[MUL] NieR: Automata - "Vague Hope (Cold Rain)" by Libera

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Drakengard/NieR
Game: NieR: Automata
Console: Multiplatform
Title: Vague Hope (Cold Rain)
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Libera

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Libera]

The OST version (linked below) repeats without the vocals afterwards, but I didn't think that was really worth writing out the whole thing a second time for, especially since it brings the vocals back in half way through again.

[Sebastian]

Heyyy great work. Lovin' this song.

A few minor things...

- I would recommend courtesy accidentals on these notes:
M. 12 (RH; second layer; beat 1) F#.
M. 13 (RH; second layer; beat 2) A natural.
M. 18 (LH; last note) A natural.
M. 21 (LH; third note) A natural.
- Last measure - I would recommend adding a little bit of a bracket to the 8va to give a tad more clarity. Like this:

I don't recall seeing 8vas used like this in any published music, but that's just my exposure to published music. No doubt there are some with 8vas used in this fashion. Either way, it's totally up to you.

That's about all I have for this one.

[Libera]

Heyyy great work. Lovin' this song.

Thanks.  And thanks for giving it a look.

- I would recommend courtesy accidentals on these notes:
M. 12 (RH; second layer; beat 1) F#.
M. 13 (RH; second layer; beat 2) A natural.
M. 18 (LH; last note) A natural.
M. 21 (LH; third note) A natural.

Hmm, I'm not really sure about any of these.  In bar 12, you already have the F# in bass so I think it is unlikely to get confused.  In bar 13, you similarly have already played an An in the left hand so it is unlikely to me mistaken, especially since there is a rest between the notes.  Again in 18 there is the low An before the note in question.  The one in bar 21 is the one I'd be most likely to add, but even then I think it's unlikely to be mistaken.  I generally only add courtesy accidentals when I think the accidentals are particularly confusing (although I was uncharacteristically nice in bar 30, but even this one I think is more likely to be mistaken than 21 as the note in question is the first of the bar).

- Last measure - I would recommend adding a little bit of a bracket to the 8va to give a tad more clarity. Like this:

I don't recall seeing 8vas used like this in any published music, but that's just my exposure to published music. No doubt there are some with 8vas used in this fashion. Either way, it's totally up to you.

I don't really mind either way.  I'll change it.

New files are up.  I also adjusted a bunch of other miscellaneous things that I spotted.

[Latios212]

Nice piece! Let's see...

The OST version (linked below) repeats without the vocals afterwards, but I didn't think that was really worth writing out the whole thing a second time for, especially since it brings the vocals back in half way through again.

I'd probably write it all out, but from what I recall NieR does some pretty strange stuff when presenting and looping its material so I'll just leave that up to you what you want to do...

One thing I did notice is different the first time and second though:
- The G in the lower voice of m. 7 (second note) only plays the second time without the voice

Other small stuff:
- In measure 1 I hear the 16th note line ascend to an A like in the following two measures, but it's not super important since you already have two A's playing there.
- I don't hear the upper E in the lower voice in m. 3.
- The triad in m. 14 sounds more like a G major triad in the original rather than a Gmaj7.
- Maybe move the mp to the right in m. 33 so it takes effect after the final vocal note?
- Thoughts about getting rid of the upper D in the dyad in the LH of m. 13? It forms a minor second with the C# and also gets restruck right away.
- I hear the LH figure in 36 descend from the E - 16th notes E-B followed by a quarter note A, paralleling the RH. Did you omit that intentionally? I think there are a couple of other extra LH notes in the second half of the measure for a few of these last few measures, though they're pretty soft and inconsistently present so I don't mind it staying as is.

Also, I agree that courtesy accidentals aren't needed on those notes for the reasons you provided.

[Libera]

I'd probably write it all out, but from what I recall NieR does some pretty strange stuff when presenting and looping its material so I'll just leave that up to you what you want to do...

One thing I did notice is different the first time and second though:
- The G in the lower voice of m. 7 (second note) only plays the second time without the voice

So it really is just them trying to present a combination of the two mixes (one without vocals and one with) in a pleasant manner for the OST (like with all of the tracks).  If I remember correctly the non-vocal version doesn't even play in the game...  I think it's better like this, personally.  I think the sheet would get a lot longer and more complicated for little benefit.

Relatedly, I'm pretty certain everything except the vocals is identical between the two versions.  I couldn't work out or spot the difference you were referring to.

- I don't hear the upper E in the lower voice in m. 3.

I'm not quite sure what you meant here, but I'm hearing all the Es I wrote in here...

- In measure 1 I hear the 16th note line ascend to an A like in the following two measures, but it's not super important since you already have two A's playing there.
- Maybe move the mp to the right in m. 33 so it takes effect after the final vocal note?
- Thoughts about getting rid of the upper D in the dyad in the LH of m. 13? It forms a minor second with the C# and also gets restruck right away.
- I hear the LH figure in 36 descend from the E - 16th notes E-B followed by a quarter note A, paralleling the RH. Did you omit that intentionally? I think there are a couple of other extra LH notes in the second half of the measure for a few of these last few measures, though they're pretty soft and inconsistently present so I don't mind it staying as is.

These should be fixed.  I decided on adding in the extra A in bar 1, why not.  Also I couldn't really hear what extra notes you were referring to towards the end, but I think it's probably better left as is.

- The triad in m. 14 sounds more like a G major triad in the original rather than a Gmaj7.
- Maybe move the mp to the right in m. 33 so it takes effect after the final vocal note?
- Thoughts about getting rid of the upper D in the dyad in the LH of m. 13? It forms a minor second with the C# and also gets restruck right away.
- I hear the LH figure in 36 descend from the E - 16th notes E-B followed by a quarter note A, paralleling the RH. Did you omit that intentionally? I think there are a couple of other extra LH notes in the second half of the measure for a few of these last few measures, though they're pretty soft and inconsistently present so I don't mind it staying as is.

Hmm, I'm still hearing the maj7 sound here with the F#.

Thanks for checking, and I've put new files up.

[Latios212]

Gotcha. I think those couple of notes in m. 3 and 7 maybe have just been rather quiet relative to the notes around them...

I'm good with all the changes, approving

[Sebastian]

Hmm, I'm not really sure about any of these. 

Aye, no problem. Alas, that's just my personal preference for courtesy accidentals.

What I'm seeing looks great! I wasn't able to get too in depth with note checking, but I trust Latios covered it appropriately.

*click*

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Sebastian.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot