[PS1] Final Fantasy VII - "Birth of a God" (Replacement) by Latios212

Started by Zeta, August 30, 2021, 08:08:29 PM

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Zeta

Submission Information:

Series: Final Fantasy
Game: Final Fantasy VII
Console: PlayStation
Title: Birth of a God
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Latios212


Replacement Information:

Links to Existing Sheet: MUS | MIDI | PDF
Replacement Type: Challenge (new arranger)

[attachment deleted by admin]

Latios212

A few notes:
- I think there's no "The" in the title?
- I couldn't really think of a good way to differentiate m. 33+ from m. 25+
- Had a bit of trouble with the chords in m. 49-60
- Would the beginning/end RH part be better in bass or treble clef?

My arrangements and YouTube channel!

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

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Kricketune54

Yeah vgmdb album I found does not have "The" in the title for this https://vgmdb.net/album/3406

m.17 I hear a B but it would require pulling it up an octave to be in the RH, so I understand it's exclusion

Quote- I couldn't really think of a good way to differentiate m. 33+ from m. 25+

Maybe put the organ's (ex. E on top of first chord) pitch on top of the chords at m. 33+ ?

Quote- Had a bit of trouble with the chords in m. 49-60

Didn't pick up anything, but I was wondering why in m.58 it's F# instead of Gb; is it because of the relative closeness of F# in that chord?  Pardon if that terminology escapes me lol

Quote- Would the beginning/end RH part be better in bass or treble clef?

I think I like both as bass clef from a readability standpoint.  Was also wondering about accidentals in these parts, thinking back to my "Rest Room" submission what makes the notes flat and sharp in m.1 for example?

Zeila

  • I think using bass clef in both spots is fine too, and writing in a courtesy treble clef right before the repeat doesn't make it cramped or anything either
  • m26/30/34/38 RH beat 2.5 I'm unsure but it sounds like the C is a D instead
  • m27/33 it sounds like there's a B in the first chord (and maybe the 3rd too but that could be left out)
  • m39/40 there's an additional F# from the new voice that's not present in measures 31/32
  • In addition to Kricketune's suggestion about making m33+ different, you could put m25 at mf and m33 at forte
  • m41-48 LH maybe you could write this a bit differently to incorporate the organ part (e.g. changing the 5th + octave hits to whenever the organ plays and then including some of the passing notes). It's understandable if you'd rather keep it the way it is now though
  • m42/46 was writing beat 3.5 as two eighth notes instead of a quarter note intentional?
  • m49-60 the notes here sound fine, it might just sound off because of the extra notes you added
  • m67/71 maybe you could add some grace note pickups to the Db's?

Static

Always nice to see more FF replacements

- All of you are correct in that it's just "Birth of a God"
- I also think m1-8, m98-101. looks better in bass clef
- Maybe add a courtesy natural for the F at the end of m8
Quote from: Kricketune54 on September 04, 2021, 09:37:14 PMm.17 I hear a B but it would require pulling it up an octave to be in the RH, so I understand it's exclusion
- Notes in the previous chords were brought up an octave as well, so I'm all for adding that B. It's an important note that changes the color of the chord.
- I think m23-24 RH would sound better if you went with just open stacked 4ths like in the original (just C-F-Bb) instead of just trying to fit as many notes in as possible. imo, the open voicing is more distinct than the individual voices themselves. You could also maybe remove the D in m22 beat 3. (also the accent is a bit close to the slur)
- m25/26/29/33/34/37 RH beats 3.5-4.5 and m28/36 RH beats 1.5-4.5, and have an additional note underneath, but I'm assuming you removed them to keep that part softer. In that case, I might recommend making most of those 6ths instead of 4ths, which I think sounds more full, but up to you.
- m26/34 RH beat 2.5-4.5: All these chords are B-E-F#
- m28/35 RH beat 2: I actually don't hear the strings on beat 2, just the melody here.
- m30/38 RH beat 2.5: I hear B-D-F# here
- m30/38 RH beat 4: I think I also hear a G between the E and B
- m31-32/39-40 RH: All these chords have a G under the A as well
- If you're looking for a way to differentiate m33-40, just add the top voice that Kricketune mentioned. I don't see a reason not to include it, personally
Quote from: Zeila on September 05, 2021, 07:32:29 PMm42/46 was writing beat 3.5 as two eighth notes instead of a quarter note intentional?
- I actually also hear this as two 8ths, but the attack on the second one is very subtle.
- m43-44 RH: That synth voice sounds more like this to me:

- Why is m43 RH beats 1-2 flipped up, but m47 RH beats 1-2 flipped down? They're the same notes.
- The chords in m49-60 are simpler than they appear; it's octaves with one additional middle voice. This is what I'm getting:
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- m61-64 RH: I think this part is easy enough to hold the lower notes for their full value like in the original; in addition beats 3-4 of m62/64 have some extra notes:
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- The above point also applies to m89-92, where it's voiced the same way.
- m62 LH: The bass note on beat 4 should also be held like in m64.
- m65 RH: The C on beat 3.5 should be Db (only in this measure)
- m65-72 RH: All the Dbs on beat 3 should be C (all measures).
- m71-72 LH: Maybe have quarter notes in the bass to emulate the kick drum and lead into m73.
- m81-88 RH: I'm not sure I even hear the lower voice here, at least not in the strings. Even so, some of the notes stand out to me as sounding incorrect, so I'll go over those:
- m82 RH beat 1: This chord should be D-E-G# (theory nerd warning: it's not Ab even if the next chord has a Gn - the G# voice resolves to the A in m82 via an appogiatura (G#-B-A))
- m83 RH beat 3: The E should be F
- m88 RH beat 3: I don't hear the D in the middle here
- m94-97 RH: I don't hear the E, it just sounds like D-G-A to me.

Latios212

Quote from: Kricketune54 on September 04, 2021, 09:37:14 PMm.17 I hear a B but it would require pulling it up an octave to be in the RH, so I understand it's exclusion
Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- Notes in the previous chords were brought up an octave as well, so I'm all for adding that B. It's an important note that changes the color of the chord.
oh yeah for sure writing it in, good catch

Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- I think m23-24 RH would sound better if you went with just open stacked 4ths like in the original (just C-F-Bb) instead of just trying to fit as many notes in as possible. imo, the open voicing is more distinct than the individual voices themselves. You could also maybe remove the D in m22 beat 3. (also the accent is a bit close to the slur)
I was going for a thickening texture to match the crescendo, but yeah upon playing with it again the open fourths work nicely. Got it!

Quote from: Zeila on September 05, 2021, 07:32:29 PMm26/30/34/38 RH beat 2.5 I'm unsure but it sounds like the C is a D instead
I updated this part based on Static's comments

Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- m25/26/29/33/34/37 RH beats 3.5-4.5 and m28/36 RH beats 1.5-4.5, and have an additional note underneath, but I'm assuming you removed them to keep that part softer. In that case, I might recommend making most of those 6ths instead of 4ths, which I think sounds more full, but up to you.
Yeah, I wanted to differentiate them from the main melody chords a bit and I think omitting the bottom note rather than the middle note does that a bit better.

Quote from: Zeila on September 05, 2021, 07:32:29 PMm27/33 it sounds like there's a B in the first chord (and maybe the 3rd too but that could be left out)
I think this is a bit dissonant, so not sure if I want to include it...

Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- m43-44 RH: That synth voice sounds more like this to me:

- Why is m43 RH beats 1-2 flipped up, but m47 RH beats 1-2 flipped down? They're the same notes.
Ah yeah m. 44 beat 3 is an F#. But I'm still hearing F# for the last note in 43. (I flipped those notes to make the slur between beats 2.5-3 not awkwardly go between notes that were stemmed up and down. I've changed m. 47 to match)

Quote from: Zeila on September 05, 2021, 07:32:29 PMm41-48 LH maybe you could write this a bit differently to incorporate the organ part (e.g. changing the 5th + octave hits to whenever the organ plays and then including some of the passing notes). It's understandable if you'd rather keep it the way it is now though
Hm good suggestion. I do think that'd sound a bit muddy at that register and if I moved the LH up it wouldn't connect well with the adjacent sections, so I'm not sure if it'd be worth doing also given the right hand is pretty busy already to keep things interesting. Open to suggestions though

Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- m65 RH: The C on beat 3.5 should be Db (only in this measure)
I don't hear this?

Quote from: Zeila on September 05, 2021, 07:32:29 PMm67/71 maybe you could add some grace note pickups to the Db's?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean here

That's all the time I have for tonight, I've started editing but will finish sometime later and respond to the rest of the stuff I didn't just fix. Thanks guys for checking!
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

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

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turtle

Zeila

Regarding the grace note suggestion, I meant for it to be an approximation of the timpani roll leading into measures 67 and 71. Here's a picture for clarity
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Latios212

Quote from: Zeila on September 25, 2021, 08:40:29 PMRegarding the grace note suggestion, I meant for it to be an approximation of the timpani roll leading into measures 67 and 71. Here's a picture for clarity
Ah! Yeah I like that :)

Quote from: Latios212 on August 30, 2021, 08:10:28 PM- I couldn't really think of a good way to differentiate m. 33+ from m. 25+
Quote from: Kricketune54 on September 04, 2021, 09:37:14 PMMaybe put the organ's (ex. E on top of first chord) pitch on top of the chords at m. 33+ ?
Quote from: Static on September 10, 2021, 02:34:31 PM- If you're looking for a way to differentiate m33-40, just add the top voice that Kricketune mentioned. I don't see a reason not to include it, personally
I think I originally wasn't to keen on how I would lose out on some of the lower harmonies and also obscure the movement of the main melody. Looking at it again now though, I think it makes sense to write in. Lemme know if that looks good.



I've updated the files after going through I think all the feedback above! Hopefully I didn't miss anything, though I apologize if I did. Lemme know if anything else should be changed, thanks~
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

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

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[close]
turtle

Static

Looks really good, just a last handful of things:
  • m24 should match the chord at the end of m23.
  • m38 RH beat 2.5: I hear this as D-F#-D.
  • Adjust the notes/dots in m61-64, 89-92 RH Layer 2 so that they're not so close to notes/accidentals.
  • m66/68 LH: With this kind of grace note, I think it makes more sense for the upper one to be tied to the next measure, so it isn't restruck.

Latios212

My arrangements and YouTube channel!

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

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turtle


Libera

This looks great.  I've just got a few small things to say:

-There are zero dynamic markings from bar 25 onwards, and there a few places I think they might be useful.  i.e. 65-72 could have a lower dynamic than 73+ to help add to the build up, since texturally the arrangement actually gets less complicated there.  But more generally I think the only issue at the moment is that it could get a little repetitive so dynamics could help to make it more exciting or at least more varied.  You don't have to go crazy, but it's a thought.
-Maybe add the D to the chords in the second half of 22 and in 23-24?  It'd also be nice to get some of that parallel chromatic movement in but it's kind of awkward to play.
-The chord in bar 94 feels like it needs more, i.e. doubling the A.  It's a big moment that I feel deserves a little more power.  You could also maybe got to ff there and then drop back down to f in bar 98 to go along with the fading out of the chord.  Another idea.

Latios212

Quote from: Libera on October 09, 2021, 08:02:05 AM-There are zero dynamic markings from bar 25 onwards, and there a few places I think they might be useful.  i.e. 65-72 could have a lower dynamic than 73+ to help add to the build up, since texturally the arrangement actually gets less complicated there.  But more generally I think the only issue at the moment is that it could get a little repetitive so dynamics could help to make it more exciting or at least more varied.  You don't have to go crazy, but it's a thought.
I hadn't added any initially past m. 25 because the whole piece is pretty consistently high-energy. But I do agree there's a bit of a release and buildup where you've noted, so I changed m. 65 to mf and a crescendo in 72 back to f in 73.

Quote from: Libera on October 09, 2021, 08:02:05 AM-Maybe add the D to the chords in the second half of 22 and in 23-24?  It'd also be nice to get some of that parallel chromatic movement in but it's kind of awkward to play.
I originally left the D in (along with maybe another chord tone in 23-24 I think) but changed this to what's there now based on Static's suggestion on highlighting the stacked fourths, which I think works pretty well (sound wise and playing wise) when trying it out again.

Quote from: Libera on October 09, 2021, 08:02:05 AM-The chord in bar 94 feels like it needs more, i.e. doubling the A.  It's a big moment that I feel deserves a little more power.  You could also maybe got to ff there and then drop back down to f in bar 98 to go along with the fading out of the chord.  Another idea.
Doubling the A sounds good! I don't really want to change the dynamics in these few measures since the right hand can't do anything after that chord strike - the performer might interpret a dynamic change in the left hand, which should probably stay at a constant volume. I've added an accent on the chord though.

Thanks for taking a look! Files updated :)
My arrangements and YouTube channel!

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

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Libera


Zeta

This submission has been accepted by Libera.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot