The Official Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Project

[braix]

I'm confident I should be able to tackle this in a more pianistic manner now, so you should probably see an update on Lucas by next week if I don't put it off

[Yug_Guy]

Yeah.... it's been a while. I'll go through it again sometime soon & see if I can fix it up.

[Latios212]

Awesome! Thanks you two

[Latios212]

Jubilife City (Night) (Two Pianos) by braixen1264
Seems very well transcribed, and the layout of parts over four hands on two pianos seems good. (I'll double check all that later).

However, I was discussing this with Olimar earlier and we both agree that it would probably be better to write this in 4/4 swing, lending itself to the jazz style of the song better. Besides that reason, although there are some out-of-place rhythms (particularly the eighth-quarter) in the song that fit in 12/8, I think it would actually be easier to interpret in swing 4/4 because they would visually stand out against the normal swing rhythms. Right now some places are a somewhat difficult-to-comprehend mishmash of different rhythms:

You cannot view this attachment.

As well, key signatures... just two, one for each section, should do fine. That little transitional bit at the end doesn't really warrant a different key.

[Sebastian]

Battle Castle by Sebastian
- The very start of the song! I would suggest a high F# for that chime to kick off the song.

Good idea. Added.

In due time :3

Battle Castle by Sebastian
- Middle voice - in some places like m. 18 you've omitted the note on beat 3. However, it'd be easily playable by the right hand and you do have beat 3 present in other measures, so I'd throw it in for consistency. Check to see if it's viable in other similar places too.

I actually disagree. The reason I omitted those notes is that there is a left hand/bass note played on that beat. I don't want the right hand playing those notes. It would be inconsistent to add them in since I purposefully arranged it this way.

In due time :3

Battle Castle by Sebastian
- Not sure how easy those rolled chords in m. 38-39 would be to play. Maybe try slimming them down a bit?

Sure thing. Fixed.

In due time :3

Battle Castle by Sebastian
Some comments on the cross-staving in general - it could use a bit of work here and there. A few things I noticed are:
- Beam angling. Sometimes you have the voice ascending but the beam angles downward, and that's no good.

Sorry. I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

- Staccatos - sometimes they look oddly placed, like in m. 35. Sometimes above, sometimes below.

Those are the defaults. I'm not sure exactly how to change them since they go back to that spot when I delete and replace them or move them.

- Stem direction - m. 50 into 51 looks awkward.

They are flipped up that way because there is another voice. I can flip them the other way. Fixed.

- Cut-off points for what goes in the top/bottom staff - I'd take another pass here to determine what looks the best as well as makes sense from a playability standpoint - at least, try to keep it consistent; in m. 29 F# goes in the top staff, while in m. 30 it's in the bottom.

I agree with this. I edited them a bit to make them more consistent.

- Space between staves - pretty self-explanatory, but make sure everything has a good amount of room. Things on the last page start to get really squished vertically.

I did some editing with this. Fixed.

[Olimar12345]

@Braix: Regarding the key signature choice of Jubilife City: Leaving it keyless is a very solid option as well. Big band composers often do that for things like this. I was just telling Latios that I left my big band arrangement of this tune in open key and it looked and worked just fine. Of course, having a form that changes keys is more of a problem when you're writing out more than one time through the form, so it's up to you.

[Latios212]

I actually disagree. The reason I omitted those notes is that there is a left hand/bass note played on that beat. I don't want the right hand playing those notes. It would be inconsistent to add them in since I purposefully arranged it this way.

Oh okay, sure thing!

Sorry. I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

Things like this:

Spoiler

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Also, where's the updated file?

[Yug_Guy]

How's this?

Pokemon Center (Night) MUS MUSX MIDI PDF

I changed the system spacing, made the sharps/flats visible when part of an arpeggio, changed some parts to be a lot easier to play, and did some general cleanup.

[AmpharosAndy]

For some reason the mus file has 'R=ppp R= r0' where the swung indication should be....? what

there's some jumpy bits but looking at it, I can't see a better way to get them in unless you move octaves around.

[Latios212]

Eterna Forest (Solo) by Zeila
This is one of my favorite songs from the soundtrack! Overall, solid work. It sounds and plays nicer than it looks - more on that later. I spent an hour or so playing around with it on my piano and cross-checking things. Here are my thoughts:

Arrangement:
- I get that measures 5-6 are like that in the original, but it's both awkward to play and dissonant the way you have it written. Consider using the left hand to play the lower parts of those chords, and axing the notes above the melody - as of right now, the high repeating B detracts focus from the moving line.
- Measure 11 and similar places - both the chord and the bass note should be lower. Check the duration of the chord as well, since it shouldn't bleed over right up until where the bass note starts. It's subtle, but the way the figure is written now implies pedal to sustain the chord while the left hand jumps down to reach the bass note - and that's not the kind of sound the original produces.
- Measure 16-18 seem pretty off to me. The melody should jump down in m. 16-17 with the chords above, and the chords should be the focus of m. 18.
- There's some melody lost in m. 24-25. The top line should start drifting away - while you have the diminuendo present, it's more important to ease in the other parts rather than repeat the high notes.
- Accompaniment in the section beginning with measure 27. It's too light (too high up); the song has been building up to this section which finally lets loose with all the energy that's been building up. Try moving the left hand part lower and experiment with what creates a more balanced sound.
- Is there a reason for the staccato mark in m. 33? It doesn't sound like that note particularly needs it.
- The left hand accompaniment part in m. 33-36 is a little tough to play, and makes this bit sound a bit too structured. My recommendation - cut the last eighth notes in each group; that way the figure sounds more "open-ended" like it does in the original.
- Measures 37-38 also lack punch because the left hand is trapped too high. Again, see if you can come up with an accompaniment pattern that utilizes lower notes, perhaps for the first beat of those two measures.
- I feel like m. 39-40 should focus on the quick flute ascents, as opposed to the descending eighth note line in the right hand you currently have written it. See if you can work it a bit to prioritize that.

Visuals:
- Too cramped overall. The rhythms are really tricky in this song and you're not making it any easier to read by compressing everything together horizontally. Give everything some breathing space and fill a full three pages. Other things like the 8va lines and dynamics demand more room as well.
- Watch your ties when you have dense chords like these. Finale won't automatically prevent collisions when they contain intervals of a second.
- The line between m. 8-9 - I would suggest it move from the left hand to the right hand part as opposed to the way you have it now, as keeping focus on the melody over the accompaniment is important here.
- Fix the layer work in m. 43-44 and 47-48. The first eighth rest is misplaced in m. 44 is misplaced, and the ties facing up/down get a bit confusing here. Actually, one thing to consider is it you want to write the repeating G's on the top staff, either to play with the right hand or to reduce collisions on the bottom staff.
- Slash at the end of the URL.

Once again, good work, and I hope this helps give you an idea of how we can improve the arrangement. Feel free to ask for assistance with anything.

[Sebastian]

Sorry for the late response, Lat! Here is the updated file. Let me know if any additional changes are needed.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hta3iikap19j5j/Pt28%20-%20Battle%20Castle%20-%20Sebastian.musx?dl=1

[Latios212]

Neat, looking much better! Some further things, though:
- Some kind of articulation on the first note would be neat
- Page numbers are too high and page 2 in particular needs more room at the top near the header. Copyright is too low as well.
- This is kind of nitpicky but a lot of your ascending cross-staff eighth notes on the first page still angle downwards slightly.
- Courtesy accidentals: not a big fan here (I would personally just omit them), but if you will use them be consistent about parenthesizing them or not (m. 10 vs. m. 34)
- I think the line in m. 51-52 is confusing. It's already implied in this section that the right hand is playing everything on the top staff, and I think it would make more sense to have a line indicating that the F# is a continuation of the lower voice instead.
- The half rest in m. 50 isn't really necessary since you're beaming the top layer down.
- Fix the beat 4 chords in m. 55. (To avoid manually moving the stems/noteheads which can get ugly, I'd recommend flipping the group by pressing L on the first chord, dragging the beam to where you want it, and using the reverse stem tool to flip the first two chords correctly.)
- Tie/slur between m. 56-57 looks really weird.
- Why is there a tie and a slur between m. 60-61?
- More space between LH/RH staves in the system starting with m. 57.
- You can just keep all the chords on the top staff from m. 63 to end. (You can move the eighth rest in m. 63 back up to mid-staff height as well.)
- You may want to consider keeping all the chords in the top staff from m. 54-60, for better continuity. The chords overlap a lot when they move between staves, but visually they look very separated. Also, the quarter rest on the bottom staff with the notes on the top (like in m. 54) should be moved up.

Just update the file in Dropbox when you're done!

[Latios212]

Hi all, here to get things organized for the project once more, so please read this post if you're contributing to the project.

Item #1
I've updated the status of each sheet in the OP, and files should be correctly placed in the [Dropbox folder]. Please let me know if the status of any sheet needs to be updated, or if a sheet needs to be placed or updated in the Dropbox folder.

Item #2
I've created a new status color for sheets that are waiting on the arranger to update it. In case you've missed any of the posts I or someone else has made, you need to respond to feedback. Here are the ones currently in that status - please respond when you get a chance.

Spoiler

42 - Eterna Forest - Zeila [feedback]
84 - Lucas - braixen1264 [feedback]
85a - Jubilife City (Night) (Two Pianos) - braixen1264 [feedback]
86 - TV Station - Trasdegi [feedback]
28 - Battle Castle - Sebastian [feedback]

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Item #3
In several weeks I will purge all claims on unfinished sheets at the end of the month unless you still express the desire to finish them. This project will need to get wrapped up at some point, and we need to get a clearer read on what there is actually left to do. There's been ample time already, but of course I'm also guilty of forgetting about some of my claims, so I don't expect anyone to have everything done; I'm just checking up on the progress. Anyway, here they are, and to reiterate, please post saying if you still intend on finishing any of these, otherwise I'll unmark them as claimed at the end of the month.

DP

1 - Opening Movie - Zeila
2 - Introduction - Zeila
11 - Dawn - braixen1264
13 - Sandgem Town (Day) - Latios212
16 - Pokémon Center (Day) - AwesomeYears
24 - Poké Mart - FireArrow
26 - Battle! (Rival)* - JDMEK5
30 - Oreburgh Mine - braixen1264
39 - Route 205 (Day) (Duet) - Latios212
44 - Eterna City (Day) - dajwxp
45 - Galactic Eterna Building - Latios212
46 - Battle! (Team Galactic Commander) - JDMEK5
53 - Hearthome City (Day) - FireArrow
59 - Veilstone City (Day) - Latios212
62a - Route 216 (Day) (Duet) - dajwxp
62b - Route 216 (Day) (Two Pianos) - dajwxp
64 - Team Galactic HQ - dajwxp
69 - The Legendary Pokémon Appears! - BrainyLucario
71 - Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) - Pianist Da Sootopolis
72 - Sunyshore City (Day) - Th3Gavst3r
78 - Route 228 (Day) - Altissimo
79 - Twinleaf Town (Night) - Th3Gavst3r
87 - Gts - Pianist Da Sootopolis
94 - Route 205 (Night)* - BrainyLucario
94a - Route 205 (Night) (Duet)* - BrainyLucario
97 - The Underground - Th3Gavst3r
122 - Hearthome City (Night) - dajwxp
127 - Dance: Easy - AwesomeYears
129a - Contest: Results Announcement (Duet) - FireArrow
131 - Route 228 (Night)* - InsigTurtle
131a - Route 228 (Night) (Duet)* - InsigTurtle
132a - Valor Lakefront (Night) (Duet) - braixen1264
134 - Battle Tower - Yug Guy
135 - Route 225 (Night)* - InsigTurtle
135a - Route 225 (Night) (Duet)* - InsigTurtle
136 - Stark Mountain* - Zeila
138 - Mystery Gift* - Jubilife Pianist
142 - Battle! (Elite Four)* - Th3Gavst3r
143 - Victory! (Elite Four)* - Sebastian
144a - Champion Cynthia (Duet) - dajwxp
145 - Battle! (Champion) - braixen1264
145a - Battle (Champion!) (Two Pianos) - dajwxp
148 - Congratulations on Entering the Hall of Fame! - Sebastian
149 - Ending Theme - Latios212, dajwxp

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Pt

3 - Special Program: "Let's Ask Prof. Rowan!" - Sebastian
15 - Mystery Gift - Sebastian
19 - Super Contest: Beauty - SlowPokemon
22 - Villa Audio System: Bossa Nova Lilycove - braixen1264
26 - Battle Hall - Altissimo
31 - Battle! (Frontier Brain—Sinnoh Version) - Zeila
32 - Victory! (Frontier Brain—Sinnoh Version) - Zeila

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Item #4
Please consider helping to review our remaining sheets! The reason that this is a community project is so that everyone can be involved in both arranging and reviewing sheets - it doesn't really help the community if a few of the updaters just binge-review all the sheets. I encourage you to take a look at what people have arranged, and offer whatever thoughts you may have. Closely inspecting the work of others is crucial to one's growth as an arranger, as well!

[Latios212]

(And yes, I'm currently still planning on finishing all my claims.)

[Yug_Guy]

Sorry about that - I had basically given up on "Battle Tower" a while back. After listening to it again, I think I'll try again. I'll let you guys know if it's too much for me.