[NES] Mother - "Bein' Friends" by Gentlemancreeper

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: EarthBound
Game: Mother
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: Bein' Friends
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Gentlemancreeper

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Mashi]

ZETA, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, HOW ARE YOU?

[Yug_Guy]

This arrangement is pretty good! However, you should be sure to add some dynamics and articulation. You need at least one dynamic in the whole song, and there are lots of parts which should use staccato.

...otherwise I got nothin'

[Bespinben]

*Accidentals ~ In m. 22, the Ab should be a G#
*Rhythm notation ~ As a general rule, instead of using 8th-16th rest-16th, use dotted 8th(staccato)+16th. This happens all the time in bass. Also, group rests together when you can. Measures 1-4 have lots of eighth rests that should be grouped together as quarter rests.
*Transcription ~ M. 16 the harmony is always a 6th below the melody in beats 1 & 2, never an octave. So, the notes would be F E E C not F C C A.

[JesterMusician]

I actually think it's more common to use 8th note - 16th rest - 16th note than a staccato'd dotted 8th note. Think about it: the staccato is supposed to shorten a note, but the augmentation dot is supposed to lengthen it? Using both would effectively each other out, and the resulting notation, while eliminating a rest and not incorrect, looks a little weird to me. I see the 8thN-16thR-16thN notation commonly enough in published music, as in the Wind Waker Ocean Theme:



However, Example 9 on this page cites an example of this exactly as you mention it - the dot is short for a rest, and the passage is played as in Example 10. This leads me to believe the choice is ultimately stylistic.

EDIT: This book does both...I don't know what to believe in anymore.

[Gentlemancreeper]

I updated the Mus and Pdf file and added the staccato and dynamic.

[AwesomeYears]

He speaks!

[The Deku Trombonist]

*post*

In my experience, the notations of those rhythms can change depending on the rhythmic patterns. For example, the first picture is just a simple dotted figure, whereas in the second picture it's part of the good old 3+3+2 syncopation. However laziness needs to also be taken in to account: just because it's written, doesn't mean it's right. For example, if you wanted the rhythm in the second picture to be notated correctly so as to be played with roughly "equal" note lengths it would be as follows: staccato dotted 8th + staccato 16th tied to 8th + staccato 8th (I have seen this written in some Pixar music I played last year). Although I don't know which track that second picture is from, considering that it's VG music it's probably safe to say it might be some notational laziness creeping in.

So then I guess the question is what is easier to read or what is more technically correct? I guess it depends on the context and what you're after. In situations where there are lots of consecutive dotted 8th-16th rhythms I find it easier to read as a staccato dotted 8th because then there are less symbols to process through the course of reading the music. But this doesn't really have those. And the 8th notes cut off quite cleanly right on the 2nd 8th note of the beat in the original (and are the same length as the following eighths), so taking that in to account, I'd write 8th + 16th rest + 16th and I'd maybe even consider using tenutos on the 8ths from 5-12 to highlight this. It's worth having a fiddle and seeing what works.

Also, the first picture you posted is a slightly special case because the 8th is staccato, which would perhaps be played shorter than a staccato dotted eighth.

[marioguy]

I hope this get posted next site update.

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Bespinben.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot