[BS-X] BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari - "SoundLink Schedule" by LeviR.star

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Other
Game: BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari
Console: Satellaview
Title: SoundLink Schedule
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: LeviR.star

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[LeviR.star]

Before we get into this, I wanted to explain some things:

1.) It's my current opinion that the second loop is not worth incorporating, as I've found that it would not be two hands-friendly. In my original draft of this sheet, I attempted to cover the entire piece, only to yield... unsatisfactory results. Unless there is a strong, collective opposition, I'll be keeping this arrangement as a eight-bar loop. That said, I am open to listen to anyone's ideas.

2.) This track's melody spans two octaves, and the lower range tends to snuggle right up next to the left hand part. For this reason, I've bumped down the LH on certain beats, while still trying my best to keep the thirds from sounding "muddy". The pitch bends have been simplified as sixteenths, sixteenth triplets, and glissandos, and they override the off-beat chords every two bars, on beats three and four.

3.) I haven't submitted a Satellaview BIOS sheet in a long, long time, and because of this, I've held off from mentioning something about how we should label them on the site. Some time in the past few years, it's come to my attention that the cartridge that came with the Satellaview peripheral (the source of this music) is called BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari, or BS-X: The Story of The Town Whose Name Was Stolen. The latter is a commonly accepted fan translation, and appears on the title screen of the unofficial BS-X Project ROM hack. Now, I understand that we want site-goers to easily find what they're looking for, but this new name is just as correct as the old one. Here's how it might fit on a sheet:

See for yourself!

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Lastly, because I want this submission to go as smoothly as possibly, I've taken the liberty of putting together a full transcription (minus percussion) of the loop I've arranged. I encourage the staff to take advantage of this resource, because it might shed some light on my process:

[FULL] Satellaview BIOS - SoundLink Schedule.musx

[Bloop]

1.) It's my current opinion that the second loop is not worth incorporating, as I've found that it would not be two hands-friendly. In my original draft of this sheet, I attempted to cover the entire piece, only to yield... unsatisfactory results. Unless there is a strong, collective opposition, I'll be keeping this arrangement as a eight-bar loop. That said, I am open to listen to anyone's ideas.

I think it should still be possible to incorporate the second loop. The way I'd handle it is treating the countermelodies as little add-ons at the end of each line, maybe even with smaller noteheads to make sure they won't get mistaken for the main melody, and transpose it down an octave in m2, so the main melody can stay in its original register. You could also leave out one of the notes in the L.H. dyads, since that's what happens in the original. So something akin to this:
You cannot view this attachment.

3.) I haven't submitted a Satellaview BIOS sheet in a long, long time, and because of this, I've held off from mentioning something about how we should label them on the site. Some time in the past few years, it's come to my attention that the cartridge that came with the Satellaview peripheral (the source of this music) is called BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari, or BS-X: The Story of The Town Whose Name Was Stolen. The latter is a commonly accepted fan translation, and appears on the title screen of the unofficial BS-X Project ROM hack. Now, I understand that we want site-goers to easily find what they're looking for, but this new name is just as correct as the old one.

I agree with changing the name to the cartridge game name ^^ However, we only use official translated names, instead of fan translated ones. Other examples of this are Gyakuten Kenji 2, Doubutsu no Mori e+, Rhythm Tengoku, etc. So, in this case, we would be using the official Japanese name as well. I imagine seeing BS-X would be enough for players to recognize it, right? If you could provide the files with the edited game name for your other Satellaview sheet, then we can update that one as well!

As for the actual feedback on the loop:
-m4: Beats 1-2 seem to be an Am chord with C in the bass (also according to your transcription), so maybe you could change the G's in the L.H. on beat 1.5 and 2.5 to A's?
-m8: The bass in beat 2 here is staccato in the original too.

[LeviR.star]

(Currently discussing this sheet over Discord with Bloop)

[LeviR.star]

Okay, so after talking with Bloop, here's some things that got changed:

- retitled sheet to BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari - "SoundLink Schedule"
- added second half of the song with countermelodies (according to Bloop's idea)
- flatted beat 3.5 of m. 4 & 12 to make it sound more chromatic (my idea)
- changed tenuto on LH beat 2 in m. 8 & 16 to a staccato
- removed notes from LH dyads in the second half. I still have my doubts about this, because otherwise the bass line is identical in the original, and I suspect the harmony is cut off to make room in the channels for countermelodic stuff. I'm not sure, it sounds emptier than it needs to be. Thoughts?
- possibly some other things, I don't recall so I believe that covers it ^^

Files are updated, but we'll also need to change the name of the game on the site. I can provide updated files for my "Downloading Theme 2" sheet, but probably not today.

[Bloop]

- removed notes from LH dyads in the second half. I still have my doubts about this, because otherwise the bass line is identical in the original, and I suspect the harmony is cut off to make room in the channels for countermelodic stuff. I'm not sure, it sounds emptier than it needs to be. Thoughts?

Personally I think it sounds fine, but it ultimately comes down to what you prefer of course: either way works ^^

I'll approve though!
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[Latios212]

- removed notes from LH dyads in the second half. I still have my doubts about this, because otherwise the bass line is identical in the original, and I suspect the harmony is cut off to make room in the channels for countermelodic stuff. I'm not sure, it sounds emptier than it needs to be. Thoughts?

Personally I think it sounds fine, but it ultimately comes down to what you prefer of course: either way works ^^

I could go either way. My first thought was that it makes sense to copy the LH part over so that the second iteration of the loop is the same but with the additional countermelodies. But you could also look at it in that the first iteration focuses on the offbeat harmonies, while the second iteration focuses on the countermelodies. So I'll also leave it up to you ^^

Other than that, only thing to point out is I think the dyad on beat 3.5 of m. 1/5/9/13 should have a B instead of C below the E. I don't hear the C in the original and it clashes with the Em chord. (Oh, and also what I usually say about staccato placement with layers, though it's not a big deal here)

edit: also changed the game name to [BS-X] BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari

[Latios212]

Chatted with Levi over Discord and got these things adjusted (copied the bass over from the first iteration, plus other comments) and made a couple of minor visual adjustments with the staccatos/rests. Good to go~

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Latios212.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot