[SNES] Mega Man & Bass - "Cold Man Stage" by LeviR.star

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Mega Man
Game: Mega Man & Bass
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: Cold Man Stage
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: LeviR.star

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[LeviR.star]

Ooh boy, am I glad I got around to getting this one finished...

There's some things I should note about this sheet:

- the original draft of it from several years back was, er... not good. In the absence of the song's synth pads, the harmony was very vague, and the arrangement generally left a lot to be desired. For this re-write, I have taken extensive liberties in order to make sure the harmony is conveyed properly, but I don't believe any of them are unreasonable
- this game was initially released to Japan for the Super Famicom as Rockman & Forte back in 1998 (so Japanese gamers without PlayStations could enjoy Mega Man 8, basically,) and it received a localized port to the Game Boy Advance as Mega Man & Bass four years later, so I've included both release years in the copyright info, and submitted the sheet as [SNES]
- in the interest of making this easier for myself, I've applied some of knowledge I've picked up from a Jazz Theory course this semester, and produced a hand-written lead sheet for all those wacky chords. If anyone thinks this would be useful for the submission process, I'll happily provide a scan of it

[Static]

Looks pretty good, glad to see some MM&B stuff

• I don't think you need the GBA copyright year. We don't have that for other games ported later on, even if the ports were the first localized versions.

• in the interest of making this easier for myself, I've applied some of knowledge I've picked up from a Jazz Theory course this semester, and produced a hand-written lead sheet for all those wacky chords. If anyone thinks this would be useful for the submission process, I'll happily provide a scan of it
  

  Actually, if you already have them written out, why not add the chord symbols to the sheet itself? It would be useful for performers, improvisers, and definitely for people wanting to make arrangements of this for different ensembles based on your sheet (NSM's audience is more than just pianists!).
• m1 RH: There's a rip up to the first chord that you could include if you want.
• m2 LH: The bass notes on beat 1.5 and 2.25 are played short/staccato.
• m3-12 RH: I get that you were trying to make the chords line up with the melody in the RH, and for the most part that works well. But there are a few instances where the movement of the inner voices could be included in the sheet when nothing else is going on, particularly in m6, 7, and 9.
• m11 RH beat 4.5: The melody should be tied here; there is an echo effect in a different channel that makes it sound like it restrikes when it actually doesn't.
• m13 RH: I would just make this a normal size chord - that resolution to Dmaj is an important part of the piece.
• m15 RH: Db should be C#, this is an A7#9 just like in m1.
• m17 RH: Cb should be Bn (G7#9).
• m17 RH beat 3.5: Missing Ab.
• m18 LH beat 4.5: Should be Eb instead of En (Eb is the starting note since it's part of the underlying chord, En is the chromatic passing tone leading to F in m19).
• m21 RH: The moving inner voice actually goes G (beat 1), Bb (beat 2.5), G# (beat 4).

[LeviR.star]

• Actually, if you already have them written out, why not add the chord symbols to the sheet itself? It would be useful for performers, improvisers, and definitely for people wanting to make arrangements of this for different ensembles based on your sheet (NSM's audience is more than just pianists!).
• m1 RH: There's a rip up to the first chord that you could include if you want.
• m3-12 RH: I get that you were trying to make the chords line up with the melody in the RH, and for the most part that works well. But there are a few instances where the movement of the inner voices could be included in the sheet when nothing else is going on, particularly in m6, 7, and 9.
• m21 RH: The moving inner voice actually goes G (beat 1), Bb (beat 2.5), G# (beat 4).

- sure, I'll have to figure out a good system for writing that out in Finale
- how would I notate that?
- what are your specific ideas? I want a distinct separation between the melody and the harmonies, so we'll have to be careful
- I'm having trouble picturing that. Could you please post a screenshot?

EDIT: I've got a work-in-progress lead sheet right here

[Static]

• Lead sheet looks good, first chord should be directly over the first note though (under the tempo marking). Similarly, the Dm in m3 should be moved to the right so it's over the first note.
  Chords are all correct too - m21 is a G7b9#9b13 - just use G7alt.
• m1: Just add a glissando like this (the playback won't work but that's fine)
  
• m3-12 RH: If you want the melody and harmonies separated (i.e. basically transcribed as they're played in the original), just listen for those background voices. Here's m6-7 as an example:
  
  And then from there, you can move/remove voices so it's playable and sounds good to you.
• m21: Sorry I was a bit unclear about this before, there are several moving lines here and I didn't catch the Eb-D one at first. This is what I'm hearing with all the voices transcribed as-is, but feel free to leave out that extra voice:
  

Hopefully this helps, lmk if you want any clarification

[LeviR.star]

Please don't take this the wrong way, I appreciate your input and background with jazz notation, but I just don't agree with filling in every chord in-between segments of melody. I feel as though the material gets all muddied together and ends up being harder for the listener to interpret; Mega Man music is very melody-centric, and I don't want that to be lost, even for music of this game. I only had the Dmaj chord written for m. 13 because it's a borrowed chord from the parallel key, and a necessary resolution to follow the D9sus.

I've updated the files, not because they're ready, but rather so that we can continue this discussion.

[Static]

Please don't take this the wrong way, I appreciate your input and background with jazz notation, but I just don't agree with filling in every chord in-between segments of melody. I feel as though the material gets all muddied together and ends up being harder for the listener to interpret; Mega Man music is very melody-centric, and I don't want that to be lost, even for music of this game. I only had the Dmaj chord written for m. 13 because it's a borrowed chord from the parallel key, and a necessary resolution to follow the D9sus.

I mean that's fine, I didn't intend or expect you to include all the voices - I just wanted to point out what was there. I thought you wanted separate layers the whole way though, I guess I was confused as to what you meant by this statement:

I want a distinct separation between the melody and the harmonies

It's perfectly fine to not include those extra bits though. I just thought there were other spots besides m13 that could benefit from that (m6 and 9 especially since there's nothing else going on there).

The other changes you made all look good, so I'll approve, but watch out for those ties in m7-9 RH, some of them are touching notes.

[LeviR.star]

I finally gave in, left Audio Overload in the past, and downloaded foobar2000 to separate the channels one by one. And I'm pleased to report that it works miles better than that other software ever did! So well, in fact, that I made three different recordings:

[BASS] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

[CHORDS] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

[MELODY] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

... and updated my sheet based on some of the new things I could hear; changes were made to the lead sheet symbols as well. I'm leaving these files here for any updater that would like to use them (I'd strongly recommend it). Not sure if the changes I made to the bass line were entirely proper, because there's this percussive "flicking" noise I hear every once in a while that sounds like an eighth-two sixteenths rhythm. Please give this another look-over, I feel even more confident in it now!

(This not directed at just Static, by the way, just a general statement)

[Radiak488417]

Hi hello I have a composer credit: this one is by Akari Kaida https://vgmdb.net/album/48280

[Latios212]

this game is called mega man and bass because its music has got a cool bassline, right

I finally gave in, left Audio Overload in the past, and downloaded foobar2000 to separate the channels one by one. And I'm pleased to report that it works miles better than that other software ever did! So well, in fact, that I made three different recordings:

[BASS] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

[CHORDS] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

[MELODY] Mega Man & Bass - Cold Man Stage.wav

... and updated my sheet based on some of the new things I could hear; changes were made to the lead sheet symbols as well. I'm leaving these files here for any updater that would like to use them (I'd strongly recommend it). Not sure if the changes I made to the bass line were entirely proper, because there's this percussive "flicking" noise I hear every once in a while that sounds like an eighth-two sixteenths rhythm. Please give this another look-over, I feel even more confident in it now!

(This not directed at just Static, by the way, just a general statement)

Neato. I've used the full track for reference wen checking, to judge the arrangement's coherence as a whole. And I'm using the bass track to check just the bass - I'm fine with the way you've written in those rhythms accordingly.

Chord symbols (please note I'm not an expert on chord symbols)
- Could just be me not being familiar with lead sheets, but for standard major chords like in 4 couldn't you just write C instead of Cmaj?
- Chord symbol for m. 5 should be over beat 1 just like everywhere else
- In m. 1 and 10 are labeled as A7(#9), should m. 15 be as well? Similar question for m. 17's G7alt
- m. 21 - isn't Gmaj(#5) equivalent to Gaug?
- Some of the chord symbols are positioned rather awkwardly - the ones in m. 8-9 are too far right, m. 10 too far left, etc for the rest. Double check them and reset some positions?

Other stuff:
- I would recommend writing al the left hand notes at pitch instead of using the 8vb note. It never uses more than three ledger lines at pitch and in most places the lowest notes are accompanied by a note an octave up that's anchored on the staff that makes it easier to read. By contrast, the way you have it right now goes above the staff quite a bit, which is a bit awkward.
- You could write in the harmony in m. 6 beat 1 as D-F half notes, you lose that motion there by omitting it
- m. 7 sounds like Gm7 to me? I don't hear the A crunching against the Bb in the original
- m. 25 seems to be missing an Eb pickup to the melody in the next measure?

[LeviR.star]

- this game is called mega man and bass because its music has got a cool bassline, right
- Could just be me not being familiar with lead sheets, but for standard major chords like in 4 couldn't you just write C instead of Cmaj?
- Chord symbol for m. 5 should be over beat 1 just like everywhere else
- In m. 1 and 10 are labeled as A7(#9), should m. 15 be as well? Similar question for m. 17's G7alt
- m. 21 - isn't Gmaj(#5) equivalent to Gaug?
- Some of the chord symbols are positioned rather awkwardly - the ones in m. 8-9 are too far right, m. 10 too far left, etc for the rest. Double check them and reset some positions?
- I would recommend writing al the left hand notes at pitch instead of using the 8vb note. It never uses more than three ledger lines at pitch and in most places the lowest notes are accompanied by a note an octave up that's anchored on the staff that makes it easier to read. By contrast, the way you have it right now goes above the staff quite a bit, which is a bit awkward.
- You could write in the harmony in m. 6 beat 1 as D-F half notes, you lose that motion there by omitting it
- m. 7 sounds like Gm7 to me? I don't hear the A crunching against the Bb in the original
- m. 25 seems to be missing an Eb pickup to the melody in the next measure?

- I wish. Unfortunately, Bass's name is Forte in Japan, so this is probably not the case
- you're right, I don't need to clarify with those. I'll take out the "maj" part from each triad
- got it
- hmm, you know what? You're right. Thanks for catching that, I hadn't noticed there wasn't a raised fifth in the chord anymore
- yes, I'll change it to that. Couldn't find "aug" in the suffixes list the first time around, but I've found it now
- made some slight adjustments, now I'm happy where they are
- sorry, but for reasons of personal preference, I don't agree with this. By removing the 8vb, everything is moved down so that two or more ledger lines becomes the standard, and it takes up too much room, room that could otherwise be used for jotting stuff down in-between the systems. By retaining the 8vb, the bass line stays tucked within the staff for a majority of the time, and as for the upper range? It uses three ledger lines only once, for a single note in m. 31. The way I see it, the left hand part is plenty readable as-is
- sure, and I'll add a performer's note about it, too
- I double-checked the chords track, and it turns out we're both half-right. The A is there, but there's no B-flat, so while I'll be removing the latter note, it's only the third of the chord, meaning Gm9 is still correct
- I think what you're hearing is the guitar's pitch bend not unlike the case in m. 18 and other similar areas. Originally, I also mistook it for part of the melody, but that pitch bend just seems especially quick—programming mistake, no doubt

That's everything! Took me a while to do the edits, and boy, am I tired. Files are updated, let me know if you have any more questions.

[Latios212]

Great, changes look good! Just two parting comments from me.

- I would recommend writing al the left hand notes at pitch instead of using the 8vb note. It never uses more than three ledger lines at pitch and in most places the lowest notes are accompanied by a note an octave up that's anchored on the staff that makes it easier to read. By contrast, the way you have it right now goes above the staff quite a bit, which is a bit awkward.

- sorry, but for reasons of personal preference, I don't agree with this. By removing the 8vb, everything is moved down so that two or more ledger lines becomes the standard, and it takes up too much room, room that could otherwise be used for jotting stuff down in-between the systems. By retaining the 8vb, the bass line stays tucked within the staff for a majority of the time, and as for the upper range? It uses three ledger lines only once, for a single note in m. 31. The way I see it, the left hand part is plenty readable as-is

I probably should have clarified, my point wasn't about minimizing the amount of ledger lines - it's about the cognitive burden placed on the performer to perform the mental shift of an octave. It takes some getting used to, not reading the notes as written. This can get potentially confusing where the left and right hand look like they're close when they aren't, or when there are jumps in the left hand. For instance, here in m. 31 there's a temptation for the right hand to help hit some of those lower staff notes, but the performer has to remember that those are actually an octave lower than written. In my opinion, this is more troublesome than reading bass notes that are not too far below the staff. I tend to advise shifting down an octave only when the left hand part is almost entirely off the staff as written, and would not go above the staff when raised. This piece's range is definitely within a reasonable range of readability. Ultimately though, your choice

Other than that, I think a few of the chord symbols are still not horizontally centered over the beat 1 chords when there's nothing to push them over - m. 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16. That's pretty small so let me know if you want me to adjust for those you or just accept if you're busy.

[LeviR.star]

I probably should have clarified, my point wasn't about minimizing the amount of ledger lines - it's about the cognitive burden placed on the performer to perform the mental shift of an octave. It takes some getting used to, not reading the notes as written. This can get potentially confusing where the left and right hand look like they're close when they aren't, or when there are jumps in the left hand. For instance, here in m. 31 there's a temptation for the right hand to help hit some of those lower staff notes, but the performer has to remember that those are actually an octave lower than written. In my opinion, this is more troublesome than reading bass notes that are not too far below the staff. I tend to advise shifting down an octave only when the left hand part is almost entirely off the staff as written, and would not go above the staff when raised. This piece's range is definitely within a reasonable range of readability. Ultimately though, your choice

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I see where you're coming from, and while I still disagree, I understand what you're saying. This just seems to come down to our philosophies on what's expected of the performer... personally, I'd expect them to get used to playing it an octave down by the time they've shaped up everything else, but that's just me.

Other than that, I think a few of the chord symbols are still not horizontally centered over the beat 1 chords when there's nothing to push them over - m. 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16. That's pretty small so let me know if you want me to adjust for those you or just accept if you're busy.

Done. Before, it was a matter of keeping them from passing behind the proceeding barlines, but at this point I don't think it matters.

Files are ready!

[Latios212]

Alrighty, accept it is!~

[Zeta]

This submission has been accepted by Latios212.

~Zeta, your friendly NSM-Bot