[SNES] Super Castlevania IV - "Knight Corridor (Stage 6-1)" by Atcero

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Submission Information:
Series: Castlevania
Game: Super Castlevania IV
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: Knight Corridor (Stage 6-1)
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Atcero

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[Atcero]

Also known as Entrance Hall by most CV nerds. Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 being Chandeliers)

[Kricketune54]

Spooky spooky never finished SCVIV but I have heard this one - maybe on a let's play somewhere

Formatting
-move the tempo just a tiny bit to the right so it's more centered
-Given they are on different systems the cres. in m4 can move down a bit to center more
-I think the repeat might've been forgotten on this one
-The second page system distribution is a bit awkward after that fermata.  Here's what I would suggest: move 19 up, and move m22 up.  Maybe some other have a better idea but I'm thinking this alleviates one super long measure
-On that thread m22 seems quite unnecessarily wide, it does look like maybe that was unintentional given the mp placement
-the mf in m24 isn't quite center - and for that reason it and the cres. in m23 can move down a little bit (the cres. is somewhat high in m23)
-Move the first system of the second page just a little bit higher

Notes
-m7 LH I'm not sure I hear the D# in there
-m8 LH I do not hear the G# and A currently on beats 3-4 - it does sound like there's some sort of waver or distortion there in this recording.  The way I hear it the A's can be a whole note
-This might be unnecessary depending on how close you intend to model this on the original - perhaps put a fermata on beat 4 of m20 as the organ does sit on that note for a good while lol
-m18 beat 2 to m19 beat 1 I actually these pitches are an octave lower than they need to be.  Definitely suggestion more than needing edit, but I think I like all the notes up an octave and for the RH, an entire octave on top of the RH notes that are already there - I do hear an octave above these notes leading into the beat 2 forte
-m23 RH last note should be D# rather than Eb

Some other thoughts
-Is the intention of m15 bass clef top D# to be played in the RH?  Same question for the bass clef F# on beat 3 in that measure.  I'm not really sure I hear those LH bottom notes in m17 to begin with
-Small maybe negligent suggestion for m18 LH if it is kept as is - use an 8va but I can understand keeping this given it maybe could cause confusion with the RH being in the bass clef as well

[Atcero]

Got all the formatting changes done, thank you!

Now as for the notes:
The SNES channels I used for this song were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. I used all these ones due to the fact that they either complimented a chord or switched which one carried the melody or the bass. After rechecking, D (not D#) is in channel 2 as well as the G# and A are in channel 4. The thing with this song is its heavily based on the strings and with the sound font, they all kinda mix and merge together, or ones more quiet than the other but it feels empty without it. (Got a pic of those measures below)

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For the fermata for m20, I have the rit. on there so thats up to player discretion since theres a fermata in the measure next (which sorry if it gets screwed up before the final upload, mus files hate fermatas.)

Repeat I did not want to include as most versions of this song will end then go straight into Chandeliers as a song and iirc. In game I do believe it does, however even OST wise i believe it just ends at one playthrough with no signs of repeating (which most other CV songs will have a fade out).

m18 I will defer to a second opinion on for now with the bass notes.

for m15, for the bottom notes again, makes it sound more full and is hard to hear but imo can impact the song. Im personally also a huge proponent of the player can play it how they want. If they can play it in the right hand they can but it also can be played with the left (if you got big Maelstrom hands for that first one).

Also yeah I dont wanna use an 8va cause yeah i wanna make it clear there is a jump.

Thanks for all the feedback!

[Static]

You know when I see some SCIV I gotta check it out...

• I would recommend adding some articulations and phrase markings. m1-8 are staccato, with beats 3-4 of m4 and m8 being legato, leading into the following measures. Then everything is legato after that.
• I know there's another channel in m1-8 that sounds legato and plays the same melody, but it functions as more of an echo. When listening to all the tracks combined, the staccato effect is more prominent.
• m14-15 RH: That C#-Cn voice resolves to Bn in m15, so I would add one there, played by the LH. The high D# in the LH can be moved to the RH instead, or omitted since it restrikes on beat 2 RH anyway.
• m16-19: You have all the right notes, but I disagree on their octave placements. The G# voice should be raised up an octave, and the lowest voice in m18 beat 2 - m19 beat 1 is B, not G#. I also think voicing it this way helps that section sound a bit less muddy on piano, and lets the harmonies shine through more clearly. This is what I have:
  
  In the string voice (channels 3 and 4), the E stays the same (E1 and E2 octave doubling), while the B moves down an octave across each measure, starting with B3 (right below middle C). The G# held voice is only played on channel 1. Hopefully this makes sense. The specific channel numbers might be different on your end.
• m24-25: Similar to m16-19, the notes you have are correct, but I hear the chord voicing a bit differently:
  
  The melodic line in m23 drops an octave at m24, instead of going to the upper E. The A (bass voice, channel 4) remains constant, while the other voices (except the top A in m24) drop an octave. The top A voice (channel 5) drops out in m25.
• I agree with splitting up the different stage themes individually, since the tracks can be quite different from each other and/or lengthy on their own. I'd recommend using "(Stage 6-1)" instead of "(6-1)", so that way the forest and cellar themes won't just be like "2" or "8". Just a little nitpick there. I guess we should add "(Stage 1-2)" to Simon's Theme soon.

[Atcero]

You know when I see some SCIV I gotta check it out...

insert carlton here

Also got it all updated I believe, thank you!

[Static]

Looks good and I'll approve, but make sure you get m24 LH and RH aligned. Sometimes, messing with layers will cause stuff to be misaligned, so you can just delete and re-input the notes for them to look right. You could also increase the space at the beginning of the measure in m15, to allow for more room for that D# in the RH. Let me know if you can't do that, and I'll send you files

[Atcero]

Thought I updated note spacing, guess I didn't. Got it fixed! Thanks again!

[Bloop]

Looking pretty good, notes all seem right! I just have some notation and formatting stuff:
-The articulation placements are a bit messed up in the pdf, they're all too close to the notes.
-veeery small nitpick, but maybe you could put the composer text box a bit lower, so it's about the same distance away from the arranger text box as the second row from the composer text box is from the first row.
-From m8 beat 3, maybe you could place an expression mark saying "legato" so the player won't (incorrectly) assume that the rest of these notes are also staccato.
-m15: Maybe you could put the F# half note in the L.H. on beat 3 in the R.H. instead? Neither hand can really hold it for the half note duration (except for the big handed people who can do an F#-A tenth with the R.H.), but assuming the player will use pedal or just keep it at a quarter note, the R.H. can get that F# a bit more comfortably.
-m17: I think the quarter rest can go below the quarter note, as it seems to be part of the lower voice like in m18.
-m20: Maybe you could add courtesy accidentals to the Dn's on beat 3 here? The last few bars have all been chromatic enclosures (Fn's and D#'s which enclose the En's), but there's suddenly a Dn here.
-m21: The length of this note in the original seems way shorter than a fermate on a whole note, it seems more like a half note and half rest in the original tempo.
-About the tempo alterations in m20-21 (after some research): usually these are bold and placed above the bar, asitalic tempo alterations are more for soloistic passages in ensemble music. Finale apparently standardizes them in italic, so you'll have to edit them to bold. There should also be a (bold) 'a tempo' mark somewhere. If you leave out the fermate in m21, I'd place it there, otherwise you can put it in m22. It might also be helpful to put the original tempo in brackets after the a tempo, so the player won't continue in a slowed-down tempo after the ritenuto.
-m22-23: what a random few bars here lol
I'd suggest this for enharmonic spellings:

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These two bars seem to be outlining an E7 chord, but with a LOT of chromatic neighbouring tones to each chord tone. The chord tones are E, G#, B and D, so the chromatic notes below those would be D#, Fx, A# and C#. The L.H. just does some descending stuff halfway through m23, which cause the flats to appear.
If you really don't wanna use the double sharps, though, you could also do something like this to be a bit more consistent with using Ab's:

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It does create a few awkward looking spots in the L.H., however.

[Atcero]

Got that all updated with what we talked about in the nerdcord. Thank ya!

[Bloop]

Awesome! Just a few things about the changes:
-m15: It may look a bit better to have this F# in a separate layer, since it's from the string part and not the organ part.
-m18: Since we now know that the E on beat 1 and the E-F-D# in beats 2-4 are from the same voice, it'd make sense to have the quarter rest on beat 1 here above the E and flip the stem of the E, so it's clear those are from the same voice too.
-I forgot to mention this earlier, but does the track repeat in-game? If so, maybe it'd make sense to have a D.C. at the end of the sheet.

Also, did you miss this one or disagree with it? I think that there should be at least a quarter or half rest between the fermate and the run at m22, because of the break in the original.

-m21: The length of this note in the original seems way shorter than a fermate on a whole note, it seems more like a half note and half rest in the original tempo.

[Atcero]

-m15: It may look a bit better to have this F# in a separate layer, since it's from the string part and not the organ part.

I attempted that and to me it looked a lot muddier with the rests in the second layer so I'm opting to keep it in the first if thats fine.

-I forgot to mention this earlier, but does the track repeat in-game? If so, maybe it'd make sense to have a D.C. at the end of the sheet.

As I told Krikitune: Repeat I did not want to include as most versions of this song will end then go straight into Chandeliers. In game I do believe it does, however even OST wise i believe it just ends at one playthrough with no signs of repeating as its connected to Chandeliers (Stage 6-2) (which most other CV songs will have a fade out).

Also, did you miss this one or disagree with it? I think that there should be at least a quarter or half rest between the fermate and the run at m22, because of the break in the original.

I added a quarter rest.

Thank ya!

[Bloop]

I attempted that and to me it looked a lot muddier with the rests in the second layer so I'm opting to keep it in the first if thats fine.

You could technically hide the half rest, since it's pretty clear just from looking at it when it should be played. It doesn't matter too much though, so keeping it as is is fine too ^^

As I told Krikitune: Repeat I did not want to include as most versions of this song will end then go straight into Chandeliers. In game I do believe it does, however even OST wise i believe it just ends at one playthrough with no signs of repeating as its connected to Chandeliers (Stage 6-2) (which most other CV songs will have a fade out).

Ahh alright, I hadn't read through all the feedback before, so I missed it, sorry! That's fine then!

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