[GBA] Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - "Aquarius" (Replacement) by Atcero

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Castlevania
Game: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Console: Game Boy Advance
Title: Aquarius
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Atcero


Replacement Information:
Links to Existing Sheet: MUS | MIDI | PDF
Replacement Type: Challenge (new arranger)

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[Atcero]

:kekdog:

So with this double trouble of Aquarius, I did take some liberties with this version and referenced the original as some of those chords were difficult to hear. Hopefully this is fine but let me know!

[XiaoMigros]

Checking the notes will take me a bit longer than on the NES version but in the meantime:

• If you're writing "Composition by" and "Arrangement for Piano by", you should write "Arrangement by" rather than "Arranged by".
• My comments on your other submission concerning rhythmic notation can be applied to this sheet too, with the addition of showing beat 2 in m16 LH and similar.
• So can the stuff about articulation (adding some, and using it to make your notation easier).
• You've beamed over 16th rests in m6 and m10, would be great if you could do that throughout the whole sheet
• The two 16th rests at the end of m2&m26 can be written as an 8th rest
• The positions of your dynamic markings on page 2 should be adjusted, currently they are too close to the barline. Also the ottavas seem to have done their own thing again.
• In m23 the transition to m24 would flow more nicely if you have the LH play the bassline rather than the high G.
• m28 b4 LH would be better written as Bn
• In m32, the notation of different layers can be refined: the long D's stem can be flipped downwards, then the stems of the 16th notes can go upwards, and the rest can be moved above the D.
• Similar comment about page formatting as in your other submission, you have a lot of space available at the bottom of the page, in particular on page 3. Also, the tempo marking is too close to the composer/arranger text so the first system should be moved down a bit.

That's it for now, if you need any help with Finale feel free to ask!

[Atcero]

Thank ya! Got it updated minus the staccato bass for this one due to me forgetting finale will hate all the articulations I make, so will probably save it for later. With that, I also did not update:

In m23 the transition to m24 would flow more nicely if you have the LH play the bassline rather than the high G.

Due to the fact that that A nat actually being the bassline, and for me at least it still transitions nicely.
I also personally like to not spread out the last page in a score that much if I cannot fill the page as it seems better to match the previous spacing and keep it kind of tucked up at the top of the page rather than trying to go to the bottom of the page.

[XiaoMigros]

Due to the fact that that A nat actually being the bassline, and for me at least it still transitions nicely.

Either works, sounds good.

I also personally like to not spread out the last page in a score that much if I cannot fill the page as it seems better to match the previous spacing and keep it kind of tucked up at the top of the page rather than trying to go to the bottom of the page.

In that case I would make sure that the systems are on the same height across the last 2 pages, as currently page 3's systems take up less space than the same number on page 2.

[Libera]

Generally this looks pretty good.  All of the stuff is here it just needs a healthy amount of polish.

First though, is there no way we can cut down on the composers/arrangers?  That is a huge list.

Ok, here's the feedback:

-Missing an 'and' for the last person in the arrangement credits.
-The Bb on beat 2.75 of bar 3 LH should be an An.  Same for bar 27.
-The harmony at the start of bar 8/12 sounds like Bb->Ab rather than Eb-D.
-Beat 4.5 of bar 13 should be C - D sixteenths.
-The rhythm at the end of bars 15/19 in the LH is not right.  I would have another listen.
-The harmony note in bar 15/19 beat 3 sounds like it should still be a C rather than an Eb.
-The rhythm grouping in bar 16 LH is not correct.  It should look like bar 20.
-The 8vas in bars 21-23 shouldn't extend to the end of the bar.  They just need to cover the single note.  (They could also start a little more to the left).
-I think pretty much all the Gbs in this sheet should be written as F#s (secondary dominant stuff, or substitutions thereof).
-Beat 4 of bar 32 RH sounds like G F Eb D to me.
-The thirds written in for bars 16/20/34-35 I don't really hear in the original.  It sounds like the harmony stays more static underneath the melody, or occasionally moves around in a different fashion.  I'd have another listen to these places more carefully and see if you can get something a bit closer to the original.
-Presentation-wise, the top system of page 2 looks very cramped.  One way you could get around this is by changing the overall bar distribution so that you can use three bars for that system.  Something like this could work:

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Although you should clean up the exact placement to make pages 2 and 3 look consistent.  It also doesn't help that your margins are a bit extra narrow compared to what is generally used.  Is that a conscious choice or something going wrong with conversion?
-I recommend a double barline at the segno.
-Not particularly important, but you should start the tempo marking above the time signature (i.e. a bit more to the right).

Hope that helps!

[LeviR.star]

First though, is there no way we can cut down on the composers/arrangers?  That is a huge list.

While I agree with this, it may be difficult to pin down who composed/arranged this particular track. The original game (Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) had four composers on its music team, and it seems this game had three more people involved in arranging old music and composing new. Perhaps VGMDB has some information we could go off of?

[Atcero]

Sorry for the later than usual reply, life be busy atm sadly :cri:

With that, I believe I got it all updated minus the arrangers/composers cause as Levi said, there were 4 composers and then the new arrangers. I checked VGMDB and all they had listed iirc was Konami so did not help at all.

With that, for measures 34-36 I do know it's this arpeggiation going on, which I feel would be difficult to play so I took a bit of liberty and simplified it to the chords commonly found in the song already (minus 36, I thought those were the right notes just pitched downward but I could be wrong) to keep the feel while also making it playable. If you want me to match more the arpeggiation I can, but I felt this was the best way for keeping the song feeling like the original found in game.

Thanks so much!

[Libera]

Sorry for the later than usual reply, life be busy atm sadly :cri:

No worries.

With that, I believe I got it all updated minus the arrangers/composers cause as Levi said, there were 4 composers and then the new arrangers. I checked VGMDB and all they had listed iirc was Konami so did not help at all.

That's fine.  I thought I should ask anyway.  (The arrangement info though is currently starting too far to the left).

With that, for measures 34-36 I do know it's this arpeggiation going on, which I feel would be difficult to play so I took a bit of liberty and simplified it to the chords commonly found in the song already (minus 36, I thought those were the right notes just pitched downward but I could be wrong) to keep the feel while also making it playable. If you want me to match more the arpeggiation I can, but I felt this was the best way for keeping the song feeling like the original found in game.

Yeah bar 36 is fine (hence why I didn't include it in my list).  I was talking about the static(er) harmony that is underneath the melody in bars 34-35, so maybe something like this (although you could fill it out more if you wanted to I suppose).

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The harmony I hear in bars 16/20 sounds like Ab on beats 1-2, then D on beats 3-4.

Some other misc. things I spotted potentially(?) based on edits:
-I think the bass note in bar 3 beat 4 should be an An rather than a C.
-Could we have the 8vas in bars 21-23 consistent?  Or at least more consistent.
-It would be nice to have the distributions on pages 2-3 consistent (currently page 3 is spaced more tightly than page 2).
-As I mentioned in my previous post, it would be nice to have the tempo marking starting above the time signature, rather than over on the left.
-The D.S. at the end could have a little more space away from that top Ab.

[Atcero]

Got that all sorted out, thank ya! Sorry again for the wait

[Libera]

No worries again.

The harmony I hear in bars 16/20 sounds like Ab on beats 1-2, then D on beats 3-4.

This?

Also, maybe a courtesy accidental on the Ab on beat 1 of bar 4 would be nice, but maybe not needed.

Everything else looks good.

[Atcero]

Updated, thank ya!

[Libera]

Cool, approved!

[Maelstrom]

Looks solid, just a few quick things:
-Might sound nitpicky, but I think the measure distribution on page 3 would look better as 2/2/3/3/2 instead of 2/2/2/3/3 sine the middle bar is the emptiest of all of them.

-I don't really hear the 3rds on RHb1 in m5/6 etc. Same for b4.5 of m6. Also in m10. It might add a bit of color, but taking it out makes it easier to play fast. Up to you on this one.
-I hear a D in m8b4.75 RH, but it's understandable to leave out for playability reasons. Also in m12.
-I also hear a G restrike in m24b3.25 RH but it's again understandable to leave out for playability reasons. Also in m28.
-I hear a 3rd harmony below the first 3 notes of m32 RH. (Gn-An-Bn)
-Might be cool to have a few staccato'd RH 8ths throughout the piece. Plates like m4, and m17 could have a bit more color that way. LH could have some too, like m4b4, m16b3 etc.

-m1-3 LH b4.25 - pretty sure this is a G in all instances.
-LH m7b4.5 is a G
-LH m9b3.25 - I hear a G here (octave above current Gs)
-Both apply to m11/12 also
-m34b4 LH - I hear a G here instead of a C

ok maybe that wasn't short after all but it's a solid sheet. The Ab on b4 of m17 will always annoy me though. That's all I saw.

[Atcero]

LH m9b3.25 - I hear a G here (octave above current Gs)

Did you mean another measure?

-m34b4 LH - I hear a G here instead of a C

I relistened to this a few times and couldn't hear it personally.