[SNES] Mega Man X3 - "Gravity Beetle Stage" by LeviR.star

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Mega Man
Game: Mega Man X3
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: Gravity Beetle Stage
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: LeviR.star

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[LeviR.star]

Continuing my journey to re-write my PA's most hideous sheets, I'm now dipping my toes back into one of the worst Mega Man soundtracks to date: Mega Man X3. Yuck... you'd think the composer that worked on the original Castlevania would've come up with something listenable nearly a decade later, but no; this song is one of the only ones in the game that I enjoy. I didn't want to have to revisit this OST, but the previous draft of this arrangement was in a wholly unacceptable condition. So, after polishing it up myself, I decided that I need help making this sheet the best it can be.

For my first take on this song from nearly six years ago, I tried to cram all of the accompaniment into the left hand, with little to no consideration for playability. The result was a muddy mess of chords that demanded far too much of the performer, and was in no way pianistic. This time, I've not only shifted the left hand's role to pounding out the chords' roots in octaves, but I've also simplified the rhythms to prevent the performer's fingers from getting sore; this shouldn't detract from the rhythmic drive too much, I think. For the remaining chord members, I've shifted them up to the right hand to give more power to the melody. All in all, I think this version was a far better attempt to capture the original song's energy, but I would still like to call extra attention to some specific spots in the sheet that I'm unsure about:

- m. 8, 11, and 21: while none of them are identical, these cadence points all do a very similar thing. As I don't want the left hand getting muddied up again, I've limited intervals for these spots to fourths and fifths... y'know, to outline power chords. But I'm still open to new ideas on how to capture what's going on in the accompaniment for these moments, because I'm concerned that I've oversimplified them, particularly the first two. There's definitely an audible tritone in those guitar chords, but I didn't want to spoil the harmony by including it. Any suggestions?
- m. 9 and 10: as you can see, there's a ninth in both of these measures, but I couldn't hear the seventh in either of them. Of course, it's not an essential part of the chord, and I'm not trying to write out a lead sheet here, but I'd still like a second opinion
- maybe I'm just imagining things, but now that I have the latest version of Finale, does it look like the ties are messed up to anyone else? They're intersecting with the dots more often than I remember, and I don't want to make any manual adjustments until it's deemed necessary

[Whoppybones]

Haven't heard the rest of the ost, but at least this song is fun! This seems like a wonderful arrangement to me. I don't hear a lot of the chords you included, but I know that there's notes existing in the background that I don't hear well. Because of that, I will make no comment on your harmonies. I will, however, respond to the points you've made.

m8, 11, 21 - The cadences you have in the left hand sound great, but I would suggest leaning more into the guitar lines to make them different from each other. Here's about what I heard (8 and 11 are the first measure, 21 is the second):

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Note that I moved everything up an octave because I felt that might help to differentiate it from the rest of the bassline and give it a bit more oomph, but feel free to mess around with that.
m9, 10 - I presume you're referring to not hearing a 7th below the RH top note, yes? Those notes do play an octave lower in the LH as a 9th from the bottom note, and they sound great where you put them. I have no concerns there.
Ties - I agree that they look a bit wonky. I think it's mostly the middle ties that look strange to me, though the bottom ones might as well if the middle ones were adjusted. Not really certain what they're supposed to look like myself, but they do look weird.

Overall, I think this arrangement is great myself. I don't really have any other pointers. Great job, Levi!

[XiaoMigros]

• For m8 personally I think having the tritone in there is fine, it's part of D7 after all, and it doesn't sound too muddy in that range imo (C3 and F#2). You could also move it up an octave like Whoppy suggested, and/or include the F# from the bass rather than the D from the guitar (the other guitar plays C). That's my two cents, it's up to you how you want to do this part!
• In m9-m10 I can't hear any 7ths either, just the 9 like you have written.
• For m11, guitars play D and C again, so one option would be writing this measure like the one preceding it, just as a 7th rather than an octave. This measure sounds different to m8, so however you arrange it I think that should be reflected. 2 other options I can think of are 1. write this measure the same as the ones surrounding it, just based from D or 2. to incorporate the bass. It's quite playable and would flow nicely from the previous measure (F to F#). I also would recommend changing the D in the RH on beat 1 to a C, just to get that extra flavor in
• I don't hear a G in m12/16, only power chords + maj7th. Using Eb instead also gives the chord a more spread out sound. There's also a lower voice in m13/17 that plays G-F on beat 4.5-4.75, you could include that G if you want?
• You can also change the rests in the RH of m15/19 to dotted eighths, though that's been recommended to me in the past I think it's somewhat optional
• I think your LH figure in m21 works fine. One guitar plays Ds, raised by an octave on the beats you accented, and the other does the same but with Bbs instead (so that's probably too messy to include). The melody drops down and plays G on the first two beats you accented, and I think it's safe to include on the last beat too.
• Not sure, but I think your page number is size 12 instead of the recommended size 14 (though I don't know how thouroughly this point of the formatting guidelines is actually enforced..)
• Have you considered having the RH harmony of m4 kick in on beat 3? If you have considered it and decided against it, that's cool, just thought I'd bring it up anyway

[LeviR.star]

Sorry for the wait, you two, I was dedicating most of December to working on my Sheet-Mas arrangements. Now, time to address feedback:

- This seems like a wonderful arrangement to me
- m8, 11, 21 - The cadences you have in the left hand sound great, but I would suggest leaning more into the guitar lines to make them different from each other. Here's about what I heard (8 and 11 are the first measure, 21 is the second):

Spoiler

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Note that I moved everything up an octave because I felt that might help to differentiate it from the rest of the bassline and give it a bit more oomph, but feel free to mess around with that.
- m9, 10 - I presume you're referring to not hearing a 7th below the RH top note, yes? Those notes do play an octave lower in the LH as a 9th from the bottom note, and they sound great where you put them. I have no concerns there.
Ties - I agree that they look a bit wonky. I think it's mostly the middle ties that look strange to me, though the bottom ones might as well if the middle ones were adjusted. Not really certain what they're supposed to look like myself, but they do look weird.
- Overall, I think this arrangement is great myself. I don't really have any other pointers. Great job, Levi!

- thanks, Whoppy
- I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "leaning more into the guitar lines," but I think I'd prefer not to use thirds, as they don't tune well in the lower register, and I've already got the right hand covering them. And I can't say that I hear that pattern for m. 21, it sounds more like a tonic chord than a dominant like you're suggesting
- good to hear you agree, thanks for the second opinion
- aren't they, though? If you're not certain about adjustments, then I'll leave them be for now, but thank you for taking a closer look

• For m8 personally I think having the tritone in there is fine, it's part of D7 after all, and it doesn't sound too muddy in that range imo (C3 and F#2). You could also move it up an octave like Whoppy suggested, and/or include the F# from the bass rather than the D from the guitar (the other guitar plays C). That's my two cents, it's up to you how you want to do this part!
• In m9-m10 I can't hear any 7ths either, just the 9 like you have written.
• For m11, guitars play D and C again, so one option would be writing this measure like the one preceding it, just as a 7th rather than an octave. This measure sounds different to m8, so however you arrange it I think that should be reflected. 2 other options I can think of are 1. write this measure the same as the ones surrounding it, just based from D or 2. to incorporate the bass. It's quite playable and would flow nicely from the previous measure (F to F#). I also would recommend changing the D in the RH on beat 1 to a C, just to get that extra flavor in
• I don't hear a G in m12/16, only power chords + maj7th. Using Eb instead also gives the chord a more spread out sound. There's also a lower voice in m13/17 that plays G-F on beat 4.5-4.75, you could include that G if you want?
• You can also change the rests in the RH of m15/19 to dotted eighths, though that's been recommended to me in the past I think it's somewhat optional
• I think your LH figure in m21 works fine. One guitar plays Ds, raised by an octave on the beats you accented, and the other does the same but with Bbs instead (so that's probably too messy to include). The melody drops down and plays G on the first two beats you accented, and I think it's safe to include on the last beat too.
• Not sure, but I think your page number is size 12 instead of the recommended size 14 (though I don't know how thouroughly this point of the formatting guidelines is actually enforced..)
• Have you considered having the RH harmony of m4 kick in on beat 3? If you have considered it and decided against it, that's cool, just thought I'd bring it up anyway

- maybe the right idea would be to use a major sixth interval, so that the F-sharp is represented. That's what I'm going with for now
- good, thanks for checking those
- would it work if I changed the A's in the LH hand to F-sharps to match. m8? And yes, I'll change the D in beat 1 of the RH to a C for extra flavor, good call
- I thought the G was implied by everything else, doesn't seem like the right place for a mM7 chord. But that major seventh interval does give it an extra punch, so I'll change it for now. For m. 13/17, I'll leave that G out for ease of playing
- I never know what to do here, because while it would seem to be more efficient, I've always been told to break dotted eighth rests in common time
- so it's my understanding that you approve? I got lost when you started talking about the melody, but I think I got the gist of it
- size 14 seems like it would be too big for my liking, but maybe it's that my page size (set to 95%) is scaling everything down with it
- yes, but I prefer to have the harmony moving along with the melody, so that's why I let it come in on beat 4

Files are updated. Thank you for taking the time to go through my sheet, you guys.

[XiaoMigros]

- would it work if I changed the A's in the LH hand to F-sharps to match. m8?

That looks fine to me!

- I never know what to do here, because while it would seem to be more efficient, I've always been told to break dotted eighth rests in common time

I've heard both ways too, but

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- so it's my understanding that you approve? I got lost when you started talking about the melody, but I think I got the gist of it

Yeah, I think I was just talking about what all the instruments were doing but that doesn't really matter now, what you have here works fine

- size 14 seems like it would be too big for my liking, but maybe it's that my page size (set to 95%) is scaling everything down with it

That might be it then

- yes, but I prefer to have the harmony moving along with the melody, so that's why I let it come in on beat 4

That's what I wanted to check :)

[Whoppybones]

 - By the guitar line I meant whatever instrument it is that plays the G below middle C for the first few measures. If you don't hear it though, that's perfectly fine.
 - Something else I noticed: In most measures, the rhythm of the bassline has b4 as a 16 tied to a dotted 8, not a quarter note.

[XiaoMigros]

- Something else I noticed: In most measures, the rhythm of the bassline has b4 as a 16 tied to a dotted 8, not a quarter note.

I assume this is omitted for playability reasons, hitting consecutive 16ths at this BPM would be kinda tough

[LeviR.star]

I've heard both ways too, but

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So you're telling me that this all depends on which end of the beat the rests land on? Makes sense to me, I'll change it.

- By the guitar line I meant whatever instrument it is that plays the G below middle C for the first few measures. If you don't hear it though, that's perfectly fine.

Yeah, not sure I'm hearing what you are, Whoppy. Thanks anyway, though!

- Something else I noticed: In most measures, the rhythm of the bassline has b4 as a 16 tied to a dotted 8, not a quarter note.

I assume this is omitted for playability reasons, hitting consecutive 16ths at this BPM would be kinda tough

That's right. As I explained in my initial post, the simplification of the rhythms was deliberate, not an oversight. If this were a slower tempo, I'd have left them as they were.

Files are once again up-to-date.

[Bloop]

-The bassline is definitely pretty playable compared to what you described before, but it might still get a little bit tiring to keep pounding the octaves: you could also do something like this, which even enables adding back the left-out note on beat 4.25:
You cannot view this attachment.
The bassline sounds a bit less static this way too.
-m5-6: The repeated Bb at the end of m5 breaks the legato (and is a bit iffy to play). Maybe you could tie the Bb over to m6, so it's legato and still rings on in the next bar? The same happens when going to m9 on the repeat, you could add a half tie to the Bb there with Shift + T
-m8: You could change the R.H. D to C in this bar, if you want some D7 spicyness in there.
-m15 and m19: The R.H. note on beat 1.75 should be on beat 1.5

[LeviR.star]

-The bassline is definitely pretty playable compared to what you described before, but it might still get a little bit tiring to keep pounding the octaves: you could also do something like this, which even enables adding back the left-out note on beat 4.25:
You cannot view this attachment.
The bassline sounds a bit less static this way too.
-m5-6: The repeated Bb at the end of m5 breaks the legato (and is a bit iffy to play). Maybe you could tie the Bb over to m6, so it's legato and still rings on in the next bar? The same happens when going to m9 on the repeat, you could add a half tie to the Bb there with Shift + T
-m8: You could change the R.H. D to C in this bar, if you want some D7 spicyness in there.
-m15 and m19: The R.H. note on beat 1.75 should be on beat 1.5

- that's a swell idea! It doesn't sound entirely different from what I had, and it's both more playable and more accurate now. Thank you
- I'm glad you pointed out, I'll do that. Thanks for teaching me how to do the half tie shortcut, I didn't know that was a thing
- mmm, yes, I would like that spiciness very much. Good idea, I'll do it
- whoops, I should've double checked that rhythm when I was re-writing the sheet. Done

One question before we move on: is the dal segno necessary just because there's a pickup at the beginning? Or can I delete it in favor of a simpler da capo?

Files are fixed, by the way.

[Bloop]

The D.S. is probably a bit more conspicuous than a D.C. in itself. It's probably clear enough that the run at the end of the sheet wouldn't repeat again at the beginning. You could do "D.C. (without pick-up)" too if you wanna be sure ^^

Either way, I'll approve!
You cannot view this attachment.

[LeviR.star]

The D.S. is probably a bit more conspicuous than a D.C. in itself. It's probably clear enough that the run at the end of the sheet wouldn't repeat again at the beginning. You could do "D.C. (without pick-up)" too if you wanna be sure ^^

In that case, I'll change it to a regular D.C. You're right that the pickup being the same as the last bar's beat 4 should be enough of a hint. Besides, anyone looking for this sheet on the site would know better anyway. Files are fixed.

[Latios212]

For my first take on this song from nearly six years ago, I tried to cram all of the accompaniment into the left hand, with little to no consideration for playability. The result was a muddy mess of chords that demanded far too much of the performer, and was in no way pianistic. This time, I've not only shifted the left hand's role to pounding out the chords' roots in octaves, but I've also simplified the rhythms to prevent the performer's fingers from getting sore; this shouldn't detract from the rhythmic drive too much, I think. For the remaining chord members, I've shifted them up to the right hand to give more power to the melody. All in all, I think this version was a far better attempt to capture the original song's energy, but I would still like to call extra attention to some specific spots in the sheet that I'm unsure about:

Looking at this sheet makes me really happy about how far you've come since then, haha. This is a really nice sheet that captures the original's drive while being friendly to play. Well done!

I don't have anything else to add, so I'll accept!

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Latios212.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot