[SNES] Final Fantasy VI - "Balance Is Restored" by Static & Whoppybones

[Latios212]

Sorry for the wait... I'm doing the second check of m. 174-402, the rest of what Libera's checked so far, starting at 6:13 in the first video. Not much to say, though a few small things:
- m. 182 should have Eb instead of En as the last RH note
- You could flip the eighth notes in m. 217, similar to m. 218 to make them look more similar since it's the same figure if you want, since there's nothing above the layer in m. 217
- For measure 243-244 do you intend for the user to pedal over the staccato'd/accented triplets? If not, I wonder if it may be neater to write the right hand part using one layer without flipping the chords downwards.
- Not really a big deal since I don't think it'll be very noticeable on piano, but the chord from m. 249-250 is tied over into the next four bars of 2/4
- Could you redistribute measures to give the last system on page 12 more space? Perhaps starting the systems on page 13 with m. 247, 250, 255, 262, and 269, or something like that?
- In m. 290-294 the slurs are touching the marcatos
- Ties flipped in the system break between m. 314-315 RH
- Slur on the lower layer in m. 330-331 to better show the 16th run ends on the whole note G?

[Static]

- In m. 290-294 the slurs are touching the marcatos

I think this is the same issue that happened with the FF5 ending theme sheet, where a hidden staccato marking + visible marcato makes the slurs behave weirdly. I'm gonna wait until the sheet is finished and then make an alternate version of the PDF where this is no longer an issue.

Everything else has been fixed, thanks for checking

[Libera]

OK, here's comes the final section check from me.

-I think the Gb in bar 406 makes a bit more sense as an F# (the harmony is something like Gm -> D -> Bb with the bassline descending G -> F# -> Fn).
-The way the cross-staffed notes interact with the RH second layer in bar 411 looks pretty ugly.  Maybe something sneaky like this presents a little more nicely?

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-I'd suggest dropping the F in the second layer on beat 1 of bar 412/414.  I think it'd be more consistent with the other chords in this section and would also highlight the descending pattern better.  I'm also not really sure you need a five note chord hear; it's not a particularly heavy point in the piece.
-I think the second layer C in beat 4 of bar 413 might be better as an A or an F.  The C doesn't really stick out to me above either of those and you already have an octave C in the left hand there, so I think it might just sound a bit more balanced this way.
-You could write in the string line from beat 1 of bar 428 if you wanted to.  It might look a bit less confusing as to where the second layer comes from.
-Courtesy accidentals on the Ebs in bars 434/442 etc. ?  You have them in the left hand at those points.
-There are a few awkward fingerings in this sheet already, but I feel like the chord on beat 3 of bar 443 is the worst I've noticed so far.  I'm not sure I can play that comfortably at all in isolation, let alone as part of performing that whole line with both hands.  It might be worth changing it to something less painful...
-Again, have you thought about making the left hand in bars 454+ fit the percussion a bit more closely?  I think the reworking of 340+ was a big improvement, so maybe an approach like that work well again.  You could also get some of the timpani rolls in (like in bar 461).
-I cannot play the first chord in bar 477 at all and it seems like a really difficult stretch to me.  The seventh is fine but playing the two middle notes as well is impossible for me and probably most other people.  Dropping the Eb probably would make much of a difference since it's already in the left hand in octaves.
-The second note of beat 4 in bar 489 should be an F# I think (currently an E).
-I can see that you want the melody to stand out more in bar 496+, but dropping the semiquavers means you suddenly lose a lot of the energy that you've built up.  Maybe you could put the runs back in for beats 2 and 4 i.e. chord -> four notes -> chord -> four notes -> chord -> four notes -> chord -> two notes etc.  Maybe that makes sense...  Once you've got to bar 500 you're fine because you've got stuff going on in every beat so I don't think it's going to sound unenergetic.
-These thirds in bars 504-507 etc. sound kind of off to me.  I'm not sure I can even hear the top line, but certainly the lower line sounds more prominent to me.  Maybe it's just something about the texture of the original here which doesn't translate to piano very well...
-The left hand G#s in bars 523/527 really sound like they should be Gns to me.
-I forgot what the 'technically' correct thing to do is, but I think it'd be easier to read if you brought the pedal release markings up a bit in 523/537 so it's more obvious that they even exist (I didn't even notice them myself when I was reading it through first time).  I don't think they HAVE to be in line with the previous pedal marking in cases like this where it doesn't really make sense.

I think I might give this another 'quick' once over for visual stuff later but I think I'm finally pretty much done with this... Well done, it's certainly an impressive sheet.

[Static]

-Again, have you thought about making the left hand in bars 454+ fit the percussion a bit more closely?  I think the reworking of 340+ was a big improvement, so maybe an approach like that work well again.  You could also get some of the timpani rolls in (like in bar 461).

I originally had more percussion stuff going on, but thought it sounded like it was too busy. But after playing it again I think it sounds better. I kept the LH the same for m469-475 since that bassline is a bit more active.

-I can see that you want the melody to stand out more in bar 496+, but dropping the semiquavers means you suddenly lose a lot of the energy that you've built up.  Maybe you could put the runs back in for beats 2 and 4 i.e. chord -> four notes -> chord -> four notes -> chord -> four notes -> chord -> two notes etc.  Maybe that makes sense...  Once you've got to bar 500 you're fine because you've got stuff going on in every beat so I don't think it's going to sound unenergetic.

This is a cool idea

-These thirds in bars 504-507 etc. sound kind of off to me.  I'm not sure I can even hear the top line, but certainly the lower line sounds more prominent to me.  Maybe it's just something about the texture of the original here which doesn't translate to piano very well...

I think it's hard to hear in the full texture because the top line is alternating between the notes I have written and high A's. The two string lines are playing this:

Which results in the top voice sounding more staccato, so it gets lost in the texture. I think I'd rather keep it as written, even if the lower voice is ultimately the more prominent one. I could invert them but I think that's a bit harder to play.

-The left hand G#s in bars 523/527 really sound like they should be Gns to me.

The bass actually does play G# there, but it's hard to tell with all the layers present. Here's that bassline isolated, starting at m516.

And everything else should be fixed, lmk if I missed anything

Thanks again for going through this behemoth of a sheet! Hopefully it wasn't too painful...

[Libera]

The bass actually does play G# there, but it's hard to tell with all the layers present. Here's that bassline isolated, starting at m516.

We talked about this on discord; I think we agreed they should be Gns.

And everything else should be fixed, lmk if I missed anything

I think it was because I actually forgot to put it in my first post (a copy-paste error I think), but this:

-Courtesy accidentals on the Ebs in bars 434/442 etc. ?  You have them in the left hand at those points.

Everything else looks good.

[Static]

Those changes have been made

[Latios212]

Last stretch... starting at m. 400 around 2:30 in the third video:

- Fermata on the upper LH layer in m. 416?
- Fix the tie directions going into m. 420, 444, 460, 468
- Flip m. 441/465 beat 1 (half note chord)
- That tied C on beat 3 of m. 438/454/462 is kind of ambiguous whether you want the performer to restrike it or not
- It sounds to me like the bass in m. 500-503 alternates Ab-Db instead of Ab-Eb
- I think the second chord in m. 519 would be nicer with flats instead of sharps

m. 523/527:

We talked about this on discord; I think we agreed they should be Gns.

Agree with Gn, but the sheet doesn't currently agree

...Whew.

[Static]

- It sounds to me like the bass in m. 500-503 alternates Ab-Db instead of Ab-Eb

It's a bit hard to tell in the full mix because the timpani sample is pretty low quality, but when isolated I hear it more as Eb. Take a listen here (starts right at m500).

- I think the second chord in m. 519 would be nicer with flats instead of sharps

Did you mean m518? If so, fixed.

m. 523/527:Agree with Gn, but the sheet doesn't currently agree

They're already natural? The current files (at the time you posted) look like this:

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But either way those should be fixed in the new files as well.

Everything else should be fixed.

[Latios212]

It's a bit hard to tell in the full mix because the timpani sample is pretty low quality, but when isolated I hear it more as Eb. Take a listen here (starts right at m500).

Alrighty, that makes more sense harmonically anyway so sounds good

Did you mean m518? If so, fixed.

oops yes counting is hard

Oh whoops I meant to say something completely different about m. 523/527, ignore what I said above. I think I hear beat 3 as a A instead of E in the left hand, descending to G and F# in the following measure?

[Static]

On beats 3-4 of those measures, the timpani plays A-A, while the tuba and bass play E-G. I didn't want to include both voices bc it would sound a bit muddy, so I just put the bass since I thought it was the more prominent/interesting voice.

Edit: The marcatos have been fixed in the PDF too, as promised earlier

[Latios212]

Alrighty I approve all 26 pages of this arrangement

[Libera]

Well, that was fun.  Everything checks out for me.  I think I would describe this experience as 'character building' if I was asked.

We at least managed to get this accepted in less than five months (just!); thank you for you patience.

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Libera.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot