[SNES] Kirby Super Star - "King Dedede's Theme" by ThatHiddenCharacter

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Kirby
Game: Kirby Super Star
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Title: King Dedede's Theme
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: ThatHiddenCharacter

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[ThatHiddenCharacter]

The best version of this song. Definitely deserves a spot on-site.

[LeviR.star]

The tremolos are a nice touch, but are they actually in the song? I think the point of the first measure is to play a single chord in order to make the audience question how the next measure will be; kind of like a suspense effect.

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

The tremolos are a nice touch, but are they actually in the song? I think the point of the first measure is to play a single chord in order to make the audience question how the next measure will be; kind of like a suspense effect.

I believe there is a tremolo, but it's kind of in the background. I can't listen to the song now, though. My ears are in agonizing pain, and noise just makes it worse.

[Latios212]

While a single chord is certainly a valid way to write it for piano for the reason you provided Levi, the tremolo is also a nice arranging touch to emulate the chord and accompanying percussion getting louder. Either way works; it depends on the effect you're going for. If we're keeping the tremolo, I would recommend putting a crescendo over it, and adding a forte at measure 2.

You have Notepad, which (if I recall correctly, pressing L works in Notepad) allows you to flip notes. Do that for the right hand of 5-10.

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

(if I recall correctly, pressing L works in Notepad)

Sadly, it does not.

[Static]

A few rhythmic things while I'm here, particularly in m29-35.

- m30 RH: the last 2 sixteenths should actually be the last 2 notes of an 8th note triplet, where the first note of the triplet is a G tied to the G before it, if that makes sense

- m32 RH: the 2 eighth notes should be the last 2 notes of a quarter note triplet, where the first note of the triplet is a C tied to the C before it

As a general comment, this arrangement lacks any sort of articulations that I feel would bring out parts a bit more and make the song a lot more accurate as well as fun to play. For example, m21-28 should definitely have some staccatos and slurs in places.

Nice job overall!

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

I made the edits suggested by Latios and Static. I just have to warn you that my hearing is very bad today due to congestion in my ear, so it may not be 100%.

[Static]

This is coming along, but there's a lot more to fix, a lot more to add, and a lot more to think about:

- m1, m35 - I would put a piano and crescendo here to let the reader know to get louder and build up to m2, where I would put a forte
- m1, m35 (LH) - the higher G in the tremolo should have a D underneath it as well
- m2, m36 - I would put a mezzoforte here.
- m2, m36 (RH) - there is a 3rd horn voice below the other 2 (Bn-An-Bn-An-Bn-Bn). Also, some accents on the horn parts here would probably be good.
- m2, m36 (LH) - the bass moves in octaves (G1-G2-G1-G2-G1-G2)
- m6 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Bb should be a C
- m8 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Ab should be a Bb
- m10, m18 beat 4 (RH) - Gb should be F# because it's going up chromatically from F
- m10 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Gb should be an Ab
- m11 beat 2.5 (LH) - the D should be a G (bottom line)
- m12 beat 2.5 (LH) - the D should be a G (bottom line)
- m14 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Bb should be a C
- m16 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Ab should be a Bb
- m18 beat 4.5 (LH) - the Gb should be an Ab
- m19 beat 2.5 (LH) - the D should be a G (bottom line)
- m20 beat 2.5 (LH) - the D should be a G (bottom line)
- m13-20 (RH) - the first and second voices should all be consistent perfect 4ths
- m21, 23, 25, 27 (LH) - should be Ab1-Ab1-Ab2-Ab1-Bb1-Bb1-Bb2-Bb1.
- m22, 24, 26, 28 - the half notes on beat 2.5 should be an 8th note tied to a dotted quarter. Generally, in 4/4 time, you should never put a half note on an offbeat because beat 3 should always be shown. The only common exception to this is when you put a half note on beat 2. For example, you could do this in m29, but you didn't and that's also correct.
- m21-28 (RH) - the 2nd voice is completely incorrect; I'd recommend revisiting that section.
- m22, 24, 26 (LH) - should be C2-C2-C3-C2-C2-C2-C3-Bb2
- m28 (LH) - should be C2-C2-C3-C2-C2-C2-C3-C2
- m29 (LH) - should be all up a 4th (all Gs instead of all Ds)
- m30 (LH) - should be all up a 4th (all Fs instead of all Cs)
- m31 (LH) - should be all up a 4th (all Gs instead of all Ds)
- m32 (LH) - should be all up a 4th (all Cs instead of all Gs)
- m33 beats 1-2 (LH) - move down to Fs instead of Abs
- m34 beats 1-2 (LH) - move down to Ebs instead of Gs
- Generally, your articulations and phrasing is inaccurate, and it's especially noticable in places like m11-12, m19-20, m21-28, and m29-35. The bassline's articulations also are inaccurate.

I've noticed you seem to have the most trouble distinguishing the voices of chords and dyads. It is definitely very tricky to do, so that's why I recommend you use AudioStretch to help hear the parts if you haven't used it already. You can slow down songs to 0% in order to pick out voices and also raise the audio by an octave to better hear tricky basslines. It's extremely useful, and it's what I, along with others on this site, use. If you're still having trouble hearing parts, Audacity is another free tool you can use to adjust the specifics of songs to better hear parts you need. Also, for SNES music like this, the program JCOM (also free) is incredibly useful because you can turn on/off specific audio channels to hear them. All you need is the SPC (SNES sound file) from the game, and these files are easy to find online. I use JCOM often for checking and reviewing SNES scores.

Also, if you're confused or wondering about the octave designations I wrote (like G5, Ab2, etc.), you can use this as a reference:

Spoiler

[close]

Hope this helps!

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

Updated. It's definitely better now. I already have audacity (I've had it since way before arranging) and I have AudioStretch bookmarked on my browser. That JCOM thing was very helpful. Thanks.

[Dekkadeci]

Sounds significantly better--thanks for fixing bars like bar 21!

However, the last 2 melody notes of Bar 32 (G-Bb) sound incorrect to me--according to 0:45-0:46 of the video, they should be E-G instead. I don't know whether it's just my speakers at home, though (listening to some pieces during work is just plain disillusioning).

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

However, the last 2 melody notes of Bar 32 (G-Bb) sound incorrect to me--according to 0:45-0:46 of the video, they should be E-G instead. I don't know whether it's just my speakers at home, though (listening to some pieces during work is just plain disillusioning).

I'll check again when I have the chance, but thanks to Static I now have a way to listen to the channels seperately, so I don't think it's wrong. But it could be, which is why it's worth a double-check.

[mastersuperfan]

Also, for SNES music like this, the program JCOM (also free) is incredibly useful because you can turn on/off specific audio channels to hear them. All you need is the SPC (SNES sound file) from the game, and these files are easy to find online. I use JCOM often for checking and reviewing SNES scores.

Brb going to arrange some SNES music

By the way this wouldn't also happen to be possible with say Wii music files would it because then that would make arranging KEY music twenty times less a PITA

[Maelstrom]

By the way this wouldn't also happen to be possible with say Wii music files would it because then that would make arranging KEY music twenty times less a PITA

Everything after the n64 is literally just compressed mp3s. Good luck.

[mastersuperfan]

So it works for N64 music too?

EDIT: RIP it's an exe and I'm on a Mac