[DELETED] [PS1] Final Fantasy VII - "Aerith's Theme" by Yug Guy

Started by Zeta, June 17, 2019, 10:10:50 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Zeta

Submission Information:

Series: Final Fantasy
Game: Final Fantasy VII
Console: PlayStation
Title: Aerith's Theme
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Yug Guy

Yug_Guy


JDMEK5

Hey, nice song!

A general comment for just about the entire piece from measure 5 onwards, could you include the harp/horn parts at all? This piece just seems to be begging for that kind of texture, and the piano does that kind of thing phenomenally well. It looks like a great chance to play on the instrument's natural strengths (a nice change; so often we're fighting the piano's limitations). It's true that in measure 11 and so you may have to try moving octaves around a bit or creating a bit of opportunity, but I would encourage you try it- this is a piano arrangement and I feel like this piece would work so incredibly well on the piano if the arranger isn't afraid to apply a bit of creative freedom to pull the right effect out of the instrument. Others may disagree with me on this but one of my big points is trying to preserve texture as much as realistically possible. There are things in this piece that the piano cannot do, thereby actually forcing your hand to using such "creative freedom" as to successfully adapt it to the piano in the first place:

An example is 21- the piano cannot crescendo through a held note. You'll have to think of something else. Either add the harp bits to build the intensity instead (not the effect from the original but I would strongly encourage including these harp notes anyways), or use a tremolo or something (imo tremolo builds are often clunkier though; I'd fear that such a move here might break in contrast with the feel of the rest of the piece).

Side note, in measure 20, I wouldn't necessarily shy away from using the high string notes in the background for these half notes. A sustain pedal presumably could hold down the C#, allowing free range with the RH. Again, pedal usage is more or less up to you but I don't see why not so long as it's used in discretion. Your call I suppose.

At the end there's this rich trumpet line that I just love, but the way you've notated it- while not incorrect- has it end abruptly at the repeat to the start. The original still has a last note to end the phrase with. Please include this note; please, please. Either have it written perhaps in the first measure in a smaller sized notehead with a performance note explaining it; or add a new measure to the end to accommodate it before repeating back to measure 2 or 3 or something. Personally I'd probably be inclined to go with the first of those two options because the form of the piece is better reflected that way, but either way that note I see as critical.

I'd lastly like to consider the use of phrase markings (slurs). I feel like this is a sheet that could really use and benefit a lot from them. For example the last trumpet line at the end; some notes sound distinctly slurred- you could notate those. Again this would be a case of "creative freedom". A thought to think about.

That's all from me for now; good work!
"Today's goal strongly involves not dying. Because nobody likes to wake up dead."

My Arrangements
Finale Version(s): Finale Notepad 2012, Finale 2012, Finale v26

Latios212

Quote from: JDMEK5 on June 26, 2019, 03:41:03 PMA general comment for just about the entire piece from measure 5 onwards, could you include the harp/horn parts at all? This piece just seems to be begging for that kind of texture, and the piano does that kind of thing phenomenally well. It looks like a great chance to play on the instrument's natural strengths (a nice change; so often we're fighting the piano's limitations). It's true that in measure 11 and so you may have to try moving octaves around a bit or creating a bit of opportunity, but I would encourage you try it- this is a piano arrangement and I feel like this piece would work so incredibly well on the piano if the arranger isn't afraid to apply a bit of creative freedom to pull the right effect out of the instrument. Others may disagree with me on this but one of my big points is trying to preserve texture as much as realistically possible. There are things in this piece that the piano cannot do, thereby actually forcing your hand to using such "creative freedom" as to successfully adapt it to the piano in the first place:
I very much agree here. I don't have much to add to the above post at least after a quick glance but personally I'd really love to hear the harp part in the middle section give the arrangement a bit more motion.

If you want suggestions for specific parts, feel free to ask away!
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

Quote from: Dudeman on February 22, 2016, 10:16:37 AM
who needs education when you can have WAIFUS!!!!!

Spoiler
[close]
turtle

Yug_Guy

Quote from: JDMEK5 on June 26, 2019, 03:41:03 PM~snip~
I know it seems kinda bad to skip over a large swath of your post, but to answer the big question that your post really boils down to; I'm aware of the limitations of the piano & I don't know if there's anything more I can do. There is a lot going on in this song, and unlike some other orchestral pieces, you can't necessarily decrease it down to just a melody & accompaniment. My main concern is that if I add anything more parts to this song (like the aforementioned harp part) that the arrangement as a whole will not only look super cluttered, but also sound kinda muddled. I'm hoping that by distilling the piece down to a much more manageable "core", that I can get a more reasonable arrangement out of it.

This is all up to opinion, of course. There are definitely things I can change & make better, but those are my thoughts as of this particular moment in time. Now, to address a couple specific things:

Quote from: JDMEK5 on June 26, 2019, 03:41:03 PMI'd lastly like to consider the use of phrase markings (slurs). I feel like this is a sheet that could really use and benefit a lot from them. For example the last trumpet line at the end; some notes sound distinctly slurred- you could notate those. Again this would be a case of "creative freedom". A thought to think about.
I more-or-less agree with this. Please tell me if I have the phrase markings in the wrong places, as I don't really know how to do slurs.

Quote from: JDMEK5 on June 26, 2019, 03:41:03 PMAt the end there's this rich trumpet line that I just love, but the way you've notated it- while not incorrect- has it end abruptly at the repeat to the start. The original still has a last note to end the phrase with. Please include this note; please, please. Either have it written perhaps in the first measure in a smaller sized notehead with a performance note explaining it; or add a new measure to the end to accommodate it before repeating back to measure 2 or 3 or something. Personally I'd probably be inclined to go with the first of those two options because the form of the piece is better reflected that way, but either way that note I see as critical.
That last trumpet note is an A - which is already notated in the piano part of measure 1. The only real way to accentuate the trumpet line would be if I got rid of the piano part in the L.H. of measure 1, and I definitely am not going to do that.

Also, would pedaling be appropriate for this song? And if so, where?

Latios212

Quote from: Yug_Guy on July 18, 2019, 06:36:22 PMI know it seems kinda bad to skip over a large swath of your post, but to answer the big question that your post really boils down to; I'm aware of the limitations of the piano & I don't know if there's anything more I can do. There is a lot going on in this song, and unlike some other orchestral pieces, you can't necessarily decrease it down to just a melody & accompaniment. My main concern is that if I add anything more parts to this song (like the aforementioned harp part) that the arrangement as a whole will not only look super cluttered, but also sound kinda muddled. I'm hoping that by distilling the piece down to a much more manageable "core", that I can get a more reasonable arrangement out of it.
Not to disregard your post or suggest that you haven't thought it through, but I strongly agree with JDMEK5's original post and I finally have a bit of time to expand upon that a bit - maybe it'd help if I elaborated and tried sketching some things out.

Let's take a listen to the first ten bars in the original song. The first four are characterized by their high-ish notes and use of emptiness (pauses between notes). In contrast, the next six are characterized by their thicker harmonic textures and sense of continuous motion. Of course, the first four bars make their way over to the sheet completely unchanged. But let's see about the next few and how they compare to the original in terms of what I mentioned above.
- Thicker harmonic textures - let's look at the beginning of each measure. Measure 5 starts out fine with the D(add9) chord filling out the middle registers of the piano. Measure 6 uses only a single E between two octaves, creating a much more sparse sound spelling out Am. In addition, there's no way that E is being played simultaneously with the other notes using your hands. Measure 7 does a good enough job at voicing the Bb chord to make it sound rich. But again in measure 8 it becomes emptier sounding with the strike of just G's and D's.
- Continuous motion - let's look at how the rest of the measure is filled. When the melody is not playing there is no motion at all, no notes striking, contrary to the original's layered countermelodies and harp arpeggios. While there is harmony sustained to fill up the space somewhat, it feels like something is missing when you think back to the original. Here's something I sketched out to alleviate the emptiness and lack of a harp part without overly cluttering up the arrangement. Note that layer 3 is taken almost verbatim from the original harp line, lowered an octave. These arpeggios reinforce the harmony struck once at the beginning of the measure and give the sound a sense of forward movement.

You cannot view this attachment.

So in terms of what you mentioned in your post, it's not necessarily just about stripping things down in order to reach the "core" of the original song, but being judicious about how you present or move around the essence of what you hear. I'd similarly once again recommend considering trying to include arpeggios in some form in the m. 11+ section as well.

I hope that analysis made sense and was sufficient to let you know what kind of untapped potential I see in this arrangement. Happy to discuss more.
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

Quote from: Dudeman on February 22, 2016, 10:16:37 AM
who needs education when you can have WAIFUS!!!!!

Spoiler
[close]
turtle

Libera


Yug_Guy

I know, I still have a bunch of work to do on this one. I'll try to work on it next week once I'm back from my vacation.

Libera

Quote from: Yug_Guy on August 14, 2019, 05:56:13 PMI know, I still have a bunch of work to do on this one. I'll try to work on it next week once I'm back from my vacation.

How's this coming along?

Yug_Guy

Yeah, not really a surprise to anyone, but this arrangement still has a ways to go. I'll try and see if I can get it in good shape so I can eventually submit it (hopefully soon). But until then, it's just taking up space.