[PS5] Final Fantasy XVI - "My Lady" by Fantastic Ike

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Final Fantasy
Game: Final Fantasy XVI
Console: PlayStation 5
Title: My Lady
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Fantastic Ike

[Fantastic Ike]

Beautiful track from an already stellar OST. Since this is (basically) solo piano I'm hoping this won't be too difficult to go over. As for composer credits, I'm going off the official Spotify release, which has Masayoshi Soken as the composer. The YouTube link credits Takafumi Imamura as well, though I haven't seen this credited anywhere else.

[Kricketune54]

• General rule with rolled notes, the tails visually should line up with the note heads, and not extend too far above. Place like m1 is good currently, and m3, but m2 you could lower the top of the roll down a bit, and similarly at m7, m11
• By my own count the starting tempo is 55 bpm. Then at m4, it's only slightly faster at 57 bpm. I know it's nicer to just have a consistent tempo with the "a tempo" markings though, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to keep as is or have a bit more specificity
• m1 as opposed to have Dn in both staffs, you could remove it from the bottom staff, and extend the roll up to the Dn in the RH. Check out Latios's current Atelier sub for a reference for what that would look like.
• m2 LH I hear Cn on bottom of this figure. Similar to m1, you could remove the Eb from the bottom staff, and extend the roll up to the top staff.
• m8  m10 m12 RH 1.0 not hearing lower octave G. In m12, I hear an Eb under the G.
• m9 and m13 RH 1.0 sounds rolled, not hearing the bottom F, but an Eb and Dn up with the current top Fn
• m10 LH 4.0 I think this Eb actually comes in on 4.5
• m11 LH layer 3 these rests could be up higher, even if not at "standard" rest height
• m11 RH 4.5 sounds to be 16th length, separate Bb on 4.75
• m13 LH 4.5 I think this is Bb, and it's an 8th note length just like m12 4.5

• m14 RH 1.0 not hearing 1.0-2.0 for that 2nd layer, sounds just like lower octaves for 1.0 and 1.75 in the first layer (but 2.5 is that Dn).
• m14 LH top layer 3.0 sounds like this is Gn. Can remove the 3.0 RH 2nd layer Gn, or parentheses. Parentheses could also be added to 4.0 RH 2nd layer G
• m16 LH I hear the Gn only play on 1.0, you could make this a whole note in a 3rd layer potentially? Or just have it struck on beat 1 as is and remove the rest.
• m16 RH the grace note is the lower octave Bb (can remove the lower octave). This same grace note pattern applies for m17-19's grace notes as well.
• m19 RH 4.0 this grace figure is actually a triplet, and is three notes: Bn-Cn-C#
• m19 LH 1st layer 3.75 hearing Fn (restruck on 4.0)
• m21 LH 3.25 kinda weird but this is an Eb
• m22 I think the rit. starts at beat 2 instead of beat 1. But at beat 4.75, the tempo actually goes up a bit to q = 70
• m23 RH I do not hear the 2nd RH layer

• m23 LH 1st layer 3.0 missing slur on grace note Additionally, you could move 8th rest up to "standard" position... I don't think any of the additional layers 2-4 are necessary, and if you were to read them as is, they read as restrikes which isn't correct for the beats they strike on. Given the con pedale direction, there is not really a need to indicate these are held out, as they pedal will carry the length anyway. I guess you could keep layer 4 whole note if you wanted, but I don't think 2-3 at least are needed.

[Fantastic Ike]

• General rule with rolled notes, the tails visually should line up with the note heads, and not extend too far above. Place like m1 is good currently, and m3, but m2 you could lower the top of the roll down a bit, and similarly at m7, m11

Was worried about stuff like this. Was sure of most of my notes but yeah had some issues figuring out how to actually display it.

• By my own count the starting tempo is 55 bpm. Then at m4, it's only slightly faster at 57 bpm. I know it's nicer to just have a consistent tempo with the "a tempo" markings though, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to keep as is or have a bit more specificity

I'd rather keep the a tempo. Should I still reduce the opening tempo to 55?

• m11 RH 4.5 sounds to be 16th length, separate Bb on 4.75

Quite frankly I don't hear this, and it sounds a bit weird.

• m22 I think the rit. starts at beat 2 instead of beat 1. But at beat 4.75, the tempo actually goes up a bit to q = 70

So I'm assuming end the rit. there instead of continuing? I can't get the tempo mark to stick except at the beginning of measures.

Updated

[Kricketune54]

Was worried about stuff like this. Was sure of most of my notes but yeah had some issues figuring out how to actually display it.

Looks good now!

I'd rather keep the a tempo. Should I still reduce the opening tempo to 55?

Am fine with keeping tempo as is, I like to recommend specificity but as time goes on I'm also a fan of things working out nicely the way they do currently for example lol

Quite frankly I don't hear this, and it sounds a bit weird.

Oh this was supposed to say m10 sorry. for the LH, I hear the Eb starting on beat 4.25 instead of 4.5 also, and I don't hear the Fn in the RH on 4.25. Think the Gn on 4.0 is 8th note length.

So I'm assuming end the rit. there instead of continuing? I can't get the tempo mark to stick except at the beginning of measures.

This works fine!


• m20 You could add a roll that goes between both staffs, as well as a Gn under the Cn in the LH.
• m22 LH hearing 4.75 as a Bb like 2.75
• m24 LH end, I think there's still a better way to convey this, since it's technically not a restrike for those LH pitches. Please see screenshot, by utilizing the ties it implies the length of the notes carrying to the end

[Fantastic Ike]

Should be good now. Updated.

[Kricketune54]

Great! Approving, just fix the below before the next updater:
• m1 m2, and m20 you could add a little more space (.05 in) with the measure tool to the beginning part of the measure, just to give the roll some more space.

[Fantastic Ike]

Updated. Thanks!

[Latios212]

Your engraving has gotten much better lately I still have a bunch of smaller things to comment on here, but there's also a lot more to work with in terms of intricate voicing and layering than in your previous sheets. Nice work!

The main thing I have to say is that I'm not convinced by all the overlapping parenthesized notes in m. 8+. It can be difficult to pick out what's supposed to be a different voice when everything is solo piano, but I think having so many of these notes in close proximity is going to make it kind of confusing for the player what to prioritize with what hand. I think my recommendation would be as follows:
- If the top staff parenthesized note is struck noticeably louder than the LH voice, then consider it part of the melody, and have the right hand play it. The left hand could use parentheses, but I would probably suggest writing in a rest instead.
- If the top staff parenthesized note isn't struck louder, leave it in the left hand and omit it in the right hand instead.
Thoughts?

Somewhat similarly, in m. 16-19, your inclusion of grace notes in the top staff and lower layer notes in the bottom staff are somewhat confusing - which hand should play that note? As written, the right hand will play the grace note and the left hand will play it again on the beat, but that is an awkward restrike and not really what's present in the original.

Other stuff (just up to m. 9 so far) -
- I think we typically put "con pedale" below the bottom staff
- Measure 2 has an unusually large amount of space before the rolled chord - click to respace. Actually, in here and m. 11/20 - when a measure begins with a rolled chord, I suggest adding some space at the beginning of the measure to compensate. Measure Tool > double click measure > add 0.05 to "Extra Space at Beginning". Then you can give the wavy lines the space they need.
- Half note chord in m. 3 is missing a G on bottom
- When cross-staffing, the beams should reflect the contour of the noteheads. Namely, this means that in m. 4-6, the beams should angle up. You can adjust this using the Beam Angle Tool under Special Tools.
- I think it's a little weird to have a couple of grace notes in m. 4, unanchored to anything. How would you feel about tying the Bb to a half note Bb on the top staff in m. 5?
- The beat 2.5 E in measure 7 doesn't need to be cross-staffed at all, that'd be clearer and cleaner on the lower staff. I'd also suggest writing the G in the left hand on the lower staff as well, leaving the RH to only roll an octave on the top staff.
- I think the Eb on beat 1 of m. 9 RH might just be a remnant of the previous Eb and not actually restruck here? At least I don't hear the dissonance between the D-Eb as prominently in the original as it sounds as written

[Fantastic Ike]

That should be everything! Updated

[Latios212]

The main thing I have to say is that I'm not convinced by all the overlapping parenthesized notes in m. 8+. It can be difficult to pick out what's supposed to be a different voice when everything is solo piano, but I think having so many of these notes in close proximity is going to make it kind of confusing for the player what to prioritize with what hand. I think my recommendation would be as follows:
- If the top staff parenthesized note is struck noticeably louder than the LH voice, then consider it part of the melody, and have the right hand play it. The left hand could use parentheses, but I would probably suggest writing in a rest instead.
- If the top staff parenthesized note isn't struck louder, leave it in the left hand and omit it in the right hand instead.
Thoughts?

Did you give this some thought and decide to write in parentheses in the left hand? I think it might still be a bit much at the end of m. 14, but otherwise I suppose the overlap is not too intrusive. (The parentheses in m. 8 beat 3.5 isn't necessary.)

Just peeking in for now, will check the rest of the sheet another time. One other thing to mention as I pass by though is to take a closer look at some of your layer directions and rest heights:
- I think the lower layer LH rests would be better below the staff in m. 11, 17 and 19
- The upper layer LH rests would be better at normal staff height in m. 17 and 23
Also, note spacing looks off in m. 20 beat 1 - the first group of 16ths.

- The beat 2.5 E in measure 7 doesn't need to be cross-staffed at all, that'd be clearer and cleaner on the lower staff. I'd also suggest writing the G in the left hand on the lower staff as well, leaving the RH to only roll an octave on the top staff.

Make sure the G is removed from the right hand, and since we're using pedal here you don't need to tie the E over into beat 3.

[Fantastic Ike]

Did you give this some thought and decide to write in parentheses in the left hand? I think it might still be a bit much at the end of m. 14, but otherwise I suppose the overlap is not too intrusive. (The parentheses in m. 8 beat 3.5 isn't necessary.)

Yeah, figured the LH would have parentheses. Is this sufficient? (As for m8, meant to put them on 2.5. That's fixed.)

Everything else should be updated too.

[Latios212]

Sounds good! This should hopefully be the last round of fresh feedback from me. Thanks for being patient
- Beat 1 in RH of measure 10 sounds like an octave G
- Parentheses are missing on LH of m. 12 beat 4 (similar to m.
- The lowest LH layer is missing the C (octave?) on beat 1 in m. 14 similar to the rest of the measures before it
- I don't hear the low G at all in m. 20-21 except on m. 20 beat 1
- I don't hear the roll on m. 20 beat 4 either

[Fantastic Ike]

- The lowest LH layer is missing the C (octave?) on beat 1 in m. 14 similar to the rest of the measures before it

Must have gotten deleted somehow.

Everything else is fixed too, updated. Thanks!

[Latios212]

Splendid! Looks good to me now, I shall accept :3