MaestroUGC's Virtuoso Submissions *Nihil*

[Nakah]

Which will only frustrate people and not make them want to use NSM.  He could easily make his arrangements more accessible and still sound nice, but he just tries to make them as obnoxiously full of whatever as possible.

  Disagreeing with me? Seeya in three days.





   On a serious note, sure they may seem frustrating, but their difficulty provides at least a wider spectrum of sheet intensity for people to play or even just look at. There are non-virtuoso arrangements for pretty much all of these songs that he has, so why not allow some extremely difficult arrangements to exist. Obviously not all of them will be fit to go up, so it comes down to what is actually playable and what sounds good or at least accurate to the song.


   Heed those words when arranging in the future maestro, don't over-do it, know thy limits and know what sounds nice.

[MaestroUGC]

I know the limits of the piano and humans and I keep them in mind when arranging.

[Seeker]

These songs are actually, really, not that hard under any circumstances. You just need at least... 6-10 years of piano under your belt to play these.

That might get you good enough to hit all the notes, but there's no way it's sounding good unless you're a prodigy. 15-20 years, after significant study at a conservatory seems a more reasonable estimate.

[MaestroUGC]

That might get you good enough to hit all the notes, but there's no way it's sounding good unless you're a prodigy. 15-20 years, after significant study at a conservatory seems a more reasonable estimate.

i.e. Grygory Cziffra, who inspired me to "virtuize" video game music.

[universe-X]

I was able to successfully play through Fountain of Dreams... after 3 days, half an hour practice each day. Random tempos With enough practice (a year or 2) I'd play it perfectly. And I'm only a "concert" (intermediate) pianist...

[Seeker]

That's one way it could happen. Here's a more likely scenario:

After months of practice, you are frustrated to find yourself hardly more able to perform than when you started. Without knowing the subtle ways every part of you must interact with the keyboard, you have an extreme excess of tension and wasted energy. As a result, halfway through the first right hand sixteenth note section, your right arm starts to lose feeling. Then it becomes sore. Then, if you're not smart enough to stop, searing pain. Stiffness. It takes all of your willpower to push through to the end. And then the same thing happens with the left hand arpeggios.

You may have all the notes, but all your control will be gone. It will be an ordered collection of notes, not music. It will be nothing but a cascade of sound, tinged with excruciating pain, obvious to everyone who hears it. If you push through, you will either give up in despair when you find it deteriorating, or you will continue until you seriously damage your hands.

I apologize if I sound overly haughty, but I have put far too much into my musical studies to allow it to be trivialized like this.

(I was going to say I was concerned for your safety as well, but you seem intelligent enough to know when to stop...)

[universe-X]

After months of practice, you are frustrated to find yourself hardly more able to perform than when you started. Without knowing the subtle ways every part of you must interact with the keyboard, you have an extreme excess of tension and wasted energy. As a result, halfway through the first right hand sixteenth note section, your right arm starts to lose feeling. Then it becomes sore. Then, if you're not smart enough to stop, searing pain. Stiffness. It takes all of your willpower to push through to the end. And then the same thing happens with the left hand arpeggios.

This was meant for the weak. Honestly, the 16th note sections are not as hard as first interpreted. For the left hand maybe, but the scales/"glissandos" make it that much easier. When you're able to point out these little things that make playing the song easier... it's easier.

EDIT: I also wouldn't suggest this for any beginners however. A few months - a year or 4 of practice on piano should make it easier (I play cello and have played piano for 3 years when UGC's virtuoso stuff popped out, so that helped tons). Plus, this stuff really helped me with my left hand's stiffness, scales, chords, different scales, fingering techniques, and syncopation, so I honestly don't see a real problem.

[Nakah]

It's not that they're so amplified that makes me like them, it's that they're so interesting to study theoretically. I'm sure most people won't ever attempt to play these, but they will still listen through it and observe the art that was incorporated into it. If maestro put in all the work to make the arrangement, his work of art deserves to be viewed even if not played. I know that I listened to a lot of his arrangements just to see how they panned out and what they included, and if they were toned down a notch or so they'd be very playable and less "cluttery." The added notes are interesting to see even when not necessary, and it makes the sheets and interesting work of art.

[KefkaticFanatic]

The problem is that they all sound the same.

[universe-X]

A person's style is his own. No arguing that.

[Nakah]

I do agree a tad on that part. It seems every song follows the same pattern. Maestro you shouldn't be discouraged by that, you should work on toning your arrangements to virtuoso perfection. You have the most room than any other arranger on this site to be creative.

[Cobraroll]

Once again, I say that these songs might be extremely hard to play, but they do indeed have their uses.

First and foremost, they can give you ideas. When you are at a level you feel you have mastered the regular arrangements, you are good enough to know what you can play and what you can't. Then have a look at the Virtouso arrangements, and find parts that you might be able to play. Is the melody really easy to play in the regular sheet? (i.e. the second half of Pokémon R/B/Y-Elite Four) Go see what UGC has done to that part, and see if you can take something from there. You don't have to play all the 4-finger chords; if it sounds good enough with two fingers, go for that. Are there any extra notes hidden within the original melody? Are they playable? Then play them.

If you're good enough, you can even do the reverse. Start with the Virtouso arrangement, and filter out what you can't play. At this point, you're skilled enough to find something decent-sounding to substitute it with. If your only problem is "it's too hard", do something about it. The regular sheets on site give an easy way to play a song, the Virtouso arrangements represent the other side of the spectrum. And it's not like those are the only two options. Finding your spot between these is only a matter of creativity.

Second, these arrangements provide a goal. "One day..." are the only two keywords needed to describe how I feel about some of the Virtouso arrangements.

I think we should have them on site. They might be practically unplayable, but the point isn't necessarily to play them. It's to see how it can be done.

[raymondbl]

That might get you good enough to hit all the notes, but there's no way it's sounding good unless you're a prodigy. 15-20 years, after significant study at a conservatory seems a more reasonable estimate.

sounding good?  what would you call sounding good?   Because in my opinion, I've completely aced two of them already.  my own dynamics... feeling... tempo... definitely notes... clearness....  I've been playing 2 years.  just started learning with a conservatory teacher.  started at studio.

[Seeker]

my own dynamics... feeling... tempo... definitely notes... clearness....

Basically what I meant. If you can really play it well, congratulations on being exceptionally gifted. Of course, due to the rarity of such people, I'm just going to make the (slightly) unfair assumption that you overestimate your skill until you provide us with some recording, if you are inclined to do so. I hope you are not offended by this and that you understand the logic leading to that assumption. If my assumption turns out to be wrong, I will happily admit that.

Edit: After reading through this again, I see that I have acted irrationally here, and for that I apologize. I doubt I will able to contribute rationally to this discussion for several days.

[Gooch]

I dunno. I think some of these are definately very playable. I brought the Underwater Waltz in to my piano teacher, and he sight read through it pretty successfully. He's definately not the best player, but he can sight read fairly well. I'm sure if he had the time (or the desire to play VG music), he could definately work it up. These aren't impossible, and I enjoy listening to them more than anything. If you were to make mp3's of them, I would be overjoyed (not saying that you have to).