[NDS] Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - "The Sun-Gathering Village" by Code_Name_Geek

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Submission Information:
Series: Dragon Quest
Game: Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Console: Nintendo DS
Title: The Sun-Gathering Village
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Code_Name_Geek

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[Code_Name_Geek]

As I was double-checking credits I noticed there's two common translations for this song's title: "The Sun-Gathering Village" and "Village Bathed In Light". I'm not sure which one to choose, and putting both of them is a bit of a mouthful (but doable if that's the best solution). So a second opinion on that would be appreciated.

[Latios212]

As I was double-checking credits I noticed there's two common translations for this song's title: "The Sun-Gathering Village" and "Village Bathed In Light". I'm not sure which one to choose, and putting both of them is a bit of a mouthful (but doable if that's the best solution). So a second opinion on that would be appreciated.

Do you have any links to OST information? Also, do other titles in the series follow certain naming conventions for their music?

[Code_Name_Geek]

Do you have any links to OST information? Also, do other titles in the series follow certain naming conventions for their music?

Oh geez now I'm looking at the information again and I didn't realize one of the albums on VGMDB actually was the official soundtrack release, which has the title I have. The alternate title shows up on some arranged albums like this one. But I think it's probably safe to stick with the one from the original soundtrack after all. Sorry, I must have been tired when I was double-checking my information last night

[XiaoMigros]

• m1-16: I think you can add more harmony to the R.H., it would still be pretty playable. You might want to re-check the existing harmony you've written for playability and note accuracy.
• m17-18: I hear A instead of F# in the R.H. chords
• m17-24: I feel like the bass notes might look better without staccatos but written like 8th notes: staccatos don't mean "play these notes at 50% length", but "play these notes shortly". A player might interpret those bass notes as shorter than they need to be.
• m25-28: Some of these bass notes are also shorter like the ones in m17-24, so these will also be 8th notes or staccato'd notes, depending on what you choose in m17-24
• m26: I think removing the lower D# on beat 2 here would make this part more playable without losing too much sound. If you really want to keep it, I'd suggest moving it to the L.H.
• m28: I don't think I hear the L.H.'s high D on beat 2
• m29-30: I hear triads in the R.H., maybe those or dyads would be better suited here than octaves?
• m31: I hear F# instead of G in the R.H.
• m32: I think I hear F# instead of B in the R.H. on beat 2, I think there's an upwards motion here (that is overshadowed by the loud B in the L.H.)

• m33-end: Here too, there's a lot of R.H. harmony you could include to get a full sound, and you can leave it out where it makes things too difficult to play.
• You should make sure that all the 8va markings end just after the last note, rather than inside the measure.
  Example

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• m33: I'm not sure if the key change here is necessary, especially since the track doesn't really stay in E.
• m35: I hear E and A instead of C# and G in the LH
• m35-36: Most of what you have written here is part of the less audible lower harmony voice, I suggest writing the higher voice instead.
• m39-40: You might want to check over this section again to make sure it's correct
• m42: I hear the grace note as B
• m43: I hear F# instead of D# in the LH chords
• m47: First two notes in the RH are G#
• m48: I think the chord in the LH should be E not E7
• m48 "" A not Amaj7
• m57-58: You could add a some more parts here to simulate the buildup better. for the 16th run in m58 I hear C-D-G-A
• m59-60: I wonder if leaving the upper layer legato (or adding a slur) would be a nicer contrast to the lower layer? It would definitely be easier to play..
  I also don't hear the high D in the LH in m60.
• You can also widen the system spacing on the last page to reduce the empty space at the bottom.

[Code_Name_Geek]

• m1-16: I think you can add more harmony to the R.H., it would still be pretty playable. You might want to re-check the existing harmony you've written for playability and note accuracy.

I did my best here, but I have a hard time hearing harmony lines so please let me know if there are any wrong notes or if I missed anything obvious.

• m17-24: I feel like the bass notes might look better without staccatos but written like 8th notes: staccatos don't mean "play these notes at 50% length", but "play these notes shortly". A player might interpret those bass notes as shorter than they need to be.
• m25-28: Some of these bass notes are also shorter like the ones in m17-24, so these will also be 8th notes or staccato'd notes, depending on what you choose in m17-24

I wanted those to be a little longer than eighth notes and with more weight, but still a little short (or maybe "lifted" is a better term). But yeah staccatos could end up being too short so I changed it to a combination staccato/tenuto marking. Continued through the next section as well for consistency.

• m26: I think removing the lower D# on beat 2 here would make this part more playable without losing too much sound. If you really want to keep it, I'd suggest moving it to the L.H.

I disagree with moving it to the LH; when I play it myself I can reach it with my RH but I'm nowhere close to reaching it with my LH. But it does make it a lot harder so I put parentheses around it so the player can decide whether or not to play it.

• m29-30: I hear triads in the R.H., maybe those or dyads would be better suited here than octaves?

Triads like this?

• m33-end: Here too, there's a lot of R.H. harmony you could include to get a full sound, and you can leave it out where it makes things too difficult to play.

Did my best here as well, but as per my comment for the first section I'm not entirely confident on all of the notes here.

• You should make sure that all the 8va markings end just after the last note, rather than inside the measure.
  Example

  You cannot view this attachment.

  [close]

Done.

• m33: I'm not sure if the key change here is necessary, especially since the track doesn't really stay in E.

I think the key change makes sense here. It helps with the readability of the melody and while the song doesn't stay strictly in E, it resolves back to E enough times that I feel reasonably confident marking this section as E. I've done a bit of harmonic analysis below showing what I mean but don't look too closely at the figured bass it was done really quickly.

Spoiler

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Edit: not sure if the images are working right, here's the direct link to them if they don't show up.

• m35-36: Most of what you have written here is part of the less audible lower harmony voice, I suggest writing the higher voice instead.

Oh man you're totally right, not sure what happened here. I think I got the right part now.

• m39-40: You might want to check over this section again to make sure it's correct

Took another look here and I think this is closer?

• m57-58: You could add a some more parts here to simulate the buildup better. for the 16th run in m58 I hear C-D-G-A

There's this repeating figure in the strings that I'm having trouble picking out, so the C/D trill is my best approximation of that... let me know if there's a better way to do that.

• m59-60: I wonder if leaving the upper layer legato (or adding a slur) would be a nicer contrast to the lower layer? It would definitely be easier to play..
  I also don't hear the high D in the LH in m60.

Like this? Yeah that would be easier to play. The high D in the LH was originally the resolution of the middle line so it's back to the top staff here.

All of the other little fixes like notes should be done as well. This was kind of a beast to revisit, but thanks for the detailed feedback!

[XiaoMigros]

I did my best here, but I have a hard time hearing harmony lines so please let me know if there are any wrong notes or if I missed anything obvious.

No problem! For the most part it's looking pretty good but here's some things I found (all referring to the harmony):

• m1 beat 2.5: I hear G instead of B here
• m5 beat 2.75: The G here is sharpened
• m7: Beat 2 should be B and beat 2.5 should be G
• m8: I hear F# at beat 1
• The same points apply to the repeated section, m9+, where needed
• If you want you can remove the harmony note in m15 b1.75 for playability purposes

I wanted those to be a little longer than eighth notes and with more weight, but still a little short (or maybe "lifted" is a better term). But yeah staccatos could end up being too short so I changed it to a combination staccato/tenuto marking. Continued through the next section as well for consistency.

I see what you mean. Looks great now!

I disagree with moving it to the LH; when I play it myself I can reach it with my RH but I'm nowhere close to reaching it with my LH.

Interesting, because I can get it with my LH but not with my RH... Parentheses is the best option then.

Triads like this?

Pretty much, though I hear the middle notes in m29 b2.5 and m30 b1-1.5 one step higher than you have written (so E, D & C respectively)

I think the key change makes sense here. It helps with the readability of the melody and while the song doesn't stay strictly in E, it resolves back to E enough times that I feel reasonably confident marking this section as E.

That's a valid way of seeing it, let's keep the key change then!
PS Spoilered images don't seem to show in post previews but I can see them fine :p

Took another look here and I think this is closer?

This looks better, yeah! I think there's an extra voice in the flutes, like so:

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There's this repeating figure in the strings that I'm having trouble picking out, so the C/D trill is my best approximation of that... let me know if there's a better way to do that.

I think what you have is correct, it's just harder to make out because of the echo in this track. That said, you might want to omit some of either part to make it a little easier to play..

Here's some other points that came up:

• m2-10: Finale seems to have ignored some of the accidentals in its measure spacing, it fixed itself when I removed & readded them
• m32 beat 2: There's a chord missing here in the RH lower layer
• m46: I hear the harmony note at beat 1.25 as Cx. For beat 2 you should preserve the 3rd interval, I recommend changing the B# to Cn
• m47-48: I can hear some harmony here, do you want to add it in?

All of the other little fixes like notes should be done as well. This was kind of a beast to revisit, but thanks for the detailed feedback!

The rest of the changes look great! Thanks for taking the time to look over the sheet again

[Code_Name_Geek]

No problem! For the most part it's looking pretty good but here's some things I found (all referring to the harmony):

• m1 beat 2.5: I hear G instead of B here
• m5 beat 2.75: The G here is sharpened
• m7: Beat 2 should be B and beat 2.5 should be G
• m8: I hear F# at beat 1
• The same points apply to the repeated section, m9+, where needed
• If you want you can remove the harmony note in m15 b1.75 for playability purposes

Made all these changes, except m8 where I think it was already an F#? And I decided to keep the harmony note in m15. Thanks!

Interesting, because I can get it with my LH but not with my RH... Parentheses is the best option then.

Oh that is interesting, I have pretty small hands so I always assume everyone can play something if I can haha. Maybe my left hand is less flexible since piano isn't my main instrument? Either way, I agree that parentheses is the best option and I'll leave that note up to the performer.

Pretty much, though I hear the middle notes in m29 b2.5 and m30 b1-1.5 one step higher than you have written (so E, D & C respectively)

Done.

That's a valid way of seeing it, let's keep the key change then!
PS Spoilered images don't seem to show in post previews but I can see them fine :p

Sounds good! The images weren't showing in the post either for me but I think it was something with my adblocker because it worked on another browser. (Oh but they're working on this one now, go figure.)

This looks better, yeah! I think there's an extra voice in the flutes, like so:

Spoiler

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Also done.

I think what you have is correct, it's just harder to make out because of the echo in this track. That said, you might want to omit some of either part to make it a little easier to play..

I took out one note that seemed particularly difficult to play. I'd rather keep the melody over that trill here so if there's any other parts of it I should leave out lmk.

Here's some other points that came up:

• m2-10: Finale seems to have ignored some of the accidentals in its measure spacing, it fixed itself when I removed & readded them
• m32 beat 2: There's a chord missing here in the RH lower layer
• m46: I hear the harmony note at beat 1.25 as Cx. For beat 2 you should preserve the 3rd interval, I recommend changing the B# to Cn
• m47-48: I can hear some harmony here, do you want to add it in?

-Oh yeah, I'm actually familiar with that issue - another way to fix it is to click on the measure with the note entry tool and it will automatically respace it. Must have missed those measures though
-Oops not sure what happened to that chord, I must have deleted it accidentally. Fixed.
-Keeping it as 3rds makes sense, done. I also wrote the bass note as a B# instead of a Cn to keep the measure more internally consistent (and did the same with m. 36).
-Tried to add that harmony, I'm not confident on the notes in m. 48 though.

The rest of the changes look great! Thanks for taking the time to look over the sheet again

Thanks again for the feedback, it was really helpful!

[XiaoMigros]

Made all these changes, except m8 where I think it was already an F#?

My bad, I meant that that F# should be a D

I took out one note that seemed particularly difficult to play. I'd rather keep the melody over that trill here so if there's any other parts of it I should leave out lmk.

I think that part works fine as is now even if it's a little tricky, the main issue of 3 consecutive 16ths has been solved

another way to fix it is to click on the measure with the note entry tool and it will automatically respace it

I spent a good 5 minutes trying different tools because I knew there was one that does it automatically.. that's the one :D

I also wrote the bass note as a B# instead of a Cn to keep the measure more internally consistent (and did the same with m. 36).

That's the important part (and why I suggested Cn instead, but this is the better way of writing it!)

-Tried to add that harmony, I'm not confident on the notes in m. 48 though.

They all look (and sound) pretty accurate to me! For some reason the staccato at beat 1.5 is on the wrong side of the note, just make sure to get that

[Code_Name_Geek]

My bad, I meant that that F# should be a D

Got it, done.

They all look (and sound) pretty accurate to me! For some reason the staccato at beat 1.5 is on the wrong side of the note, just make sure to get that

Whoops, no idea why it decided to do that. Fixed as well.

Thanks!

[XiaoMigros]

Awesome! You have my approval

[Bloop]

This looks pretty good! I mostly have some playability-related comments on a few specific parts:

-m28: It feels kinda weird to me to put the D# in m26 in parentheses for the tenth interval in the R.H., but not the C here for the L.H. though in this case, you do lose a bit of harmonic information if the C is optional. After some thinking, you could add a C in beat 1 and a D in beat 2 in the R.H., so a bit more notes of the L.H. are doubled, which makes the C in the L.H. optional:
You cannot view this attachment.
I can hear the C and D I added in the R.H. in the original too btw
-m35: These E's in the L.H. are a bit stretchy too to not be notified as optional, but I think it might be better to move them down an octave, so they're more in the same area as the rest of the L.H. in this section, and follow the same voice leading as in m43.
-m38: It might be a bit better to start the 8va at the two 16ths in m37, so there isn't a sudden octave jump in the middle of a phrase. It makes the phrase easier to read. Make sure the 8 of the 8va starts a bit before the first note too btw, it's currently a bit too much to the right.
-m39 and 40: The R.H. half note in m39 and the L.H. half note in m40 aren't possible to hold while playing the other voices without using a pedal. Using a pedal, however, takes away the staccatoness of the flute and violin notes. There's a few things you can do:
  -Still use pedal and use the staccatos in the R.H. more as a sound thing (mostly noticeable on acoustic or grand pianos). In that case it's best to add a pedal marking.
  -Shorten the half notes to 8ths, which will cause nearly all notes in these two bars to be short (my least preferred option)
  -Take some arrangers freedom to imitate the general contour of this part, while keeping the long and short notes (mostly) intact, for example something like this:
You cannot view this attachment.
I edited the second 8th in both bars to a single note which is still reachable by both hands, and shortened the R.H. and L.H. halves to quarter notes, so they're shorter but not too much shorter.
I actually think the first option might be my preferred option haha. In all options, the L.H. D in m40 can be moved down an octave either way, as there won't be any stretching issues with the other voice.
-m53: The D# and E in the R.H. should be 16ths on beat 2.5, not triplet 8ths.
-m57: This R.H. 16th run is pretty hard to play, and doesn't really convey the flute melody that well, since it's mostly buried underneath the string line. Here's an alternative idea, moving the flute up an octave, and adding a bit of the string line in the L.H.
You cannot view this attachment.
You could add the A in the R.H. on beat 1.75, but I felt it might be a bit hard to play with everything else going on while not adding that much effect.
-m60: You can add the harmony flute G and F# on beat 2.5 in the R.H. here too, like in the pickup measure.

[Code_Name_Geek]

-m28: It feels kinda weird to me to put the D# in m26 in parentheses for the tenth interval in the R.H., but not the C here for the L.H. though in this case, you do lose a bit of harmonic information if the C is optional. After some thinking, you could add a C in beat 1 and a D in beat 2 in the R.H., so a bit more notes of the L.H. are doubled, which makes the C in the L.H. optional:
I can hear the C and D I added in the R.H. in the original too btw

Makes sense to me, done. I think that leads nicely into the triads after that bar as well.

-m35: These E's in the L.H. are a bit stretchy too to not be notified as optional, but I think it might be better to move them down an octave, so they're more in the same area as the rest of the L.H. in this section, and follow the same voice leading as in m43.

Yeah that also makes sense, done.

-m38: It might be a bit better to start the 8va at the two 16ths in m37, so there isn't a sudden octave jump in the middle of a phrase. It makes the phrase easier to read. Make sure the 8 of the 8va starts a bit before the first note too btw, it's currently a bit too much to the right.

Did that, but speaking of 8vas, I noticed I'm using them kind of inconsistently in this section (ex: m. 36 and m. 44 go up to the same line but only m. 44 has an 8va). So I'm wondering if the 1-bar 8vas are necessary or if some of them could be removed to make those phrases easier to read - I assumed having an 8va over this whole section would have some of those arpeggios starting a bit low? But I'm used to reading ledger lines so I'm not sure what's considered reasonable for piano.

-m39 and 40: The R.H. half note in m39 and the L.H. half note in m40 aren't possible to hold while playing the other voices without using a pedal. Using a pedal, however, takes away the staccatoness of the flute and violin notes. There's a few things you can do:
  -Still use pedal and use the staccatos in the R.H. more as a sound thing (mostly noticeable on acoustic or grand pianos). In that case it's best to add a pedal marking.
  -Shorten the half notes to 8ths, which will cause nearly all notes in these two bars to be short (my least preferred option)
  -Take some arrangers freedom to imitate the general contour of this part, while keeping the long and short notes (mostly) intact, for example something like this:
I edited the second 8th in both bars to a single note which is still reachable by both hands, and shortened the R.H. and L.H. halves to quarter notes, so they're shorter but not too much shorter.
I actually think the first option might be my preferred option haha. In all options, the L.H. D in m40 can be moved down an octave either way, as there won't be any stretching issues with the other voice.

I think I like the pedal option best too, so did that.

-m53: The D# and E in the R.H. should be 16ths on beat 2.5, not triplet 8ths.

Oh yeah you're right, done.

-m57: This R.H. 16th run is pretty hard to play, and doesn't really convey the flute melody that well, since it's mostly buried underneath the string line. Here's an alternative idea, moving the flute up an octave, and adding a bit of the string line in the L.H.
You could add the A in the R.H. on beat 1.75, but I felt it might be a bit hard to play with everything else going on while not adding that much effect.

I really like this suggestion, it makes the melody more prominent and it still works resolution-wise since it leads into the higher octave. I did add the A on beat 1.75 though. I also swapped the hairpins for "cres." and "dim." markings, both to reduce visual clutter and keep it consistent with what I used before in m. 25.

-m60: You can add the harmony flute G and F# on beat 2.5 in the R.H. here too, like in the pickup measure.

Done.

Just to note, I also noticed that I had forgotten the natural sign on the trill in m. 36 so I changed that as well.

Thanks for looking it over! Glad to sort out playability issues since it means it'll be easier for me to play too.

[Bloop]

Did that, but speaking of 8vas, I noticed I'm using them kind of inconsistently in this section (ex: m. 36 and m. 44 go up to the same line but only m. 44 has an 8va). So I'm wondering if the 1-bar 8vas are necessary or if some of them could be removed to make those phrases easier to read - I assumed having an 8va over this whole section would have some of those arpeggios starting a bit low? But I'm used to reading ledger lines so I'm not sure what's considered reasonable for piano.

I usually take 2-3 ledger lines for an upper limit for suddenly reading ledger lines, or 4-5 when there's an arpeggio or other run going towards it (like here). By this rule of thumb you could actually leave out of the 8va's here, but since it's pretty long in ledger line material too, it's nice to have them around still. For consistency it's probably nice to have one at m36 too then ^^

As for another tiny thing, you could move the dim. marking in m29 up a bit so it's aligned with the forte at the start of the par

[Code_Name_Geek]

I usually take 2-3 ledger lines for an upper limit for suddenly reading ledger lines, or 4-5 when there's an arpeggio or other run going towards it (like here). By this rule of thumb you could actually leave out of the 8va's here, but since it's pretty long in ledger line material too, it's nice to have them around still. For consistency it's probably nice to have one at m36 too then ^^

As for another tiny thing, you could move the dim. marking in m29 up a bit so it's aligned with the forte at the start of the par

Makes sense! In that case, I decided to extend the 8va at m36 through the next section as well to minimize the jumping back and forth. Fixed the dim. as well, good call.

Thanks again!