[PC] RollerCoaster Tycoon - "Title Theme" by Code_Name_Geek

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Other
Game: RollerCoaster Tycoon
Console: PC
Title: Title Theme
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Code_Name_Geek

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Code_Name_Geek]

The note about skipping to m. 52 is because there is an extra section that is added to the theme if you have the expansion packs for the game. Skipping to m. 52 preserves the original loop while continuing on follows the extended version.

(The title I used is from the composer's own upload of this track, which is an example of the non-extended version.)

[Latios212]

Sorry for the wait overall this is a very clean sheet, kudos. Comments incoming as I finally give it a thorough look!

- Staccatos are displaced (reach out it you need help with Finale formatting).
- I'd strongly recommend adding in the B naturals in the LH chords for m. 2 and similar. Otherwise you lose the sound characteristic to the G major (not minor!) chord.
- I'm still hearing the figure in m. 2/6 as just eighth notes instead of dotted 8th + 16th...
- I'd suggest ending the slur in m. 18 on beat 1 in m. 19.
- Hearing something different for the triads in the LH in m. 20 - the first pair sounds like G-Bb-Db (what you have written for the second pair) and the second pair sounds like G-Bb-C. Also the first half of the measure could be written like the measures before it since it's the same rhythmic pattern.
- Same chords in m. 28/36 I'm hearing - Eb7 followed by C7/E.
- m. 21/22 are missing beat 1 harmonies, similar to m. 23 - Ab in 21 and Bb in 22
- m. 21 second LH bass note sounds like Ab instead of C
- I think the dotted quarter D in m. 31 should be an eighth+quarter.
- LH in m. 36/52 is quite a stretch... I suppose the performer could decide how to adjust it if you don't have any better ideas here
- Most of the time in m. 41+ the lower layer LH rests can fit comfortably back on the staff.
- In m. 44/52 - change the Eb's in the dyads to Db.
- I think the melody (LH) D's in m. 47 should be tied.
- I'm hearing the last two melody (LH) notes in m. 51 as D-Bb
- Widen the space between LH/RH staves in the march section a little bit. You made space for the dynamic in m. 41; m. 49-56 demand more space for the articulations squished in the middle.
- The last four measures sound... off? Like the bass should be lower and the dyads inverted downwards. I could write out what I hear, but I'll have you take another look at it first.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Sorry for the wait on this one, had a term paper to write!

- Staccatos are displaced (reach out it you need help with Finale formatting).

I believe it's the Finale v26 automatic articulation placement that's messing those up, they look fine on my end.

- I'm still hearing the figure in m. 2/6 as just eighth notes instead of dotted 8th + 16th...

I have tried eighth notes here and it really sounds like the original is more off-centre than straight eighth notes to me? I'd like to hear another opinion on this if that's okay.

- I think the dotted quarter D in m. 31 should be an eighth+quarter.

As in the melody note should be re-struck? I'm not hearing it this way in the original if so...

- LH in m. 36/52 is quite a stretch... I suppose the performer could decide how to adjust it if you don't have any better ideas here

For m. 36, I moved the G to the right hand since it was less active so the stretch seemed easier (had my brother with normal sized hands try the chord and he said it was doable). I'm leaving m. 52 as is because the right hand is busier there, since there's no notes in between the 10th it should be a little easier to work with.

- The last four measures sound... off? Like the bass should be lower and the dyads inverted downwards. I could write out what I hear, but I'll have you take another look at it first.

I revised this and I think what I have is closer now; let me know if this is more like what you were hearing.

Everything else has been fixed, thanks for the in-depth feedback!

[Latios212]

No worries and you're welcome

I believe it's the Finale v26 automatic articulation placement that's messing those up, they look fine on my end.

I'm looking at the PDF for reference, where they're centered over the stems instead of the noteheads when there are multiple layers. Like in the first system all the ones on the top are too far to the right and the ones in the lower layer in the RH are too far to the left.

- I'm still hearing the figure in m. 2/6 as just eighth notes instead of dotted 8th + 16th...

I have tried eighth notes here and it really sounds like the original is more off-centre than straight eighth notes to me? I'd like to hear another opinion on this if that's okay.

Yeah sure we can wait for someone else's comment

- I think the dotted quarter D in m. 31 should be an eighth+quarter.

As in the melody note should be re-struck? I'm not hearing it this way in the original if so...

Ah yeah I think I was hearing something else. You're good

- LH in m. 36/52 is quite a stretch... I suppose the performer could decide how to adjust it if you don't have any better ideas here

For m. 36, I moved the G to the right hand since it was less active so the stretch seemed easier (had my brother with normal sized hands try the chord and he said it was doable). I'm leaving m. 52 as is because the right hand is busier there, since there's no notes in between the 10th it should be a little easier to work with.

36 is quite a stretch, though it could be rolled and the performer could omit the upper G so I guess it's okay. For m. 52 keep in mind you have an augmented tenth there because the E on the bottom is flat. I and likely most others physically cannot play that. I guess I'm fine if you really want to keep it since it can be played with the right hand. One other thing, when trying to evaluate how much stretching of the hand is okay, keep in mind its context in the song - that is how much time the performer has to prepare. Measure 36 is also difficult because the right hand is busy before it hits beat 1.

- The last four measures sound... off? Like the bass should be lower and the dyads inverted downwards. I could write out what I hear, but I'll have you take another look at it first.

I revised this and I think what I have is closer now; let me know if this is more like what you were hearing.

Much better. Though I'm still hearing a few things differently (ignore articulations) -
You cannot view this attachment.

- Hearing something different for the triads in the LH in m. 20 - the first pair sounds like G-Bb-Db (what you have written for the second pair) and the second pair sounds like G-Bb-C. Also the first half of the measure could be written like the measures before it since it's the same rhythmic pattern.
- Same chords in m. 28/36 I'm hearing - Eb7 followed by C7/E.

Flip the first group in m. 20 to be like normal. Also, the chords in m. 28 are still different - think the top note in the first pair should be G (not Fb) and the second pair should be Bb-C-En

- Most of the time in m. 41+ the lower layer LH rests can fit comfortably back on the staff.

Did you try moving them back onto the staff? I think it would look neater that way

[Code_Name_Geek]

I'm looking at the PDF for reference, where they're centered over the stems instead of the noteheads when there are multiple layers. Like in the first system all the ones on the top are too far to the right and the ones in the lower layer in the RH are too far to the left.

Ah shoot, you're totally right. Had the "centre over stem when stemside" box checked by accident. Fixed!

36 is quite a stretch, though it could be rolled and the performer could omit the upper G so I guess it's okay. For m. 52 keep in mind you have an augmented tenth there because the E on the bottom is flat. I and likely most others physically cannot play that. I guess I'm fine if you really want to keep it since it can be played with the right hand. One other thing, when trying to evaluate how much stretching of the hand is okay, keep in mind its context in the song - that is how much time the performer has to prepare. Measure 36 is also difficult because the right hand is busy before it hits beat 1.

Got it, I added text that says "r.h." over the G to make that clear. I wasn't sure if there was a good way to put it in the top staff since there were already two voices with different rhythms there?

Did you try moving them back onto the staff? I think it would look neater that way

Ahhh I totally misread that as RH, I had fixed the RH voice 2 rests to be in the staff. Oh well I think they look better that way anyways, and now the LH rests are in the staff as well.

Fixed the ending as well, thanks!

[Latios212]

No problem ^^ looks like the files aren't updated with the fixes yet though? (Hope I'm not looking at the wrong versions)

[Code_Name_Geek]

No problem ^^ looks like the files aren't updated with the fixes yet though? (Hope I'm not looking at the wrong versions)

Oops not sure what happened here, either I forgot to upload them or uploaded the old ones by accident. Either way they should be right now, sorry for the inconvenience!

[Latios212]

Awesome, looks great now approved!

Someone else please verify:

- I'm still hearing the figure in m. 2/6 as just eighth notes instead of dotted 8th + 16th...

I have tried eighth notes here and it really sounds like the original is more off-centre than straight eighth notes to me? I'd like to hear another opinion on this if that's okay.

[JDMEK5]

Hey this is great!! This must be my first game ever- and I remember taking shots at arranging this back before I knew what I was doing... what a mess XD
In contrast to that though, this looks and sounds great! What a wonderful transcription. I realize I'm looking at it now after a bunch of revisions so far, but as a lifetime fan of this game, there isn't much I would change further.

I believe it's the Finale v26 automatic articulation placement that's messing those up, they look fine on my end.

I opened it with Finale 2012 and they came out funny... Maybe I can clean these up for you tomorrow. I'm not sure why they're not behaving... but if they came out funny for me too I suspect they might do the same for the general public. Worth a try, maybe just running the clean myself will magically fix it. If not, oh well I guess. As long as the PDF looks clean then that'll be alright imo.

M.11 RH - I wonder if you could notate the D and C being played by the LH here in some way... While not super necessary, I can only see this enhancing your sheet.

I feel like a tad more space between hands in the 3rd and 4th systems on the first page might be effective. Maybe.

- I'm still hearing the figure in m. 2/6 as just eighth notes instead of dotted 8th + 16th...

I have tried eighth notes here and it really sounds like the original is more off-centre than straight eighth notes to me? I'd like to hear another opinion on this if that's okay.

To me it's almost sounding like an ornament of some kind... I'll slow it down and see if there's anything more nuanced to gather that way. Stay tuned (pardon the pun).

[Libera]

I opened it with Finale 2012 and they came out funny... Maybe I can clean these up for you tomorrow. I'm not sure why they're not behaving... but if they came out funny for me too I suspect they might do the same for the general public. Worth a try, maybe just running the clean myself will magically fix it. If not, oh well I guess. As long as the PDF looks clean then that'll be alright imo.

It's v26 and I'll fix at some point as always.  No need to worry about it.


While I'm here though I might as well add some things:

-Why does it say 'a tempo' in the first bar?
-I think there's an extra An in the run at the end of bar 16 (so it should start a semiquaver earlier as well).
-About the rhythm on the second layer in bar 2/6: I hear it as the dotted quaver semiquaver.
-Second bass note in 29 sounds like an Ab to me (like in 21).
-The second bass note in 37 sounds like a Dn to me, although that's probably too large a stretch for the left hand to have as is.
-The bass notes in 38 sound like Ebs to me.
-I feel like the 'march-like' section (41-56) isn't currently very ... march-like.  I think it could do with more bass and being a bit more bombastic, if you will.  The left hand at the moment isn't very pianistic for one thing, but it's also quite weak in a lot of places.  Maybe you could try swapping the offbeat chords in the right hand and the countermelody in the left hand, perhaps with octaves for the bass notes?  You might have to adjust some harmonies in the right hand.  I think that the end result will give you a sound that's much more reflective of the original, and potentially more fun to play as well.  Let me know what you think about this suggestion anyway since I think it's very worth considering.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Sorry for the wait on this, took me a while to get around to it!

Hey this is great!! This must be my first game ever- and I remember taking shots at arranging this back before I knew what I was doing... what a mess XD
In contrast to that though, this looks and sounds great! What a wonderful transcription. I realize I'm looking at it now after a bunch of revisions so far, but as a lifetime fan of this game, there isn't much I would change further.
I opened it with Finale 2012 and they came out funny... Maybe I can clean these up for you tomorrow. I'm not sure why they're not behaving... but if they came out funny for me too I suspect they might do the same for the general public. Worth a try, maybe just running the clean myself will magically fix it. If not, oh well I guess. As long as the PDF looks clean then that'll be alright imo.

M.11 RH - I wonder if you could notate the D and C being played by the LH here in some way... While not super necessary, I can only see this enhancing your sheet.

I feel like a tad more space between hands in the 3rd and 4th systems on the first page might be effective. Maybe.

To me it's almost sounding like an ornament of some kind... I'll slow it down and see if there's anything more nuanced to gather that way. Stay tuned (pardon the pun).

Thanks for taking a look! I think I got what you meant in m. 11, and added more space in those systems. This was definitely one of my first games as well.

-Why does it say 'a tempo' in the first bar?

I think my reasoning was that there's a rit at the end of the piece so the a tempo was for the repeat, but given that there's a tempo marking at the beginning anyways that's probably redundant lol. It's gone now.

-About the rhythm on the second layer in bar 2/6: I hear it as the dotted quaver semiquaver.

Thanks for weighing in, I think I'll leave it the way I have it then.

-I think there's an extra An in the run at the end of bar 16 (so it should start a semiquaver earlier as well).
-Second bass note in 29 sounds like an Ab to me (like in 21).
-The second bass note in 37 sounds like a Dn to me, although that's probably too large a stretch for the left hand to have as is.
-The bass notes in 38 sound like Ebs to me.

Fixed these.

-I feel like the 'march-like' section (41-56) isn't currently very ... march-like.  I think it could do with more bass and being a bit more bombastic, if you will.  The left hand at the moment isn't very pianistic for one thing, but it's also quite weak in a lot of places.  Maybe you could try swapping the offbeat chords in the right hand and the countermelody in the left hand, perhaps with octaves for the bass notes?  You might have to adjust some harmonies in the right hand.  I think that the end result will give you a sound that's much more reflective of the original, and potentially more fun to play as well.  Let me know what you think about this suggestion anyway since I think it's very worth considering.

I gave this some thought and I definitely see what you mean. I've re-arranged this section with the march feel in mind, let me know what you think! A few things in particular:
-I moved the French horn melody to the right hand, which mostly works except measure 45 is a bit of a stretch. However, most of the tenths are minor tenths so I think it's okay?
-Are some of the leaps in the left hand too big?
-Here's the old version if anyone wants to compare.

Thanks for taking a look!

[Libera]

I'm sorry for the wait; I've been very busy recently.

-The second bass note in 37 sounds like a Dn to me, although that's probably too large a stretch for the left hand to have as is.
-The bass notes in 38 sound like Ebs to me.

Fixed these.

They don't look fixed in the file you uploaded, maybe you grabbed the wrong file?  Or something else went wrong somewhere.

I gave this some thought and I definitely see what you mean. I've re-arranged this section with the march feel in mind, let me know what you think! A few things in particular:
-I moved the French horn melody to the right hand, which mostly works except measure 45 is a bit of a stretch. However, most of the tenths are minor tenths so I think it's okay?

Yes, this looks a lot more like what I was thinking.  Thanks for taking the time to re-arrange it; it's definitely improved for it!  Regarding the large stretches in the right hand, I'd recommend changing some of the octaves for the french horn line.  Bars like 45 are really awkward to play as is and it'd be far easier to make them thirds rather than tenths.  My specific suggestion for which notes should go up the octave would be bar 41 to beat 2 of bar 42 and bar 45 to beat 2 of bar 46.

-Are some of the leaps in the left hand too big?

They look fine to me, but if you want another opinion we can easily get one.

Other things:

-I'd suggest misaligning layer 2 in bar 54 beat 2 (slightly to the left) to make the overlap easier to read.
-This doesn't particularly matter for the finished product, but it's better practice to make directions like the one in bar 40 as an expression rather than as text.  That way they are attached to the bar and move along with it if it's moved.
-The page numbers and subtitles aren't aligned to the top margin correctly.
-Really nitpicky but it's probably better to align the piano marking in 57 the same as you have for all the other dynamics i.e. with beat 1.

[Code_Name_Geek]

They don't look fixed in the file you uploaded, maybe you grabbed the wrong file?  Or something else went wrong somewhere.

Ah shoot, I forgot by the time I posted that I had double-checked those notes and I'm pretty sure my original pitches were correct. I went back and checked again today (and took it up the octave to be extra sure) and I still think they are.

Yes, this looks a lot more like what I was thinking.  Thanks for taking the time to re-arrange it; it's definitely improved for it!  Regarding the large stretches in the right hand, I'd recommend changing some of the octaves for the french horn line.  Bars like 45 are really awkward to play as is and it'd be far easier to make them thirds rather than tenths.  My specific suggestion for which notes should go up the octave would be bar 41 to beat 2 of bar 42 and bar 45 to beat 2 of bar 46.

Sure thing, fixed those octaves.

Other things:

-I'd suggest misaligning layer 2 in bar 54 beat 2 (slightly to the left) to make the overlap easier to read.
-This doesn't particularly matter for the finished product, but it's better practice to make directions like the one in bar 40 as an expression rather than as text.  That way they are attached to the bar and move along with it if it's moved.
-The page numbers and subtitles aren't aligned to the top margin correctly.
-Really nitpicky but it's probably better to align the piano marking in 57 the same as you have for all the other dynamics i.e. with beat 1.

These should all be fixed as well. Is bar 54 beat 2 what you had in mind, or should it be even further to the left?

Thanks again!

[Libera]

Ah shoot, I forgot by the time I posted that I had double-checked those notes and I'm pretty sure my original pitches were correct. I went back and checked again today (and took it up the octave to be extra sure) and I still think they are.

Yes you're right, don't mind me.

Is bar 54 beat 2 what you had in mind, or should it be even further to the left?

Yes, looks good.

-This doesn't particularly matter for the finished product, but it's better practice to make directions like the one in bar 40 as an expression rather than as text.  That way they are attached to the bar and move along with it if it's moved.

This still.  Also maybe the D.C. should be aligned to end at the barline rather than on top of it, although that's pretty minor.  Everything else looks good!