Arrangement Highlights of 2020

[Latios212]

Past topics
2019
2018
2017

This crazy year is about to end! What are the 5 favorite sheets you've made this year?

(If you're not an arranger, you can list your favorite sheets by other arrangers instead!)

[BlueKirby]

because i actually really got into arranging this year, here's my stuff, but it ain't much. i'll just copy-past the format from my thread and give a little blurb as to why.

No. 5

[Kirby's Adventure] Butter Building Map: [PDF][MUS][MID] Listen on MuseScore | Original

so this was the first "real" sheet i did, after getting a random spurt of motivation on april fool's day to actually do something. even back then when i made and uploaded the sheet to musescore, i knew i wanted this to be one of my first submissions, because it was nice and simple.

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No. 4

[Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom] The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects: [PDF][MUS][MID] Listen on MuseScore | Original

i had this sheet lying around incomplete and mistake ridden for a while, but when i suddenly got the motivation to finish, i had an absolute BLAST arranging this song. i love the layers this song has, and the feeling it gives when listening.

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No. 3

[Evanescent Existence] Eternal Dance Engine ~ Shall We Dance!!: [PDF][MUS][MID] Listen on MuseScore | Original

this song was another song that was so much fun to arrange. its use of the uncommon double dotted quarter in the melody really gives it this slightly off-beat feeling at times, and it just flows together so nicely~! makes you wanna dance, no~?

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No. 2

[Great Fairy Wars] Staking Your Life on a Prank: [PDF][MUS][MID] Listen on MuseScore | Original

the second thing i arranged when i actually started doing decent arrangements (read: knew what i was doing). i just really like this song, it's a nice, fun song, unlike the game. save me from fairy hell.

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No. 1

[Earthen Miraculous Sword] Mono Eye ~ Ironic FATE: [PDF][MUS][MID] Listen on MuseScore | Original

this. song. HNNNNNG. i almost cried multiple times while arranging this song. it's my tied favorite len'en song alongside "Tendency that Sways Even Anchors ~ Lost Anchorage" (Evanescent Existence Stage 2) and "A Name Cast Off From Fate" (Reactive Majestical Imperial Final Boss). It's just so sad and emotional, perfectly fitting what's going on in the story, even if this is the Extra Boss theme. i just wanna give saragimaru a big hug and a happy life : (

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remind me to add favorite sheets of the year later

[Kricketune54]

I don't feel like I can warrant a top 5 or anything, but my favorite arrangement from the year was Reflected Laughter from Kirby: Triple Deluxe.  Doing that really kicked off a little Kirby arranging craze for myself, and I'm hoping to finish up/submit some of those in 2021

My favorite arrangement to play from this year was Sidon327's Welcome Horizons (Main Theme).  I played a lot of New Horizons this year and being able to practice the main theme on piano was an added bonus.

[mastersuperfan]

oh, did I finally arrange more than 5 things this year?

Hmm, if I had to go with a top five, I'd say...

#5 (Ace Attorney)

"Maya Fey ~ Turnabout Sisters' Theme 2001" - [NDS] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney



Link to sheet (on-site)
Link to original

I put off trying to replace the old sheet for a long time because I thought it would be difficult, but it actually works on piano much more nicely than I expected. I am very glad that the old sheet has now been purged.

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#4 (Kirby)

"Light" - [GCN] Kirby Air Ride



Link to sheet (on-site)
Link to original

This is one of my favorite tracks from Air Ride, even though it only plays on a Top Ride course. I also didn't think this one would work well on piano, but I tried arranging it on a whim and it worked out surprisingly nicely. I love the chords in this one, too.

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#3 (Other)

"PSYNCIN' IN THE CAPTaiN" - [MUL] AI: The Somnium Files



Link to sheet (in submissions)
Link to original

Oh man, even though I only played the game this summer, this track brings back so many memories because of how much I loved this part of the game. I couldn't not arrange this one after I heard it. I had a tough time fitting it on piano, and the sheet requires a lot of pedaling and hand-jumping shenanigans to play, but I think the arrangement ended up sounding really nice. I might re-learn how to play the piano just for this sheet...

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#2 (Kirby)

"Big-Bean Vine" - [Wii] Kirby's Epic Yarn



Link to sheet (Dropbox)
Link to original

The sheet I arranged five days ago. I never tried this one before because I thought it would be too hard, but after seeing the discussion in the Request board, I decided to give it a go. Some compromises had to be made between the piano chords and the bassline, but otherwise, it actually wasn't as difficult as I expected. Despite that, this is still one of the sheets this year I'm most proud of because I'm very fond of how it turned out. I'd love to hear someone perform this sometime.

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#1 (Ace Attorney)

"Pursuit ~ Wanting to Find the Truth" - [NDS] Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Ace Attorney Investigations 2)



Link to sheet (on-site)
Link to original

I would not have expected this to be my favorite personal arrangement of the year, but when I think about it, it really is. Not only is this a great track, but I absolutely love how seamlessly a fast, rock-like track like this translated over to piano. The piano chords do an excellent job of replicating the buildup and orchestral hits in m7-8, the guitar breakdown section becomes a calmer, more sustained part of the sheet with great chords in m25-32, and the buildup at the end of the loop in m43-50 is great, too. It's not an easy sheet to play (those fast parallel octaves!), but I would be absolutely thrilled if someone performed it.

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Honorable Mentions

"Arcane Incantantion" - [MUL] AI: The Somnium Files
"Blub-Blub Ocean" - [Wii] Kirby's Epic Yarn
"Pursuit ~ Lying Coldly" - [NDS] Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
"Snif City Royal Hotel" - [SW] Paper Mario: The Origami King

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[Maelstrom]

Wow, I've actually arranged things this year. Kinda weird, actually. I'm too lazy to link stuff so just check my arrangement thread or the site for links.

5 - happiness of marionette - I've had this sheet sitting on my computer half finished for years. It was one of my all time favorite songs from Umineko but some sections were really challenging to adapt for piano when I had initially tried to arrange it. I recently opened it up and realized I had already solved the issue keeping me from arranging the song and the final product turned out really well.

4 - Jena Anderson - I just have to mention this one, no matter what, simply because this gave me an excuse to have a song with a legitimate reason for having an A1 (lowest note on a piano) in the sheet. But besides that, it's a pretty fantastic original song. If it wasn't evident, I rather like metal songs, especially when mixed with other genres. This combination of metalcore and a chorus reminiscent of a bulgarian women's choir stuck out to me so much I just had to arrange it. I'm honestly surprised it actually worked as well as it did.

3 - Rundas Battle Theme - This year I re-arranged my first arrangement ever for my 6th anniversary of arranging for the site. It's on the list not because of how well it worked, but because of how much it meant to me to see how far I've come.

2 - worldenddominator - Hey look, another Umineko song. This one was one of 2 main songs that got me to play the whole game in the first place and discover my favorite soundtrack of all time, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I've been trying to get a working arrangement of this for years and was finally able to get one out this year. It's a bit weird in parts, but I'm rather proud of how I managed to make a mostly playable song from that nearly unarrangable trance song.

1 - Mechanical Rhythm - At the top of my list is one of my favorite songs from my 2nd favorite OST. It trumps the umineko songs because I am truly proud of how it turned out. I know a lot of people might attribute my You Will Know Our Names to my own skill, but that was mostly Jompa who turned my trainwreck of a sheet into the gem it is now. I've been avoiding this song for a while because I didn't think I could create something that could measure up to that one. It took a lot of time to nail out the LH sections for this one, but the results speak for themselves. It's a (mostly) playable sheet that captures the feel and speed of the original without simply having a cookie-cutter pattern that can happen too easily with rock/metal arrangements. This is the sheet I want to top next year.

[Latios212]

#5 (Bravely Default)

"Wicked Flight"
Sheet
Original

Occasionally I pick up something with a heavy rock/metal sound and try it. I find it easy to wind up with something either dull or impractical when I try that, but I think this sheet turned out rather nicely. The left hand in the last section in particular is easy to play and maintains the driving force of the climax.

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#4 (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

"The Forgotten"
Sheet
Original

The ambient sound and looping structure made this one kind of tricky and I had to come back to it a few times, but I like the end result.

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#3 (EarthBound)

"Because I Love You"
Sheet (under review as part of the replacement project)
Original

I had wanted to arrange this a while back but the parts in the original are laid out in a way that just doesn't really work well on piano. After a few halfhearted attempts, I think I was able to make something nice out of it. I'm really happy with the way this sound on piano and it's good practice for managing a melody above other voices in the right hand.

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#2 (Octopath Traveler)

"The Gate of Finis" (Four Hands)
Sheet
Original

I don't do duets often, but this was the perfect opportunity - everything fits snugly on four hands on one piano without any extra wasted staves, and the end result sounds super full, just like the ethereal original. You can see my video of it here

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#1 (Symphonic Rain)

"Secret"
Sheet (under review as part of submissions)
Original

For a little while I kind of didn't have anything in mind I wanted to work on, but fortunately Symphonic Rain remotivated me. There are a few other ones I've done already and some more I'm looking to do, but I am quite happy with how this one turned out. I don't normally arrange songs with lyrics, so this and a few others were good practice in that regard. You can see my performance of it here

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Honorable Mentions

"Even if Tears Run Down Your Cheeks (Piano)" from Symphonic Rain
Sheet (to be submitted soon)
Original
For its length, I'm just glad I finished it lol. Also, similar to Mael's #4, I made use of the lowest note on the piano (although the originally actually goes below that!)

"Auresco, Royal Capital/Night" from Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Sheet (to be submitted soon)
Original
A couple things I still need to iron out, but this is another I had been eyeing for a little while and was happy to finish off.

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[LeviR.star]

Here they are:

5. [NDS] Kirby: Canvas Curse - "Drawcia Sorceress"

4. [GEN] Castlevania: Bloodlines - "Reincarnated Soul"

3. [NES] Mega Man 5 - "Dr. Wily Stage" (Replacement)

2. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land - "Snow Mountain"

1. [SNES] Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - "Baby Bowser"


I would explain why for each of these, but I'm not really feeling up to it. I'll let you all use your imaginations.

[Static]

Better post here before it's 2021... I didn't arrange as many sheets these year compared to previous years, but I still think I have a few highlights.

5.) Other

[PC] The Legend of Heroes VI: Trails in the Sky"
[MID] [MUS] [MUSX] [PDF] [Original]

This was a big accomplishment because it meant Mealstrom would stop telling me to arrange it.

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4.) Other

[PSP] Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - "Climax Reasoning"
[MID] [MUS] [MUSX] [PDF] [Original]

This looks and sounds easy until you have to transcribe the piano part, and then it gives me a headache.

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3.) Pikmin

[GCN] Pikmin 2 - "Piklopedia & Treasure Hoard"
[MID] [MUS] [MUSX] [PDF] [Original]

There's a lot of stuff going on in this one, so many lush harmonies and weird melodies that don't really sound that good on piano. I had to do a lot of adjusting to get this to sound as relaxing as the original.

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2.) Other

[PS1] Vagrant Story - "Abandoned Mines Level 2"
[MID] [MUS] [MUSX] [PDF] [Original]

Similar to #3, this track has a lot of thick layers, but what made this even more challenging was that everything was so hard to hear. Not only that, but this piece, like many from Vagrant Story, is very percussion-heavy, which usually doesn't translate well to a piano arrangement. Despite that, I made it work.

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1.) Final Fantasy

[SNES] Final Fantasy V - Original Soundtrack
[Sheets][Original]

Yeah, yeah, I know this doesn't count because it's multiple sheets... But Final Fantasy V is probably my favorite main FF game and I was glad to have the opportunity to fix up the previously terrible FFV section through the Replacements Project. Most of the FFV sheets were pretty simple to arrange, so I put this at the top of my list because it felt really nice to knock out a whole section. The Ending Theme replacement will come soon, so stay tuned.

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[cacabish]

Well, it's officially 2021, but better late than never! 

I only submitted 3 sheets in 2020, so this'll be a top 3!

#3

[GCN] Mario Party 4 - "Boo's Haunted Bash"

I did this sheet for the Halloween Update. I actually had arranged an incredibly simple spooky piece in September (also from Mario Party 4. *shock*, *shock*, I know), but since I was early and aware of the project, I decided to challenge myself and not only submit to the project, but also arrange a more complex piece. In the end, this was the one I settled on. It was a lot more complicated to polish up than I expected, but I'm quite satisfied with the end result!

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#2

[GCN] Mario Party 4 - "Fortune's Turn"

I'm sensing a theme...

I decided to do this piece because of its relative simplicity. As much as this song induces anxiety upon all who hear it, it gets easily stuck in my head and I find myself constantly saying "one more time". This gets #2 because I just love how this sheet looks and sounds (it would suck to actually play, though...)!

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#1

[N64] Mario Party 2 - "The Blue Skies Yonder" (Replacement)

Yeah, yeah, they were all Mario Party sheets. But what do you expect? It's free real estate!

This piece is arguably my favorite piece of music from Mario Party 2 ("Going Somewhere" is not far behind, though). I remember originally discovering the site and getting excited when I saw that there was a sheet for this piece, only to find it to not have aged well. Eventually, I decided that, even as a extreme novice, this sheet deserved justice and I was going to do it!... or something like that. In any case, I could only make it better, not worse . In the end, I am proud of that sheet. I do admit that most could probably do it much better and I might look back sometime in the future and cringe at it, but as a labor of love for this wonderful piece of music, it's something kinda special to me.

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[legoenthusiast]

#5 - The True Mirror (Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean)
While this may not be entirely accurate and could be improved in various ways, 8'm extremely happy with how it turned out.

#4 - Sammer's Kingdom (Super Paper Mario)
I love this game so much. The intro could be improved, but overall this is one of my better arrangements.

#3 - Colony 9 Day (Xenoblade Chronicles)
It's Xenoblade. Need I say more?

#2 - Boss Battle 1 (Kid Icarus Uprising)
This game has so few arrangements, especially of this amazing song. This is one of my favorite boss battle themes ever.

#1 - Bionis' Right Shoulder Night (Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition)
This is one of my longest arrangements duration-wise. I love Future Connected's soundtrack, and I feel like I did a pretty good job on this. Since I started last year, this has been the arrangement I'm most proud of.

The Valedictory Elegy (Baten Kaitos Origins)
This is not listed with the others because it is actually a transcription. Nevertheless, I'm putting this here because it's one of my biggest accomplishments this year

[Zeila]

Most of the stuff I've done this year is from RWBY or other various sources, but I still did some VGM so this will be a mix of both. This list isn't in any particular order, but they're (roughly) of the top 5 where I feel that I made a solid arrangement or transcription. Some were more difficult than others, and these aren't necessarily the top 5 pieces that challenged me. I'm also not considering arrangements that aren't on site yet as they are not fully polished

#1 (RWBY)

"I May Fall (Acoustic)" from RWBY [for ensemble]
Sheet | MP3 | Soundtrack Version | Original Arrangement | Cover

This is absolutely my favorite acoustic from the show thusfar, and so I wanted to both transcribe and make an arrangement for it. Some parts were a little tricky to hear, but overall I am pretty satisfied with how it turned out

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#2 (Zelda)

"Orchestra Piece #2" from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Sheet | Original

I consider this to be such a huge jump from when I was still sort of new to arranging, as it changed a lot over 4 years. It's hard to play but it finally captures the orchestra well enough :')

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#3 (Steven Universe)

"I'm Still Here" from Steven Universe
Sheet | MP3 | Original

This is a mostly straightforward arrangement with how the bassline and piano part fit together, and I liked the end result

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#4 (Super Mario)

"Rainbow Road" from Mario Kart Wii
Sheet | Original

This one just translated pretty nicely to piano and I'm glad I ended up doing it on a whim out of seeing this other person ask about it. I particularly like how m45-end turned out :>

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#5 (RWBY)

"Time to Say Goodbye (Acoustic)" from RWBY [for orchestra]
Sheet | MP3 | Original | Cover

I did a little guesswork with some of the strings, but I do feel like it is very accurate to the original (sans parts for some instruments like the glockenspiel). I also drew a picture to go alongside the full score to make the front page look a little nicer, and I will probably do that for a few other transcriptions in the future

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Honorable Mention

"Connie's Theme" from Steven Universe
Sheet | MP3 | Original

I just like that I captured the emotion well enough and it's a (mostly) clean sheet. I'll update some of the ledger lines soon

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