[PC] Deltarune - "Thrash Machine" by LeviR.star

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Undertale/Deltarune
Game: Deltarune
Console: PC
Title: Thrash Machine
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: LeviR.star

[LeviR.star]

I recently rediscovered this unreleased sheet from November 2018, a time during which I made several contributions towards the long-abandoned Unofficial Deltarune Arrangement Thread. After some confusion involving whether or not I could "claim" the track, I canceled my plans to post it to my PA thread, and let it collect dust for 5 1/2 years. But now that I see it's still not on the site, I figured it'd be a good idea to revive and submit this arrangement.

If you opened the original version of the sheet linked above, you probably noticed that I tried to account for as many voices as possible, meaning that nearly every note in the RH is in octaves. This is no longer the case in the new version, as I wanted there to be a sort of build-up into the B section. I also tried to keep the harmony lighter; there is some trade-off between hands at certain points, excluding m. 24 & 25 (BTW, anyone know how to get those cross-stave rolled chords to work in playback?). Bottom line is, I am fairly happy with the final product, but if some extra attention could be directed towards the LH/RH relationship in m. 18 - 29, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[Bloop]

wait deltarune ch1 is already 5.5 years old? daaammmnn

(BTW, anyone know how to get those cross-stave rolled chords to work in playback?)

If you use the glissando tool from the bottom note of the L.H. to the top note of the R.H., it plays back as a cross-stave rolled chord. You'll have to align the glissando so it's vertical though

-End of m1 (and similar places): It's a finnicky to really play the F# to A legato, because the F# is restruck in m2 which means the player has to lift the note anyway. Something I like to do to make these parts sound legato is tying over the F# to the start of m2 instead, so it's legato, but you can still hear the effect of the doubled note in m2.
-m18-m19: Maybe to increase the effect of the sudden explosion of sound here, you could move the bass notes on beat 1 and 4 in m18 as well as beat 1 in m19 down an octave (in its original octave too). The player can use a short pedal press to hold them a little bit more to account for the jump. It's a bit harder to play, but it does leave more impact than the higher notes.
-m19: I hear a C# instead of D in the L.H. on beat 2.5

[LeviR.star]

-If you use the glissando tool from the bottom note of the L.H. to the top note of the R.H., it plays back as a cross-stave rolled chord. You'll have to align the glissando so it's vertical though
-End of m1 (and similar places): It's a finnicky to really play the F# to A legato, because the F# is restruck in m2 which means the player has to lift the note anyway. Something I like to do to make these parts sound legato is tying over the F# to the start of m2 instead, so it's legato, but you can still hear the effect of the doubled note in m2.
-m18-m19: Maybe to increase the effect of the sudden explosion of sound here, you could move the bass notes on beat 1 and 4 in m18 as well as beat 1 in m19 down an octave (in its original octave too). The player can use a short pedal press to hold them a little bit more to account for the jump. It's a bit harder to play, but it does leave more impact than the higher notes.
-m19: I hear a C# instead of D in the L.H. on beat 2.5

- whoa, I didn't know it could do that. It sounds so nice, too, it even functions at the beginning of the playback, something the rolled chord articulation couldn't do! Thank you for telling me this, how does that look?
- I appreciate you offering this as a solution, but after giving it some more thought, I'd rather delete those specific slurs altogether. It's something that's been bugging me since I started the revision, and in the end, those notes should still sound connected enough compared to the staccatos preceding them
- that's good, I prefer how it sounds down the octave, and I'm happy to hear it's manageable for performers
- oop, that's right, thank you for catching that

Thanks Bloop, files have been updated.

[Bloop]

Everything looks good, so I'll approve!

[XiaoMigros]

Well arranged, I don't have much to add:
- m1/m last: I understand the musical value in writing out the last measure even though it's identical to m1, but part of me feels like that loses the chaotic nature of how the loops are programmed in the soundtrack. If it was up to me I'd drop the last measure and make it repeat from the start, but it's not up to me lol
- m12: does beat 1 in the RH upper layer need a staccato marking?
- m13: I've been told not to make notes small in the past to signalise them being quieter, and I'd advise against doing it here as well: For the performer, it's not clear what it means, and from an arranging standpoint, why only mark this instrument as quieter for this measure in particular?

[LeviR.star]

Well arranged, I don't have much to add

Thank you! I wasn't so sure about the state of the arrangement when I submitted it, but I'm happy to see it wasn't as bad as I feared.

- m1/m last: I understand the musical value in writing out the last measure even though it's identical to m1, but part of me feels like that loses the chaotic nature of how the loops are programmed in the soundtrack. If it was up to me I'd drop the last measure and make it repeat from the start, but it's not up to me lol
- m12: does beat 1 in the RH upper layer need a staccato marking?
- m13: I've been told not to make notes small in the past to signalise them being quieter, and I'd advise against doing it here as well: For the performer, it's not clear what it means, and from an arranging standpoint, why only mark this instrument as quieter for this measure in particular?

- I'm not sure about the "chaotic nature" of the loops or what that has to do with this arrangement; personally, I dislike how the tracks aren't looped in the Bandcamp releases. But now that you mention it, the last measure is ultimately unnecessary, and I'm fine with removing it
- glad you caught that, I also fixed the three 8th notes in the pickup leading up to it. Thanks!
- good question! You see, in my arrangements the smaller notes are used to signify parts that can be omitted or played differently according to the performer's preference. In a recent submission I used them for the notes that were difficult to play in unison with the primary part for that given hand. Small notes can be found in this on-site sheet as well (it may look familiar). Here, shrinking the notes isn't necessarily signaling for a softer dynamic, but to draw attention to the countermelody's potential to obscure the material surrounding it. The performer can omit them, play them quieter or articulate them differently to their heart's content, whatever it takes to help that part stand out. I hope this answers your question

Files are updated; thank you for your time, Xiao!

[XiaoMigros]

Thanks for the explanation and making the changes! That all works for me Below are some nitpicky engraving points I'd like to put out there before I accept:

• The tempo marking could do with a downwards nudge
• The hairpin in m17 should end just before the barline, rather than at the end of the last note
• If you like, you could make the angle of the triplet in m24 less steep. Finale leaves an unnecessarily large distance to rests there.

[LeviR.star]

• The tempo marking could do with a downwards nudge
• The hairpin in m17 should end just before the barline, rather than at the end of the last note
• If you like, you could make the angle of the triplet in m24 less steep. Finale leaves an unnecessarily large distance to rests there.

- nudge'd, also adjusted the positions of the first page's systems
- moved it a little further to the right, how does that look?
- today I re-learned how to adjust tuplets, made it a little less steep

Files updated, thank you again!

[XiaoMigros]

Looks great! accepted

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by XiaoMigros.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot