[GCN] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - "X-Naut Fortress" (Replacement) by Bloop, Static & XiaoM

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Submission Information:
Series: Paper Mario
Game: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Console: Nintendo GameCube
Title: X-Naut Fortress
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arrangers: Bloop, Static & XiaoMigros


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

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Bloop]

For the replacement initiative! (also fun to have a 3-arranger sheet up, no idea when the last time was that that happened lol)

I changed the original's name (X-naut Base) to the current one (X-Naut Fortress). I'm not sure if there's an official source for the ost names, but this is what Static used in his original file and the name I see used mostly in other sources. About the arrangement, I took a few liberties with the L.H. to have something like the 4-on-the-floor drum pattern to keep the groove, since both the R.H. and L.H. are very syncopated most of the time.

[LeviR.star]

Impossible... They said it couldn't be done...

(also fun to have a 3-arranger sheet up, no idea when the last time was that that happened lol)

IIRC, might've been "Tick-Tock Clock" from Mario Kart DS.

[XiaoMigros]

so I'm XiaoM now, huh..

I changed the original's name (X-naut Base) to the current one (X-Naut Fortress). I'm not sure if there's an official source for the ost names, but this is what Static used in his original file and the name I see used mostly in other sources.

As far as I'm aware, X-Naut Base is the Japanese translation, while X-Naut Fortress is used in official english releases. So I think using the latter makes more sense.

Edit: Just looked it up, mariowiki says I'm correct:

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[Latios212]

Nice work you guys on this one! The left hand part to capture the bass and percussion works quite well - easy to play and captures the beat.

- The An's and Bn's in the RH of m. 9 beat 2 stand out to me as a bit odd. Like they accentuate the major sound and highlight an independent lower layer a bit too much in a way that I don't really hear in the original. Upon listening again, maybe it's just the An that seems a bit out of place to me.

Don't really have much other than that

[Bloop]

- The An's and Bn's in the RH of m. 9 beat 2 stand out to me as a bit odd. Like they accentuate the major sound and highlight an independent lower layer a bit too much in a way that I don't really hear in the original. Upon listening again, maybe it's just the An that seems a bit out of place to me.

There's a separate synth that plays some heavily syncopated chord stuff during m2-9, which is where I got the C, An and Bn from in m9. I never noticed that synth before until I saw it incorporated in Static's original file, otherwise I may have not noticed it either :p

[Latios212]

Alrighty I'll approve then and we'll see what Libera thinks

[Static]

I haven't had that much time to look this over in detail until today... After looking it over, I think it might be a good idea to simplify m18-25 a bit. There are a lot of really large/fast/awkward jumps there, as well as fast repeated notes. Maybe something like this would be better (there's probably more spots that could be changed too):

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I simplified the part by removing or adjusting the octave of certain notes.
As long as the general contour is the same (i.e. the notes slowly rise in pitch), what the exact notes are don't really matter. It's more of an ambient effect than a distinct melody.
I know when I sent the files over I had m18 as written, but I intended to simplify that voice after transcribing the rest of it.

[XiaoMigros]

That sounds like a good way of making the sheet more playable (and given the creative liberties that have been taken already, I don't think it's out of place). I would be fine with taking over the section as per the attachment you provided but perhaps it's best to wait and see whether Bloop has any input/changes on this.

[Bloop]

Yeah that makes sense! I did do some playtesting and found it was difficult but not unplayable, but like Xiao mentioned, given the liberties it's not out of place to make some simplifications there too. I octave-transposed two other notes as well (m21b4.25 and m22b2.75) and re-uploaded the files!

[Libera]

This is a slightly strange piece to write out for piano.

-Why do the chords jump up an octave in the second half of bar 1?  I don't hear that in the original.
-I'm having a hard time following in bars 10-12 in the right hand.  I'm not exactly sure what's being written in here but some of the (very quiet) chords in the original sound like they change in bar 11 and aren't just static like written here.  Maybe I'm just not listening to the right stuff, but it sounds quite different to me, though I guess some of that is just it being a lot louder on piano.
-Do you want to include the double taps of the bass on beat 1 in bars 14+ like you do in 10-13?  It's different to the bass pattern in bars 2-9.
-I can see what is going on in most of the RH of bars 18-25, but the G on beat 3.75 of bar 24 sounds like it should be a Bb to me, regardless of simplification.
-The dynamics are a bit confusing in the sheet.  Is there are a reason why the dynamics that only apply to the right hand are being written in the centre of the staff?  Even if you really want to keep them there for some reason, I think they could do with tidying up, particularly in bar 17-18 (and the LH mf in bar 1 isn't particularly pleasant either...)

Otherwise looks good.  Nice work you three.

Alrighty I'll approve then and we'll see what Libera thinks

The An and Bn in bar 9?  It sounds good to me.

[Bloop]

-Why do the chords jump up an octave in the second half of bar 1?  I don't hear that in the original.

I chose to move the latter up so that the jump from the chord on beat 3.75 wouldn't be too big, but now I figured it'd make sense to put the first one up an octave as well ^^

-I'm having a hard time following in bars 10-12 in the right hand.  I'm not exactly sure what's being written in here but some of the (very quiet) chords in the original sound like they change in bar 11 and aren't just static like written here.  Maybe I'm just not listening to the right stuff, but it sounds quite different to me, though I guess some of that is just it being a lot louder on piano.

After listening a bit more closely, I can hear the F in those chords move to an Eb, even until m17. Was that what you were hearing? I edited the files accordingly ^^

I did the rest as well! For the dynamics, I moved everything for the R.H. to above the staff, and the L.H. dynamic in bar 1 has been changed to be in the middle of the staves, but noticeably close to the L.H., because I didn't like how far the 8vb would have to move down.

[Libera]

After listening a bit more closely, I can hear the F in those chords move to an Eb, even until m17. Was that what you were hearing? I edited the files accordingly ^^

It also sounds like the Bb moves to an An towards the end of bar 11 to me.  I guess I'm also a little unsure about these rhythms, but I suppose it works.

Everything else looks good!

[Static]

It also sounds like the Bb moves to an An towards the end of bar 11 to me.  I guess I'm also a little unsure about these rhythms, but I suppose it works.

I think the An is part of a separate voice, the moving 16th note synth that becomes more prominent starting around m13-14. The chords sound more consistent to me. And speaking of consistency...

This is what I'm hearing in m10-17 RH:

m10-17

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There should always be 3-4 voices present, no single notes in m10-11. I'm assuming these were written as single notes to correspond to the softer dynamic, but these chords can just be played softer there.
In addition, some of the inner voice movement sounds different to me, namely m12 beat 3.5 (should be F), m15 beat 3.25 (should be Eb), and m16 beat 3.5 (should be F).
I do not hear a note on m11 beat 3.75, and m14 beat 4.75 sounds tied, like in m16.

Edit: While I'm here, I'm hearing some additional harmonies in m9 RH:

[Bloop]

Fixed! I left out the extra notes in m9 for two-note consistency and to make the C-An-Bn line clearer. this statement is outdated, your honor