[SNES] EarthBound - "Good Friends, Bad Friends" (Replacement) by Yug Guy

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: EarthBound
Game: EarthBound
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: Good Friends, Bad Friends
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Yug Guy


Replacement Information:
Links to Existing Sheet: MUS | MIDI | PDF
Replacement Type: Challenge (new arranger)

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[attachment deleted by admin]

[Yug_Guy]

"(Cast Roll)" should be omitted from the title.

[Maelstrom]

Latios and I went over m1-64 for now.
- m. 4 - LH - May I recommend putting the notes in both layers to make it more visible what they are? I'd also recommend adding an octave harmony to the Db on beat 2, also in the 2nd layer
- m. 14 - LH - Don't include that voice just out of the blue. It adds clutter and feels wrong to only be there.
- m. 39 - RH - beat 1 - The A only strikes once.
- m. 41 - LH is Ab on beat 3.
- m. 42 - LH goes F-F#-G at the end. last dyads in RH should have Eb not F on bottom.
- m. 48 - LH goes G-Ab-Bb at the end.
- How about a double barline at 57? Also, Bn-->Cb in this section.
- m. 60 - any reason why the Ab doesn't repeat on the second 16th note? Same with 64.

For the last half, you have accidental problems. A lot of them.
Here's a simplified way of figuring out how to spell them:
1st, try to figure out what the interval is. Is it a perfect 4th? Then there should be 2 spaces between the notes. Is it a minor 3rd? Then it should look that way.
2nd, spell them that way with accidentals. Yes, you may need to sharp Bs and Es, or add double sharps do this, but it's important.
You know you're doing it wrong when you have a set of parallel intervals that should be the same, but are spelled so that they look like a combination of different intervals.
Let's test this with m94.
Beat 1 has a B and an Eb. Play it on the keyboard. There are 2 things you could call this: a major 3rd, and a diminished 4th. It is, in fact a major 3rd, so it should be notated as B-D#.
Beat 3 is the same.
Beat 4 gets interesting. It's a series of parallel 3rds, so it can't be notated as a 4th. There are 2 ways to notate it. You could spell it C#-E# or you could spell it Db-F. Here is where paying attention to surrounding notes comes into play. A C#M 3rd makes a heck of a lot more sense in this context than a BbM chord, so you would use the first option, even though it means sharping the E.
I hope this makes sense. Try to apply this to the rest of the song.

from latios about note stems:
"The direction of the stem should extend towards the middle of the staff from the note farthest from the middle of the staff."

[Yug_Guy]

Latios and I went over m1-64 for now.

Cool! It's probably best to review this piece in small chunks.

- m. 4 - LH - May I recommend putting the notes in both layers to make it more visible what they are? I'd also recommend adding an octave harmony to the Db on beat 2, also in the 2nd layer
- m. 14 - LH - Don't include that voice just out of the blue. It adds clutter and feels wrong to only be there.
- m. 39 - RH - beat 1 - The A only strikes once.
- m. 41 - LH is Ab on beat 3.
- m. 48 - LH goes G-Ab-Bb at the end.
- How about a double barline at 57? Also, Bn-->Cb in this section.

Fixed.

- m. 42 - LH goes F-F#-G at the end. last dyads in RH should have Eb not F on bottom.

Do you mean dyad? I'm not sure how you could replace Eb in any of the other notes. Fixed if that's the case.

- m. 60 - any reason why the Ab doesn't repeat on the second 16th note? Same with 64.

I don't believe the Ab actually plays on that beat. Nevertheless, I've added it in for consistency.

For the last half, you have accidental problems. A lot of them.
Here's a simplified way of figuring out how to spell them:
WALL OF TEXT

Thanks for the tip! I've started combing through the arrangement trying to fix the accidentals; most of the more obvious ones have already been fixed.

from latios about note stems:
"The direction of the stem should extend towards the middle of the staff from the note farthest from the middle of the staff."

I believe I've fixed all the wrongly flipped stems. Please let me know if I missed any.

[Static]

This is one heck of a sheet, wow. I forgot how good this song was, and you did a really nice job of including all the important voices. There's still some stuff to fix, though, but it's nothing too major:

- m1 and beyond - Make sure you listen carefully for the bassline articulations. There's many notes that should be staccato'd, including many of the quarter notes starting at m9. I would recommend staccato-ing a lot of the 16ths in the bass as well to give them the same punchiness as in the original. Listen especially carefully for the 8th notes in the bass, as some are longer and shorter than others.
- m4 - Bn should be Cb (Abm11 chord)
- m7 - Ens and Bns should be Fbs and Cbs (progession here is bVI - VII - I)
- m9 and beyond - If you're going to include the bari sax on beat 1, consider adding in the pickups elsewhere in this section. You don't have to necessarily, but I think it would work.
- m17-24 RH - Keep the beaming consistent - if you're going to be beaming over that 8th rest make sure its either for every measure or for none of them. I would recommend beaming.
- m39-40 RH - F#s here should be Gbs since here that note is part of the chord (Ab7) and not just acting as a chromatic passing tone like in the bassline.
- m66 - Bn should be a Cb since this is a Cb Major chord in 2nd inversion.
- m68 - Ens and Bns should be Fbs and Cbs since this is an Fb Major chord.
- m68 LH - The 8th notes continue on beats 3 and 4, but only beat 3 and 4 are accented.
- m70 - Bns should be Cbs since this is a Cb Major chord.
- m72 - This should be an Fb major chord, not an E major chord (bVI - VI progression).
- m73 - The key should be notated as G Major, not C Major.
- m74 LH - Bassline should go Fn-Fn-A-A#-A#-A#-A#-B-C.
- m76 LH - Bassline beat 1 should be an Fn, not a B. The G#s should be Ans.
- m77 LH - Bassline beat 3 should all be A#s, and beat 4 should all be Bs.
- m78 LH - Bassline beats 3-4 should be E-E-Fn-F#.
- m79 LH - Bassline beat 2 should be G#-G#.
- m79 RH - The lower voice in 1st layer  on beats 3-4 should be B-C-D-D.
- m80 RH - The lower voice in the 1st layer doesn't actually exist, but the lower voice that does exist is unplayable, so I think this is good. However, this voice should be D-Eb-E-F#.
- m81 RH - The 2nd layer on beats 3-4 should be C-C#-D-E. The lower voice in the first layer on beats 3-4 should be F#-F#-G-A. The upper voice in the first layer on beats 3-4 should be A-A#-B-C.
- m82 RH - The 2nd layer on beats 3-4 should be E-E-E-F#. The lower voice in the first layer on beats 3-4 should be A-A-G-A.
- m82-87 LH - You should beam all the 8ths in beats 1-2 of these measures for consistency.
- m84 LH - A courtesy accidental on the G would be nice. Also, there is a G that's played where you put the 16th rest. Same applies to m86.
- m85 - The key changes to E Major here and remains in E Major until the end (so remove the keychange at m102 and change all accidentals accordingly in m85-97).
- m85-97 - I'm not going to go into too much detail here, just make sure you listen carefully for the harmonies in the RH and the bassline and make sure all the notes are correct.
- m86 - There is a G that's played on beat 2 where you currently have an 8th rest.
- m91 RH - Delete and re-enter the Bb in the 2nd layer so it aligns with the 1st layer.
- m103 RH - Include the bottom note of the triads in the RH (so C-C-C-D-D-D). The D in particular really adds to the texture of that chord there.
- m113 LH - Watch the tie here, it's colliding with the RH notes. I would suggest spacing the staves just a little bit more apart.


With a big sheet (I'd say anything more than 3-4 pages), rehearsal markings are really important, imo. It helps readers not get lost in all the music. While double bars alone can work for smaller sheets, it doesn't have the same effect on longer ones. So, I would suggest adding rehearsal markings.

[Yug_Guy]

Oh, those pesky Fb's!

I've uploaded a preliminary version with most of your suggested changes. I'll probably work on the rest of the changes tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a couple questions:

- m17-24 RH - Keep the beaming consistent - if you're going to be beaming over that 8th rest make sure its either for every measure or for none of them. I would recommend beaming.
- m82-87 LH - You should beam all the 8ths in beats 1-2 of these measures for consistency.

Could you please clarify a bit? I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this.

- m76 LH - Bassline beat 1 should be an Fn, not a B. The G#s should be Ans.

...but there are no G#'s in that measure?

- m91 RH - Delete and re-enter the Bb in the 2nd layer so it aligns with the 1st layer.

...but there are no Bb's in that measure?

- m9 and beyond - If you're going to include the bari sax on beat 1, consider adding in the pickups elsewhere in this section. You don't have to necessarily, but I think it would work.

- m. 14 - LH - Don't include that voice just out of the blue. It adds clutter and feels wrong to only be there.

Who do I believe?

Otherwise, I'm leaving this here for reference of the stuff I haven't done yet (mostly for myself):

- m1 and beyond - Make sure you listen carefully for the bassline articulations. There's many notes that should be staccato'd, including many of the quarter notes starting at m9. I would recommend staccato-ing a lot of the 16ths in the bass as well to give them the same punchiness as in the original. Listen especially carefully for the 8th notes in the bass, as some are longer and shorter than others.
- m9 and beyond - If you're going to include the bari sax on beat 1, consider adding in the pickups elsewhere in this section. You don't have to necessarily, but I think it would work.
- m17-24 RH - Keep the beaming consistent - if you're going to be beaming over that 8th rest make sure its either for every measure or for none of them. I would recommend beaming.
- m76 LH - Bassline beat 1 should be an Fn, not a B. The G#s should be Ans.
- m82-87 LH - You should beam all the 8ths in beats 1-2 of these measures for consistency.
- m85-97 - I'm not going to go into too much detail here, just make sure you listen carefully for the harmonies in the RH and the bassline and make sure all the notes are correct.
- m91 RH - Delete and re-enter the Bb in the 2nd layer so it aligns with the 1st layer.

Also, for whatever reason the PDF would save correctly. I'm going to have to fix that tomorrow as well.

[Static]

Could you please clarify a bit? I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this.

In m17-19, for example, you have beats 1 and 2 beamed, but in m20 you don't. Pick one way and stick with it. I would suggest beaming.

Spoiler

vs.

[close]

In m82-87, you should beam all the 8th notes in groups of 4 to match the rest of the sheet. For example in m87 (and others like it), beam over the 8th rest on beat 2.

Spoiler

[close]

...but there are no G#'s in that measure?

I am certain that there's a G# on beats 4 and 4.5 of m76.

...but there are no Bb's in that measure?

Oops, sorry, I meant Db (which should be a C# like you have anyway), but that was before you implemented the E Major keychange. The C# looks good.

[Yug_Guy]

In m17-19, for example, you have beats 1 and 2 beamed, but in m20 you don't. Pick one way and stick with it. I would suggest beaming.

Spoiler

vs.

[close]

In m82-87, you should beam all the 8th notes in groups of 4 to match the rest of the sheet. For example in m87 (and others like it), beam over the 8th rest on beat 2.

Spoiler

[close]

Ah, gotcha. I'll take care of that soon.

I am certain that there's a G# on beats 4 and 4.5 of m76.

Oh, it was an Ab, not a G#. Fixed on my personal copy, the change will be uploaded once I finish with the rest of the edits.

[Yug_Guy]

Files have been updated with the rest of Static's suggestions, along with a couple minor changes.

- m85-97 - I'm not going to go into too much detail here, just make sure you listen carefully for the harmonies in the RH and the bassline and make sure all the notes are correct.

To be perfectly honest, I checked and what I had sounded fine to me. I don't think I'm necessarily the best person to check for errors on that front, since I've heard my arrangement so many times that it probably sounds good to me whether or not the notes are accurate or not. Sorry if that's not all that helpful.

[Static]

The notes look good in that section, I re-checked, my main issue there was just the accidental spellings, which look good now.
After re-listening and taking a look at it again, I think the keychange to E Major actually happens in m88, sorry about that.

In the bassline, there are still some accidental issues though:

- m76 beat 4 - Fn should be E#.
- m81 beat 4 - Ab should be a G#.
- m83 beat 3.5 - Ab should be a G#.
- m85 beat 4 - Fn should be E#.
- m87 beat 4 - Fn should be E#.
- m90 beat 3 - Gns should be Fxs.
- m91 beat 3 - Cns should be B#s.

And some other stuff:

- m28 beat 4.5 RH - Maybe put a courtesy natural sign on the lower F because the bass plays an F# there just half a beat earlier. Not really needed, but it can be helpful.
- m50 beat 1 - The staccato should be underneath the quarter note here.
- m103 -

Include the bottom note of the triads in the RH (so C-C-C-D-D-D). The D in particular really adds to the texture of that chord there.

[Yug_Guy]

- m103 RH - Include the bottom note of the triads in the RH (so C-C-C-D-D-D). The D in particular really adds to the texture of that chord there.

Do you mean the whole notes in the second layer, or the melody in the first layer?

[Static]

OK, I can't read lol, I meant m102, sorry about that.
103 looks good.

[Yug_Guy]

OK, I can't read lol, I meant m102, sorry about that.
103 looks good.

Gotcha. Fixed, along with the rest of your suggestions.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I got the PDF to work. It should be good now.

[AmpharosAndy]

There's so many notes that I might have missed it, but I can tell that the triplet echoes in bar 25 are purposefully omitted but I'm unsure as to why. Looking at the rest of the piece, I don't think it would be out of place difficulty-wise plus it would keep it true to the original. It seems like it would be fun to play, at least.

Bar 79: that Eb is a little squished on the pdf.

Bar 91: can the last crotchet rest afford to come down, as it applies to the lower voice as well?

From L: although it stays true to the original the way you have it, it might be worth repeating the bass note once or twice so that it's still audible.

[Yug_Guy]

There's so many notes that I might have missed it, but I can tell that the triplet echoes in bar 25 are purposefully omitted but I'm unsure as to why. Looking at the rest of the piece, I don't think it would be out of place difficulty-wise plus it would keep it true to the original. It seems like it would be fun to play, at least.

It was mostly just personal preference; I didn't think it really needed to be there. Though after looking at it now, I decided I might as well put them in there.

Bar 79: that Eb is a little squished on the pdf.
Bar 91: can the last crotchet rest afford to come down, as it applies to the lower voice as well?

Fixed

From L: although it stays true to the original the way you have it, it might be worth repeating the bass note once or twice so that it's still audible.

tbh, it's not really a prominent part that I feel needs repeating, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯