SlimyWyvern's Arrangements

[SlimyWyvern]

And now for my first arrangement:

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
"Going My Way": PDF MIDI mus

I'm very new to arranging so any feedback and tips for improvement would be greatly appreciated.

[Libera]

Ahhh Blazing Blade.  That was the game I started with when I started arranging as well, it's a really good choice for getting the hang of things I think (also the music's really good as well.)  I've been meaning to arrange this track myself for ages but I never got round to it, and now I don't have to! :P

For better or for worse, that means that I've gone through this arrangement pretty in-depth so prepare for feedback:

First things first, let's get the notes out of the way:
-Right hand is great, although personally in bar 8 I think I'd drop the lower notes and just leave it as a single melodic line throughout.  It keeps it consistent with the rest of the sheet and I don't feel like the melody needs the extra weight of the octaves particularly. 
All of the rest of the note comments are about the left hand.
-Bar 7 I think the first dyad is E - B (rather than E - G#) and the second is Cn - G (rather than Cn -En).
-Bars 13, 15 and 17 I'm hearing the dyads as G# - D# (rather than Bn  - D#).
-Similarly in bars 14, 16 and 18 I'm hearing the Cns as Ans.
-In bars 14 and 18 the low Cn I'm hearing as a low Bn.
-In bar 16 I think there's an En on the second note as well as on the fifth.
-In bar 19 I think the low Cn is an En.  Also once again I'm hearing the Bn and Cn in the chords as G# and An respectively.
-The top notes in the left hand (2,4,6,8) I'm not convinced on.  I think I can hear the bass being doubled and also a G# -> Gn -> F# -> Fn movement.

Now that's out of the way I can talk about interesting stuff instead.

-Firstly, congratulations on being a proud owner of finale v26 and now I have to convert all of your files on submission but in all seriousness just be aware that for some unknown reason the articulations placed in sheets made in v26 corrupt when opened in previous versions of finale which is a massive pain, but luckily owners of v25 (like myself) can easily reset them which I'll do if and whenever you submit a sheet to the site (at the end of the process.)
-Speaking of articulations, I think it's generally preferred that if you have a long note short note pattern that you use a slur rather than a tenuto on the first note which you might want to consider for places like bar 20.
-Staccatos on the crotchets in bars 17 and 18 perhaps?
-It's good practice to avoid dotted rests unless in compound time or if it's a really weird case, so I'd change the dotted crotchet rest in bar 7 to a quaver rest followed by a crotchet rest.
-Everywhere you have a low note followed by a staccato chord/dyad you might want to consider putting a slur between.  It might just look a bit clearer/intuitive/readable that way.  Like this:

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Though you might find them a bit of a pain to place in a way that's aesthetically pleasing (certainly don't leave it as the finale default because for gaps this large it doesn't do a very good job at all.)
-I'd just like to point this out (because it's so rare) but it looks like you've followed the formatting guidelines perfectly, so thanks for that!


I think that should be everything, so congratulations on your first arrangement and thanks for picking a great game and piece!  If you have any questions, be sure to ask.  (I'm generally around, but there's never a shortage of people to ask.)

[SlimyWyvern]

Wow, thanks for responding, I really appreciate the help! I made those adjustments like you said and it does sound much better. For bar 20, you're suggesting octaves in the left hand, right? And yes, I did notice the problem with the articulations. Glad to hear it's an easy fix, though.

[Libera]

Having just had another look at it, I think I would go for something like this:

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I think that gets across the notes from the original in a playable way.  But perhaps something else would work too.

Wow, thanks for responding, I really appreciate the help!

No problem, always happy to!

Edit:
Something else that I forgot to put in my original post is that I would suggest putting in courtesy accidentals any time you have something like D# against Dn or F# against Fn.  For example in bars 8 9 and 11 you have Dns in the right hand against D#s in the left hand and in bar 18 you have F#s against Fns.  That way I think it's just a little clearer for the reader.

[SlimyWyvern]

I've been playing a ton of Persona 3: FES lately, so I decide to arrange the title screen music. It's really relaxing, I just can't stop listening to it...

PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YfMzAxg7SAMsrdoAV8WPn9HMkCJv_VJF
MIDI: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WnVFyrD1QuqRe6cEDSj0598Mf_7MUwtZ
MUS: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZrskTWzHG_BwVYmg-nmKsLdcVWc1TLEZ

[Code_Name_Geek]

Yay, it's so nice to see some Persona around here! I haven't played 3 so this is the first time I've heard this song but I like how simple and peaceful it is. Your arrangement seems pretty clean to me, good job!

[SlimyWyvern]

Thanks! I'm a little surprised no one here has arranged a Persona track before, the music's really good. Maybe not the most arrangeable for a piano, but there's still a few nice pieces here and there. Persona 3: FES is really great btw.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Thanks! I'm a little surprised no one here has arranged a Persona track before, the music's really good. Maybe not the most arrangeable for a piano, but there's still a few nice pieces here and there. Persona 3: FES is really great btw.

Yeah that surprised me too! I'm new to the series with 5 but the music is awesome. I do want to go back and play the older ones once I'm done with 5 though. Hope to see more Persona on here someday!

[SlimyWyvern]

Probably should have done this sooner, but oh well. I finished playing Trails of Cold Steel not too long ago and was surprised at just how good the music is. I'm thinking of doing another track sometime soon.

The Legend of Heroes: TRails of Cold Steel "Heartbreak"

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WZKl2q4JByXZuWcTNGN5OTZ-7Qb9pul3/view?usp=sharing
MUS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A0bYnl7GE-mQg-bHRc9QHzfRLTCmE9ha/view?usp=sharing
MUSX: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ElbsC7bvXFtoUy7biM9oFceonP_CqC4h/view?usp=sharing
MIDI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sdOPCpGbR1phm3UEs37IeFbDy6NeO2Aw/view?usp=sharing

[SlimyWyvern]

Here's an arrangement I did for "Rose of May" from Final Fantasy IX. Feel free to offer some feedback since I'm still not super confident with the formatting and stuff.

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cw4A6fbtAeALNNk7tZdULUin81L2fzLr/view?usp=sharing
MUS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lstU4scLwvV1tUBiDX4Sxrca8-Nl8lr_/view?usp=sharing
MUSX: https://drive.google.com/file/d/144jzYYXbAgq7zXM623MJTakGc0b1Ey1l/view?usp=sharing
MIDI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14gQeoxu3rREucB19FcfeWpHj0ZNOfVKx/view?usp=sharing

[Latios212]

Just taking a skim right now, but this looks really solid honestly. It's really cleanly laid out. I don't have much to say at a glance other than you can probably afford to flip the RH notes normally when there's no cross-staffing like in m. 35-36. (I guess your concern is about it being mistaken for a continuation of the lower voice? I suppose it's fine to keep if you want it)

I'd be happy to see this submitted

[SlimyWyvern]

Thanks! You do have a point about those RH notes, but I think I'll keep them like that for now just for consistency. I'll go and submit this pretty soon.

[SlimyWyvern]

Another Trails arrangement this time. I actually just finished Trails of Cold Steel II, so I've been in the mood to arrange a bit more from this series.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel "Wholehearted Feelings"

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TO3nb1F2JsubJUCv-aDNhWS5amDQGVB1/view?usp=sharing
MIDI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14n_844Od8fVE1KP6c2DTA0lUjIyam1YQ/view?usp=sharing
MUS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mjWXvS64ebbXmifHkHKkfuSIr8U35Xcj/view?usp=sharing
MUSX: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mjWXvS64ebbXmifHkHKkfuSIr8U35Xcj/view?usp=sharing

[SlimyWyvern]

I've already submitted this but I thought I'd update my thread since it's been a while.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
"Hamel" PDF MIDI MUS