djRyoji's Corner - Video Game Piano Vol. I (20 arrangements + sheetbook)

[DonValentino]

Ok, so in the end I couldn't finish the 5, and in fact I'm redoing one of them and have the other 2 like 80% done each one. Just that I said I'd have liked to have something for last weekend, and I don't really want to come empty-handed, so here are the remaining 2 (not what I'd wanted but oh well...):

16. GANONDORF

[SNES] The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

• "Ganon Battle"   MUS

NEVER AGAIN. No wonder why this hasn't been arranged before... I think I have all the accidentals... Also, could't do much more with the chords of the treble clef, I was limited by the upper voice, which is the most important... : /

The song is pretty awesome though. I was thinking on doing the Nintendo Land version of Gerudo Desert at first, but that one maybe in the future.


30. FALCO

[NDS] Star Fox Command

• "The Loner, Falco Lombardi"   MUS

This was fun to arrange. Not my fave SF song but hey, this was the perfect match for Falco.


Sorry if it's not too much. But as I said, I have 3 songs in the works, and I hope to finish them soon.
Feedback is always welcome~



edit: Ah yes, I'll replace Luigi's song (once again, heh). I was never very convinced with it to begin with, and now that nacho2420 has recently done a better version overall, there's no excuse to keep it. It'll still be available just like "Haunted Hijinx" from Nintendo Land for those who want it though.

[Maelstrom]

Nice job with Ganon battle! I seriously can't imagine ever arranging that myself.

You should get your own update when you finish this!

And, will you be doing a replacement for "Together We Ride" from FE7?
If not, I might. The one on the site is missing half of the melody.

[DonValentino]

Thank you! And yeah that would be great! :J

Nope, I haven't decided FE's songs yet. Go ahead if you want.

[DonValentino]

I arranged something, see?


Jokes aside... I'm so frustrated, it's been forever since I last did something. Now I realize how time-consuming arranging really is. :p

Anyway, let's talk about the arrangement. So at first I was going to arrange it like a normal song, but some time ago Bespinben did his magnificent "Staff Roll" from SML2, and it inspired me a lot! So I thought that maybe I could do something more like he did, and after tweaking here and there, here it is, a spiced-up version of the Staff Roll theme from Wario Land II! Hope you enjoy it!

[GB] Wario Land II

• "The Journey Home"   MUS

Truth is I really enjoyed arranging it, and discovered how convenient the landscape view is! I really want to do more arrangements like this :J

[DonValentino]

Another one of the 3 that I had almost completed.

[GBA] Metroid: Zero Mission

• "Kraid's Lair"   https://db.tt/idFddqfS
  

Easily one of the most memorable themes of Metroid. I went with the Zero Mission intro because of the epic intro and because I felt it had more content to play with than the original NES version. To avoid repeating the same phrases over and over like in the original, I added some little variations that add life to the arrangement.

I'm just tired of doing boring arrangements, always sticking to the song as accurately as possible... Well screw that! Imma not studying music to copy-paste!

[Bespinben]

[GB] Wario Land II

• "The Journey Home"   MUS

Lol, when I opened up the file, just the overall look of it made think for a second it was one of my sheets Isn't landscape just amazing? Solves all your spacing issues.

I received unfortunate news a few weeks ago from Jamaha via Deku that using pictures is no longer kosher for NSM. However, seeing as neither my SML2 Staff Roll or your equally daring Wario Land arrangement are never going on site anyway (unless NSM suddenly revives having a "easy" and a "hard" arrangement [see Dr. Wily Stage 1 on site]), we'll be just fine!
I think you hit the nail on the head with this one:

I'm just tired of doing boring arrangements... Well screw that!

Keep up the awesome!
(I'll check out the Kraid's Lair soon enough too -- you ninja'd me as I was writing this )

[DonValentino]

It is omg, you have a way better overview of the pages, and no more scrolling up and down all the time!

Oh, bad news indeed, though to be honest I always doubted pictures were going to be accepted. Well it's not a big issue, here at the forums there are no rules regarding sheet etiquette, fortunately; otherwise we wouldn't have been able to enjoy Maestro's "Maestropieces" xD

Yeah, what's the deal with that? I always wondered why there was that one, and that one only, that had a "Simplified version" lol

Yes, I'm so happy to say that for once I actually really enjoy the arranging process! Previously, all I did was open Transcribe, slow down the mp3, pay some attention to harmonic progressions, and transcribe the exact same notes of the song to the sheet. A tedious and boring effort only compensated with the "satisfaction" of a completed arrangement.

I never dared to completely free myself from that, I thought it would result in an inaccurate work. However, when I saw your "Staff Roll" from SML2, I really started to rethink this again over and over, and finally dared to go beyond that and use my current knowledge and inspiration to arrange a song the way I feel I would play it if I had to play it on piano.

It really started when you did that version of "Kracko Battle" though, you added soooo much life and depth I couldn't believe it! Comparing the old arranging method of the other version and the result of your arranging philosophy really made me meditate about it. I remember you said that that way it paradoxically resulted and even more accurate arrangement, and you were absolutely right!

Thanks to you, now I realize that arranging is taking inspiration from an existing song and take it to an instrument the way you feel it, creating something new while maintaining the essence of the original; not just copy-pasting notes like a machine. And I really wish to apply that philosophy with all my future and maybe even old arrangements, and definitely will!

Thank you also so much for your comment and your feedback, I really appreciate it! Hope you like Kraid's Lair too btw! :J

Lol, when I opened up the file, just the overall look of it made think for a second it was one of my sheets

Oh yeah, and this made my day. There's no better feedback I could ever receive!!

[Latios212]

Wow.... I'm really enjoying you guys` new take on these tracks... this is awesome ^_^

I gotta work on my left hand jumping, because oh boy do I want to play these sometime. haha.

Great job! I really enjoyed this!

[DonValentino]

Thank you very much! Glad you liked them!

[DonValentino]

I've been frantically working on this one to finish it asap. I think I've never rushed an arrangement this much! lol
I really enjoyed doing this, is doing something fresh after just working on the SS project. I think I'll do this sometimes to refresh myself a little and keep my arranging skills "en garde".

Blabbering aside... To celebrate the release of SM64 on the Wii U VC, here's the castle theme, originally composed by Koji Kondo as a nice string quarter arranged here to piano.

[N64] Super Mario 64

• "Inside the Castle Walls"  MUS

[Sebastian]

Excellent work! I love it!
Just one thing.
Isn't it a little slow? My BPM thingy says 150.

[DonValentino]

150? Really? Woah, that's too fast. I usually put the music on par with Finale's playback to check the tempo, and the closest thing I got is between 138-139. What "BPM thingy" are you using exactly?

[JesterMusician]

-Those pizzicato fills in 2, 4, and 6...they sound like half an octave too high. I think it actually goes C-G-C-G-C, B-G-B-G-B, A-E-A-C-E, respectively.
-The Ab in 22 and 32 should be written as G#, because the underlying harmony is E(m) -> Am, and an E chord is spelled with a G#. Also gets rid of that courtesy natural.
-You can get rid of almost half the measures by writing the whole thing with two volta systems and writing D.C. at the end.
-The Bb in 21 and 31 should be written as A#, since it's a sort of passing tone for a melodic progression that B natural is a part of. (If it's a downward chromatic scale, then it's okay to use Bb, but here it's not)
-I might write the F in 4 with a natural, since it's used very similarly to the F# in 2 (just like what you did in 25).


Very nice!

[Sebastian]

150? Really? Woah, that's too fast. I usually put the music on par with Finale's playback to check the tempo, and the closest thing I got is between 138-139. What "BPM thingy" are you using exactly?

I use this
Tap for Beats Per Minute BPM - ALL8.com
www.all8.com › tools

[DonValentino]

Hmm, seems to work for me... Also, never heard of this tool, I think I'll have it in mind for the future. Thanks for sharing it! And for the feedback of course :J

-Those pizzicato fills in 2, 4, and 6...they sound like half an octave too high. I think it actually goes C-G-C-G-C, B-G-B-G-B, A-E-A-C-E, respectively.
-The Ab in 22 and 32 should be written as G#, because the underlying harmony is E(m) -> Am, and an E chord is spelled with a G#. Also gets rid of that courtesy natural.
-You can get rid of almost half the measures by writing the whole thing with two volta systems and writing D.C. at the end.
-The Bb in 21 and 31 should be written as A#, since it's a sort of passing tone for a melodic progression that B natural is a part of. (If it's a downward chromatic scale, then it's okay to use Bb, but here it's not)
-I might write the F in 4 with a natural, since it's used very similarly to the F# in 2 (just like what you did in 25).


Very nice!

Oh, almost missed this!

- Woah, you're right, I messed up with the notes and wrote each one one place ahead, it's C-G-C-G-C. Nice catch, I think I would have never noticed lol.
- *facepalm* Duh, correct. But it does create another courtesy accidental after all anyway xD
- I personally prefer having the whole song even if repeats passages if it's short instead, not that it has 10 pages if I don't put the repeats, but for people who prefer it the other way, I also just made it. I'll keep the other one for me though.
- Agreed.
- You mean parenthesize it? Well I honestly think it's clearly natural, but I guess it won't hurt. Courtesy accidentals are always appreciated after all.

Thank you very much for your feedback!


Here's the link again, just in case:  https://db.tt/GS6cuXNV