Fantastic Ike's Halloween Sheet - Plants vs. Zombies [PC] "Main Menu"

[Fantastic Ike]

Bbbbrrraaiiiinnnssss...

[Fantastic Ike]

Wouldn't you know it, ran into this issue RIGHT after I posted. So this link lists the track as "Crazy Dave" and the record scratch apparently loops the song back to the beginning? I'll change all of these things once I get feedback on the sheet, but wanted to bring this up now.

[Bloop]

I think this one is probably the exact track you're looking for:

So the title should be Crazy Dave (Intro Theme), which corresponds to this listing as well. The In-Game version is just extra proof that it loops back to the beginning haha.

[Fantastic Ike]

In my rush to finish this piece, I wasn't as vigilant as usual with the track naming. Apologies, hopefully this is all cleared up now.

[Static]

• m1-12 RH: In general, this entire section would be a lot easier to read and understand if the voices were split into multiple layers like the LH. I would also suggest keeping the melody as the top layer so it's easier to hear (remember, piano is a homogenous texture compared to the multi-instrumental pieces we often arrange). Here's a quick example of m5 RH:
  
  Combining layers can be useful for simplicity, but when you have several contrapuntal layers with varying rhythms between them, it's best to use multiple layers in my opinion. Otherwise, it can be come difficult to tell what the distinct voices are.
• m5 LH is impossible to play as written. My suggestion would be to remove the upper LH voice entirely, or to move the bass up an octave and keep the LH voice in its original octave.
• m13-20 RH: The background organ part only plays on downbeats (I'm not hearing those additional notes on beats 2.5/4.5). Also the chords remain the same throughout each measure. The progression is Gm-Cm-D7-Gm.
• m13/17/etc. LH beat 3 should be C# instead of G (these measures should look exactly like m16/20/etc.)
• m13-27, 29-34 LH: Whenever you have that all-eighth note bass pattern, the last two eighth notes (beats 4-4.5) should be slurred rather than staccato.
• m19/27 RH should look like this:
  
• m21/25 RH Layer 2: These background chords sound like F-G (part of a Dm11 chord).
• m23/27 RH: I'm not hearing the background part here, I think just the melody is playing.
• m24 LH: The only way to hold that upper voice while playing the bass is to use pedal, so it won't sound staccato in a performance. Maybe consider moving that part to the RH instead, combined with layer 1, and removing some of the RH Layer 2 part.
• m28 LH beat 3: There's no bass note here, it's not the same as m20.
• m29-34 LH: All Gbs should be F#s, like you had earlier.
• m30 RH: This isn't exactly very feasible at this tempo either, especially with the large intervals on beats 1 and 3.5. I would probably just use the piano part here.
• m35-36: This part would sound more full and have a greater sense if finality if the bass voice (Eb to D to G) stayed on the bottom and the chord tones were moved to the mid-upper register with the RH.
• m35 beat 2.5: This should be written as an eighth note tied to a quarter note.
• m36 RH: The chord should be held for the full duration of the measure.
• m36 LH beat 4: There should be another bass note G here.
• With the above changes to m35-36, it should look like this:
  
• You can add a D.C. at the end if you want, since it repeats in-game.

If you have any questions let me know. This piece is short, but very dense.

[Fantastic Ike]

Sorry, this one was a bit sloppy

m13-20 RH: The background organ part only plays on downbeats (I'm not hearing those additional notes on beats 2.5/4.5). Also the chords remain the same throughout each measure. The progression is Gm-Cm-D7-Gm.

You'd think I'd be better at chord progressions by now but oh well. Tried to voice them in a way that doesn't obscure the melody

m21/25 RH Layer 2: These background chords sound like F-G (part of a Dm11 chord).

Uh I tried voicing this but it sounds hella crunchy. Lemme know if you have a better option here

But I think that's everything. Updated in Dropbox

[Static]

Looking much better now, but still more stuff to go over:

- Swap the layers in m1/3 and 9/11 so they look like m5/7; it's all the same part.
- Hide or combine rests to make things simpler when you can. m1 and 3 RH, you can hide the half rest on beat 3 without an issue, for example. m5 LH you can combine the rests on beat 4 since both layers share the same rest.
- m5 RH move the quarter rest on beat 4 above the notes (remember, you cannot see the layer colors on a PDF, so things should look crystal clear in just black and white). You can also just hide both quarter rests and the differing layers will be parsed easily by simply the lack of beaming across beats 3-4.
- Unless you want rolls or pedal usage, try to avoid intervals larger than an octave in parts with a lot of movement, like m13-17 RH.
- m19 and similar: My bad here, I meant LH here:

- m21/25 RH Layer 2: Again, my bad, it's a Gm7 chord, but just keep the G. I agree F gets in the way here.
- m24 RH Layer 1: The dots are touching the 2nd layer; just move them all one space above where they currently are with the Dot Tool.
- m32 RH: Flip the grace note slur up, since it's on the top layer.
- m36 RH Layer 2: Beat 3 should be a half note instead of a quarter note.

[Fantastic Ike]

Think that's everything. Lemme know if 13-17 looks better now

[Static]

- Swap the layers in m1/3 and 9/11 so they look like m5/7; it's all the same part.

Meant the RH here, although looking at it again I think it's fine if you just wanna keep it the way you have it.

The other changes look great, I would just unhide the 8th rest at the beginning of m31 RH. Also you should move the 8th rest in m33 RH down a bit so it's not colliding with the note.

[Fantastic Ike]

Sure thing, updated.

[Static]

Looks good. Last couple things I noticed was the whole note in m5 RH Layer 3 (intersecting stem), and m30 LH beats 1-2 should be flipped down because of the cross-staffing. I'll approve pending those changes.

[Fantastic Ike]

Sure thing. Slightly offset one of the staccatos on m30 LH so it doesn't bump up against the stem, hope that doesn't look offputting

[Bloop]

-m7: Maybe you could move the L.H. notes on beat 4-4.5 down an octave, so they're in the same octave as the other notes from that same line?
-m13 and 18: Maybe you could write the R.H. here like this:
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The top layer is what I hear in the melody, and I moved the other line partly to the second layer. You could still add the G and D on beat 1 and 2 to the 2nd layer too though.
-m19 and 27: The R.H. here sounds legato to me
-m15: You could add parentheses around the R.H. C in beat 4, since it's also played by the L.H.
-m20: C on beat 4.5 should be a D.
-m21 and 35: I hear F's in the chords here too, maybe you could write the R.H. here like this then:
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-m24: The dots from the dotted quarter note in the R.H. on beat 1 appear on the staff lines (at least in my version of finale), those should be in the spaces between the lines like this:
You cannot view this attachment.
-m30: Maybe instead of writing out the 16th run here, you could write out the main melody in 8ths, and imitate the 16th run with offbeat notes (kinda like this, though you might wanna recheck if the 16th notes are somewhat akin to the original 16th note run)
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-m35: The C in the R.H. from m36 is already here on beat 4.5

[Fantastic Ike]

Fixed. Think it's all good now

[Bloop]

Great! A few tiny things left:
-Maybe you could edit the font of the decay text to Times New Roman, which is the standard font Finale uses for all technique and expressive text.
-Finale doesn't recognize accidentals in one layer as affecting ones in another layer for some reason, so you'll need to force show the naturals on the F's in the R.H., beat 4.5 of m13, 17, 21 and 25, and force hide the sharps on the F# in the R.H. on beat 3 of m15.
-For m19 you could also use a slur, or no slurs and no articulations for the R.H. to indicate the legato. I think my preference goes to no slurs/articulations, since you haven't used them in the rest of the sheet either.