[PC] Doki Doki Literature Club! - "Dreams of Love and Literature" by Nacho2420

[Zeta]

Submission Information:
Series: Other
Game: Doki Doki Literature Club!
Console: PC
Title: Dreams of Love and Literature
Instrumentation Solo Piano
Arranger: Nacho2420

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[nacho2420]

Gotta follow the trend

[Maelstrom]

Pretty sure those LH chords are more than one note.

[nacho2420]

Pretty sure those LH chords are more than one note.

It does sound bare, but I didn't add any other notes to avoid muddiness, otherwise I'd und up with voicings that are impossible to play with just left hand. I also tried adding chords in underneath the melody in the right hand but it didn't add enough sonically to make a difference. Any ideas?

[Latios212]

I will be back with ideas (hopefully) soon. Looking forward to this one.

[nacho2420]

Thoughts on transforming this to a duet arrangement?

[Latios212]

I wouldn't advise dropping the solo. At its heart the song is really catchy and simple; it would make for a great piece for a beginner to learn, or for anyone with at least a little experience to sight-read.

If you do decide to go the duet route, there isn't really much for one hand to do aside from tap percussion, which should make for a fine performance...

But anyways, for a solo, I think it would be best to find some middle ground between the low bass and the chords. The song repeats C, F, and G chords to eternity so I would just select inversions of those you like and place them somewhere in the high bass clef range to prevent it from sounding too bottom-heavy or empty.

Something like this, perhaps:

You cannot view this attachment.

It doesn't keep the bassline intact, but it does lead to a more natural progression of chords (which I feel is the focus of the accompaniment anyway) - jumping to an F chord with A on the bottom would be a bit of a leap coming from the previous one. Play with it and see what you like.

[Sebastian]

Just popping in quick to say that I'm in favor of keeping it a solo. It's a fun song.

[Maelstrom]

Agreed for the solo. Imo it's better to stretch it for a solo than go for a duet. Yeah, you might get more notes in, but it's much harder for the performer to find someone else to play it with.

[nacho2420]

Thanks everyone. Definitely keeping it as a solo.

Latios, I went with your voice leading idea which sounds fine and doesn't distort the progression even though the bass notes are different. Much more seamless than I expected. Thanks for that.

On page two I did larger voicings (which do reach up to 10ths but my hands can play them without rolling, plus they're all white keys which makes it more doable)

Sounds way fuller now!

[Latios212]

You're welcome, glad you like!

Great job with the accompaniment at the dynamic change, having the left hand give more of an oomph as is needed. Intervals are wide but the left hand plays slowly, so looks good to me.

Just a couple more thoughts and that's it from me:
- You could try raising the melody of 20-22/24-27 an octave to differentiate the more "airy" sound of that section from the rest. Just a possibility, up to you.
- There's no "fine" marked in the sheet (or end to the song), so just use a D.S. at the end.

[nacho2420]

You're welcome, glad you like!

Great job with the accompaniment at the dynamic change, having the left hand give more of an oomph as is needed. Intervals are wide but the left hand plays slowly, so looks good to me.

Just a couple more thoughts and that's it from me:
- You could try raising the melody of 20-22/24-27 an octave to differentiate the more "airy" sound of that section from the rest. Just a possibility, up to you.
- There's no "fine" marked in the sheet (or end to the song), so just use a D.S. at the end.

Done and done, I like octaves up way better too thanks!

[Olimar12345]

The lh at the top is an amalgam of two different bass-sounding voices; there's a cello sound and an electric bass sound, and you currently have a piece of both parts when you could easily include both voices by adding the upper octave to the C (beat one, from the cello) and the F below the staff underneath the A (beat three, from the bass) in both measures 1 and 3. Measures 2 and 4 are in unison, so they're fine as-is.

My other comment was that I don't see the reason to change the LH from perfectly reachable triads to 10ths on the second page when the original does not change. It seems to unnecessarily make it more difficult to play in what would otherwise be an incredibly simple piece.

I would recommend something like this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v9uiftb8jbwh8e6/Dreams%20of%20Love%20and%20Literature12345.mus?dl=1

[nacho2420]

The lh at the top is an amalgam of two different bass-sounding voices; there's a cello sound and an electric bass sound, and you currently have a piece of both parts when you could easily include both voices by adding the upper octave to the C (beat one, from the cello) and the F below the staff underneath the A (beat three, from the bass) in both measures 1 and 3. Measures 2 and 4 are in unison, so they're fine as-is.

My other comment was that I don't see the reason to change the LH from perfectly reachable triads to 10ths on the second page when the original does not change. It seems to unnecessarily make it more difficult to play in what would otherwise be an incredibly simple piece.

I would recommend something like this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v9uiftb8jbwh8e6/Dreams%20of%20Love%20and%20Literature12345.mus?dl=1

Interesting, I knew there were two voices doing the bass line but didn't notice they split on the F chord; the A in the cello voice made me undermine the F in the E bass. I went with your edit there, thanks!

As for the 10ths, I voiced it that way to create a fullness the second time the phrase comes in like the original did with the addition of the kick drum and such. I'd like to keep that but if the consensus is that it's not necessary, I can change it.

[Sebastian]

I don't think putting 10ths is unnecessary or makes the piece "unnecessarily difficult." I think they add more variety since the original itself doesn't change too much. Besides, 10ths are cool sounding.