The Deku Trombonist's Arrangements

[Sebastian]

Yep. Or things that you love listening to. Individual tracks or games or composers or anything.

How about this game by Grant Kirkhope?

Spoiler

[close]

It's got some awesome music.
You can find it on spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/23POMvwXvEgimUepZtfaBH
And YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCvIU-SB0Aw&list=PLs0BhPgrcHJdT-MpXyG2e1ZdJ371QECJ1

My personal favorite tracks:
Oven-fresh Day (Track 2)
Tranquil Hours (Track 4)
Growing under Moonlight (Track 15)

The music from this game is very beautiful and extremely underrated. There isn't any sheet music for this game here and I don't know if there is anywhere else (I haven't looked too hard).

[braix]

PMD

[The Deku Trombonist]

Chrono Trigger - Ocean Palace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhoDvm1IGNQ

So I've had this one finished for a while, but I just didn't get around to posting it.

I'm dedicating it to Maelstrom. I hope you like it!

[Maelstrom]

Absolutely beautiful.

[daj]

Chrono Trigger - Ocean Palace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhoDvm1IGNQ

So I've had this one finished for a while, but I just didn't get around to posting it.

I'm dedicating it to Maelstrom. I hope you like it!

I'll have you know that I listened to that three times consecutively. Such a beautiful arrangement. Probably will be my next quick-read, haha ^^

But dang, you arrange really well. Not sure why I never chanced upon this thread or any of your scores (probably did but y'know). Thanks so much for the music, man <3

edit: just made it four times.

[The Deku Trombonist]

Thanks!

Not sure why I never chanced upon this thread or any of your scores (probably did but y'know).

Probably because I'm not much of an arranger any more, I just do the odd thing now and then. There's plenty of my old stuff lying around, although I make no promises as to the quality haha

[Sebastian]

Probably because I'm not much of an arranger any more, I just do the odd thing now and then. There's plenty of my old stuff lying around, although I make no promises as to the quality haha

I have a notebook full of Deku arrangements which I still enjoy playing through to this day

Curious, the Ocarina of Time arrangements you have on your YouTube channel. Do you plan on updating the "on-site" ones with those? That would be awesome since the ones on site could use your updated ones.

[daj]

Probably because I'm not much of an arranger any more, I just do the odd thing now and then. There's plenty of my old stuff lying around, although I make no promises as to the quality haha

Ah...that's a shame. Oh well, I'll definitely go search through what you have, so no worries ^^


I went to quick-learn your Ocean Palace, and in the performer's position I saw a lot more awesome things than I did when I listened to your track four times consecutively.

It has to be said - you've done an absolutely amazing job with this arrangement.

I think your Ocean Palace best encapsulates what an "arrangement" should be. The original uses loops, which we, as arrangers, don't really like. In the first section the blippy ostinato that you've transcribed in the first bar is supposed to repeat throughout, with added layers of pads increasing the tension in each repetition. You chose to, mostly, ignore the pads, and instead focused on building the tension rhythmically. Which was a really creative and ridiculously effective move. As a performer, I definitely felt the tension rising in each phrase, I was naturally moved to give a little more as you threw in more notes; I knew what the original sounded like, and this wasn't really close, but that's the magic of an arrangement. In that first section I found myself taking an entirely new take on the music - instead of presenting it as a serene but tumultuous build I went full-cinematic. It was epic. You wrote it in such a way that I knew your intentions exactly, without any reference to the original.

The second section was even more creative - in the original the melody soars above the blips, but that's not possible on a piano, so you create contrast with the first section by adding this peaceful arpeggio in the left hand without losing the bass motif. The contrast can extremely naturally as well. And when the melody came back in chords, with a few extra octaves added in the left hand part, everything came together.

The D minor section (you chose to keep it in the original key, which is kinda fine because there weren't clear resolutions) was quite faithful to the original, but I saw that you scored the drum beats using the left hand part . I love that technique, it worked out really well in the performance, and it helped to create a nice rhythmic contrast with the previous flowy section.

Even in the following chromatic section, you played a fun move. The original has four exact repeats - you took advantage of the ability of the piano to conveniently add a few notes to thicken texture and created a very, very effective rhythmic and textural build to a temporary ff climax. It flowed so, so dang naturally.

There was so much genius and so much creativity in that work, and I thought that the least I could do was to report back to you on it so you knew that, well, we can tell. When you communicate with the performer so effectively that all things come into place without too much hassle, then you've got a fantastic arrangement.

Amazing job, once again ^^

[The Deku Trombonist]

I have a notebook full of Deku arrangements which I still enjoy playing through to this day

Yay, it's nice to know someone gets something out of them.

Oh well, I'll definitely go search through what you have, so no worries ^^

You'll probably be disappointed I set out with a different intention when arranging Ocean Palace, so this is somewhat different to my usual fare. Most of my stuff is basically transcription.

[The Deku Trombonist]

I thought I'd try something a little different and try to transcribe the entirety of something. I might do a few more of these, they're a good stretch.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Forsaken Fortress

[Brassman388]

Me. being as outdated as I am, cannot open this file.

I still run 2012.

[Sebastian]

I thought I'd try something a little different and try to transcribe the entirety of something. I might do a few more of these, they're a good stretch.

Nice, Deku! Great work.

[Olimar12345]

Me. being as outdated as I am, cannot open this file.

I still run 2012.

Same here. Why pay for more headache?

[The Deku Trombonist]

Sorry, I keep forgetting. Here's a .mus link

[The Deku Trombonist]

I've had this for a while, it's about time it saw the light of day.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Trophy (Four Hands) - [PDF] [MP3]