Code_Name_Geek's Arrangements (NEW: Zoo Tycoon)

[Code_Name_Geek]

Persona 4 - Game
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This is one of my favourite dungeon themes from Persona 4, and you can probably guess what the theme of the dungeon is based on the track alone. I think it turned out pretty good, though I'm still not sure about the chords at the end. Hope you enjoy!

[Code_Name_Geek]

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon - Easter Ruins
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Innocent Life is an extremely underrated spinoff in the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series. Featuring a science fiction setting, an android protagonist, and all kinds of neat farming gadgets, it's a shame that this spinoff didn't grow into its own series like the more popular Rune Factory. This is the track that plays outdoors on your farm, otherwise known as the Easter Ruins, and it's quite a beautiful piece. Hope you enjoy!

[Code_Name_Geek]

Harvest Moon - Town Theme
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Happy 25th anniversary to the Story of Seasons series! I worked on a collaborative arrangement of this theme with some other fans of the series in celebration so I decided to do a piano arrangement as well. One thing to note, there are some really dissonant notes at the end of the loop so I used a combination of guesswork and cross-referencing with the Gameboy arrangement of the same track to nail down those pitches.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Harvest Moon - Star Night Festival
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Another arrangement from the original Harvest Moon! This is a really beautiful song that plays during one of the festivals.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade - Something Spooky...
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Late post since I realized I never posted this year's Halloween arrangement. I'm not sure where this song plays in the game, but it's a neat little piece that adapts surprisingly well to piano despite the quirkiness.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Fire Emblem Heroes - Climb the Sky
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

First arrangement of 2022! I fell back into Fire Emblem Heroes for the 5th anniversary event (five years, wow!) and remembered how much I love this theme. It was pretty challenging to arrange, but I'm happy with how it turned out. There are a few chords in the left hand that I'm not sure about, though, especially around m. 17-20/42-45 and 25-29/50-54. I also wasn't sure what key signature to use so if anyone figures that out feel free to let me know.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Two arrangements from some of my childhood games today!


Pinball Fantasies - Party Land: Intro
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

I used to play this game all the time with my brother, each of us controlling one side of the flippers. This was our favourite table from the game. There are a few tracks in the linked video; this arrangement is the first one. It plays before starting a game, aka the music that would play while the table was idle if it were a real pinball table. (The original panning of the Amiga sound channels is preserved in the video below, check out this one for an equalized version if preferred.)

Snowboard Kids - Rookie Mountain/Ninja Land
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This is yet another game that I played with my siblings when we were young. The soundtrack for this game has always stuck with me, with its soaring melodies over driving rhythmic accompaniment. This track in particular is one of my favourites, and I actually started it all the way back when I was still going to school in person (which feels like forever ago now).

[Code_Name_Geek]

These are my two sheets for the Space Travel project, as well as one unrelated arrangement I finished up today.


Tetris (GB) - Rocket Launch (Ending)
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Super short track that plays during the rocket launch cutscenes that occur after scoring a high enough score.

Persona 5 - Star Forneus
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This track is from one of the retro-styled minigames that can be played on the console in the protagonist's bedroom, in this case some kind of spaceship shooter. Each of these minigames has its own unique chiptune theme, which is a really nice touch.

Harvest Moon 2 GBC - Winter
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This is an arrangement that's been in the works for a long time, but I was having a lot of trouble hearing the middle channel and ended up shelving it for a while. Thanks to Atcero's lovely tutorial on channel splitting, I was now able to finish it! My previous arrangement for this game listed the composer as Tsuyoshi Tanaka, but after more research I'm still unable to confirm this - which is odd since he was clearly credited for the previous games in the series. I'm not sure if I want to continue crediting him and potentially spread false information, so I haven't put a composer for this one yet.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Rune Factory 4 - Obsidian Mansion
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]
(Collaboration with Samusthedude)

The Rune Factory series originally started as a Harvest Moon spin-off with the subtitle "A Fantasy Harvest Moon". It combines the farming and social sim elements of Harvest Moon with a fantasy RPG world and story. My friend Samusthedude and I have both been playing Rune Factory 4S, so we decided to arrange this track from the haunted house dungeon for this year's Halloween project.

Tomodachi Life - Letter
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Tomodachi Life is the second-most played game on my 3DS, and it holds a very special place in my heart. I used to play it a ton in high school and I still pull it out occasionally to see how my Miis are doing. I saw a request for this lovely track and ended up arranging it. Hope you enjoy!

[Code_Name_Geek]

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - The Sun Gathering Village
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

First arrangement of 2023! I actually started this last year and did the bulk of the work then, but I finally finished it up now. I remember watching the Nintendo Week segments on this game when I was a kid and eagerly anticipating the release, and I greatly enjoyed playing it when it came out. The OST is also really beautifully orchestrated, and hearing this song again I had to arrange it.

[LeviR.star]

Dragon Quest games always have really nice village themes, good job with this arrangement!

[Code_Name_Geek]

Dragon Quest games always have really nice village themes, good job with this arrangement!

Thank you!!

[Code_Name_Geek]

Big project announcement time! I've been working on finishing up the rest of the Tetris (GB) tracks that are missing from the main site, which mostly include some fanfares and lesser-known multiplayer tracks. The arrangements themselves are mostly done but I'm still working on formatting the medleys and confirming song titles (mainly the 2-player tracks, since I have to wait for a friend with a Gameboy and Tetris to come test those ones with me). I've learned some interesting facts about this soundtrack while working on this, though, which I'll elaborate on below. (I'll also put the videos for the last three sheets in spoilers since there are multiple per arrangement and this post is already going to be lengthy.)


Tetris (GB) - 2 Player Danger (Toréador Song)
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This is an arrangement of Toréador Song from Georges Bizet's opera, Carmen. It plays during 2-player matches when the blocks get close to the top of the screen. This arrangement of it incredibly fast compared to the original, which suits the way it's used in-game but it would definitely be a challenge to play it at tempo on piano.

Tetris (GB) - 2 Player Results
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

The first track here, "2P Match Results", plays on the results screen between matches in multiplayer mode. The second track, "2P Final Results", plays on the final result screen when one of the 2 players wins the best of 5 series. One thing I noticed about the second track is that it doesn't actually loop in-game like it does on every rip of the OST I've found - it ends on the second last note instead (leaving out the last note entirely). It also bears a passing resemblance to the guitar intro to the Guns N' Roses song, Sweet Child O' Mine, but I doubt the two are actually related in any way.

Originals

Match Results

Final Results

[close]

Tetris (GB) - B-Type Fanfares (Trepak Variations)
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

These six tracks have a really interesting story behind them. They're all variations on a theme from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet, specifically from the Trepak character dance. They play when the player beats the B-type game mode on speed level 9, with increasing complexity depending on the height level selected (0-5). However, every OST rip and wiki I could find listed five variations, the first four for levels 0-3 and the last one being used for both height levels 4 and 5, with a sixth variation labelled "unused" that only had one voice. This sixth variation was distinct from the first variation, which also only has one voice, but it was longer than the first four variations and shorter than the fifth so it didn't fit into the scale of increasing complexity. This intrigued me enough that I got out my Gameboy and Tetris and beat all of the level 9 B-type levels to see what was going on, and what I discovered was that this track was actually a unique variation for height level 4 with some of the voices missing. I was able to track down gameplay from an emulator that supports what I confirmed on actual hardware, which is linked in the spoiler (it's the only one with a different thumbnail). It's fascinating to me that almost everywhere I looked said the same thing about this track being unused when the real problem was that it's an incomplete rip. I also wonder whether all of these incorrect sources originated from the same rip, or if there's something weird about the game files that has resulted in multiple incomplete rips of that track in particular.

Originals

Level 9 High 0

Level 9 High 1

Level 9 High 2

Level 9 High 3

Level 9 High 4

Level 9 High 5

[close]

Tetris (GB) - Game Over/Stage Clear
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This set of 2 jingles wraps up the last of the Tetris tracks. The first one, "Game Over", plays whenever a player tops out in any mode. The second, "Stage Clear", plays when a level is cleared in the B-type game mode (and potentially a few other places as well). The interesting track here is the second track, "Stage Clear", which is listed on the VGMPF wiki as being based on the fanfare "Charge!", commonly played at sporting events and used in many other games as well (and is therefore attributed to the composer of that fanfare, Tommy Walker, on that wiki's page for Tetris). Comparing the Tetris fanfare to the "Charge!" fanfare, however, reveals many differences between them - the Tetris fanfare is missing the characteristic three-note arpeggiated pickup, instead being two repeated notes; the interval between the two main melody notes is a perfect fourth rather than the minor third of the original fanfare; and the melody ends on the root of the major key while the "Charge!" fanfare ends on the fifth of the major key. Therefore, I believe this is a mistaken attribution and the Tetris fanfare is original to the game (or else is so generic as to not be worth attributing to anyone in particular).

Originals

Game Over

Stage Clear

[close]

Well that's it! This was a fascinating project and I'm looking forward to submitting these in the future. I hope someone else finds some of my research on this topic interesting as well!

~

EDIT: I've decided to pair the two 2-player results themes ("Match Results" and "Final Results") together under the title "2 Player Results", and keep "Game Over" and "Success" together under the title "Game Over/Success!". I think this makes more sense and will make those individual tracks easier to find. I've gone back and edited the sections accordingly.

EDIT 2: Updated the name of the "Success!" jingle to be "Stage Clear" based on common usage.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Just adding the arrangements I did for the Too Hot To Handle project, but I'd also like to say that this marks 50 arrangements that I've posted here! Can't wait for the next 50.


Final Fantasy VII - Costa del Sol
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

This is a beautiful bossa nova–inspired piece from Final Fantasy VII that I was surprised to see wasn't on the site yet. In-game, it's the theme for the sunny resort town of Costa del Sol. I'm really happy with how this arrangement turned out and I can't wait to play it myself!

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak - Sandy Bay
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

Here's a fun little surf-y piece from one of the Hamtaro GBA games! I never got far in this game as a kid but I finally played it to completion it last year and enjoyed it a lot. This track plays in the beach area.

[Code_Name_Geek]

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja -Sentiment of Travelers in Hagure Town
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI]

I've never played this game, but someone requested this track and I liked it a lot so I went ahead and arranged it. Having heard a bit of the rest of the OST there's a chance I may arrange more from this game in the future. I'm not too sure about the title on this one - most English uploads seem to call it "Goemon's Home" or similar but the VGMDB tracklist has "Lost Town Travelling" (or "Hagure Town Travelling" depending on how it's translated) as the official title. (Edit: It appears the track did get an official English name on a vinyl rerelease of the soundtrack in 2020, "Sentiment of Travelers in Hagure Town".)