a sheet that's like 4+ pages or very dense, because there's just so much music you'd have to scour to find where to go back to, mainly if you're unfamiliar with the piece. But given that this is a one-pager, I really don't think it's necessary to have a D.C. (though, there's nothing wrong with it) and a repeating barline works just fine.

While I agree with Bloop that it's not necessary to write tritone sequences as different intervals, I think it's good to do when possible. I would prioritise interval consistency over the lead-in descent here, so En instead of Fb. Might be a good idea to get another opinion on this before changing it back and forth again though...

Yeah, I'll wait until I hear from the accepter updater to get their opinion. As you likely read above, I am in agreement with you, but it really does seem this is one of the innumerable "it's a matter of opinion" music notation questions, so, given my novice-ness in the subject, I'm always keen to hear more opinions -- including yours!

Thanks for the feedback, Xiao!

I don't have a reliable source about this other than my own thoughts, but I think in the case of the tritone, it's more ok to switch between the a4 and d5 intervals, maybe because they are both about as common and more easily recognizable than (for example) switching between a major third and a diminished fourth. I did the same thing on this sheet of mine on the second page, and to quote another Chopin example, this piece. In your case it's not that much of a problem to have them all as diminished fifths if you prefer it, but from my own experience I've usually seen them alternating a bit more between the two.

Fair enough. You make a good case. I'm happy to change it to an En then.

Most notably for me is the Cb minor that appeared now in m25. You could maybe get away with writing it with all naturals and sharps, so it kinda mirrors the Dm part.

Alright then, I've reworked it to be in B minor. Take a look at it and let me know if you think it looks good this way or if it was better as Cb minor.

[Nighttime Crafts]

Nighttime Crafts
-m8: You can write the En in the R.H. as Fb (descending towards Eb)

Since they're chromatically descending tritones, wouldn't it make sense to keep the intervals the same for parallel's sake? Because changing the En to an Fb would make the first tritone an interval of 4, compared to the others which are 5.

-m22: Technically you could write this dyad as Fb-Ab too, but I think En-G# actually makes more sense in the D minor environment. Just wanted to mention it :p

Yeah, MuseScore kept recommending that, and while I agree it's simpler that way, I chose it to E-G# to (a) keep it parallel with m.25-26 and (b) it shows visual contrast indicating to the player to definitely move their hand. Now, I think the system break helps Fb-Ab not look visually confusing compared to if they were juxtaposed on the same system, but I still prefer the clear visual contrast between the two dyads.

There are more parts that look a bit counter-intuitive than I expected, but I think it's still a bit better than D# minor haha

Agreed. Any particular examples that "look a bit counter-intuitive than [you] expected"? Just curious what you see, compared to what I see.

The Great Stage
There's just an Ab in the R.H. in m6 that should be an An, which I think was like that before, but everything else looks good!

Herp derp. Fixed that. Good catch!

[Nighttime Crafts]

Nighttime Crafts
I think key-signature wise it would look a bit more straightforward for a pianist to read it in Eb minor rather than D# minor, so 6 flats instead of 6 sharps. It will cause more naturals to appear and less double sharps. I'll check the exact enharmonic spelling after the change tho ^^ Aside from that I have nothing to say about it, looks great!

Alright, I've transposed it! I do agree it reads easier this way, probably because most of the melody lines are "falling" in some fashion. And... please do look over the accidentals; they're giving me vertigo with this many flats in the key signature.

Because of that, I'm totally fine with the Luigi's Mansion track as an additional sub!

Yay! :squirt_happy:

The Great Stage
-m3: Maybe the mf dynamic marking isn't that necessary: the melody is pretty loud compared to the accompaniment, but that's pretty common for classical(-sounding) pieces like this. If you look up any performance of this prelude from Chopin, you'll see the melody is also more in a mf-range, even though the dynamic marking is still p.

A very good point (and a good example from one of my favorite Chopin pieces). I suppose the Moonlight Sonata (which I believe this piece draws main inspiration from) also has that. As such, I've changed it to just piano for now, with the mezzo forte hidden for the playback. Let me know if you think it should be different.

-m4 and 6: I think you can extend the R.H. notes to be held for the full bar: the pedal will do that anyway, and it looks a bit cleaner and more straightforward.
-m10: Maybe you could add a courtesy accidental to the Ab in the R.H. and the Cb in the L.H.? Also, the En's in the L.H. should be Fb's

Check, check, and double check! All added.

Alright, I've updated the files! I've also moved the .musx for the Luigi's Mansion 3 piece into the Halloween folder. Thanks, Bloop!

I really, really like this piece. It's got this carnival-istic (is that a word?) vibe to it and I love the playfulness of it. Much spook.

Some light feedback from me:

• m.1-2 (and other analogous places) - I'm not really hearing the fp to mf crescendos you put in there. It all kinda sounds the same dynamic to me. Or if there is a build-up, it's very subtle, certainly not what I would describe as crescendo-ing from p to mf. Still, I do like this kinda dramatic buildup from a playing perspective, though, I'm just not sure if it's fully appropriate/accurate.
• m.3-4 (and other analogous places) RH - It sounds like the Bb ties into the proceeding A, so, I would maybe add tenuto on the Bb or add a slur from the Bb to the A. I think that would give it this very satisfying hold-and-release with the staccato.
• m.14 (and other analogous places) RH - I don't think that the G# and A (beat 2) are necessarily both staccato. To me, it sounds like the G# slurs into the A and the A is staccato, though it could also be that both of them are legato leading to the B, not quite sure. Also, it sounds like the beat 1 A has a lift to it, so maybe make it an eighth note or something?
• m.15-16 (and other analogous places) RH - I would maybe replace the beat 1 D#-G dyad with a Eb-G dyad to keep the major 3rd intervals parallel across the ups-and-down. That said, what you have is quite legible, so I don't know if this necessitates changing.
• m.18 (and other analogous places) RH - It sounds to me that beats 1 and 1.5 are slurred (as you have it), beats 2 and 2.5 are slurred similarly (with staccato only on beat 2.5), and beat 3 is not staccato at all.

That's it from me for now. Very nice work on this one!

["Nighttime Crafts"]

I finally went back and finished Yoshi's Crafted World this year and, while it's soundtrack can't hold a candle to its predecessor, Yoshi's Woolly World, it's not to bad (just a bit too simple and too repetitive). And this track in particular is quite spooky and plays during one of the scariest levels I've ever played. And given it's relative simplicity, it was a no-brainer!

"Nighttime Crafts"
[SWITCH] Yoshi's Crafted World
[PDF] [MUSX]
(Note: PDF not guaranteed to be up-to-date)

Yes, its subtitle is "Track 1". I looked on the in-game music player and that's what they call it. Real boring if you ask me, but that's what it is.

"The Great Stage - Track 1"
[SWITCH] Luigi's Mansion 3
[PDF] [MUSX]
(Note: PDF not guaranteed to be up-to-date)

I'd just recommend breaking the beam between beats 3/4 in bars 2/6.

Not a problem! I can do that. Files updated!

The only other thing is that the slur use here seems a bit of an overkill to me, but I don't really mind that much.

So, what would you prefer instead? I'm just curious.

The pdf is a little outdated

Huh. Don't know what happened there. Whatever, I've fixed it!

You could also change m7 beat 2 in the R.H. to a quarter note like in m3, I think they're the same length

Good point. Done!

I could second Xiao's recommendation of slurring the L.H., or alternatively adding tenuto marks to beats 1 and 3, but leaving it as is is fine too. If you choose the tenutos, you could put a 'simile' after 2 or 3 measures to not clutter the sheet too much with articulations.

The tenuto-simile idea is a good one! I've gone ahead an implemented that one as I think that keeps the sheet nice and clean, compared to the slurs.

Another suggestion I could give is maybe changing the way you write some of the not-staccato-but-not-yet-technically-a-full-note notes in the R.H. by ending a slur on them and starting the next note with a new slur, like these places in m3 and m10:
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The break between the slurs should give the suggestion that the notes shouldn't be connected, which makes for a more natural break than some exact rest placement.

That's actually a really, really good idea. Nice and subtle, but it gets the job done! I've gone ahead and implemented it.

Alright Bloop, I've addressed both points of feedback and updated the files! If you have more, do let me know!

• Your use of slurs in this sheet looks somewhat inconsistent (for example, why is m1 different to m9). Could you go over those? I think using them works well here but they look a little uneven at the moment.

Arguably the hardest part of this piece for me. I went with strict accuracy over consistency here, so I can just make it more consistent instead.

• I would add slurs to the LH as well, as that's how this style accompaniment pattern is usually written.

I'm not quite sure what you mean here. To me, the only measure that would have any benefit from a slur would be m.16 since the LH isn't jumping. Is that all you were talking about? Or not? If you'll clarify this, I'll happily reconsider this!

• m10: I think the tied staccato 8th on b3 can be replaced by a tenuto on the preceding note. At least, that's how I notate stuff like this. Adding staccato to a tied note is relatively uncommon.

Yeaaaah, I flipped back and forth between the tenuto and the staccato-tie thing a couple times. So, I'll just flip it back! No prob!


That should be everything addressed for now. I've updated the files. Thanks so much for your feedback, Xiao!