Mailman 105's Submissions

[mailman105]

oh, ok. I got it.

This should fix it...

And I have finale notepad... so I cannot change the key signature...

[WiiMan96]

Hi there!

So I was about to submit my copy of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time "Boss Battle" and I then realised that you have already done the arrangement. Having a look over your work, to be honest, I did see the effort you put into it but there are some parts of the bass that seem incomplete and a few of the rhythms in the right hand (particularly in the right hand) are off. Of course, these are mostly the faults caused by using a midi to arrange it. Don't get me wrong, I arrange with midis too. In fact, I have reason to believe we used the same midi to arrange this piece!

Looking over your work, it kinda reminded me of me around this time two years ago. I had little to no music experience (never mind arranging) but I used the midis I found to make whatever music I could because I enjoyed it. Now, obviously your work is much more advanced than mine at that time; I'm guessing you are quite knowledgeable in music theory and notation. I also just straight-copied two lines out of the midi and called it a day; I see you've made a few attempts to fix things up in regards to rhythm and the bass line but not enough to mimic the original piece.

So I have some advice for you, which you don't need to necessarily pay any mind to, but I hope will help you in future arrangements.

• Listen to the original. My main problem when I started was that I trusted midis too much and didn't listen to the original. Because of this my arrangements might have had the right notes but didn't resemble the timbre or sound of the original at all. If possible, always find a youtube or mp3 link and familiarise yourself with the song and how it sounds before looking up a midi. (For example, with the PiT Boss Battle when listening to the original I found a second part of the left hand done by a different instrument/track.)
• Find the right midi to use. Often midis are the problem, and Finale can't read rhythms correctly, all the notes might be in one stave, or the midi is simply of low quality and is not close enough to the original. Regardless if it's the only midi out there of the song you really want to arrange, don't use the midi if it's wrong or you are incapable of making much sense of it.
• Add your own personal touches, dynamics and articulation. It's certainly feasible that you'll be flamed for plagiarism at one stage. Fixing up the sheet to be yours prevents this from being much of a problem. Try adding dynamic markings and articulation wherever possible, and even add octaves or extra / less notes so that it's more like the original and sounds good for piano. You'll eventually develop your own style of arranging and know what's good to go where with time.

I understand you might already doing some of the above and I'm just telling you things you already know. But please just keep these in mind because that's what prevented me from arranging good pieces when I first started here (but as I said, your work is better than mine at that time).

This is some friendly advice from me in the hopes that you become a successful arranger and a respected contributor to NSM!

By the way, on the Boss Battle: I understand we both put in a lot of effort into this, so in this case I'd be happy to submit my version under both of our names if you're willing. Of course, if you really want your version up there we can always gather other people's opinions and see what they say, but nevertheless there's nothing stopping me from submitting it as a revision afterwards.

Anyway, despite all the above, I do like your work and with some time and experience, and the potential I know you have, I'm sure you'll become an excellent arranger in time!

PS: My version of Boss Battle is here if you want a look (it's in a 2010 version of Finale): MUS | MID