Halloween 2k19 Update

[Maelstrom]

Maelstrom - Cave Story - Running Hell
- m10, 26 RH beat 2.5: The 8th note A sounds like two 16th notes to me, but it's up to you whether or not you want to change that, considering the tempo.
- m16 RH: The way you wrote this rhythm hides beat 3.
- m43 RH: Any reason why beat 3 is just an 8th note? Sounds like a held quarter note to me in the original, and it'll have to sound that way too because of the pedal.
- m48 RH: You don't need to use Fb in the run since En is already in the key.

m10 was not changed because that would be rather hard to play
m16 and 48 are fixed
for m43, the original reason it was a quarter rest is because it plays the E above middle C some note that muddies up the RH. I'll change it to a quarter.
[New File]

[Maelstrom]

Maelstrom - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Dracula's Castle
- Pretty much all of those dotted 8th-dotted 8th-8th rhythms should be quarter note triplets.
- m22 RH beat 3: That C should be a B natural, so probably put a courtesy flat on the Bb.
- m46 RH: If any chord in this piece needs the 3rd written, it's this one. That D natural is super distinctive and completely changes the cadence of that section.

All fixed
[New File]

[LeviR.star]

Levi - Super Mario 3D World - Castle
- While that 32nd note thing in m11 is technically correct, it looks off compared to the sleekness of the rest of the sheet. There's a better way to write this: using slashed grace notes (the slash means that the grace notes should be plays on beat instead of before (also known as acciaccatura)). Finale does this as a default for all single grace notes, but automatically removes the slash when you add more than one. There are two ways you can do this (thanks Bespinben for the easy way):
- Easy way: Go here and download "JW Grace Note Slash, v1.03", more detailed instructions are on that site. If you're using v25 or later, then there's a separate download here.
- Hard way: Add a line (make an articulation or just use one of the SmartShape lines or something). It won't change the playback, so you might want to add a hidden 3rd staff with the correct playback, like how it's currently written.
- m11 RH: That Ab and Eb should be G# and D# (this stays consistent with the b2-M3 in the scale, even with the 4th underneath).
- m19 RH: Ab should be G# (Eb9 chord, yes I know it's weird).

- after working through this with Static over Discord, we got it to function properly in a hidden stave. Looks great, too
- makes sense, fixed
- I don't know what's weird and what's not yet. I'm still in Theory I; changed

Files updated.

[Maelstrom]

Umineko When They Cry Chiru
the executioner [midi] [.mus] [.musx] [PDF]

hot off the presses

[Latios212]

It sounded really weird to me and I likely imagined the D, but I still hear an Ab as a root and a C from some other instrument. The F was from the part that plays the same thing in m29, but listening to it again I hear an E and G too. Honestly I'll just take your word (or someone else's) word for whatever the notes are for these two measures. It sounds like m29-30 has a Gm7 chord so if that's the same as m27-28 then I can change it

Hmm gotcha. I found it a bit hard to tell what to put here since much of the sound is residual from the climax that suddenly dissipates from the previous measure. In any case, what you wrote in sounds good to me, so I'll approve (other changes look good too). Hope you don't mind I adjusted a bit of spacing on the first page to make more room for stuff in the last system and the tempo marking in 13.

[LeviR.star]

Just a heads-up: as of now, I have added a new sheet, [GB] Kirby's Block Ball - "King Dedede" , to my Dropbox Halloween folder.

[Libera]

Libera - Drakengard - Seventh Chapter - In the Sky
- m1-4: These are all maj7#11 chords, with the #11th on the bottom. So, the bass should be Fx, D#, E#, B#. Also, the maj7 is missing from m1 and 3. Basically, those measures should all be the same but transposed.
- In general, you voice all these chords all sorts of ways throughout the piece, but it never actually changes from the m1-4 voicing  (until m34).
- A lot of what gives the m34 section its edge is the odd bassline that makes some really interesting chords with the constant RH chords. You should try to include that while using the tremolo rhythms you already have in the LH.

Everything should have been fixed.  Let me address the voicings though.  From bar 19-29, a new vocal line is introduced that is probably the closest thing to a melody in this piece.  I think I was trying to follow it by revoicing the chords to place it at the top, but I hadn't done it particularly well so I've gone through it and revoiced them more accurately.  Hopefully everything should make sense now.  If you have any questions though, ask away.

Libera - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - The Dream is Over
- I would definitely use a nice big low octave C for m13-14 (tied so you can still play the layer 1 stuff at 14). The original sounds so full and bass-y. at that spot.

Sure, fixed.

Libera - Fire Emblem Heroes - Serious 6
- m28 LH: D# should be Eb like m26.

Can do.

Libera - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - A Dark Sign
- m20 LH: A courtesy natural for the Dn would be nice.

Yeah, I think it's reasonable here.  Fixed.

Libera - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Land of Morytha
- m29, 31 RH beat 4: The Bb restrikes here.

Not so sure about this one, I'm pretty sure that's just the delay effect causing that Bb to sound like it's restriked.


Thanks for all the checking, particularly on the Drakengard one.  It's much appreciated!

[Latios212]

I've added a few more for consideration I whipped up real quick - they're pretty short:

• EarthBound Beginnings - Poltergeist
• Pokémon Ranger - Dusk Factory
• Pokémon HeartGold Version & Pokémon SoulSilver Version - Pokégear Radio: Unown
• Pokémon HeartGold Version & Pokémon SoulSilver Version - Radio Transmission

I'm going to be away for this weekend, but of course will be back to continue looking over things after that.

[Static]

Post reserved for responding to responses:

Zeila - Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon - Battle! (Team Skull)
Looks nice, approved.

Zeila - Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon - Battle! (Team Skull Admin)

I'll leave it as 15ma for space reasons, but if someone feels strongly about using 8va instead then I can change it

Alright, sounds good to me. In the meantime, I'll approve (also I changed the dyad in m30 RH to G#-D#; forgot to mention this along with the RH in m27-38).

Zeila - Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon - Battle! (Team Skull Boss)
The things that you fixed look good now, but I was looking through again, I noticed that the triplet rhythms in the LH of the last page aren't quite accurate. I hear something more like this:

Spoiler

[close]

It's up to you how you want to go about writing that (like taking out repeated notes), but I don't think the triplet is the best way to show this weird rhythm.

Maelstrom - Cave Story - Running Hell

m10 was not changed because that would be rather hard to play
m16 and 48 are fixed
for m43, the original reason it was a quarter rest is because it plays the E above middle C some note that muddies up the RH. I'll change it to a quarter.

Looks good. m43 looks the same as before, so I changed it to a quarter for you. Approved now.

Maelstrom - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Dracula's Castle

All fixed

Great, I approve.

Levi - Super Mario 3D Land - Castle
Yep, we got those slashed grace notes to work right. That plugin is quite useful I think. I'll be accepting this one now.

Libera - Drakengard - Seventh Chapter - In the Sky

Everything should have been fixed.  Let me address the voicings though.  From bar 19-29, a new vocal line is introduced that is probably the closest thing to a melody in this piece.  I think I was trying to follow it by revoicing the chords to place it at the top, but I hadn't done it particularly well so I've gone through it and revoiced them more accurately.  Hopefully everything should make sense now.  If you have any questions though, ask away.

Yeah I think the voicings you have now work well. The main issue I had before was just the lack of consistency, but that has been addressed. I just fixed the bottom D# in m2, you had a Dx before. I now approve.

Libera - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - The Dream is Over

Sure, fixed.

Cool, approved

Libera - Fire Emblem Heroes - Serious 6

Can do.

Doesn't look like it was changed on the DB file, so I went ahead and changed the D# for you. Accepted.

Libera - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - A Dark Sign

Yeah, I think it's reasonable here.  Fixed.

Looks great, I'll accept now.

Libera - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Land of Morytha

Not so sure about this one, I'm pretty sure that's just the delay effect causing that Bb to sound like it's restriked.

The other echo notes in this piece are clearly softer than the initial strike, but the repeated Bb here sounds just as loud as the Bb before it. I think it's an actual note and just just an effect. Also, it sounds like a G (2nd line) plays on the 2nd 8th note of m30 and 32 (so 8th note Bn, quarter note G, dotted quarter tied to dotted half G).

Thanks for all the checking, particularly on the Drakengard one.  It's much appreciated!

No problem! It wasn't as bad as I expected.

[Static]

Feedback, round 4:

Levi - Balloon Kid - Stage 2
- The bassline doesn't play in m8.
- m9-10 would probably be better in a softer dynamic.

Levi - Dragon Quest - Dragonlord
- This is a weird piece, isn't it? It's mostly based around diminished chords and major 3rds... This would look much better if you rewrote mostly everything with flats and ditched the keysig altogether - just make it keyless. When you get to m12, the top voice should be harmonized a major 3rd above the lower voice, even if it clashes with the LH. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, so here are some images that will hopefully help:

Spoiler

[close]

I think doing this also helps to show the melodic contour better (what resolves down to what, etc.).
- The copyright info text seems a bit too small.

Levi - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - Catching Ghosts 1
- You have this titled as "Catching Ghosts 1", but this is the third theme that plays in the medley video you linked. Could you explain your reasoning for this? I can't find any other information about this soundtrack.
- This song is tonal and simple enough to where I don't think the double flats in m7-8 and 13-14 make reading this piece any easier - if anything those accidentals make this harder to read. I would replace all double flats (and Cb) with their natural counterparts.
- The tuba is a lot more active in m13-14, it's not just a copy/paste of 7-8.
- All these "Catching Ghosts" themes are very similar to each other and the same length. It might be a good idea to consider combining them all into one sheet (including the ghost captured jingle at the end).

Levi - Spelunker (NES) - Ghost Approaching
- Just out of curiosity, what "traditional music motif" is this? Anyway, I approve.

Levi - Kirby's Block Ball - King Dedede
- m3-5 RH: This is just a chromatic line; writing it out as a scale like this is very confusing to read, especially with those Cbbs. I would do G-G#-A-A#.
- m8, 10 LH: Those triplets don't sound legato to me, and the Ebs and Dbs should be D#s and C#s to match the RH.
- m13-16 LH beat 4: These little chromatic figures should be the same intervals as m11-12 (minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th from the root of the chord). So, m13-14 should be Ab-An-Bb, and m15-16 should be Cb-Cn-Db. From m11-16, the chords go Dm7 to Fm7 to Abm7.
- m17-18 RH: G#s should be Abs (Bb7#9 chord).
- m18 RH: I would make that D# an Eb to keep consistent intervals across that measure.

Zeila - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The King of Hyrule's Wish
- Looks great, I just put an arpeggio marking on the very last RH dyad since it was missing one. Accepted.

Maelstrom - Umineko: When they Cry Chiru
- m17-20: The 2nd layer in m21-23 goes just as low as the middle voice in m17-20, so you should just move that part to the RH.
- m17-32 RH: This section would probably look a lot nicer if the 2nd layer was in front of the 1st instead of behind, or if you just moved the 2nd layer further right. Flags and stems seem to get in the way everywhere.
- m38 RH: C# should be a Db (it's a diminished chord, which I think should be spelled using notes in the key preferentially).
- m50 RH: Bn should be Cb.
- m51-52 RH: F#s should be Gbs.
- m53, 62 RH: Bns should be Cbs.
- m54-63 RH: The 2nd layer quarter rests should be moved down to align with m53.
- m83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93 RH & LH: All F#s should be Gbs, all Bns should be Cbs.
- m85, 89 LH: Ens should be Fbs in this case only; the chord structure is different and serves a different function.
- m94-104 LH: The 16th rests on beat 1 should all be moved up so they don't clash with the 2nd layer.
- m109 LH beat 3.5: Bn should be spelled Cb, and the Dn is actually an Eb.
- https

Latios - EarthBound Beginnings - Poltergeist
- m1, 3, 5, 7 RH: These quarter notes should be half notes.

Latios - Pokémon Ranger - Dusk Factory
- Key should be C minor.
- m15 RH: That 8th note A sounds like it should be staccato.

Latios - Pokémon HeartGold Version & Pokémon SoulSilver Version - Pokégear Radio: Unown
- what
- ok

Latios - Pokémon HeartGold Version & Pokémon SoulSilver Version - Radio Transmission
- what (2)
- Not quite OK yet, I hear the bassline 16th notes as swung ever so slightly.

[LeviR.star]

Levi - Spelunker (NES) - Ghost Approaching
- Just out of curiosity, what "traditional music motif" is this? Anyway, I approve.

Glad you asked; Mysterioso Pizzicato has been used for everything from musical theater revues to animated shorts in the early days, and much later on, occasionally in video games. I found this out by accident some time after this sheet was initially arranged for a full-OST project. I'm not sure if I'd call it a "traditional music motif" for this case, but I will take suggestions on what I could label it as instead.

Levi - Kirby's Block Ball - King Dedede
- m3-5 RH: This is just a chromatic line; writing it out as a scale like this is very confusing to read, especially with those Cbbs. I would do G-G#-A-A#.
- m8, 10 LH: Those triplets don't sound legato to me, and the Ebs and Dbs should be D#s and C#s to match the RH.
- m13-16 LH beat 4: These little chromatic figures should be the same intervals as m11-12 (minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th from the root of the chord). So, m13-14 should be Ab-An-Bb, and m15-16 should be Cb-Cn-Db. From m11-16, the chords go Dm7 to Fm7 to Abm7.
- m17-18 RH: G#s should be Abs (Bb7#9 chord).
- m18 RH: I would make that D# an Eb to keep consistent intervals across that measure.

- I did that so accidentals wouldn't crowd the system, but it wasn't worth it, anyway. Your spelling is much more proper; changed
- makes sense to me. Is what I wrote now correct?
- how does that look?
- you got it, fixed
- if I make this change, along with the one above, does that mean I have to modify m. 6 (which is identical until beat 4) to match m. 18?

[Code_Name_Geek]

Stardew Valley - Spirit's Eve Festival
[MUSX] [MUS] [PDF] [MIDI] [Original]

Here's a little something I put together for this, I think it fits the Halloween theme perfectly as it plays during a Halloween-inspired fall festival in the game. It was a bit challenging to adapt to piano so any suggestions are welcome. Some specific issues I should mention:
-I think there might be some harmony notes in bars 5-12 but I was having a tough time picking those out.
-Similarly in bars 29-36 I'd appreciate a second opinion on those chords, though I think they're pretty close.
-The layers in the main melody starting at 13 look a little weird to me; I'm not sure if there's a better way to write that.

[Static]

I'll be adding a few more short and simple ones:

• Cave Story - Scorching Back
• Shin Megami Tensei II - 3D: Virtual Battler
• The Witch's House - Rumor

All have been added to the folder.

[Static]

Glad you asked; Mysterioso Pizzicato has been used for everything from musical theater revues to animated shorts in the early days, and much later on, occasionally in video games. I found this out by accident some time after this sheet was initially arranged for a full-OST project. I'm not sure if I'd call it a "traditional music motif" for this case, but I will take suggestions on what I could label it as instead.

Interesting, that's cool to know. I think how you labeled it is fine, personally.

- if I make this change, along with the one above, does that mean I have to modify m. 6 (which is identical until beat 4) to match m. 18?

Yes you do, sorry I didn't catch that. Everything else looks fine though.

-I think there might be some harmony notes in bars 5-12 but I was having a tough time picking those out.
-Similarly in bars 29-36 I'd appreciate a second opinion on those chords, though I think they're pretty close.
-The layers in the main melody starting at 13 look a little weird to me; I'm not sure if there's a better way to write that.

- This looks great! The harmonies are all correct; this piece only uses 2 chords (A minor and E major).
- m13-28 looks good in terms of how you layered everything, its perfectly playable. I would space apart the staves more so the lower notes in the RH aren't so close to the bottom staff.
- There are indeed some extra harmonies in m5-12. If you can't hear the specific notes clearly, I would just go by the chords I mentioned above and it'll end up creating the sound I think you're going for.

[LeviR.star]

Yes you do, sorry I didn't catch that. Everything else looks fine though.

Ok, then, it's done. File for "Ghost Approaching" unchanged, and "Boss" is fixed.