[ARCADE] SoulCalibur II - "Brave Sword, Braver Soul" by Renaud Bergeron

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Other
Game: SoulCalibur II
Console: ARCADE
Title: Brave Sword, Braver Soul
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Renaud Bergeron

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Khunjund]

[Khunjund]

Minor changes have been made to the sheets.

[Latios212]

Looking over it, seems pretty solid overall.

- That chord at the end of m. 24 sounds really dissonant. Perhaps a C instead of a B natural?
- How about staccatos or something on the first chords of m. 27-29?
- Not sure about the run at m. 55 - I'm hearing E flats instead of C's for the triplets. For the second-to-last note in m. 56 I'm hearing G instead of C.
- The first chord in the last measure doesn't sound quite right. The bass is playing F but it sounds like the harmonies are doing something else.

[Khunjund]

That chord at the end of m. 24 sounds really dissonant. Perhaps a C instead of a B natural?

Honestly, I don't know if it's a C or Bn. Whenever I play it with a Bn, it sounds more tense than it's supposed to, but when I play it with a C, it doesn't sound nearly as tense as the original. I'm trying to experiment with either note at different octaves, or switching the left hand G for an F, but nothing feels quite right. I thought maybe the trumpets are playing their F a little sharp, but I can't tell for sure. I haven't changed it yet.

How about staccatos or something on the first chords of m. 27-29?

Good point.

Not sure about the run at m. 55 - I'm hearing E flats instead of C's for the triplets. For the second-to-last note in m. 56 I'm hearing G instead of C.

I don't know how that happened in measure 55. I'm quite embarrassed. Do you think it could be another instrument playing the G in 56? I'm pretty sure the koto has a C there.

The first chord in the last measure doesn't sound quite right. The bass is playing F but it sounds like the harmonies are doing something else.

Yea, my bad. I'm note entirely sure if it's Fmin9 or some upper structure voicing of F9sus4. (I got the chord before that wrong too: it's Fmin7, not Ab.)

[Latios212]

Honestly, I don't know if it's a C or Bn. Whenever I play it with a Bn, it sounds more tense than it's supposed to, but when I play it with a C, it doesn't sound nearly as tense as the original. I'm trying to experiment with either note at different octaves, or switching the left hand G for an F, but nothing feels quite right. I thought maybe the trumpets are playing their F a little sharp, but I can't tell for sure. I haven't changed it yet.

The original's sound is pretty dense but I think there's a fairly prominent C in there (somewhere), and the F-C-Eb triad sounds right to me. For the left hand I also like the idea of switching out the G for an F.

I don't know how that happened in measure 55. I'm quite embarrassed. Do you think it could be another instrument playing the G in 56? I'm pretty sure the koto has a C there.

No worries. It sounds like the same instrument to me but upon looking again I think both of the last two right hand C's in 56 could be G's; probably possible that one of us is getting distracted by another part.

For the last measure I'd suggest taking out the A at the bottom for ease of playing and to better emphasize the parallel octaves, but it's up to you.

Everything else looks good!

[The Deku Trombonist]

I just a had a quick look at this today so I only had time for the first bit you asked about. Transcribing tracks like this is tricky because the production often gets in the way of being able to hear the composition.

Rough transcription of Bars 21-24

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And after a quick moment at the piano, I think for arranging I might do something like this:

Spoiler

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But it looks like one of those spots where whatever you do, it's going to be an icky compromise.

I changed some of the LH Gs to Fs to fit with the high pizzicato strings. I think it sounds a little better that way,


And while I'm here, I'd probably consider adding staccatos to the RH in bar 9 and the like.

[Khunjund]

I just a had a quick look at this today so I only had time for the first bit you asked about. Transcribing tracks like this is tricky because the production often gets in the way of being able to hear the composition.

Rough transcription of Bars 21-24

[close]

And after a quick moment at the piano, I think for arranging I might do something like this:

Spoiler

[close]

But it looks like one of those spots where whatever you do, it's going to be an icky compromise.

I changed some of the LH Gs to Fs to fit with the high pizzicato strings. I think it sounds a little better that way,

And while I'm here, I'd probably consider adding staccatos to the RH in bar 9 and the like.

(Good point about the staccatos in measures 9 and 17.)

The Gs not exactly following the high strings was intentional, but I'm planning to change it in measure 22. I disagree (with the composer, I guess) for measure 24: going from a standard F major triad to that WTF chord is much too jarring, in my opinion, and having the seventh there makes it a little better.

Also, I really don't like having the C a ninth above the Bn. This is the "version" of measure 24 that sounds the most pleasing to me:

Spoiler

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...but I know it's not the most accurate. I'll continue to mull it over.

Anyway, I'll be waiting for you feedback on measure 66 to update the files (whenever you have the time).

[The Deku Trombonist]

Here's another suggestion. I was taking inspiration from noticing that the Bnat was relatively obscured on beat 3 and much more prominent on beat 4.

Spoiler

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Anyway, I took a look at the last bar and here it is.

Spoiler

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that WTF chord

I was going to suggest the possibility of composer error because there was one instance where I came across something in a Runescape tune for which the only explanation I could find that it was a mistake. But having just looked at the last bar, I'm starting to think that the composer was just exploring the interplay between the minor pentatonic scale and regular tonal harmony. And when you bring those worlds together there are bound to be clashes, some of them extremely dissonant. But I think some of that dissonance was ameliorated by the orchestration, which is obviously a luxury we don't have on the piano (although some magic can be done with voicing). A bit like how those first tutti chords in Mendelssohn's Wedding March sound less crunchy when played by orchestra than they do when played by an organ. But having said that, I don't think we necessarily have to shy away from 'ugly' sounds, they have their place too.

Anyway, hopefully somewhere in those musings was some food for thought.

[Khunjund]

Final changes:

• Added staccatos to measures 9 and 17.
• Changed left hand G in measure 22 to F on beats 3–4.
• Changed the voicing of the chord in measure 24.
• Fixed measure 66.

Measure 66 in particular, I remember hearing the Bb over Bn one of the first times I listened to the piece, then promptly dismissing by telling myself there was no way the composer would write something like that, and I never came back to it even after writing Bn over Bb in measure 16 and Fn over F# in measure 57...

Also, by "WTF chord", I just meant I couldn't categorize it. Like, I could say it's a rootless G11(b13) over Ab or whatever, but I don't feel like that's really useful in terms of understanding its use within this context.

[Latios212]

Thanks guys for the attention to detail! Those chords look good to me. So does the sheet.

[Sebastian]

This sheet looks acceptable to me. Good work, Dath.

*dink*

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Sebastian.

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