Video Game Music performed on Piano, by 607

Discussion in 'The Jukebox' started by 607, Apr 27, 2015.

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What kind of instrument do you play? (if more applicable, select your main)

Piano, organ, glockenspiel or xylophone. 27 vote(s) 27.0%
Guitar (acoustic or electric). 14 vote(s) 14.0%
Drums or other percussion. 8 vote(s) 8.0%
Cello, violin, or some other string instrument. 11 vote(s) 11.0%
Tuba, Sax, uvonium or some other wind-instrument. 15 vote(s) 15.0%
None. 17 vote(s) 17.0%
One that doesn't fall in the categories above. 8 vote(s) 8.0%
  1. Wait... is the name "a hidden figure"?!?
    607 likes this.
  2. Yup, at first the answer was supposed to be 'Rudy', but then I realised that he is not actually called that yet in Wario Land 3... so I changed the answer, and added the word 'original'.
    Smooshed_Potato likes this.
  3. SCARY


    "This cover is almost a year old at the time I upload this. Last Summer, I lost an entire session of covers when my family went on vacation and took the camera with them, and I rerecorded most of them later that summer, using another camera. Not this one, though, as I forgot how it went and I was expecting to find the footage again later. I did find the covers again when I was sorting my family's pictures, a few months ago, but at that point I had got my new laptop, but hadn't yet fixed its GPU issues. Now that I finally have, here's the cover. It's very simple. So I had some fun with the editing and thumbnail. ;)


    I do like this theme, it's very functional in-game. It's not too interesting to play, though, and because of its style, simplicity and partial repetition not the easiest to remember (muscle memory won't kick in, I suppose). But it is a nice piece by Kozue Ishikawa, and I wanted to cover it. :)


    Be the first to answer the following question correctly in the comments to earn 7 CP: How many times does Wario get hit in the video?"

    https://youtu.be/H4CHMWxY99s
    Smooshed_Potato likes this.
  4. Awesome music 607! I believe Wario was hit 5 times
  5. That is incorrect! Well, the second part at least. :p Rhy gave the right answer, which is just 4 times.
    Smooshed_Potato likes this.
  6. Ah, I forgot to post the first Lucky Luke video here!
    Here are the first two, then. I'm hoping to record many more this summer! :)


    "This is the first video to come out of a project long in the making. I started arranging this soundtrack almost a year ago, by this point. I finished it over half a year ago, too, but I still have to do a lot of practice! I actually recorded the first two videos in April, though. But I couldn't edit the videos until I got my new laptop fixed (unless I did it from my parental home, which I haven't spent a lot of time at since then). Here is the first of them! I'm currently on vacation in England, in a cottage without a piano... I hope I'll be able to get enough practice in the rest of the summer to record some more videos! As there's a lot to be done, and I do want to finish this project! :)

    I picked this as the beginning of the series because the Game Over theme was actually the first theme I arranged, and because if you play the game you'll probably hear it a lot. ;) And the Life Lost theme is nice too, which I added in here at the beginning. For the footage there I picked what I found the funniest death in the game. If I recall correctly, the first time I got to this level I had only one life left, and I died to this. :p

    This soundtrack was composed by Alberto José González. It's amazing, and you'll hopefully see the rest of it in this form on my channel soon. :)
    Someone recommended to me to record at angles to include my body, and that sounded like a good idea. It gives me more incentive to play with feeling, as you can actually see it. ;) In the Peace Restored cover I also played with emotion, but you can't tell just by looking at my hands.

    I don't have particular analysis of the theme or my rendition of it that I feel I should share here.

    Be the first to answer the following question correctly to get 6 CP: in what years was this game released? (two years)" (the CP question was already answered by Rhy!)
    https://youtu.be/gZASAGq2B2M


    "Here is my cover of the title theme to this game!
    It's quite a fun one. The only tricky bit is the run at the end (first played at 0:23). At first I actually didn't include that in the arrangement, but after a short time I decided I should learn it, as it's very fun and perfectly doable.
    I'm hoping to record another batch of covers soon! It includes the rather tricky World Map theme, though... but I can practice that as often as I want to, now. ;)
    I decided not to make a thumbnail for this one, as I think it looks a bit ugly on the previous video. It's too busy, I guess. What do you think?

    Be the first to give the correct answer to the following question in the comments to earn 6 CP: How many layers of scrolling stones are there on the title screen? I love this 3D effect so much!!"
    https://youtu.be/btAgR9CivnA

    So which thumbnail style do you think is better? :)
    jacob5089 likes this.
  7. I'd say the second, less busy one is better - it's a bit easier to read and is clearly able to show what song is being played while also showing who is playing it.
    607 likes this.
  8. I agree. I undid the custom thumbnail on the first one. :)
    jacob5089 likes this.

  9. "A few weeks ago, I had another recording session! I managed to record a whole 4 successful performances. Great! :D
    The light however wasn't so great as because of various hindrances throughout the day I started setting up at 5 PM, while I usually record in the early afternoon. To make the video look less dreary I did some colour correcting and upped the saturation, which makes the piano look a lot better but my shirt look very blue. :p Oh well! As long as the sound is good... ;)

    This is a fun track! It has also got a counter melody, but playing this melody by itself was difficult enough. ;) It's especially tricky because of the strange rhythm.
    It's a lot of fun, though! The ending is tough but very satisfying to get.
    I recall that I spent quite some time figuring out the fingering for some parts, as I had to be able to smoothly transition between different chords.

    Be the first to answer the following question correctly in the comments to earn 6 CP: What is the (incorrect) password I entered in the video footage? You'll need to give the actual names of the characters, not a description. ;) (I'm sure you can look them up if you don't know them!)"

    https://youtu.be/CrjklGtjHaQ
    weeh likes this.
  10. Dang, why haven't I known about this thread until just today?!?

    Impressive stuff 607, I'm curious what songs you have planned for the future.~ ^^
    607 likes this.
  11. I have no idea; at least you must not have looked at the The Jukebox section then, ever. :p

    Thanks! For now, the rest of the Lucky Luke soundtrack. ;) I'm also practising some other arrangements, but I haven't done any big new arrangements since starting the Lucky Luke soundtrack, as I would like to finish that. :)
    Edit: Ah, one of the arrangements I've been practising is one I think you know! It's the main theme from Ice Age on GBA.
  12. Ah yes, the GBA Ice Age music. That's how you know it's the real 607~

    I'm curious what you will do for that game, yet I look forward to it at the same time. I've played the game and (while I didn't enjoy it much), the music I remember. I look forward to what you have in store for us! :)
    607 likes this.
  13. Next one! I'm not sure why it took me two months to upload it, and it's not very convenient as I now have two more tracks left to upload, while I am planning to record new covers next week. :p

    "The second video of August's recording session. This was a tough one!
    This is a fun tune, because while playing the game, you won't hear it in full unless you wait on one of the cutscene or world map screens. And it makes you think that you _have_ heard the full tune, because the first part repeats twice... and then suddenly, you get a wacky lead! It's almost ridiculous, but it fits the game well!
    That part took a lot of practice to play, though. This is mostly because it is very fast. And funnily enough, when I finally recorded this, I actually played it _too_ fast: the original is a bit slower. :p There is a tendency for this to happen: when I practise a theme I start by playing it slow, and as I get it in my fingers, I start progressively getting faster again, up to the original speed. Except I don't stop there, but unconsciously keep playing faster and faster. ;P
    To counter that issue for my next recording session, I now practise with a metronome at least half of the time. Hopefully this makes the original tempo get in my muscle memory as well.
    But I am still happy with this performance, as it is a fun one! And if I get all too precise about my exact performance, I might never finish this project. ;)
    Enjoy, and thanks to Alberto José González for composing!


    To earn 6 CP, be the first to put the names of all the outlaws besides the Daltons you have to defeat in this game in the comments (the answer is given in this video, although not explicitly!)."
    https://youtu.be/Lf_lFwaoIO4
  14. Interesting game, I've never heard of it before the music sounds interesting~
    607 likes this.
  15. I think it's the best non-Nintendo platformer on the GBC! I haven't played all though, of course (possibly quite significantly, I have never played Shantae because it is unaffordable).
    And Alberto José González is one of the best composers. I wonder if you played any of the other games he composed for? As a kid, I played Asterix & Obelix on the PC, which also had his music. :) I never got beyond the second level, though, so I didn't hear too many tracks. :p
    Edit: You will see some of the gameplay soon enough, I suppose. ;)
  16. Well, that didn't go as planned. :rolleyes:



    "It's been a little while, but here's the next part of the Lucky Luke soundtrack arranged for piano!
    Here's why it's a little late: I had actually recorded Mexico City and the next theme during the previous recording session (where I wore the vibrantly blue shirt :p), but as I was about to upload Mexico City I noticed that I got some notes in the bass wrong. Not just in my performance, but in the arrangement. I decided I didn't want to upload a cover of which I knew that it had incorrect notes that I played purposefully and that I would have been able to play correctly if I had realised. So I got back to practising Mexico City. ;)

    And here it is! The first theme in my recording session shortly before Christmas. This is the first level theme of Alberto José González that you'll encounter in the game, and thus probably the first theme you'll hear for more than a few seconds, as you're unlikely to stick around on the title, options or map screen for long. And it is a catchy one!!
    I don't recall this theme being very difficult to arrange, although the intro was a bit tough to get right, and to learn to play comfortably. I wonder if I actually got it right, as I did these arrangements by ear, and don't actually check the note data. ;)
    Another thing that was tough to learn was the very end: I used to play only the bass there, but I later realised that I could also play the fun extra tune back up to the start.
    Lastly, before I practised frequently using a metronome, I had trouble with the rhythm in the B part of the tune. I'm not quite sure why, but it never flowed well! I think I was able to mostly fix that. Overall, I do feel like you can sense that I was tense during this performance. This is because I had been trying to record another piece for a long time just before this, _and_ the camera's battery had run out so I had cycled home and back to get a new one. :p I relaxed up for the rest of the arrangements, but I wasn't quite comfortable while playing this. Still I'm happy with it, and I've got to say I'm glad to finally get it out of the way! The Lucky Luke project is the biggest piano project I have ever undertaken, and I am glad to still be making consistent progress!"

    https://youtu.be/nv0CPQacMT4



    "Here's a video from last summer. :p This is the sixth video in my Lucky Luke cover project, which I couldn't upload before because I had to redo the fifth one. Having to record such a lot already, I decided not to redo this one, because I had played this one correctly (albeit significantly quicker than the original; that's a common (accidental) deviation).
    This is a very fun track. Something's missing from my cover: in the full theme you'll hear a very fun cadence at the beginning, that mimics the cataclopping of Jolly's hooves (I couldn't find an established English onomatopoeia for that sound... so 'cataclop' it is!). For a long while, I practised with that in, but I couldn't manage to play it smoothly, however much I practised. So I decided to go for the arp chords instead, which are also nice. :)
    This is such a fun track to listen to and play! Thanks to Alberto José González for composing it.

    By the way, does anyone know how to apply a fadeout to black on an overlayed track that is the same length as a regular fadeout done by dragging the corner of the bottom track? When I do a fadeout at the end of these, you can see the game footage going transparent, and I don't like that.

    I was going to ask the star question again, as the stars are quite fun in this level, luring you into danger, but then I found the answer to a more unique question: to earn 6 CP, be the first to post in the comments the time at which I (as Lucky Luke) kill a living being."

    https://youtu.be/eEDtP8X3Guc
    Joy_the_Miner, jacob5089 and Egeau like this.

  17. "Here's another theme from Alberto José González' Lucky Luke soundtrack!
    This is the only one of the level themes that is sometimes boring to play for me. Specifically the first part, especially because it repeats once before the song proceeds. In the full chiptune it is better, because there is an additional voice, but I was unable to bring that voice into the arrangement. It's a relaxing theme to listen to, though, and I think you'll enjoy it!
    At some point after the first arrangement I decided to add in the second voice that goes up at the very end. It sounds a bit sour when playing it slow, but it adds a nice bite to the loop when you do it well!... and I didn't do it flawlessly here, to be frank. :p I do hope I arranged it correctly. ;)

    Next up is Train, which I'm sure people who know this soundtrack have been looking forward to! :D

    When you watch my countenance, I don't seem to be enjoying the performance very much (contrary to the upcoming Train one, in which I was quite goofy :p). However, at one point I do smile at the camera. Be the first to put the timestamp of that in the comments to earn 6 CP. :)

    (went with the default thumbnail instead of snapshotting one myself, for once :p)"
    https://youtu.be/nCLT601nnsU


    "This is a bit of a goofy performance. ;) Of a very cool tune!
    Alberto J. González originally composed this track for Amiga 500, and it was called "Uncle John's tale". As there was not much time for composing the soundtrack to Lucky Luke, this track was put in the game as it fit. :)
    This is one of the most challenging tracks to play. Of course I mean particularly the very fast bit. This was actually the second track I tried to learn; I attempted it after learning Game Over. When first arranging it I tried including the afterbeat notes, which made it a lot more fun. However, at some point I found out that they were actually made up of two notes instead of the one I had been hearing, and in some of the places I couldn't really play them both as a key was shared with the main melody (or the bass, I can't quite recall and they're quite (physically) close to each other. :p) When I got to the very fast bit I gave up, as that seemed too hard anyway. ;)
    But later of course I decided to arrange the entire soundtrack, and then I eventually came to this tune too. I decided to let the afterbeats be, as it seemed like they wouldn't fit into the piano arrangement, but of course I did have to do the very fast bit. It was easy to arrange, but very hard to learn to play well. :) For months, I just hoped that I would get better at it automatically, but it didn't really work. Eventually I consulted an online friend who is much more skilled at piano than I am, and he suggested first finding a suitable fingering and then repeatedly practising that bit using a metronome, starting from a low tempo and only increasing it after I was comfortable playing it on that tempo. And that worked. :)
    Of course, as typical, I ended up playing the tune quicker than the original's 148BPM, but in this case I can easily explain: it's only the very end that's extremely fast, and after playing the fast bit and restarting for another take, I would unconsciously play the beginning faster than intended because it felt so slow otherwise. ;) However, I still think it went quite well here! It's funny, because I wasn't concentrating fully on most of the tune, as for the second run through I reacted to the music with my face. However, apparently I still had enough focus (this was the umpteenth take, I feel like :p) to almost nail the fast bit! Yeah, it wasn't flawless... but I am impressed. :) Now I hope I won't unlearn it, so I can once play this again, as part of a medley of the entire soundtrack. :)

    To earn 6 CP, be the first to post the timestamp in the comments of when I look more sour/angry than anywhere else in the video. ;)"
    https://youtu.be/jSj4b3irs00

    Guess who's the online friend. ;)
    Egeau and jacob5089 like this.
  18. Whoops, I'm a bit behind again. :p


    "This is a tricky one! Perhaps the toughest to play rhythmically. And I frankly don't think I did great. :$ I hope you'll enjoy anyway! :)
    This is part of the biggest piano project I've done to date: arranging and performing the entirety of Alberto J. González' Lucky Luke soundtrack. This is a very fun tune that plays in the Saloon level (in the video you only see the cellar of the level, but the saloon part itself is quite fun too!). It fits the atmosphere greatly! In the full tune there is an additional melodic voice for parts C and D, which makes it even greater, but without that this was already quite hard enough to play, so I don't think I even tried arranging it in. ;)

    To earn 6 CP, be the first to comment the timestamp of when I ran out of bullets in the gameplay footage, and resorted to punching with my fist (a cool gameplay mechanic but rarely seen, as usually you have plenty!)."
    https://youtu.be/JsVpTOySWRs


    "This is by far the shortest tune in Alberto J. González' soundtrack for this game. However, the loop is done in such a great way that when I first arranged this tune, I had some difficulty even finding the point whére it looped. ;) The tune is an even 32 measures long, but because of the flow it seems like it just keeps on going, instead of clearly starting over like other tunes do. And a continuous flow greatly fits the theme of rapids, does it not? :D
    This is not a very tricky theme tho play, and it, again... flows nicely. :) The part just before the loop is a bit more intricate, but once you've figured out how it goes and have practised it enough, it should be no problem playing it. :)

    Be the first to put the correct answer to the following question in the comments to earn 6 CP: how many whirlpools are there in the game footage?
    Sorry, I couldn't think of anything more interesting. ;) I prefer asking questions about my performance instead, but there's not often something that stands out about it. :p"
    https://youtu.be/lIrehKOusyQ


    "A fun, laid-back tune from Alberto J. González, as we're nearing the end of the Lucky Luke soundtrack!
    This one's quite fun to play, although it was tricky to learn! There are multiple parts in the song that are seemingly repeated, but then slightly different, and this made it hard to remember what was to be played when. But it's very cool. :) Don't you love the bass? ;)

    Be the first to put the following timestamp in the comments to earn 6 CP: when do I look at the camera as a result of stumbling over the keys?"
    https://youtu.be/fGGwVBsF2kY

    That's the last of this session! I am hoping to record more tomorrow. :)
    Nickblockmaster and Egeau like this.
  19. This one was requested by Rhy! The audio quality is different than usual, read the description (posted below) to know why. ;)


    "This is the first CP-requested cover I've ever done. It was commissioned by Rhythmically, the current leader of the CP leaderboards. It was a joy to practice it, as I love this piece myself. It also took a long time, though: I've been working on this from mid August. However, I actually recorded a pretty good performance back in December! I didn't upload that because for this theme, I really considered the dynamics of the piece. It should start out soft and get louder, as is also indicated in the sheet music, but I made some more subtle variations too. However, all of that got straightened out by my camera. The entire performance sounded equally loud... so I had to redo it. That also gave me more time to practise of course, and this performance is better than the one I had then. :) To be frank, I am not at all happy with the audio quality. I recorded it with my brother's MP3 player, and it preserves the dynamics, but the audio isn't clear, and there is some fuzz around the louder parts. I was very disappointed and thought I'd have to do it over again, but I sent it to Rhythmically and he thought it was fine, actually. And I decided I should be content with it, then. :) I hope I will be able to find a way to record clear audio that does preserve the dynamics in the future, as while for video game music it isn't usually as vital as for classical music, dynamics are important. :)

    Any nice comments before May 26th will earn 3 CP (one per person, of course :p)."
    https://youtu.be/l4elCMA6mnE
  20. I used to play piano! I took lessons for around 5 years, but stopped, and switched to drums. :)
    If you are looking to play drums, piano is a really good thing to start with.
    607 and Nickblockmaster like this.