[GCN] Animal Crossing - "6:00 A.M." by Static

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Animal Crossing
Game: Animal Crossing
Console: Nintendo GameCube
Title: 6:00 A.M.
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Static

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[Static]

Snowy version is here, Cherry Blossom Festival Version is here.

[Latios212]

For all three variations I hear everything shifted by an eighth (i.e. no pickup measure)...

[mastersuperfan]

For all three variations I hear everything shifted by an eighth (i.e. no pickup measure)...

I agree.

[Static]

It's funny, I hear it exactly the opposite and for exactly the same reason... the drums:

Spoiler

It makes so much more sense to me with the bass on beats 1 and 3, and the snare on beats 2 and 3.5/4 (alternating every other measure). The hi-hat suggests it should be written like you guys said, but I just don't hear it.

[close]

I've talked with several people now on Discord and they've all said the same thing, so it's probably correct to change it, but idk man I just don't hear it this way no matter how hard I try to. But if more people hear it this way, they'll probably more easily be able to read and play the sheet, so I suppose I can change it.

[Libera]

Firstly, I don't think that just because one way of hearing something is more natural for a first time listener means that it's more correct.  I can think of a bunch of examples of pieces where the 'obvious/natural' way to hear them is just wrong, in some cases verifiably wrong.

With that in mind, I also first heard this the way that Latios/msf did, but, after looking at Static's argument and listening to it for a bit, I've been won over to that way of hearing it.  Along with the drums as Static pointed out, there's also the little stab on every beat 2 which I think makes more sense being on the beat than being off it.

[Static]

I think I'm going to change it back to how I had it before, then.

[Latios212]

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I've taken a closer look at this one. Without the original playing, I've tried out playing the sheet on its own and it makes sense and sounds alright.

That said, I've listened to the original (not just the first variation) repeatedly and mentally cannot shift the beat to where you have it now, which tells me also that it's the percussion and way things are accented that suggest otherwise. I'm trying to put the reasons into words, here are a few:
- The hi-hat as you mentioned is probably the biggest thing
- The cymbal strike in every other measure (m. 2 beat 4 in your sheet, beat 4.5 when shifted like I hear it) makes more sense to me as a pick-up to the downbeat of the next measure
- The strike for the first of each pair of bass eighth notes (beat 4.5 in Static's sheet, beat 1 when shifted like I hear it) seems like a sharper attack which is probably why I interpret it as the downbeat (obviously we shouldn't depend on waveforms but just pointing out why this beat seems to stand out to me aurally more)
You cannot view this attachment.

All that said, more opinions from others?

[Maelstrom]

Well this is a weird case, to say the least. When I listen to the sheet, I unconsciously fall into tapping the tempo out the way static has it. However, when i listen to the original, I hear it as Latios/MSF do. The reason is, quite simply, the drums. It sounds like the 8th following the pair of 16ths is louder than the 16ths themselves. This gives a feeling that the 16ths are leading up to the  8th which is marking the beat solidly. The drum set pattern is pretty standard if there's no pickup measure too. The cymbal hit on b4/4.5 also feels like it's sliding into the next high hat tap on the next beat, rather than emphasizing the downbeat itself. Removing the drums removes that grounding and would explain why I hear the sheet as static wrote it. My personal recommendation would be no pickup, but I can't deny the feel the sheet has.

One final note: when going through the sheet again, I realized I can't hear cherry blossom festival with the pickup at all, even if I tap it out the other way. The d->a leadup really emphasizes the downbeat to me and I could use this as a pretty strong argument for no pickup throughout the piece.

edit: lat posted while I was writing this up. Funny that I came to the exact same conclusions as him without trying oops

[Yug_Guy]

I suppose as a former drummer I can weigh in here...

For me, this song does not start on a pickup measure. Easiest indicator here is the hi-hat: a lot of drum grooves have it open on beat 4.5 as a pickup to the next measure. See these two examples. We can see that the non-pickup version has the open hi-hat on beat 4.5, confirming the theory. And while the snare doesn't land on beats 2 or 4 exactly all of the time, it's not uncommon for certain genres (esp. jazz & funk) to purposefully play the backbeat a half or sixteenth early or late. 

All this to say, I agree with Latios & Maelstrom. For what it's worth, I tried listening to just the piano part alone & still couldn't hear it as Static has written it.

[Static]

Wow, lots of discussion here

I still just don't hear it that way. I'm aware of other similar drumming styles and patterns, but I don't hear it that way in this particular tune.

However, I'm fine changing it back, so I changed it back

[Latios212]

Cool.

I don't have much else to day, notes look good:
- You could make the first system of each variation have 3 measures instead of the last system, for more even spacing
- You could space out the first and second systems of the first variation a bit to give m. 7 more room on top

[Static]

Turns out I made all the edits like a week ago but I forgot about it... I've uploaded the new files now.

[Latios212]

Neato. Looks good to me

[Maelstrom]

Notes look great , everything looks great.

accepted