[NDS] Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky - "Spacial Cliffs" by InsigTurtle

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Pokémon
Game: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky
Console: Nintendo DS
Title: Spacial Cliffs
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: InsigTurtle

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[InsigTurtle]

For reference:

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[Bespinben]

I'm really quite impressed with this one! I'll be sure not to ditch reviewing it like with Barren Valley Not doing it right now because I want to check how practical some part distributions are irl 1st.

10:26PM PST 12/15/2014
EDIT #1: I just thought the bass was crazy syncopated at first just like you wrote, but listening closer it's actually a lot simpler, and when you write it this way, it'll make playing SOOO much easier~


Reading the top line in relation to the bass becomes much more intuitive this way (and it's just how the bass goes, so yeah). A word of caution - a lot of older pianos may not be able to handle having 2 sixteenth notes played that fast consecutively on the same key (talking about beat 1.66 - 2), so one thing you could do there is have the second sixteenth note played an octave above with the thumb. The WHOLE song keeps this same rhythm in the bass (minus the very last 2 measures), so copy-paste away!

[Bespinben]

So... uh... after listening to the original and playing through your sheet many times, I felt that the amount of things that needed to changed would best be done by skipping the whole medium of me telling you what to do. So I just did it ^_^

[MUS] [MIDI] [PDF]

Changes made include:
*Added the other 4 composers (Hideki Sakamoto, Keisuke Ito, Ryoma Nakamura, & Ken-ichi Saito)
*Overall page formatting was cleaned up (2 measures per staff); I understand Notepad doesn't give you control of that, so consider it my gift
*Expanded on your array of expressions. I liked that you went out of your way to include markings like "senza pedale" and "agitato". I included the latter in the tempo, since it has that feel generally throughout
*Fingerings! Those parallel 4ths can be quite intimidating if you don't provide some of these, as I've never encountered a "how to play legato 4ths" in any scale book. Measures 33-40 also begged for some.
*Articulations - I noticed you had accents on each of the beats up until measure 17. After that they disappeared from your sheet. Didn't seem consistent to me. You did really good with your phrase markings though! I kept those mostly the way you wrote them. I did take out them out of measures 33-40 because they collided with the notes - it was a shame because I could tell you put so much effort into those custom slurs!
*Dynamics - You did pretty good with these! I kept these largely the same as you wrote them. One place though I changed significantly - measure 41. The grandeur of that passage demands a fortissimo! 'dem chords there mmm mmm...
*Dat bass - Changed the bass to reflect the timpani line (see previous post). Added in some performance notes to account for the "word of caution" I mentioned in the previous post. I know there are some off-beat accents that come from overlaying the synth bass, but it really REALLY is difficult to play. I have a midi rip for this song if you don't believe me about the timpani
*Measures 3-10 often have a C-Db dissonance that results from the combination of the choral "ahs" and the string section. I added that in for you.
*Measure 17-20 ~~ Transposed at the octave the cello solo below the bass help bring the line out. This way, the occasional Gb in the solo against the F bass has the interval of a major 7th as opposed to the more dissonant minor 9th, which is better. Also, added in the 2nd voice into the bass to account for the tubular bell F. Obviously, the bass already takes care of that note, so the note was inverted to a C.
*Measures 25-32 ~~ Lots of work done here. The string section response voice (beginning at the m. 25 - the 2nd layer) had some notes that needed to be fixed (ex: m. 25, beat 2 [C-F, not Bb-f]; beat 2.66 [Eb-G, not C-G]). Also, it makes a lot more sense to bring that line down an octave, seeing as the solo violin and other voices already take up those notes. Doing this also helps the issue with the messiness you had in m. 28 with beginning the solo violin line that would intersect with the sustained string section notes (which doesn't happen if you bring the string section down an octave). The parallel 3rds were omitted out of the solo violin run in m. 28 for reasons of practicality (fingering), and it helps distinguish the voice from the preceding string section which already was playing parallel 3rds.
*Wrong notes in m. 32 were corrected. The RH up until beat maintains the interval of 6ths - it doesn't change to 5ths.
*Measures 33-40 needed a total revamp. Key is A minor (I'll explain why in the next asterisk). There's A LOT of voices in this passage, and the independence of each of lines is what gives this section of the song its unique flavor. You gave it a good shot, for sure! But... you didn't include the alternating C-B-C-B string line. That line is crucial to the harmonic structure of m. 35, with the alternating A-G#-A-G#. I quite liked the cross-staff nod on m. 34 of your sheet - that lends well to the execution of that passage.
*Measures 41-46 ~~ This is the best part of the song. It's where you can really let those string backing and choral "ah" chords sing - if you play them! (but you didn't... ) You did get the notes correct though (except for measure 42 & 46, beat 3 [there's two more notes there {Bb-A-G}]). Gb not F# on measure 48, beat 4.66. Also, this passage is in C minor -- 3 flats. This biggest hint that this is so is the final few measures (which we'll talk about next). BUT - there is also a modulatory pattern underlying the whole song that lends to this interpretation. Think about where the Cb in measure 14 comes from. The chord of measure 13 is F minor; the chord of measure 14 is Ab minor. The relative major of F minor is Ab, but the Cb note would come from the parallel minor of... Ab! So, going back to measure 41-46... if measures 33-40 are A minor, then, keeping with the pattern, measures 41-46 would be using notes that borrow from the parallel minor of the relative major of A minor - which is C minor! Since it does it for so long though, it makes more sense to write it in as the key and not just as accidentals.
*Measures 47 to the end ~~ 21/8 time... is correct... but disorienting. A composite time signature of 9/8 + 12/8 makes much more sense. The notes themselves needed some re-transcribing too. The chords in the second half of measure 47 aren't always parallel 3rds. The lower voices stays at Eb for a beat and then goes up with in the melody in sixths. Second half of measure 50 was similar.

[InsigTurtle]

Alright, the only change I've made to it is the first/second ending assignment, so it now repeats m 41-44 both times.

[Bespinben]

And it came to pass that Deku and Ben of Bespin completed their labors on the 4th day, and saw that the sheet was good.

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Bespinben.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot